
[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR1]

[Page 5-10]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
          Subtitle A--Office of the Secretary of Transportation
 
PART 1--ORGANIZATION AND DELEGATION OF POWERS AND DUTIES--Table of Contents
 
Subpart A--General

Sec. 1.1  Purpose.

    This part describes the organization of the Department of 
Transportation and provides for the performance of duties imposed upon, 
and the exercise of powers vested, in the Secretary of Transportation by 
law.

Sec. 1.2  Definitions.

    As used in this part, Administrator includes:
    (a) The Coast Guard Commandant.
    (b) The Federal Aviation Administrator.
    (c) The Federal Highway Administrator.
    (d) The Federal Railroad Administrator.
    (e) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator.

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    (f) The Urban Mass Transportation Administrator.
    (g) The Administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development 
Corporation.
    (h) The Research and Special Programs Administrator.
    (i) The Maritime Administrator.
    (j) The Director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
    (k) The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator.

[Amdt. 1-113, 40 FR 43901, Sept. 24, 1975, as amended by Amdt. 1-157, 45 
FR 83403, Dec. 18, 1980; Amdt. 1-164, 46 FR 47458, Sept. 28, 1981; Amdt. 
1-270, 60 FR 30196, June 8, 1995; 65 FR 221, Jan. 4, 2000]

Sec. 1.3  Organization of the Department.

    (a) The Secretary of Transportation is the head of the Department.
    (b) The Department is comprised of the Office of the Secretary and 
the following operating elements, the heads of which report directly to 
the Secretary:
    (1) The U.S. Coast Guard, headed by the Commandant.
    (2) The Federal Aviation Administration, headed by the 
Administrator.
    (3) The Federal Highway Administration, headed by the Administrator.
    (4) The Federal Railroad Administration, headed by the 
Administrator.
    (5) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, headed by 
the Administrator.
    (6) The Urban Mass Transportation Administration, headed by the 
Administrator.
    (7) The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, headed by the 
Administrator.
    (8) The Research and Special Programs Administration, headed by the 
Administrator.
    (9) The Maritime Administration, headed by the Administrator and 
including within it the Maritime Subsidy Board composed of the Maritime 
Administrator, the Deputy Maritime Administrator, and the Chief Counsel 
of the Maritime Administration.
    (10) The Bureau of Transportation Statistics, headed by the 
Director.
    (11) The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, headed by the 
Administrator.

[Amdt. 1-113, 40 FR 43901, Sept. 24, 1975, as amended by Amdt. 1-157, 45 
FR 83403, Dec. 18, 1980; Amdt. 1-164, 46 FR 47458, Sept. 28, 1981; Amdt. 
1-270, 60 FR 30196, June 8, 1995; 65 FR 221, Jan. 4, 2000]

Sec. 1.4  General responsibilities.

    (a) Office of the Secretary. Provides for:
    (1) Leadership in formulating and executing well-balanced national 
and international transportation objectives, policies, and programs;
    (2) Stimulating and promoting research and development in all modes 
and types of transportation, with special emphasis on transportation 
safety;
    (3) Coordinating the various transportation programs of the Federal 
Government;
    (4) Encouraging maximum private development of transportation 
services;
    (5) Responsive, timely, and effective liaison with Congress, and 
public and private organizations on transportation matters;
    (6) Innovative approaches to urban transportation and environmental 
enhancement programs; and
    (7) Effective management of the Department as a whole.
    (b) U.S. Coast Guard. Is responsible for:
    (1) Upon the high seas and waters subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States:
    (i) Enforcing or assistance in enforcing applicable Federal laws;
    (ii) Administering laws and promulgating and enforcing regulations 
for promoting safety of life and property, covering all matters not 
specifically delegated by law to some other executive department or 
reserved to the States;
    (iii) Developing, establishing, maintaining, and operating, with due 
regard to the requirements of national defense, aids to navigation, 
icebreaking facilities, and rescue facilities for promoting safety; and
    (2) Maintaining a state of readiness to function as a specialized 
service in the Navy, in time of war or when the President shall direct, 
as provided in

