SECTION 16.2. Definitions and Acronyms

(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.

(35) Transportation reinvestment zone (TRZ)--An area created and designated by a municipality or county under Transportation Code, §§222.106 - 222.108, to promote and fund one or more transportation projects as authorized under that section.

(36) Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP)--The governing planning document, prepared by an MPO on an annual or biennial basis, which identifies the transportation planning work to be undertaken within the metropolitan planning area for the applicable period.

(b) Acronyms. The following acronyms, when used in this chapter, are abbreviations for the associated terms. If an associated term is not defined under subsection (a) of this section, a reference is provided to the section in this chapter in which the term is primarily described.

(1) CAA--Clean Air Act.

(2) EPA--Environmental Protection Agency.

(3) FHWA--Federal Highway Administration.

(4) FRA--Federal Railroad Administration.

(5) FTA--Federal Transit Administration.

(6) MPO--Metropolitan planning organization.

(7) MTP--Metropolitan transportation plan, as described in §16.53 of this chapter (relating to Metropolitan Transportation Plan).

(8) RPO--Rural planning organization.

(9) RTIP--Rural transportation improvement program.

(10) SIP--State implementation plan.

(11) SLRTP--Statewide long-range transportation plan, as described in §16.54 of this chapter (relating to Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan).

(12) STIP--Statewide transportation improvement program, as described in §16.103 of this chapter (relating to Statewide Transportation Improvement Program).

(13) STP--Surface transportation program.

(14) TCEQ--Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

(15) TCM--Transportation control measure.

(16) TIP--Transportation improvement program, as described in §16.101 of this chapter (relating to Transportation Improvement Program).

(17) TMA--Transportation management area.

(18) TRZ--Transportation reinvestment zone.

(19) UPWP--Unified planning work program.

(20) UTP--Unified transportation program, as described in §16.105 of this chapter (relating to Unified Transportation Program).

Source Note: The provisions of this §16.2 adopted to be effective January 1, 2011, 35 TexReg 8388; amended to be effective November 15, 2012, 37 TexReg 8981; amended to be effective September 1, 2018, 43 TexReg 5240; amended to be effective February 16, 2022, 47 TexReg 660