U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today has introduced legislation he hopes will become the Preservation and Renewal of Federal-Aid Highways Act. It would, he says:

• Require the Secretary of Transportation to establish “state of good repair standards” for the various classes of federal-aid highways to serve as benchmarks of achievement for states to reach.
• Require states to use an “Asset Management Process” to develop “State System Preservation and Renewal Plans” and “State System Preservation and Renewal Performance Targets” to ensure that their federal-aid roads achieve a state of good repair.
• Consolidate the Interstate Maintenance program, Highway Bridge program and half of the National Highway System federal-aid highway programs funds together to create a flexible System Preservation and Renewal Program Fund for the states to use as they see fit to meet the goals of their System Preservation and Renewal Plans and Performance Targets.