I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7587 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue a notice of proposed 

rulemaking with respect to categorical exclusions of the Maritime Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2024 

Mrs. PELTOLA (for herself and Mr. ROUZER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue a notice 

of proposed rulemaking with respect to categorical exclusions of the Maritime Administration, 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 ‘‘Port Optimization for 

5 Responsible Transportation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MARITIME ADMINISTRATION. 

2 (a) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.— 

3 (1) RECIPROCAL USE OF CATEGORICAL EXCLU4 SIONS.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 

5 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor6 tation shall issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to 

7 establish that the Maritime Administrator shall ap8 prove any action qualifying as a categorical exclusion 

9 established by the Federal Highway Administration, 

10 the Federal Transit Administration, or the Federal 

11 Railroad Administration, as outlined in part 771 of 

12 title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, when the ap13 plicable requirements of that categorical exclusion 

14 have been met. 

15 (2) NEW CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 

17 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

18 the Secretary shall publish a notice of proposed 

19 rulemaking to propose new Maritime Adminis20 tration categorical exclusions for port authority 

21 projects that require the approval of the Sec22 retary under the National Environmental Policy 

23 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

24 (B) EXPANDING LIST.—The Maritime Ad25 ministration’s list of categorical exclusions shall 

26 be expanded with the goal of having a list that 


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1 allows the Maritime Administration to issue 

2 categorical exclusions that maritime port au3 thorities would typically use, independently of 

4 the lists of other Department of Transportation 

5 modal agencies, including categorical exclu6 sions— 

7 (i) corresponding to project types that 

8 have typically been granted a Finding of 

9 No Significant Impact in past Maritime 

10 Administration-granted projects and could 

11 feasibly be categorical exclusions; and 

12 (ii) that the Secretary determines 

13 would be useful to maritime port authori14 ties in the course of Federal grant-funded 

15 projects. 

16 (3) PROCESS FOR REGULAR UPDATES.—The 

17 Secretary shall include in the rule required by para18 graph (2) a process by which the Maritime Adminis19 tration will update the list of categorical exclusions 

20 every 4 years to reflect lessons learned in grant ad21 ministration and project construction that lead to 

22 new efficiencies in the requirements of the National 

23 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

24 et seq.). 


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1 (b) APPLICATION TIMELINES.—Section 54301(a)(5) 

2 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

3 the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(C) DELAYED NOTICE OF FUNDING OP5 PORTUNITY.—If an amendment is made to a 

6 published solicitation for grant applications 

7 such that an applicant would need the informa8 tion contained in the amendment to draft an 

9 application, other than an amendment of the 

10 amount of grant funding available, the Sec11 retary shall extend the application deadline by 

12 the number of days between the initial solicita13 tion and the amendment.’’. 

14 (c) PROJECT BUDGET REVIEWS.—Section 

15 54301(a)(9) of title 46, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

17 the end; 

18 (2) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period 

19 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘(D) grant contracts are approved effi22 ciently by the Secretary, minimizing delays for 

23 minor adjustments to project scopes and budg24 ets due to inflationary effects on projects.’’. 


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1 (d) STAFFING AND GRANT TIMELINES.—Section 

2 54301(a)(11) of title 46, United States Code, is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATIVE AND OVERSIGHT

5 REPORT.—Not later than 365 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this subparagraph, 

7 and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall 

8 submit to Congress a report on the average 

9 length of grant obligation timelines and the na10 ture of any staffing shortages relevant to ad11 ministering this program.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. FEDERAL PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT STEERING 

13 COUNCIL. 

14 Section 41001(6)(A)(i)(II) of the FAST Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 4370m(6)(A)(i)(II)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, ex16 cept for projects sponsored by a port authority’’ after 

17 ‘‘$200,000,000’’. 

18 SEC. 4. BUILD AMERICA BUY AMERICA. 

19 (a) LIMITED WAIVERS.—Section 54301(a)(11) of 

20 title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION OF DOMESTIC SUP23 PLY.—If the Secretary denies an application for 

24 a waiver under the procedures outlined in sec25 tion 8301 of title 41, the Secretary shall proVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:25 Apr 22, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587

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1 vide to the applicant a written certification 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(i) the steel, iron, or manufactured 

4 goods, as applicable (referred to in this 

5 subparagraph as the ‘item’), is produced in 

6 the United States in a sufficient and rea7 sonably available amount; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the item produced in the United 

9 States is of a satisfactory quality; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) includes a list of known manu11 facturers in the United States from which 

12 the item can be obtained.’’. 

13 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con14 gress that, to build the necessary domestic manufacturing 

15 capabilities, port authorities should be permitted to make 

16 group or pooled purchases of equipment, also known as 

17 ‘‘piggybacking’’, in which the post-award use of a contrac18 tual document allows multiple port authorities to purchase 

19 the same supplies or equipment through the original con20 tractual document. 

Æ 


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