Cite as: 537 U. S. 129 (2003)
Opinion of the Court
covery. According to these courts, although information compiled for § 152 purposes would be inadmissible at trial, it nevertheless remained subject to discovery. See, e. g., Ex parte Alabama Highway Dept., 572 So. 2d 389 (Ala. 1990), cert. denied sub nom. Alabama Highway Dept. v. Boone, 502 U. S. 937 (1991); Light v. New York, 149 Misc. 2d 75, 80, 560 N. Y. S. 2d 962, 965 (Ct. Cl. 1990); Indiana Dept. of Transp. v. Overton, 555 N. E. 2d 510, 512 (Ind. App. 1990). Other state courts reasoned that § 409 protected only materials actually generated by a governmental agency for § 152 purposes, and documents collected by that agency to prepare its § 152 funding application remained both admissible and discoverable. See, e. g., Wiedeman v. Dixie Elec. Membership Corp., 627 So. 2d 170, 173 (La. 1993), cert. denied, 511 U. S. 1127 (1994). See also, e. g., Southern Pacific Transp. Co. v. Yarnell, 181 Ariz. 316, 319-320, 890 P. 2d 611, 614-615, cert. denied, 516 U. S. 937 (1995) (applying the same rule in the context of the Railway-Highway Crossings program); Tardy v. Norfolk Southern Corp., 103 Ohio App. 3d 372, 378- 379, 659 N. E. 2d 817, 820-821 (same), appeal not allowed, 74 Ohio St. 3d 1408, 655 N. E. 2d 187 (1995) (Table).
Responding to these developments, Congress amended § 409 in two ways. In 1991, Congress expressly made the statute applicable to pretrial discovery, see Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, § 1035(a), 105 Stat. 1978, and in 1995, Congress added the phrase "or collected" after the word "compiled," National Highway System Designation Act of 1995, § 323, 109 Stat. 591. As amended, § 409 now reads:
"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data compiled or collected for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, or planning the safety enhancement of potential accident sites, hazardous roadway conditions, or railway-highway crossings, pursuant to sections 130, 144, and 152 of this title or for the purpose of developing any highway safety con-
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