Regional Infrastructure Accelerator Act of 2015

Summary: Regional Infrastructure Accelerator Act of 2015 This bill authorizes the Department of the Treasury to establish a regional infrastructure accelerator program to provide grants to regional infrastructure accelerators to establish and administer a process for developing the priorities of, and acquiring financing for, covered infrastructure projects. A &quot;regional infrastructure accelerator&quot; is defined as a multi-jurisdictional organization dedicated to provide technical assistance, financing options, and resources for covered infrastructure projects within the represented jurisdictions. A &quot;covered infrastructure project&quot; is as an infrastructure project sponsored by a state, local, or regional public entity that involves the construction, consolidation, alteration, or repair of rail, bus, or public transportation facilities or equipment, highway facilities (including bridges and tunnels), airports, port or marine facilities and equipment, pipelines, inland waterways, intermodal facilities and equipment, water treatment and solid waste disposal facilities, storm water management systems, dams and levees, and facilities or equipment for energy transmission, distribution, or storage. From applications received, Treasury shall select five regional infrastructure accelerators from geographically diverse regions to receive initial grants. A regional infrastructure accelerator shall use such a grant to:   assess regional approaches to advancing innovative investment in covered infrastructure projects;   develop strategies for transparency in the analysis of such projects to ensure protection of the public interest, for the bundling of smaller scale and rural projects into a larger transaction for investment, and for reducing transaction costs;   facilitate the creation of a catalog of covered infrastructure projects available for investment; and   analyze and apply project procurement methods.  Treasury shall review reports submitted by such accelerators and select four of them to receive subsequent grants. A selected accelerator may use such subsequent grant to make subgrants to public entities for covered infrastructure predevelopment costs, which may include project planning, feasibility studies, economic assessments, cost-benefit analyses, public benefit studies, design and engineering, financial planning, permitting, environmental review, assessment of the impacts on the area, workforce and wages and benefits, assessment of infrastructure vulnerability and resilience to the impacts of climate change and other risks, and public outreach and community engagement.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Regional Infrastructure Accelerator 
Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purpose of this program is to facilitate and mobilize 
investment in, and the long-term financing of, economically viable 
covered infrastructure projects of regional or national significance by 
providing funding for these projects, including through private sector 
financing, to accelerate the delivery of high-quality, critical 
infrastructure through a self-sustaining regional infrastructure 
accelerator that mitigates risk with technical expertise and best 
practices.

SEC. 3. REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE ACCELERATOR PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.

    (a) In General.--From amounts appropriated under paragraphs (1) and 
(3) of section 8, the Secretary of Treasury may establish a regional 
infrastructure accelerator program (in this section referred to as the 
``Program'') to provide grants to regional infrastructure accelerators 
to establish and administer a process for developing the priorities of 
and acquiring financing for covered infrastructure projects.
    (b) Program Structure.--The Program established pursuant to this 
Act shall include--
            (1) an initial grant to a regional infrastructure 
        accelerator that submits an application and a plan for 
        promoting investment in covered infrastructure projects; and
            (2) a subsequent grant to a regional infrastructure 
        accelerator for the purpose of awarding subgrants to one or 
        more State, local, or regional public entities to support 
        covered infrastructure projects and within the geographic area 
        represented by the regional infrastructure accelerator.

SEC. 4. INITIAL GRANTS TO REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE ACCELERATORS.

