University Transportation Centers (UTCs)

University Transportation Centers (UTCs)
Current Law	Administration Proposal H.R. 2088 & S. 1072 as Modified SAFETEA of 2003	House H.R. 3 as Passed House TEA-LU	Senate H.R. 3 as Passed Senate SAFETEA of 2005
Authorizes $195 million over 6 years.	Authorizes funds over 6 years, derived from both the Highway Account and the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF).	Authorizes $429.5 million over 6 years, derived $381.5 million from the Highway Account of the HTF, $6.4 million from the Mass Transit Account of the HTF and $41.6 million from the General Fund. [5101, 3034]	Authorizes $42,238,302 per year over FYs 2005-2009, derived from the Highway Account of the HTF. Additional funding authorized from the Mass Transit Account and the General Fund under the Public Transportation title of the bill. [2001, 6036]
Provides grant funding to establish and operate programs of education, research, and technology transfer at 33 UTCs.	Changes the existing University Transportation Center program into a new University-Industry-Government Partnerships program.	Provides grant funding to establish and operate programs of education, research, and technology at 5 national and 30 other UTCs. [5301-5302]	Provides grant funding to establish and operate 40 University Transportation Centers (10 regional and 30 others) to address transportation design, management, research, development, and technology, especially education and training of more transportation professionals. [2101]
Authorizes the establishment of 33 University Transportation Centers, 23 of which are named in the Act, and calls for the competitive selection of 10 regional centers.	Program to be competitively awarded and subject to peer review as part of process to encourage research and educational partnerships in more than one mode of transportation. University must partner with at least one private sector and one non-Federal government public sector partner. Special attention to increasing the number of highly skilled individuals in the field of transportation.	Secretary to fund 5 national university transportation centers at up to $3.5 million per year to advance transportation research on critical national transportation issues and to expand the workforce of transportation professionals. Secretary to competitively select and provide grants to 30 Centers: 10 regional centers at up to $3.5M per year, 10 Tier I centers at $1M per year, and 10 Tier II centers at up to $1M per year (for FYs 2005-2009 only). [5301-5302]	Regional centers are to be selected competitively. Describes selection process for regional centers for 3-year term. Secretary selects in consultation with FHWA, RSPA and FTA. One UTC in each standard Federal region. The remaining 30 centers are earmarked in 3 different groups each with its own funding schemes. The bill includes placeholder language where the earmarked universities will be named. [2101]
	Program to be competitively awarded and subject to peer review.	Earmarks the 5 national centers and describes a competitive selection process for other centers. [5301-5302]	Provides general requirements for all centers, including requirement that all reports produced by the centers must be peer reviewed and posted on DOT and UTC web sites. Failure to comply with requirements can lead to forfeiture of a grant. [2101]
	All grantees are required to conduct technology transfer activities to disseminate the results of their research.	All grantees must provide assurance that the research and education activities of the UTC will support the national strategy for surface transportation research identified in the report, Highway Research and Technology: The Need for Greater Investment, and the programs of the National Research and Technology Program of the Federal Transit Administration. [5302]	All grantees are required to carry out an ongoing technology transfer program to disseminate the results of their research, and must contribute at least $250,000 annually to the operation and maintenance of the center. Requires peer review and internet publication for all reports funded under UTC program. [2101]
The Federal share of costs under an individual grant may not exceed 50 percent of costs, and the non-Federal share may include Technology Deployment and State Planning and Research funds.	Same as current law.	The Federal share of costs under an individual grant may not exceed 50 percent of costs, and the non-Federal share may include Technology Deployment, Local Technical Assistance Program, and State Planning and Research funds.	The Federal share is 80%.
Funds made available for this program have an availability of three fiscal years.	Same as current law.	Same as current law.	Same as current law.
No comparable provision.	No comparable provision.	No comparable provision.	Requires the Secretary to coordinate the research, education, training, and technology transfer activities carried out by grant recipients, and to establish and operate a clearinghouse for and disseminate the results of those activities.

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