I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2462 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to assist States to rehabilitate 
or replace certain bridges, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 16, 2017 
Mr. LANGEVIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to assist States 
to rehabilitate or replace certain bridges, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthen And For-
tify Existing Bridges Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Bridges 
Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. STRENGTHEN AND FORTIFY EXISTING BRIDGES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) BRIDGE.—The term ‘‘bridge’’ means a 
bridge on a public road, without regard to whether 
the bridge is on a Federal-aid highway. 
(2) ELIGIBLE
BRIDGE.—The term ‘‘eligible 
bridge’’ means a bridge that is structurally deficient. 
(3) FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY.—The term ‘‘Fed-
eral-aid highway’’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code. 
(4) PUBLIC
ROAD.—The term ‘‘public road’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of 
title 23, United States Code. 
(5) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘‘rehabilita-
tion’’ means, with respect to a bridge, the carrying 
out of major work necessary, as determined by the 
Secretary— 
(A) to restore the structural integrity of 
the bridge; or 
(B) to correct a major safety defect of the 
bridge. 
(6) REPLACEMENT.—The term ‘‘replacement’’ 
means, with respect to a bridge, the construction of 
a new facility that, as determined by the Secretary, 
is in the same general traffic corridor as the re-
placed bridge. 
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(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Transportation. 
(8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 
(A) a State; 
(B) the District of Columbia; and 
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
(9) STRUCTURALLY
DEFICIENT.—The term 
‘‘structurally deficient’’, with respect to a bridge, 
means a bridge that, as determined by the Sec-
retary— 
(A) has significant load-carrying elements 
that are in poor or worse condition due to dete-
rioration, damage, or both; 
(B) has a load capacity that is significantly 
below truckloads using the bridge and that re-
quires replacement; or 
(C) has a waterway opening causing fre-
quent flooding of the bridge deck and ap-
proaches resulting in significant traffic inter-
ruptions. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es-
tablish a program to assist States to rehabilitate or re-
place eligible bridges. 
(c) APPORTIONMENT OF FUNDS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts made available to 
carry out the program established under subsection 
(b) for a fiscal year shall be apportioned to each 
State according to the ratio that— 
(A) the total cost to rehabilitate or replace 
eligible bridges in that State; bears to 
(B) the total cost to rehabilitate or replace 
eligible bridges in all States. 
(2) CALCULATION OF TOTAL COST.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of the 
calculation under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
shall multiply the deck area of eligible bridges 
by the unit price on a State-by-State basis, as 
determined by the Secretary, to determine the 
total cost to rehabilitate or replace eligible 
bridges in each State. 
(B) DATA USED IN MAKING DETERMINA-
TIONS.—The Secretary shall make determina-
tions under this subsection based on the latest 
available data, which shall be updated not less 
than annually. 
(C) USE OF EXISTING INVENTORIES.—To 
the extent practicable, the Secretary shall make 
determinations under this subsection using in-
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ventories prepared under section 144 of title 
23, United States Code. 
(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds apportioned to a State 
under the program established under subsection (b) 
shall— 
(1) be used by that State for the rehabilitation 
and replacement of eligible bridges; 
(2) except as otherwise specified in this section, 
be administered as if apportioned under chapter 1 of 
title 23, United States Code, except that the funds 
shall not be transferable; 
(3) be subject to the requirements described in 
section 1101(b) of the FAST Act (23 U.S.C. 101 
note; 129 Stat. 1323) in the same manner as 
amounts made available for programs under titles I, 
II, and III of that Act; and 
(4) not be subject to any limitation on obliga-
tions for Federal-aid highways or highway safety 
construction programs set forth in any Act. 
(e) CONDITION AT PROJECT COMPLETION.—On com-
pletion of the rehabilitation or replacement, a bridge that 
is rehabilitated or replaced under the program established 
under subsection (b) may not be structurally deficient. 
(f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 
of a project carried out with funds apportioned to a State 
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under the program established under subsection (b) shall 
be 100 percent. 
(g) REAPPORTIONMENT OF UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.— 
Any funds apportioned to a State under the program es-
tablished under subsection (b) and not obligated by that 
State at the end of the third fiscal year beginning after 
the fiscal year during which the funds were apportioned 
shall be withdrawn from that State and reapportioned by 
the Secretary to States that have not had funds withdrawn 
under this subsection in accordance with the formula 
under subsection (c). 
(h) NONSUBSTITUTION.—In carrying out the pro-
gram established under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 
ensure that funding made available to a State under the 
program supplements, and does not supplant— 
(1) other Federal funding made available for 
the rehabilitation or replacement of eligible bridges; 
and 
(2) the planned obligations of that State with 
respect to eligible bridges. 
(i) PREVAILING RATE OF WAGE.—Section 113 of 
title 23, United States Code, shall apply to this section. 
(j) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter if 
States obligated funds apportioned under the program es-
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tablished under subsection (b) during that year, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 
Senate a report that describes the amounts obligated by 
each State for projects under the program. 
(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this section $2,750,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2017 through 2020, to remain available until expended. 
Æ 
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