Design-Build Flexibility Act - Amends Federal highway law to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations authorizing a State transportation department or local transportation agency to award a design-build contract (for both design and construction) for a Federal-aid highway project using a procurement process permitted under applicable State and local law if certain environmental requirements are met.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1111 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1111
To amend title 23, United States Code, relating to design-build
contracting.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 3, 2005
Mr. Marchant introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 23, United States Code, relating to design-build
contracting.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Design-Build Flexibility Act''.
SEC. 2. DESIGN-BUILD CONTRACTING.
(a) In General.--Section 112(b)(3) of title 23, United States Code,
is amended to read as follows:
``(3) Design-build contracting.--
``(A) In general.--A State transportation
department or local transportation agency may use
design-build contracts for development of projects
under this chapter and may award such contracts using
any procurement process permitted by applicable State
and local law.
``(B) limitation on work to be performed under
design-build contracts.--Construction of permanent
improvements shall not commence under a design-build
contract awarded under this paragraph before compliance
with section 102 of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332).
``(C) Scope of work.--The scope of the contractor's
work under a design-build contract awarded under this
paragraph may include assistance in the environmental
review process for the project, including preparation
of environmental impact assessments and analyses, if
such work is performed under the direction of, and
subject to oversight by, the State transportation
department or local transportation agency and the State
transportation department or local transportation
agency conducts a review that assesses the objectivity
of the environmental assessment, environmental
analysis, or environmental impact statement prior to
its submission to the Secretary.
``(D) Project approval.--A design-build contract
may be awarded under this paragraph prior to compliance
with section 102 of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, only--
``(i) upon request by the State
transportation department or local
transportation agency;
``(ii) with the concurrence of the
Secretary in issuance of the procurement
documents and any amendments thereto and in
award of the contract and any amendments
thereto; and
``(iii) if project approval will be
provided after compliance with section 102 of
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
``(E) Effect of concurrence.--Concurrence by the
Secretary under subparagraph (D) shall be considered a
preliminary action that does not affect the
environment.
``(F) Design-build contract defined.--In this
section, the term ``design-build contract'' means an
agreement that provides for design and construction of
a project by a contractor, regardless of whether the
agreement is in the form of a design-build contract, a
franchise agreement, or any other form of contract
approved by the Secretary.''.
(b) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations that amend
the regulations issued under section 1307(c) of the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (23 U.S.C. 112 note). The regulations--
(1) shall allow a State transportation department or local
transportation agency to use any procurement process permitted
by applicable State and local law in awarding design-build
contracts, including allowing unsolicited proposals, negotiated
procurements, and multiple requests for final proposals; except
that the Secretary may require reasonable justification to be
provided for any sole source procurement; and
(2) may include ``best practices'' guidelines;
(3) shall not preclude State transportation departments and
local transportation agencies from allowing proposers to
include alternative technical concepts in their ``base''
proposals;
(4) shall not preclude State transportation departments and
local transportation agencies from issuing a request for
proposals document, proceeding with award of a design-build
contract, or issuing a notice to proceed with preliminary
design work under such a contract prior to compliance with
section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(42 U.S.C. 4332) if the design-build contractor is not
authorized to proceed with construction of permanent
improvements prior to such compliance; and
(5) shall provide guidelines regarding procedures to be
followed by the State transportation department or local
transportation agency in their direction of and oversight over
any environmental impact assessments or analyses for the
project which are to be prepared by the contractor or its
affiliates.
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Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines.
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