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section 3 of title 14, United States Code.
    (c) The Federal Aviation Administration. Is responsible for:
    (1) Promulgating and enforcing regulations on all safety matters 
relating to the manufacture, operation, and maintenance of aircraft;
    (2) Registering aircraft and recording rights in aircraft;
    (3) Developing, modifying, testing, and evaluating systems, 
procedures, facilities, and devices needed for the safe and efficient 
navigation and traffic control of aircraft;
    (4) Locating, constructing or installing, maintaining, and operating 
Federal aids to air navigation, wherever necessary;
    (5) Developing air traffic regulations, and administering air 
traffic control of civil and military air operations within U.S. 
airspace;
    (6) Providing grants-in-aid for developing public airports;
    (7) Promoting and encouraging civil aviation abroad through 
technical aviation assistance to other governments; and
    (8) Promulgating and enforcing regulations on all safety matters 
relating to commercial launch activities.
    (d) The Federal Highway Administration. Is responsible for:
    (1) Planning, in cooperation with the States, the national highway 
system;
    (2) Providing for improving, in cooperation with the States, roads 
on the Federal-aid primary, secondary, and interstate highway systems 
and urban extensions thereof;
    (3) Highway beautification and scenic enhancement of the Federal-aid 
highway systems;
    (4) Surveying and constructing forest highway system roads, defense 
highways and access roads, and parkways and roads in national parks and 
other federally administered areas;
    (5) Developing and administering uniform State standards for highway 
safety programs with respect to identification and surveillance of 
accident locations; highway design, construction, and maintenance, 
including highway related aspects of pedestrian safety; and traffic 
control devices.
    (e) The Federal Railroad Administration. Is responsible for:
    (1) Operating and managing the Alaska Railroad;
    (2) Conducting research and development activity in support of 
improved rail transportation;
    (3) Regulating safety functions pertaining to railroads, express 
companies, and water carriers operating in connection with railroads 
under a common control, management, or arrangement for continuous 
carriage or shipment; and
    (4) Investigating and issuing reports concerning collisions, 
derailments, and other railroad accidents resulting in serious injury to 
persons or to the property of a railroad.
    (f) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Is 
responsible for:
    (1) Promulgating uniform standards for developing State highway 
safety programs, except for those standards the development and 
administration of which are delegated to the Federal Highway 
Administration.
    (2) Establishing, prescribing, and enforcing National standards for 
improving safety in the operation and performance of motor vehicles and 
equipment.
    (3) Informing the public of the comparative characteristics and 
operational cost of passenger motor vehicles and requiring display of 
comparative insurance costs by automobile dealers.
    (4) Administering a program of mandatory automotive fuel economy 
standards for passenger and non-passenger automobiles for model year 
1978 and beyond.
    (5) Establishing safeguards for the protection of purchasers with 
respect to the sale of motor vehicles having altered or reset odometers 
and enforcing the prohibition against tampering with odometers.
    (g) The Urban Mass Transportation Administration. Is responsible 
for:
    (1) Exercising the authority vested in the Secretary for developing 
comprehensive and coordinated mass transportation systems to serve 
metropolitan and other urban areas;
    (2) Administering urban mass transportation programs and functions; 
and
    (3) Assuring appropriate liaison and coordination with other 
governmental

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organization, with respect to the foregoing.
    (h) The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. Is responsible 
for the development, operation, and maintenance of that part of the St. 
Lawrence Seaway within the territorial limits of the United States.
    (i) The Research and Special Programs Administration. Is responsible 
for:
    (1) Planning, developing, initiating and managing programs in all 
fields of transportation research and development. Maintaining the 
capability to perform research and analysis in transportation planning 
and socioeconomic effects, program management, and technological support 
in response to request for line participation in DOT policy 
formulations. Particular efforts will be made on transportation systems 
problems, advanced transportation concepts, and on multimodal 
transportation. RSPA will develop and maintain a vital statistics and 
related transportation information data base;
    (2) Exercising for the Secretary the multimodal hazardous materials 
(HM) program and prescribing and enforcing safety regulations for the 
transportation of gases or hazardous liquids by pipeline;
    (3) Developing, managing, and evaluating programs and research 
activities for the security of passengers and cargo in the 
transportation systems and for the prevention of unlawful or other acts 
adversely affecting the efficiency or integrity of the Nation's 
transportation systems and providing leadership in the development and 
improvement of coordinated domestic and international transportation 
services;
    (4) Providing leadership on all technical, navigation and 
communication, and systems engineering activities;
    (5) Providing a point of contact for the Department with the 
academic community to encourage transportation research;
    (6) Overseeing the effective discharge of the Secretary's statutory 
and administrative transportation responsibilities in all emergencies 
affecting the national defense and in national or regional crises; and
    (7) Managing a Transportation Safety Institute which designs and 
conducts training programs responsible to the requirements of Government 
and industry as expressed by the operating elements of the Department.
    (j) The Maritime Administration. Is responsible for:
    (1) Fostering the development and maintenance of an American 
merchant marine sufficient to meet the needs of the national security 
and of the domestic and foreign commerce of the United States;
    (2) Awarding and administering construction-differential subsidy 
contracts and operating-differential subsidy contracts to aid the 
American merchant marine, and trade-in allowances for new ship 
construction;
    (3) Entering into and administering agreements for capital 
contruction funds (excepting fishing vessels) and construction reserve 
funds;
    (4) Providing insurance on construction loans and ship mortgages or 
guarantees on ship financing obtained from private sources for ship 
construction and reconstruction (excepting fishing vessels);
    (5) Providing assistance to the shipping industry to generate 
increased trade and cargo shipments on U.S. flag ships;
    (6) Promoting development of ports and intermodal transportation 
systems;
    (7) Promoting development of the domestic waterborne commerce of the 
United States;
    (8) Overseeing the administration of cargo preference statutes;
    (9) Entering into and administering charters and general agency 
agreements for operation of Government-owned merchant ships;
    (10) Maintaining custody of, and preserving, ships in the National 
Defense Reserve Fleet;
    (11) Selling surplus Government-owned ships;
    (12) Supervising design and construction of ships for Government 
account;
    (13) Furnishing war risk insurance on privately owned merchant 
ships;
    (14) Administering the foreign transfer program regarding ships and 
other maritime properties;
    (15) Training merchant marine officers;

