II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 614 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to improve the transportation 

alternatives program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2021 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to improve the 

transportation alternatives program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Alter5 natives Enhancements Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM. 

7 (a) SET-ASIDE.—Section 133(h)(1) of title 23, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘RESERVATION

10 OF FUNDS’’ and inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL’’; and 


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1 (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

2 by striking ‘‘for each fiscal year’’ and all that follows 

3 through the period at the end of subparagraph 

4 (B)(ii) and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 2022 and each 

5 fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary shall set aside 

6 an amount equal to 10 percent to carry out this sub7 section.’’. 

8 (b) ALLOCATION.—Section 133(h) of title 23, United 

9 States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (2) and 

10 inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION WITHIN A STATE.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

13 subparagraph (B), funds set aside for a State 

14 under paragraph (1) shall be obligated within 

15 that State in the manner described in sub16 section (d), except that, for purposes of this 

17 paragraph (after funds are made available 

18 under paragraph (5))— 

19 ‘‘(i) for fiscal year 2022 and each fis20 cal year thereafter, the percentage referred 

21 to in paragraph (1)(A) of that subsection 

22 shall be deemed to be 66 percent; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) paragraph (3) of subsection (d) 

24 shall not apply. 


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1 ‘‘(B) LOCAL CONTROL.—A State may allo2 cate up to 100 percent of the funds referred to 

3 in subparagraph (A)(i) if— 

4 ‘‘(i) the State submits to the Sec5 retary a plan that describes— 

6 ‘‘(I) how funds will be allocated 

7 to counties, metropolitan planning or8 ganizations, regional transportation 

9 planning organizations as described in 

10 section 135(m), or local governments; 

11 ‘‘(II) how the entities described 

12 in subclause (I) will carry out a com13 petitive process to select projects for 

14 funding and report selected projects 

15 to the State; 

16 ‘‘(III) how input was gathered 

17 from the entities described in sub18 clause (I) to ensure those entities are 

19 able and willing to comply with the re20 quirements of this subsection; and 

21 ‘‘(IV) how the State will comply 

22 with paragraph (8); and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary approves the plan 

24 submitted under clause (i).’’. 


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1 (c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Section 133(h)(3) of title 

2 23, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘reserved’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘set aside’’. 

4 (d) ACCESS TO FUNDS.—Section 133(h)(4) of title 

5 23, United States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by striking subparagraph (A); 

7 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub8 paragraph (A); 

9 (3) in subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated)— 

10 (A) by redesignating clauses (vii) and (viii) 

11 as clauses (viii) and (ix), respectively; 

12 (B) by inserting after clause (vi) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(vii) a metropolitan planning organi15 zation that serves an urbanized area with 

16 a population of 200,000 or fewer;’’; 

17 (C) in clause (viii) (as so redesignated), by 

18 striking ‘‘responsible’’ and all that follows 

19 through ‘‘programs’’; and 

20 (D) in clause (ix) (as so redesignated), by 

21 inserting ‘‘that serves an urbanized area with a 

22 population of over 200,000’’ after ‘‘metropoli23 tan planning organization’’; and 

24 (4) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) COMPETITIVE PROCESS.—A State or 

2 metropolitan planning organization required to 

3 obligate funds in accordance with paragraph (2) 

4 shall develop a competitive process to allow eli5 gible entities to submit projects for funding 

6 that achieve the objectives of this subsection. 

7 ‘‘(C) SELECTION.—A metropolitan plan8 ning organization for an area described in sub9 section (d)(1)(A)(i) shall select projects under 

10 the competitive process described in subpara11 graph (B) in consultation with the relevant 

12 State. 

13 ‘‘(D) PRIORITIZATION.—The competitive 

14 process described in subparagraph (B) shall in15 clude prioritization of project location and im16 pact in high-need areas as defined by the State, 

17 such as low-income, transit-dependent, rural, or 

18 other areas.’’. 

