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106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5384

To establish a pilot program to encourage the use of alternative fuel vehicles

in public transportation, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 4, 2000

Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself and Mr. LAZIO) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To establish a pilot program to encourage the use of alternative fuel vehicles in public transportation, 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 ‘‘Alternative Fuel Vehi5 cles Intermodal Transportation Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act, the following definitions apply:

8 (1) ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLE.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘alternative

2 fuel vehicle’’ means a motor vehicle that is pow3 ered by—

4 (i) in whole or in part, electricity, in5 cluding that supplied by a fuel cell that is

6 not powered by gasoline or diesel;

7 (ii) liquefied natural gas;

8 (iii) compressed natural gas;

9 (iv) liquefied petroleum gas;

10 (v) hydrogen; or

11 (vi) methanol at no less than 85 per12 cent by volume.

13 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘alternative

14 fuel vehicle’’ shall not include any vehicle capa15 ble of operating solely on gasoline or diesel.

16 (2) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro17 gram’’ means the grant program established under

18 section 4(a).

19 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

20 the Secretary of Transportation.

21 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

22 The purpose of this Act is—

23 (1) to establish a pilot program to demonstrate

24 the use of alternative fuel vehicles in linked systems

25 of transportation, enhance the usefulness of public
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1 transportation systems, protect the environment, and

2 speed the deployment of alternative fuel vehicle tech3 nology; and

4 (2) to encourage partnerships between the pub5 lic and private sectors.

6 SEC. 4. ALTERNATIVE FUELS INTERMODAL TRANSPOR7 TATION PILOT PROGRAM.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

9 competitive grant program to assist States, localities, and

10 governmental authorities to purchase, operate, and facili11 tate the use of alternative fuel vehicles in linked transpor12 tation systems.

13 (b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—To receive Federal assist14 ance under the pilot program, a proposal shall—

15 (1) have been made in accordance with the ap16 plication requirements of subsection (e);

17 (2) include only projects that provide new op18 tions in a locality for moving passengers or goods in

19 alternative fuel vehicles; and

20 (3) include at least one project to enable pas21 sengers or goods to be transferred directly from one

22 alternative fuel vehicle to another in a linked trans23 portation system.

24 (c) FUNDING LIMITATIONS.—
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1 (1) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Sec2 retary shall not provide grants to more than 15 ap3 plicants under the pilot program.

4 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall

5 not provide more than $20,000,000 in Federal as6 sistance under the pilot program to any applicant.

7 (3) COST SHARING.—

8 (A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share

9 of the cost of any project under the pilot pro10 gram shall not exceed 50 percent of the eligible

11 costs of the project.

12 (B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—Funds appor13 tioned to a State under section 104(b)(2) of

14 title 23, United States Code, for the congestion

15 mitigation and air quality improvement pro16 gram may be used by the State to pay for the

17 non-Federal share of the cost of any project

18 under the pilot program.

19 (4) MAXIMUM PERIOD OF GRANTS.—No appli20 cant may receive Federal assistance under the pilot

21 program for more than 5 years.

22 (d) ALLOWABLE PROJECT COSTS.—The cost of a

23 project eligible for Federal assistance under the pilot pro24 gram may include only the following:
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1 (1) The purchase of alternative fuel vehicles,

2 including—

3 (A) passenger vehicles;

4 (B) buses used for public transportation or

5 transportation to and from schools;

6 (C) delivery vehicles for goods or services;

7 (D) ground support vehicles at public air8 ports, including vehicles to carry baggage or

9 push airplanes away from terminal gates; and

10 (E) two-wheel bikes, scooters, or other ve11 hicles for use by law enforcement personnel or

12 other State or local government employees.

13 (2) Infrastructure necessary to directly support

14 a project, including fueling and other support equip15 ment.

16 (3) Operation and maintenance of vehicles, in17 frastructure, and equipment purchased as part of a

18 project with Federal assistance under the pilot pro19 gram.

20 (e) PROPOSALS.—The Secretary shall issue require21 ments for applying for grants under the pilot program.

22 At a minimum, the Secretary shall require that applica23 tions be submitted by the head of a State or local govern24 ment or a metropolitan transportation authority, or any

25 combination thereof, and include—
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1 (1) an estimate of the ridership or degree of use

2 of the projects proposed in the application;

3 (2) an estimate of the air pollution emissions

4 reduced and fossil fuel displaced as a result of the

5 projects and a plan to collect and disseminate envi6 ronmental data over the life of the projects;

7 (3) a description of other existing modes of

8 transportation to which the projects will connect or

9 the degree to which proposed modes of transpor10 tation will be linked;

11 (4) a description of how the projects will be

12 sustainable without Federal assistance after the

13 completion of the term of the demonstration;

14 (5) a complete description of the costs of the

15 project, including acquisition, construction, oper16 ation, and maintenance costs over the expected life

17 of the project; and

18 (6) a description of which costs will be sup19 ported by Federal assistance and which by assist20 ance from non-Federal partners, including State and

21 local governments and private entities.

22 (f) CRITERIA.—In evaluating applications under the

23 pilot program, the Secretary shall consider each appli24 cant’s previous experience involving alternative fuel vehi25 cles and shall approve the proposals that—
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1 (1) are most likely to maximize—

2 (A) protection of the environment, includ3 ing reductions in air pollution emissions and the

4 ability of the proposal to help achieve national,

5 State, or local air quality goals;

6 (B) enhancement of the local or national

7 public transportation system, especially the de8 gree to which the proposal connects various

9 modes of transportation;

10 (C) nationwide deployment of innovative

11 transportation technology or important new

12 configurations of intermodal transportation sys13 tems that increase the use of alternative fuel

14 vehicles;

15 (D) the amount of goods transported or

16 number of riders served; and

17 (E) stimulation of the national or regional

18 economy;

19 (2) demonstrate the greatest commitment on

20 the part of the applicant to fund the proposal and

21 the greatest likelihood that each project in the pro22 posal will be maintained and expanded after Federal

23 assistance is exhausted; and

24 (3) assure a broad geographic distribution of

25 project sites.
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1 (g) SCHEDULE.—

2 (1) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 90 days

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec4 retary shall publish in the Federal Register, and

5 elsewhere as appropriate, a request for proposals to

6 undertake projects under the pilot program. Applica7 tions for such proposals shall be due within 180

8 days of the publication of the notice.

9 (2) SELECTION.—Not later than 180 days after

10 the date by which applications for grants are due,

11 the Secretary shall select all proposals to be carried

12 out under the pilot program.

13 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

14 Not later than 36 months after the date of enactment

15 of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to the Committee

16 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of

17 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,

18 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report

19 containing—

20 (1) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the

21 pilot program including an assessment of the bene22 fits to the environment derived from the projects in23 cluded in the pilot program as well as an estimate

24 of the potential benefits to the environment to be de-
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1 rived from widespread application of such intermodal

2 transportation activities;

3 (2) an identification of other applicants that

4 submitted project applications for the pilot program;

5 and

6 (3) a description of the mechanisms used by the

7 Secretary to ensure that the information and know8 how gained by participants in the pilot program is

9 transferred among the pilot program participants

10 and to other interested parties, including other ap11 plicants that submitted project applications.

12 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATIONS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro14 priated $200,000,000 to carry out this Act.

15 (b) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts appro16 priated to carry out this Act shall remain available until

17 expended.

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