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.

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.

(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.

(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.

(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 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 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;

(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

(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.