19 (e) CONTINUATION OF CERTAIN RECREATIONAL

20 TRAILS PROJECTS.—Section 133(h)(5)(A) of title 23, 

21 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘reserved 

22 under this section’’ and inserting ‘‘set aside under this 

23 subsection’’. 

24 (f) STATE FLEXIBILITY.—Section 133(h)(6) of title 

25 23, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘reserved’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘set aside’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(C) IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY AND EFFI5 CIENCY.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A State may use 

7 an amount equal to not more than 5 per8 cent of the funds set aside for the State 

9 under this subsection, after allocating 

10 funds in accordance with paragraph 

11 (2)(A), to improve the ability of applicants 

12 to access funding for projects under this 

13 subsection in an efficient and expeditious 

14 manner by— 

15 ‘‘(I) providing to applicants for 

16 projects under this subsection applica17 tion assistance, technical assistance, 

18 and assistance in reducing the period 

19 of time between the selection of the 

20 project and the obligation of funds for 

21 the project; and 

22 ‘‘(II) by providing funding for 1 

23 or more full-time State employee posi24 tions to administer this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts used 

2 under clause (i) may be expended— 

3 ‘‘(I) directly by the State; or 

4 ‘‘(II) through contracts with 

5 State agencies, private entities, or 

6 nonprofit entities.’’. 

7 (g) FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 133(h) of title 23, 

8 United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para10 graph (8); and 

11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(7) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) REQUIRED AGGREGATE NON-FED15 ERAL SHARE.—The average annual non-Federal 

16 share of the total cost of all projects for which 

17 funds are obligated under this subsection in a 

18 State for a fiscal year shall be not less than the 

19 non-Federal share authorized for the State 

20 under section 120(b). 

21 ‘‘(B) FLEXIBLE FINANCING.—Subject to 

22 subparagraph (A), notwithstanding section 

23 120— 

24 ‘‘(i) funds made available to carry out 

25 section 148 may be credited toward the 


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1 non-Federal share of the costs of a project 

2 under this subsection if the project— 

3 ‘‘(I) is an eligible project de4 scribed in section 148(e)(1); and 

5 ‘‘(II) contributes to the annual 

6 safety performance targets of the 

7 State; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the non-Federal share for a 

9 project under this subsection may be cal10 culated on a project, multiple-project, or 

11 program basis; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) the Federal share of the cost of 

13 an individual project in this section may be 

14 up to 100 percent.’’. 

15 (h) IMPROVED TRANSPARENCY.—Paragraph (8)(A) 

16 of section 133(h) of title 23, United States Code (as redes17 ignated by subsection (g)(1)), is amended— 

18 (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by strik19 ing ‘‘describes’’ and inserting ‘‘includes’’; and 

20 (2) by striking clause (ii) and inserting the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(ii) a list of each project selected for 

23 funding for each fiscal year, including, for 

24 each project— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the fiscal year during which 

2 the project was selected; 

3 ‘‘(II) the fiscal year in which the 

4 project is anticipated to be funded; 

5 ‘‘(III) the recipient; 

6 ‘‘(IV) the location, including the 

7 congressional district; 

8 ‘‘(V) the type; and 

9 ‘‘(VI) a brief description.’’. 

10 (i) STATE TRANSFERABILITY.—Section 126(b)(2) of 

11 title 23, United States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) by striking the period at the end and insert13 ing ‘‘; and’’; 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘for a fiscal year may’’ and in15 serting the following: ‘‘for a fiscal year— 

16 ‘‘(A) may’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(B) may only be transferred if the Sec19 retary certifies that the State— 

20 ‘‘(i) held a competition in compliance 

21 with the guidance issued to carry out sec22 tion 133(h) and provided sufficient time 

23 for applicants to apply; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) offered to each eligible entity, 

2 and provided on request of an eligible enti3 ty, technical assistance; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) demonstrates that there were 

5 not sufficiently suitable applications from 

6 eligible entities to use the funds to be 

7 transferred.’’. 

8 (j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend9 ments made by this section shall take effect on October 

10 1, 2021. 

Æ 


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