§ 504 — Training And Education

(1) The Secretary shall operate in the Federal Highway Administration a National Highway Institute (in this subsection referred to as the “Institute”). The Secretary shall administer, through the Institute, the authority vested in the Secretary by this title or by any other law for the development and conduct of education and training programs relating to highways. (2) In cooperation with State transportation departments, United States industry, and any national or international entity, the Institute shall develop and administer education and training programs of instruction for— (A) Federal Highway Administration, State, and local transportation agency employees and the employees of any other applicable Federal agency; (B) regional, State, and metropolitan planning organizations; (C) State and local police, public safety, and motor vehicle employees; and (D) United States citizens and foreign nationals engaged or to be engaged in surface transportation work of interest to the United States. (A) The Institute shall— (i) develop or update existing courses in asset management, including courses that include such components as— (I) the determination of life-cycle costs; (II) the valuation of assets; (III) benefit-to-cost ratio calculations; and (IV) objective decisionmaking processes for project selection; and (ii) continually develop courses relating to the application of emerging technologies for— (I) transportation infrastructure applications and asset management; (II) intelligent transportation systems; (III) operations (including security operations); (IV) the collection and archiving of data; (V) reducing the amount of time required for the planning and development of transportation projects; and (VI) the intermodal movement of individuals and freight. (B) In addition to the courses developed under subparagraph (A), the Institute, in consultation with State transportation departments, metropolitan planning organizations, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, may develop courses relating to technology, methods, techniques, engineering, construction, safety, maintenance, environmental mitigation and compliance, regulations, management, inspection, and finance. (C) The Institute shall periodically— (i) review the course inventory of the Institute; and (ii) revise or cease to offer courses based on course content, applicability, and need. (4) Not to exceed ½ of 1 percent of the funds apportioned to a State under section 104(b)(2) for the surface transportation block grant program shall be available for expenditure by the State transportation department for the payment of not to exceed 80 percent of the cost of tuition and direct educational expenses (excluding salaries) in connection with the education and training of employees of State and local transportation agencies in accordance with this subsection. (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), education and training of employees of Federal, State, and local transportation (including highway) agencies authorized under this subsection may be provided— (i) by the Secretary at no cost to the States and local governments if the Secretary determines that provision at no cost is in the public interest; or (ii) by the State through grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts with public and private agencies, institutions, individuals, and the Institute. (B) Private agencies, international or foreign entities, and individuals shall pay the full cost of any education and training received by them unless the Secretary determines that a lower cost is of critical importance to the public interest. (6) The Institute may— (A) engage in training activities authorized under this subsection, including the granting of training fellowships; and (B) carry out its authority independently or in cooperation with any other branch of the Federal Government or any State agency, authority, association, institution, for-profit or nonprofit corporation, other national or international entity, or other person. (A) In accordance with this subsection, the Institute may assess and collect fees solely to defray the costs of the Institute in developing or administering education and training programs under this subsection. (B) Fees may be assessed and collected under this subsection only in a manner that may reasonably be expected to result in the collection of fees during any fiscal year in an aggregate amount that does not exceed the aggregate amount of the costs referred to in subparagraph (A) for the fiscal year. (C) Fees may be assessed and collected under this subsection only with respect to— (i) persons and entities for whom education or training programs are developed or administered under this subsection; and (ii) persons and entities to whom education or training is provided under this subsection. (D) The fees assessed and collected under this subsection shall be established in a manner that ensures that the liability of any person or entity for a fee is reasonably based on the proportion of the costs referred to in subparagraph (A) that relate to the person or entity. (E) All fees collected under this subsection shall be used to defray costs associated with the development or administration of education and training programs authorized under this subsection. (8) The funds made available to carry out this subsection may be combined with or held separate from the fees collected under paragraph (7). (1) The Secretary shall carry out a local technical assistance program that will provide access to surface transportation technology to— (A) highway and transportation agencies in urbanized and rural areas; (B) contractors that perform work for the agencies; and (C) infrastructure security staff. (2) The Secretary may make grants and enter into cooperative agreements and contracts to provide education and training, technical assistance, and related support services to— (A) assist rural, local transportation agencies and tribal governments, and the consultants and construction personnel working for the agencies and governments, to— (i) develop and expand expertise in road and transportation areas (including pavement, bridge, concrete structures, intermodal connections, safety management systems, intelligent transportation systems, incident response, operations, and traffic safety countermeasures); (ii) improve roads and bridges; (iii) enhance— (I) programs for the movement of passengers and freight; and (II) intergovernmental transportation planning and project selection; and (iv) deal effectively with special transportation-related problems by preparing and providing training packages, manuals, guidelines, and technical resource materials; (B) develop technical