    (a) Application.--A regional infrastructure accelerator that seeks 
a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 
at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the 
Secretary may reasonably require, including a plan that describes how 
the regional infrastructure accelerator will promote investment in 
covered infrastructure projects by--
            (1) providing guidance and feedback to State, local, or 
        regional public entities on infrastructure priorities, 
        financing strategies, and other matters relating to such 
        projects;
            (2) evaluating and promoting innovative financing methods;
            (3) connecting sources of financing to the State, local, or 
        regional public entities;
            (4) establishing standards to measure life-cycle costs of 
        investments in such projects, defined as budgetary impacts of 
        the design, development or construction, operations, and 
        maintenance of an infrastructure asset;
            (5) building capacity of State and local governments to 
        evaluate and structure projects involving the investment of 
        private capital; and
            (6) providing technical assistance and information on best 
        practices with respect to such projects which shall include--
                    (A) identifying and selecting qualified advisors 
                such as infrastructure financial analysts and contract 
                negotiators;
                    (B) incorporating resiliency risk analyses into 
                project planning and design;
                    (C) preparing and reviewing requests for 
                qualifications and proposals from private sector 
                partners; and
                    (D) applying standardized analyses and processes 
                that provide quantitative data on infrastructure 
                investments, or specifically a ``value for money'' 
                analysis.
    (b) Selection.--From applications received under subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall select 5 regional infrastructure accelerators from 
geographically diverse regions to receive a grant under this section.
    (c) Structure of Regional Infrastructure Accelerators.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this Act, a regional infrastructure accelerator shall have a 
        board of directors.
            (2) Board of directors.--
                    (A) Composition.--The board of directors of a 
                regional infrastructure accelerator shall include at 
                least one representative of each State, locality, or 
                region in the area served by the regional 
                infrastructure accelerator, as nominated by a governing 
                body participating in the regional infrastructure 
                accelerator and that participated in submitting an 
                application under subsection (a).
                    (B) Duties.--The duties of the board of directors 
                shall be to--
                            (i) develop and approve of a regional 
                        infrastructure accelerator plan for their 
                        respective regional infrastructure accelerator;
                            (ii) select subgrantees for award of funds 
                        for predevelopment costs, as described in 
                        section 5; and
                            (iii) approve of and submit a report to the 
                        Secretary as described in subsection (e).
                    (C) Requirements to approve plan.--In carrying out 
                its duties under subparagraph (B)(i), the Board of 
                Directors shall consider public stakeholder input 
                from--
                            (i) a public project sponsor with 
                        experience in infrastructure financing;
                            (ii) an entity with the ability to finance 
                        covered infrastructure projects in the area 
                        served by the regional infrastructure 
                        accelerator, including private sector equity 
                        investors, public pension funds, endowments, 
                        and other financial investment funds;
                            (iii) a construction or real estate 
                        development entity with the capacity to develop 
                        covered infrastructure projects in the area 
                        served by the regional infrastructure 
                        accelerator;
                            (iv) a representative of an organized labor 
                        association or an association of workers 
                        representing labor and workplace standards;
                            (v) a legal expert with experience in 
                        contract development and execution of public 
                        private partnerships; and
                            (vi) a representative of each Federal 
                        agency or department with jurisdiction over 
                        covered infrastructure projects.
    (d) Use of Funds.--A regional infrastructure accelerator that is 
awarded a grant under this section shall use such grant to--
            (1) assess regional approaches to advancing innovative 
        investment in covered infrastructure projects;
            (2) develop strategies for--
                    (A) transparency in the analysis of covered 
                infrastructure projects to ensure protection of the 
                public interest;
                    (B) the bundling of smaller scale and rural 
                projects into a larger transaction for investment; and
                    (C) reducing transaction costs;
            (3) facilitatate the creation of a catalog of covered 
        infrastructure projects available for investment; and
            (4) analyze and apply procurement methods for covered 
        infrastructure projects, including--
                    (A) assessing taxpayer benefits of contractual 
                agreements for the management and allocation of risks 
                in infrastructure procurement;
                    (B) measuring the speed and quality of project 
                completion;
                    (C) assessing the use of contracting strategies in 
                which teams provide design, construction, financing, 
                and maintenance solutions for performance outcomes; and
                    (D) complete the report described in subsection 
                (e).
    (e) Report.--Not later than 12 months after receipt of a grant 
under this section each regional infrastructure accelerator shall 
submit to the Secretary a report, which shall include--
            (1) an update on the implementation of the plan described 
        in subsection (a);
            (2) a description of the infrastructure needs of the region 
        to be served by the regional infrastructure accelerator;
            (3) a proposal of covered infrastructure projects to be 
        accomplished through a subsequent grant awarded under section 
        4; and
            (4) the procurement strategies the regional infrastructure 
        accelerator intends to use for such covered infrastructure 
        projects.
    (f) Selection for Subsequent Grant.--The Secretary shall review the 
reports submitted under subsection (e) and select not fewer than 4 
regional infrastructure accelerators to receive a subsequent grant 
pursuant to section 4.

