I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4352 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a transformational 

infrastructure competitive grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2012 

Mr. HIGGINS (for himself, Ms. HAHN, and Mr. CONYERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 

transformational infrastructure competitive grant 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 ‘‘Nation Building Here 

5 at Home Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSFORMATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE COMPETI7 TIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 270 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of TransVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:11 Apr 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4352.IH H4352

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1 portation shall establish a transformational infrastructure 

2 competitive grant program to assist infrastructure 

3 projects with the potential to significantly impact a metro4 politan area, a region, or all of the United States. 

5 (b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the pro6 gram established under subsection (a), the Secretary may 

7 make a grant, on a competitive basis, to any of the fol8 lowing: 

9 (1) A State government. 

10 (2) A local government. 

11 (3) A transit agency. 

12 (4) A port authority. 

13 (c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant made under sub15 section (b) may be used for any of the following, if 

16 the Secretary determines that the project will signifi17 cantly impact a metropolitan area, a region, or all 

18 of the United States: 

19 (A) A highway or bridge project eligible 

20 under title 23, United States Code, including 

21 interstate rehabilitation, improvements to the 

22 rural collector road system, the reconstruction 

23 of overpasses and interchanges, bridge replace24 ments, bridge painting, seismic retrofit projects 

25 for bridges, and road realignments. 


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1 (B) A public transportation project eligible 

2 under chapter 53 of title 49, United States 

3 Code, including investment in a project partici4 pating in the New Starts or Small Starts pro5 grams that will expedite the completion of that 

6 project and its entry into revenue service. 

7 (C) A passenger or freight rail transpor8 tation project. 

9 (D) A port infrastructure investment, in10 cluding a project that connects ports to other 

11 modes of transportation and improves the effi12 ciency of freight movement. 

13 (E) An aviation infrastructure project. 

14 (F) A water infrastructure project. 

15 (2) COORDINATION.—With respect to a project 

16 described in paragraph (1)(F), the Secretary shall 

17 coordinate any grant for such a project with the Ad18 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

19 and the Secretary of the Army (acting through the 

20 Chief of Engineers). 

21 (d) APPLICATIONS AND CRITERIA FOR GRANT

22 AWARDS.— 

23 (1) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant 

24 made under subsection (b), an entity described in 

25 paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4) of that subsection 


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1 shall submit to the Secretary an application in such 

2 form, at such time, and containing such information 

3 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

4 (2) CRITERIA FOR GRANT AWARDS.—Not later 

5 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this 

6 Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations specifying 

7 the criteria that the Secretary will use to make 

8 grants on a competitive basis under subsection (b). 

9 (3) FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS.—The criteria 

10 specified by the Secretary under paragraph (2) shall 

11 include criteria for the consideration of— 

12 (A) whether there are financial commit13 ments in place with respect to a proposed 

14 project; 

15 (B) the degree of certainty with respect to 

16 such financial commitments; and 

17 (C) whether such financial commitments 

18 are from non-Federal sources. 

19 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

20 of a project assisted with a grant made under subsection 

21 (b) may not exceed 100 percent of that cost. 

22 (f) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making grants under sub23 section (b), the Secretary shall ensure, to the extent prac24 ticable, that the grants— 


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1 (1) are distributed geographically in an equi2 table manner; 

3 (2) address the needs of both urban and rural 

4 areas appropriately; 

5 (3) promote the training and employment of 

6 veterans, including by having applicable contractors 

7 provide to veterans a preference during the hiring 

8 and referral of laborers; and 

9 (4) are utilized in a manner that ensures an ap10 propriate percentage of grant amounts are expended 

11 through small business concerns owned and con12 trolled by socially and economically disadvantaged 

13 individuals (as determined by the Secretary). 

14 (g) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 40.—Each project con15 ducted using funds provided with a grant made under sub16 section (b) shall comply with the requirements of sub17 chapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. 

18 (h) BUY AMERICA.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—None of the funds made 

20 available for a project under this Act may be used 

21 for the project unless all of the iron, steel, and man22 ufactured goods used in the project are produced in 

23 the United States. 


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1 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

2 apply in any case or category of cases in which the 

3 Secretary finds that— 

4 (A) applying paragraph (1) would be in5 consistent with the public interest; 

6 (B) iron, steel, or the relevant manufac7 tured goods are not produced in the United 

8 States in sufficient and reasonably available 

9 quantities or to a satisfactory quality; or 

10 (C) inclusion of iron, steel, and manufac11 tured goods produced in the United States will 

12 increase the cost of the overall project by more 

13 than 25 percent. 

14 (3) JUSTIFICATIONS.—If the Secretary deter15 mines that it is necessary to waive the application of 

16 paragraph (1) based on a finding under paragraph 

17 (2), the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Reg18 ister a detailed justification for the waiver. 

19 (4) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.—This sub20 section shall be applied in a manner consistent with 

21 United States obligations under international agree22 ments. 

23 (i) TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—In car24 rying out the program established under subsection (a), 

25 the Secretary shall— 


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1 (1) take actions to ensure that grants made 

2 under subsection (b) are utilized as expeditiously 

3 and efficiently as possible; 

4 (2) make available to the public, on an appro5 priate Web site of the Department of Transpor6 tation, information on each grant made under sub7 section (b); and 

8 (3) submit to Congress, not later than 1 year 

9 after the first grant is made under subsection (b), 

10 and annually thereafter, information on grants made 

11 under subsection (b), including the progress made 

12 on projects funded by such grants. 

13 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the pro15 gram established under subsection (a) the following: 

16 (1) $250,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2013. 

17 (2) $250,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

18 (3) $250,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2015. 

19 (4) $250,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2016. 

20 (5) $250,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2017. 

21 SEC. 3. NATION BUILDING HERE AT HOME FINANCING INI22 TIATIVE. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of TransporVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:11 Apr 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4352.IH H4352

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1 tation, shall establish a Nation Building Here at Home 

2 Financing Initiative in accordance with this section. 

3 (b) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE BONDS.—In carrying out 

4 the initiative established under subsection (a), the Sec5 retary of the Treasury may issue bonds. The aggregate 

6 face amount of bonds issued under this subsection may 

7 not exceed $300,000,000,000. 

8 (c) CHARACTERISTICS OF BONDS.—Bonds issued 

9 under subsection (b) shall be issued in such amounts, bear 

10 such rates of interest, and be subject to such terms and 

11 conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. 

12 (d) USE OF BOND PROCEEDS.—The Secretary of the 

13 Treasury shall make available to the Secretary of Trans14 portation the proceeds resulting from bonds issued under 

15 subsection (b). The Secretary of Transportation may use 

16 such proceeds only to carry out the program established 

17 under section 2(a) of this Act. 

18 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

19 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

20 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit 

21 to Congress a comprehensive report describing the trans22 portation needs of the United States for each of the fol23 lowing: 

24 (1) The 20-year period beginning on the date of 

25 enactment of this Act. 


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1 (2) The 30-year period beginning after the pe2 riod described in paragraph (1). 

3 (3) The 50-year period beginning after the pe4 riod described in paragraph (2). 

Æ 


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