assistance for tourism and recreational travel; (C) identify, package, and deliver transportation technology and traffic safety information to local jurisdictions to assist urban transportation agencies in developing and expanding their ability to deal effectively with transportation-related problems (particularly the promotion of regional cooperation); (D) operate, in cooperation with State transportation departments and universities— (i) local technical assistance program centers designated to provide transportation technology transfer services to rural areas and to urbanized areas; and (ii) local technical assistance program centers designated to provide transportation technical assistance to tribal governments; and (E) allow local transportation agencies and tribal governments, in cooperation with the private sector, to enhance new technology implementation. (i) Subject to subparagraph (B), the Federal share of the cost of an activity carried out by a local technical assistance center under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be 50 percent. (ii) The non-Federal share of the cost of an activity described in clause (i) may consist of amounts provided to a recipient under subsection (e) or section 505, up to 100 percent of the non-Federal share. (B) The Federal share of the cost of an activity carried out by a tribal technical assistance center under paragraph (2)(D)(ii) shall be 100 percent. (1) The Secretary, acting either independently or in cooperation with other Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities, may make grants for research fellowships for any purpose for which research is authorized by this chapter. (A) The Secretary shall establish and implement a transportation research fellowship program for the purpose of attracting qualified students to the field of transportation, which program shall be known as the “Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program”. (B) Amounts provided to institutions of higher education to carry out this paragraph shall be used to provide direct support of student expenses. (1) The Secretary shall establish the Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Education Program to improve the preparation of students, particularly women and minorities, in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through curriculum development and other activities related to transportation. (2) The Secretary shall award grants under this subsection on the basis of competitive peer review. Grants awarded under this subsection may be used for enhancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at the elementary and secondary school level through such means as— (A) internships that offer students experience in the transportation field; (B) programs that allow students to spend time observing scientists and engineers in the transportation field; and (C) developing relevant curriculum that uses examples and problems related to transportation. (A) An entity described in subparagraph (C) seeking funding under this subsection shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. Such application, at a minimum, shall include a description of how the funds will be used to serve the purposes described in paragraph (2). (B) In making awards under this subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that will encourage the participation of women and minorities. (C) Local educational agencies and State educational agencies, which may enter into a partnership agreement with institutions of higher education, businesses, or other entities, shall be eligible to apply for grants under this subsection. (4) In this subsection, the following definitions apply: (A) The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given that term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). (B) The term “local educational agency” has the meaning given that term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. (C) The term “State educational agency” has the meaning given that term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. (1) Subject to project approval by the Secretary, a State may obligate funds apportioned to the State under paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 104(b) for surface transportation workforce development, training, and education, including— (A) tuition and direct educational expenses, excluding salaries, in connection with the education and training of employees of State and local transportation agencies; (B) employee professional development; (C) student internships; (D) pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, and career opportunities for on-the-job training; (E) university, college, community college, or vocational school support; (F) education activities, including outreach, to develop interest and promote participation in surface transportation careers; (G) activities associated with workforce training and employment services, such as targeted outreach and partnerships with industry, economic development organizations, workforce development boards, and labor organizations; (H) activities carried out by the National Highway Institute under subsection (a); and (I) local technical assistance programs under subsection (b). (2) The Federal share of the cost of activities carried out in accordance with this subsection shall be 100 percent, except for activities carried out under paragraph (1)(I), for which the Federal share shall be 50 percent. (3) In this subsection, the term “surface transportation workforce development, training, and education” means activities associated with surface transportation career awareness, student transportation career preparation, and training and professional development for surface transportation workers, including— (A) activities for women and minorities; (B) activities that address current workforce gaps, such as work on construction projects, of State and local transportation agencies; (C) activities to develop a robust surface transportation workforce with new skills resulting from emerging transportation technologies; and (D) activities to attract new sources of job-creating investment. (1) The Secretary shall establish a program to make grants to educational institutions or State departments of transportation, in partnership with industry and relevant Federal departments and agencies— (A) to develop, test, and review new curricula and education programs to train individuals at all levels of the transportation workforce; or (B) to implement the new curricula and education programs to provide for hands-on career opportunities to meet current and future needs. (2) In selecting applications for awards under this subsection, the Secretary may consider— (A) the degree to which the new curricula