§313 Nontraditional and Emerging Transportation Technology Council

Summary

Within 180 days of enactment, the Secretary of Transportation must create a Nontraditional and Emerging Transportation Technology Council to coordinate new transportation technologies across all modes. The council will include top DOT leaders — the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary for Policy, key assistant secretaries, the General Counsel and Chief Information Officer, and the heads of modal agencies such as aviation, highways, motor carrier, rail, transit, maritime, vehicle safety, and pipeline safety — plus any other DOT officials the Secretary names. The Deputy Secretary (or a designee) will chair the council and the Under Secretary (or a designee) will be vice chair. The council must find and fix gaps or conflicting rules that slow safe deployment of new technologies. It must coordinate DOT’s responses, work with outside stakeholders, and create department-wide processes and best practices for handling nontraditional and emerging projects. Within 1 year of enactment it must publish initial guidelines and encourage modal agencies to test and support technologies the council has not specifically covered. The Office of the Secretary will support the council, which must meet at least four times a year. For each technology with a regulatory gap, the chair must pick a lead modal agency and arrange staff sharing. The council must post a public report on its prior-year activities no later than 1 year after it starts, and then at least once each year through December 31, 2026.