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    (16) Conducting research and development to improve and promote the 
waterborne commerce of the United States; and
    (17) Issuing rules and regulations with respect to the foregoing 
functions.
    (k) The Maritime Subsidy Board (within the Maritime Administration). 
Is responsible for:
    (1) Making, amending, and terminating subsidy contracts, which shall 
be deemed to include, in the case of construction-differential subsidy: 
(i) The contract for the construction, reconstruction, or reconditioning 
of a vessel, and (ii) the contract for the sale of the vessel to the 
subsidy applicant or the contract to pay a construction-differential 
subsidy and the cost of the national defense features, and, in the case 
of operating-differential subsidy, the contract with the subsidy 
applicant for the payment of the subsidy.
    (2) Conducting hearings and making determinations antecedent to 
making, amending, and terminating subsidy contracts, under the 
provisions of titles V, VI, and VII, and sections 301 (except 
investigations, hearings, and determinations, including changes in 
determinations, with respect to minimum manning scales, minimum wage 
scales, and minimum working conditions), 708, 805(a), and 805(f) of the 
Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended (the ``Act'').
    (3) Approving the sale, assignment, or transfer of any operating 
subsidy contract under section 608 of the Act.
    (4) Performing so much of the functions with respect to adopting 
rules and regulations, subpoenaing witnesses, administering oaths, 
taking evidence, and requiring the production of books, papers, and 
documents, under sections 204 and 214 of the Act, as they relate to the 
functions of the Board.
    (5) Performing as much of the functions specified in section 12 of 
the Shipping Act, 1916, as amended, as the same relate to the functions 
of the Board under paragraphs (k) (1) through (4) of this section.
    (l) The Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Is responsible for:
    (1) Compiling, analyzing, and publishing a comprehensive set of 
transportation statistics to provide timely summaries and total 
(including industrywide aggregates and multiyear averages) of 
transportation-related information;
    (2) Establishing and implementing, in cooperation with the modal 
administrators, the States, and other Federal officials, a 
comprehensive, long-term program for the collection and analysis of data 
relating to the performance of the national transportation system;
    (3) Issuing guidelines for the collection of information by the 
Department required for statistics to be compiled pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 
111(c)(1) in order to ensure that such information is accurate, 
reliable, relevant, and in a form that permits systematic analysis;
    (4) Coordinating the collection of information by the Department 
required for statistics to be compiled pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 111(c)(1) 
with related information-gathering activities conducted by the other 
Federal departments and agencies collecting appropriate data not 
elsewhere gathered;
    (5) Making the statistics published under this subsection readily 
accessible, in compliance with all disclosure laws, regulations, and 
requirements; and.
    (6) Identifying information that is needed in accordance with 49 
U.S.C. 111(c)(1) but which is not being collected, reviewing such needs 
at least annually with the Advisory Council on Transportation 
Statistics, and making recommendations to appropriate Department of 
Transportation research officials concerning extramural and intramural 
research programs to provide such information.
    (m) The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Is responsible 
for:
    (1) Managing program and regulatory activities, including 
administering laws and promulgating and enforcing regulations on safety 
matters relating to motor carrier safety;
    (2) Carrying out motor carrier registration and authority to 
regulate household goods transportation;
    (3) Developing strategies for improving commercial motor vehicle, 
operator, and carrier safety;
    (4) Inspecting records and equipment of commercial motor carriers, 
and investigating accidents and reporting violations of motor carrier 
safety regulations; and

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    (5) Carrying out research, development, and technology transfer 
activities to promote safety of operation and equipment of motor 
vehicles for the motor carrier transportation program.

[Amdt. 1-113, 40 FR 43901, Sept. 24, 1975, as amended by Amdt. 1-120, 41 
FR 42956, Sept. 29, 1976; Amdt. 1-125, 41 FR 53798, Dec. 9, 1976; Amdt. 
1-157, 45 FR 83403, Dec. 18, 1980; Amdt. 1-164, 46 FR 47458, Sept. 28, 
1981; Amdt. 1-211, 51 FR 29471, Aug. 18, 1986; Amdt. 1-270, 60 FR 30196, 
June 8, 1995; Amdt. 1-274, 60 FR 62762, Dec. 7, 1995; 64 FR 56270, Oct. 
19, 1999; 65 FR 221, Jan. 4, 2000]