or education program meets the specific current or future needs of a segment of the transportation industry, States, or regions; (B) providing for practical experience and on-the-job training; (C) proposals oriented toward practitioners in the field rather than the support and growth of the research community; (D) the degree to which the new curricula or program will provide training in areas other than engineering, such as business administration, economics, information technology, environmental science, and law; (E) programs or curricula that train professionals for work in the transportation field, such as construction, materials, information technology, environmental science, urban planning, and industrial or emerging technology; and (F) the commitment of industry or a State’s department of transportation to the program. (3) The Secretary shall establish minimum reporting requirements for grant recipients under this subsection, which may include, with respect to a program carried out with a grant under this subsection— (A) the percentage or number of program participants that are employed during the second quarter after exiting the program; (B) the percentage or number of program participants that are employed during the fourth quarter after exiting the program; (C) the median earnings of program participants that are employed during the second quarter after exiting the program; (D) the percentage or number of program participants that obtain a recognized postsecondary credential or a secondary school diploma (or a recognized equivalent) during participation in the program or by not later than 1 year after exiting the program; and (E) the percentage or number of program participants that, during a program year— (i) are in an education or training program that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential or employment; and (ii) are achieving measurable skill gains toward such a credential or employment. (4) The amount of a grant under this subsection shall not exceed $300,000 per year. After a recipient has received 3 years of Federal funding under this subsection, Federal funding may equal not more than 75 percent of a grantee’s program costs. (1) The Secretary shall establish a freight planning capacity building initiative to support enhancements in freight transportation planning in order to— (A) better target investments in freight transportation systems to maintain efficiency and productivity; and (B) strengthen the decisionmaking capacity of State transportation departments and local transportation agencies with respect to freight transportation planning and systems. (2) The Secretary shall enter into agreements to support and carry out administrative and management activities relating to the governance of the freight planning capacity initiative. (3) In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall consult with the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and other freight planning stakeholders, including the other Federal agencies, State transportation departments, local governments, nonprofit entities, academia, and the private sector. (4) The freight planning capacity building initiative shall include research, training, and education in the following areas: (A) The identification and dissemination of best practices in freight transportation. (B) Providing opportunities for freight transportation staff to engage in peer exchange. (C) Refinement of data and analysis tools used in conjunction with assessing freight transportation needs. (D) Technical assistance to State transportation departments and local transportation agencies reorganizing to address freight transportation issues. (E) Facilitating relationship building between governmental and private entities involved in freight transportation. (F) Identifying ways to target the capacity of State transportation departments and local transportation agencies to address freight considerations in operations, security, asset management, and environmental stewardship in connection with long-range multimodal transportation planning and project implementation. (5) The Federal share of the cost of an activity carried out under this section shall be up to 100 percent, and such funds shall remain available until expended. (6) Funds made available for the program established under this subsection may be used for research, program development, information collection and dissemination, and technical assistance. The Secretary may use such funds independently or make grants to and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with a Federal agency, State agency, local agency, federally recognized Indian tribal government or tribal consortium, authority, association, nonprofit or for-profit corporation, or institution of higher education, to carry out the purposes of this subsection. (1) The Secretary shall make grants under this section to establish and maintain centers for surface transportation excellence. (2) The goals of a center referred to in paragraph (1) shall be to promote and support strategic national surface transportation programs and activities relating to the work of State departments of transportation in the areas of environment, surface transportation safety, rural safety, and project finance. (3) To achieve the goals set forth in paragraph (2), any centers established under paragraph (1) shall provide technical assistance, information sharing of best practices, and training in the use of tools and decisionmaking processes that can assist States in effectively implementing surface transportation programs, projects, and policies. (A) A party entering into a contract, cooperative agreement, or other transaction with the Secretary under this subsection, or receiving a grant to perform research or provide technical assistance under this subsection, shall be selected on a competitive basis. (B) The Secretary shall require each center to develop a multiyear strategic plan, that— (i) is submitted to the Secretary at such time as the Secretary requires; and (ii) describes— (I) the activities to be undertaken by the center; and (II) how the work of the center will be coordinated with the activities of the Federal Highway Administration and the various other research, development, and technology transfer activities authorized under this chapter. (i) The Secretary may use funds made available to carry out this section to carry out activities related to workforce development and technical assistance and training if— (1) the activities are authorized by another provision of this title; and (2) the activities are for entities other than employees of the Secretary, such as States, units of local government, Federal land management agencies, and Tribal governments.