(a) The following words and terms, when used in this
chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise.
(1) Chief financial officer--The chief financial officer
of the department, or that officer's designee.
(2) Clean Air Act (CAA)--The Clean Air Act of 1970
and Amendments of 1990 (42 U.S.C. §7401 et seq.), including procedures
that apply to all transportation plans, programs, and projects as
they relate to air quality.
(3) Commission--The Texas Transportation Commission.
(4) Conformity--Clean Air Act requirements that ensure
that federal funding and approval are given to transportation plans,
programs, and projects that are consistent with the air quality goals
established by the State Implementation Plan.
(5) Corridor--A broad geographic band with no predefined
size or scale that follows a general directional flow, providing for
the movement of people and freight and connecting major sources of
transportation trips. It involves a nominally linear transportation
service area that may contain a number of streets, highways, rail,
utility, and public transportation route alignments.
(6) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
(7) District--One of the geographic areas into which
the department is divided in order to conduct its primary work activities.
(8) District engineer--The chief administrative officer
in charge of a district, or that officer's designee.
(9) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)--The agency
of the federal government with broad responsibilities for environmental
protection and enforcement, including air quality, as it relates to
this chapter.
(10) Executive director--The executive director of
the department or the executive director's designee.
(11) Federal discretionary programs--Programs that
provide the U.S. Department of Transportation with discretion to award
funds for specific projects outside of the normal transportation fund
formulas. The U.S. Congress may designate the projects that are eligible
for discretionary program funds and the scope of discretion may vary
depending on the applicable statutory provisions.
(12) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)--The federal
agency primarily responsible for highway transportation.
(13) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)--The federal
agency primarily responsible for railroad transportation.
(14) Federal Transit Administration (FTA)--The federal
agency primarily responsible for public transportation.
(15) Governor--The governor of the State of Texas.
(16) Letting--The official act of opening contractors'
bids for a proposed highway improvement contract to construct, reconstruct,
or maintain a segment of the state highway system, or to construct
or maintain a building or other facility appurtenant to a building.
(17) Local transportation entity--An entity that participates
in the transportation planning process. The term includes but is not
limited to:
(A) a metropolitan planning organization;
(B) a rural planning organization;
(C) a regional tollway authority organized under Transportation
Code, Chapter 366;
(D) a regional transportation authority operating under
Transportation Code, Chapter 452;
(E) a metropolitan rapid transit authority operating
under Transportation Code, Chapter 451;
(F) a rural transit district as defined by Transportation
Code, §458.001;
(G) a coordinated county transportation authority operating
under Transportation Code, Chapter 460;
(H) a rural rail transportation district operating
under Transportation Code, Chapter 172; and
(I) a commuter rail district operating under Transportation
Code, Chapter 174.
(18) Metropolitan planning organization (MPO)--The
organization or policy board of an organization created and designated
under 23 U.S.C. §134 and 49 U.S.C. §5303, as amended, to
make transportation planning decisions for the metropolitan planning
area and carry out the metropolitan transportation planning process.
(19) Mexican ports of entry--Connections between Mexico
and the State of Texas at international bridge crossings of 5,000
vehicles or more average daily traffic.
(20) Mobility projects--Transportation projects that
add additional mainlanes to an existing highway facility or construct
lanes on a new location and have a length of at least one mile, or
any projects that otherwise improve transportation facilities for
highways, public transportation, or other modes of transportation
to decrease travel time and the level or duration of traffic congestion,
and to increase the safe and efficient movement of people and freight.
(21) On-system--The system of highways in the state
included in a comprehensive plan prepared by the department's executive
director under the direction and with the approval of the commission
in accordance with Transportation Code, §201.103.
(22) Planning organization--A metropolitan planning
organization, a rural planning organization, or, for an area that
is not in the boundaries of a metropolitan planning organization or
a rural planning organization, a district.
(23) Public transportation--Transportation of passengers
and their hand carried packages or baggage on a regular or continuing
basis by means of surface or water conveyance by a public or private
entity that receives financial assistance from the Federal Highway
Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Railroad
Administration, the department, or a local political subdivision.
(24) Routes--All or a portion of a selected course
of travel between two specific geographic locations.
(25) Rural planning organization (RPO)--A voluntary
organization created and governed by local elected officials with
responsibility for transportation decisions at the local level, including
an organization established by a council of governments or regional
planning commission designated by the governor pursuant to Local Government
Code, Chapter 391, to address rural transportation priorities and
planning and provide recommendations to the department for areas of
the state not included in the boundaries of a metropolitan planning
organization.
(26) Rural transportation improvement program (RTIP)--A
staged, multiyear, intermodal program of transportation projects and
public transportation projects developed by the department, in consultation
with local officials, for areas of the state outside of the metropolitan
planning area boundaries. The RTIP includes a financially constrained
plan that demonstrates how the program can be implemented.
(27) State Implementation Plan (SIP)--The latest approved
version of the state adopted plan promulgated for each nonattainment
or maintenance area to achieve or maintain compliance with the national
ambient air quality standards required by the federal Clean Air Act.
(28) Subarea--A geographic area with no predefined
size or scale that is located within the boundaries of a designated
metropolitan planning area.
(29) Surface Transportation Program (STP)--The funding
program established by 23 U.S.C. §133.
(30) Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)--The
state agency responsible for coordination of natural resources and
air quality for the state, including development of the State Implementation
Plan.
(31) Texas Highway Trunk System--A rural network of
four-lane or better divided roadways that will serve as a principal
connector of all Texas cities with over 20,000 population as well
as major ports and points of entry, not to exceed a total system mileage
of 11,500 centerline miles.
(32) Transportation control measure (TCM)--Any measure
used for the purpose of reducing emissions or concentrations of air
pollutants from transportation sources by reducing vehicle use or
changing traffic flow or congestion conditions.
(33) Transportation management area (TMA)--An urbanized
area with a population over 200,000 as defined by the U.S. Bureau
of the Census and designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation,
or any additional area where transportation management area designation
is requested by the governor and the metropolitan planning organization
and designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
(34) Transportation project--The planning, engineering,
right of way acquisition, expansion, improvement, addition, or contract
maintenance, other than the routine or contracted routine maintenance
of a bridge, highway, toll road or toll road system, or railroad,
enhancement of a roadway that increases the safety of the traveling
public, air quality improvement initiative, or transportation enhancement
activity under 23 U.S.C. §101.
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