(a) Authorized Activities.—

(1) In general.—The Secretary may perform, by contract or otherwise, authorized engineering or other services in connection with the survey, construction, maintenance, or improvement of highways for other Federal agencies, cooperating foreign countries, and State cooperating agencies.

(2) Inclusions.—Services authorized under paragraph (1) may include activities authorized under section 214 of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970.

(3) Reimbursement.—Reimbursement for services carried out under this subsection (including depreciation on engineering and road-building equipment) shall be credited to the applicable appropriation.

(4) Alternative contracting methods.—

(A) In general.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including the Federal Acquisition Regulation), in performing services under paragraph (1), the Secretary may use any contracting method available to a State under this title.

(B) Methods described.—The contracting methods referred to in subparagraph (A) shall include, at a minimum—

(i) project bundling;

(ii) bridge bundling;

(iii) design-build contracting;

(iv) 2-phase contracting;

(v) long-term concession agreements; and

(vi) any method tested, or that could be tested, under an experimental program relating to contracting methods carried out by the Secretary.


Terms Used In 23 USC 308

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7

(b) Appropriations for the work of the Federal Highway Administration shall be available for expenses of warehouse maintenance and the procurement, care, and handling of supplies, materials, and equipment for distribution to projects under the supervision of the Federal Highway Administration, or for sale or distribution to other Government agencies, cooperating foreign countries, and State cooperating agencies, and the cost of such supplies and materials or the value of such equipment, including the cost of transportation and handling, may be reimbursed to current applicable appropriations.