SEC. 5. SUBSEQUENT GRANTS TO REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE ACCELERATORS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the Secretary reviews 
the report submitted under section 4(e), and from amounts appropriated 
under section 8(2), the Secretary shall award grants to the regional 
infrastructure accelerators selected under section 4(f). A regional 
infrastructure accelerator may use a grant awarded under this section 
to make subgrants to State, local, or regional public entities for 
predevelopment costs.
    (b) Restrictions on Subgrants.--Regional infrastructure 
accelerators may make subgrants to State, local, or regional public 
entities for predevelopment costs in an amount not to exceed $300,000 
or 75 percent of the project costs, whichever is less. The subgrantee 
shall provide, or shall secure from other sources, funding for 
remaining balance of the project costs. Funds made available under this 
section for predevelopment costs cannot be used to pay for work already 
completed.
    (c) Application.--A State, local, or regional public entity may 
submit an application for a subgrant to a regional infrastructure 
accelerator that receives a grant under subsection (a) at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as the regional 
infrastructure accelerator may reasonably require.
    (d) Use of Funds.--Eligible costs shall include the following costs 
associated with covered infrastructure projects:
            (1) Project planning, feasibility studies, economic 
        assessments, cost-benefit analyses, and public benefit studies.
            (2) ``Value-for-money'' analyses.
            (3) Design and engineering.
            (4) Financial planning (including the identification of 
        funding and financing options).
            (5) Permitting, environmental review, and regulatory 
        processes.
            (6) Assessment of the impacts of potential projects on the 
        area, including the effect on communities and environment.
            (7) The workforce and wages and benefits, as well as 
        assessment of infrastructure vulnerability and resilience to 
        the impacts of climate change and other risks.
            (8) Public outreach and community engagement.

SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the effectiveness of 
the Program established under this Act. The report shall include an 
overview of the Program and findings related to the effectiveness of 
regional collaboration on infrastructure investment, infrastructure 
finance, and the utilization of procurement methods (as described in 
section 4(d)(4)).

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
            (1) Covered infrastructure project.--In this Act, the term 
        ``covered infrastructure project'' means an infrastructure 
        project--
                    (A) that is sponsored by a State, local, or 
                regional public entity; and
                    (B) that involves the construction, consolidation, 
                alteration, or repair of any of the following:
                            (i) Intercity passenger or freight rail 
                        lines.
                            (ii) Intercity passenger rail facilities or 
                        equipment.
                            (iii) Intercity freight rail facilities or 
                        equipment.
                            (iv) Intercity passenger bus facilities or 
                        equipment.
                            (v) Public transportation facilities or 
                        equipment.
                            (vi) Highway facilities, including bridges 
                        and tunnels.
                            (vii) Airports.
                            (viii) Air traffic control systems.
                            (ix) Port or marine terminal facilities, 
                        including approaches to marine terminal 
                        facilities or inland port facilities.
                            (x) Port or marine equipment, including 
                        fixed equipment to serve approaches to marine 
                        terminals or inland ports.
                            (xi) Ports of entry or border crossing 
                        infrastructure.
                            (xii) Transmission or distribution 
                        pipelines.
                            (xiii) Inland waterways.
                            (xiv) Intermodal facilities or equipment 
                        related to 2 or more of the sectors described 
                        in clauses (i) through (xiii).
                            (xv) Water treatment and solid waste 
                        disposal facilities, including drinking water 
                        facilities.
                            (xvi) Storm water management systems.
                            (xvii) Dams and levees.
                            (xviii) Facilities or equipment for energy 
                        transmission, distribution or storage.
            (2) Regional infrastructure accelerator.--The term 
        ``regional infrastructure accelerator'' means a multi-
        jurisdictional organization organized and dedicated to provide 
        technical assistance, financing options, and resources for 
        covered infrastructure projects within the jurisdictions 
        represented in such organization.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Treasury.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any 
        territory or possession of the United States.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Program 
established under this Act $25,000,000, of which--
            (1) $11,500,000 shall be used for initial grants to 
        regional infrastructure accelerator under section 3, to be 
        expended not later than 9 months after the date of enactment of 
        this Act;
            (2) $13,000,000 shall be used for subgrants to covered 
        entities under section 4, to be expended not later than 6 
        months after the submission of the final report required under 
        section 4(e); and
            (3) $500,000 shall be used for administrative costs of the 
        Program.