PROGRAM EFFICIENCIES.

SEC. 1016. PROGRAM EFFICIENCIES. (a) HOV Passenger Requirements; Engineering Cost Reimbursement.— Section 102 of title 23, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: “§ 102. Program efficiencies “(a) HOV Passenger Requirements.— A State highway department shall establish the occupancy requirements of vehicles operating in high occupancy vehicle lanes; except that no fewer than 2 occupants per vehicle may be required and, subject to section 163 of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, motorcycles and bicycles shall not be considered single occupant vehicles. “(b) Engineering Cost Reimbursement.— If on-site construction of, or acquisition of right-of-way for, a highway project is not commenced within 10 years after the date on which Federal funds are first made available, out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than Mass Transit Account), for preliminary engineering of such project, the State shall pay an amount equal to the amount of Federal funds made available for such engineering. The Secretary shall deposit in such Fund all amounts paid to the Secretary under this section.”. (b) Project Approval.— Section 106 of such title is amended— (1) in subsection (a) by inserting “this section and” before “section 117”; and (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following new subsection: “(b) Special Rules.— “(1) 3R projects on nhs.— Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a State highway department may approve, on a project by project basis, plans, specifications, and estimates for projects to resurface, restore, and rehabilitate highways on the National Highway System if the State certifies that all work will meet or exceed the standards approved by the Secretary under section 109(c). “(2) Non-nhs projects and low-cost nhs projects.— Any State may request that the Secretary no longer review and approve plans, specifications, and estimates for any project (including any highway project on the National Highway System with an estimated construction cost of less than $1,000,000 but excluding any other highway project on the National Highway System). After receiving any such notification, the Secretary snail undertake project review only as requested by the State. “(3) Safety considerations.— Safety considerations for projects subject to this subsection may be met by phase construction consistent with an operative safety management system established in accordance with section 303.”. 105 STAT. 1946 (c) Standards.— Section 109(c) of such title is amended to read as follows: “(c) Design and Construction Standards for NHS.— Design and construction standards to be adopted for new construction on the National Highway System, for reconstruction on the National High-way System, and for resurfacing, restoring, and rehabilitating multilane limited access highways on the National Highway System shall be those approved by the Secretary in cooperation with the State highway departments. All eligible work for such projects shall meet or exceed such standards.”. (d) Compliance With State Laws for Non-NHS Projects.— Section 109 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(p) Compliance With State Laws for Non-NHS Projects.— Projects (other than highway projects on the National Highway System) shall be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained in accordance with State laws, regulations, directives, safety standards, design standards, and construction standards.”. (e) Historic and Scenic Values.— Section 109 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(q) Historic and Scenic Values.— If a proposed project under sections 103(e)(4), 133, or 144 involves a historic facility or is located in an area of historic or scenic value, the Secretary may approve such project notwithstanding the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this section and section 133(c) if such project is designed to standards that allow for the preservation of such historic or scenic value and such project is designed with mitigation measures to allow preservation of such value and ensure safe use of the facility.”. (f) Conforming Amendments.— (1) Standards.— Section 109 of such title is amended— (A) in subsection (a) by striking “projects on any Federal-aid system” and inserting “highway projects under this chapter”; and (B) in subsection (l)(1) by striking “Federal-aid system” and inserting “Federal-aid highway”. (2) Certification acceptance.— Section 117 of such title is amended— (A) in subsection (a) by striking “on Federal-aid systems, except” and inserting “under this chapter, except projects on”; (B) in subsection (a) by inserting “or other transportation” before “construction,”; (C) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: “(b) The Secretary may accept projects based on inspections of a type and frequency necessary to ensure the projects are completed in accordance with appropriate standards.”; and (D) in subsection (e) by inserting “, section 106(b), section 133, and section 149” after “in this section”. (3) Chapter analysis.— The analysis of chapter 1 of such title, is amended by striking “102. Authorizations.” and inserting “102. Program efficiencies.”. (g) Limitation on Certain Expenditures.— No Federal funds may be expended for any highway project on any portion of the 105 STAT. 1947scenic highway known as “Ministerial Road” between route 138 and route 1 in the State of Rhode Island unless the Governor of such State and the town council of the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, first agree to the design.