23 U.S.C. § 118: Availability of funds

Except as otherwise specifically provided, authorizations from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) to carry out this title shall be available for obligation on the date of their apportionment or allocation or on October 1 of the fiscal year for which they are authorized, whichever occurs first. Except as otherwise specifically provided, funds apportioned or allocated pursuant to this title in a State shall remain available for obligation in that State for a period of 3 years after the last day of the fiscal year for which the funds are authorized. Any amounts so apportioned or allocated that remain unobligated at the end of that period shall lapse. Funds apportioned or allocated to a State for a purpose for any fiscal year shall be considered to be obligated if a sum equal to the total of the funds apportioned or allocated to the State for that purpose for that fiscal year and previous fiscal years is obligated. credited to the same class of funds previously apportioned or allocated to the State for the project; and immediately available for obligation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including a regulation), obligations recorded against funds made available under this subsection shall be recorded and reported as net obligations. Funds made available to the State of Alaska and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under this title may be expended for construction of access and development roads that will serve resource development, recreational, residential, commercial, industrial, or other like purposes. allocated before fiscal year 1991; and designated in a public law, or a report accompanying a public law, for allocation for the specific surface transportation project or activity. The term ‘eligible funds’ includes funds described in subparagraph (A) that were allocated and designated for a demonstration project. funds obligated for a specific transportation project or activity that remain available for the project or activity after the project or activity has been completed or canceled; or an unobligated balance of funds allocated for a transportation project or activity that the State in which the project or activity was to be carried out certifies are no longer needed for the project or activity. an obligated balance of Federal funds for an eligible transportation project or activity against which no expenditures have been charged during any 1-year period beginning after the date of obligation of the funds; and funds that are available to carry out a transportation project or activity in a State, but, as certified by the State, are unlikely to be advanced for the project or activity during the 1-year period beginning on the date of certification. made available in accordance with this section to the State that originally received the funds; and available for obligation for any eligible purpose under section 133 of title 23 , United States Code. The Secretary [of Transportation] may determine that eligible funds identified as inactive funds shall remain available for the purpose for which the funds were initially made available if the applicable State certifies that the funds are necessary for that initial purpose. A certification provided by a State under paragraph (1) shall include a report on the status of, and an estimated completion date for, the project that is the subject of the certification. obligate the funds for any eligible purpose under section 133 of title 23 , United States Code; or deobligate the funds; and reobligate the funds for any eligible purpose under that section. Subject to paragraph (2), this section applies only to eligible funds. allocated at the discretion of the Secretary [of Transportation] and for which the Secretary has the authority to withdraw the allocation for use on other projects; or made available to carry out projects under section 125 of title 23 , United States Code. shall remain available for obligation for a period of 3 fiscal years after the fiscal year in which this Act is enacted; and except as provided in paragraph (2), shall be subject to the requirements of title 23, United States Code, that apply to section 133 of that title, including provisions relating to Federal share. section 133(d) of title 23 , United States Code, shall not apply; and the period of availability of the eligible funds shall be determined in accordance with this section. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act [ Aug. 10, 2005 ], and annually thereafter, the Secretary [of Transportation] shall submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report describing any action taken by the Secretary under this section. It is the sense of Congress that eligible funds made available under this Act [see Tables for classification] or title 23, United States Code, should be available for obligation for transportation projects and activities in the same geographic region for which the eligible funds were initially made available.”