The Secretary of Transportation and Public Works shall have the following duties:
(1) To approve any and all projects devised for all public works, and no work shall be undertaken until this requirement is met.
(2) To draft and sign, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, all contracts and agreements entered into for carrying out the construction or repair of public works or for the purchase of materials. In this respect, the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works shall be the lawful successor of the Commissioner of the Interior and the Superintendent of Public Works in all contracts drafted and signed by the latter on behalf of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(3) To approve the adjudication made by the Board of Awards.
(4) To determine and approve the provisional and final liquidation of all works carried out; no contract shall be deemed completed or work accepted until this requirement is met.
(5) To direct the construction of any public work by force account in accordance with the provisions of §§ 41-46 of Title 22.
(6) To regulate any company, natural person, juridical person, and business regardless of the manner in which it was constituted, that owns, controls, exploits, or administers any pipeline in Puerto Rico used in relation to, or to facilitate the transmission, storage, distribution or delivery of any product by pipeline.
(7) To regulate the transmission, distribution, or delivery of natural gas by pipeline, as well as the import, production, generation, transmission, delivery, supply or distribution of natural gas, processed or derived, or any other liquid capable of being converted into natural gas, and distributed by pipeline, cylinder, or any other type of container. In addition, the Secretary shall oversee and enforce compliance by the companies, business, and natural or juridical persons regulated under this subsection with the rules and regulations he/she promulgates, as well as the rules and regulations of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration of the United States Department of Transportation or their successors, in accordance with the corresponding interagency agreements.
(8) To carryout and fulfill any other duty of the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works that may be prescribed by law.
(9) To prescribe any rules and regulations, not in conflict with §§. 417—423, 412, 413 of Title 3, §§ 1—5 and 41—45 of Title 22, as he/she may deem necessary for the performance of the duties of his/her office.
History —Political Code, 1902, § 407; May 10, 1950, No. 273, p. 708, § 1; Sept. 5, 2014, No. 149, § 3.