I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4183

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to State and local

governments for infrastructure projects in distressed areas, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 13, 1994

Miss COLLINS of Michigan introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make grants

to State and local governments for infrastructure

projects in distressed areas, 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 ‘‘Infrastructure Jobs

5 Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. DIRECT GRANTS.

7 (a) CONSTRUCTION.—The Secretary is authorized to

8 make grants to any State or local government for the con9 struction (including demolition and other site preparation
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1 activities), renovation, repair, or other improvement of

2 local public works projects, including those public works

3 projects of State and local governments for which Federal

4 financial assistance is authorized under provisions of law

5 other than this Act.

6 (b) COMPLETION OF PLANNING.—In addition, the

7 Secretary is authorized to make grants to any State or

8 local government for the completion of plans, specifica9 tions, and estimates for local public works projects where

10 either architectural design or preliminary engineering or

11 related planning has already been undertaken and where

12 additional architectural and engineering work or related

13 planning is required to permit construction of the project

14 under this Act.

15 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of any

16 project for which a grant is made under this section shall

17 be 100 percent of the cost of the project.

18 SEC. 3. GRANTS SUPPLEMENTING OTHER FEDERAL GRANT

19 PROGRAMS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the grants other21 wise authorized by this Act, the Secretary is authorized

22 to make a grant for the purpose of increasing the Federal

23 contribution to a public works project for which Federal

24 financial assistance is authorized under provisions of law

25 other than this Act.
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1 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—Any grant made for a public

2 works project under this section shall be in such amount

3 as may be necessary to make the Federal share of the

4 cost of such project 100 percent.

5 (c) LIMITATIONS.—No grant shall be made for a

6 project under this section unless the Federal financial as7 sistance for such project authorized under provisions of

8 law other than this Act is immediately available for such

9 project and construction of such project has not yet been

10 initiated because of lack of funding for the non-Federal

11 share.

12 SEC. 4. GRANTS SUPPLEMENTING STATE AND LOCAL

13 GRANT PROGRAMS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the grants other15 wise authorized by this Act, the Secretary is authorized

16 to make a grant for the purpose of providing all or any

17 portion of the required State or local share of the cost

18 of any public works project for which financial assistance

19 is authorized under any provision of State or local law re20 quiring such contribution.

21 (b) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Any grant made for a

22 public works project under this section shall be made in

23 such amount as may be necessary to provide the requested

24 State or local share of the cost of such project.
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1 SEC. 5. GENERAL LIMITATIONS.

2 (a) ACQUISITION OF LAND.—No part of any grant

3 made under section 2, 3, or 4 of this Act shall be used

4 for the acquisition of any interest in real property.

5 (b) MAINTENANCE COSTS.—Nothing in this Act shall

6 be construed to authorize the payment of maintenance

7 costs in connection with any projects constructed (in whole

8 or in part) with Federal financial assistance under this

9 Act.

10 (c) ON-SITE LABOR.—Grants made by the Secretary

11 under this Act shall be made only for projects for which

12 the applicant gives satisfactory assurances, in such man13 ner and form as may be required by the Secretary and

14 in accordance with such terms and conditions as the Sec15 retary may prescribe, that, if funds are available, on-site

16 labor can begin within 180 days of project approval.

17 (d) CONTRACTING.—

18 (1) CONTRACTING OUT REQUIRED.—No part of

19 the construction (including demolition and other site

20 preparation activities), renovation, repair, or other

21 improvement of any public works project for which

22 a grant is made under this Act shall be performed

23 directly by any department, agency, or instrumental24 ity of any State or local government.

25 (2) COMPETITIVE BIDDING.—Construction of

26 each project for which a grant is made under this
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1 Act shall be performed by contract awarded by com2 petitive bidding, unless the Secretary shall affirma3 tively find that, under the circumstances relating to

4 such project, some other method is in the public

5 interest.

6 (3) LOWEST RESPONSIVE BID.—Contracts for

7 the construction of each project for which a grant is

8 made under this Act shall be awarded only on the

9 basis of the lowest responsive bid submitted by a

10 bidder meeting established criteria of responsibility.

11 (4) ADVERTISING.—No requirement or obliga12 tion shall be imposed as a condition precedent to the

13 award of a contract to a bidder for a project for

14 which a grant is made under this Act, or to the Sec15 retary’s concurrence in the award of a contract to

16 such bidder, unless such requirement or obligation is

17 otherwise lawful and is specifically set forth in the

18 advertised specifications.

19 (e) BUY AMERICAN.—If a local public works project

20 carried out with Federal financial assistance under this

21 Act would be eligible for Federal financial assistance

22 under provisions of law other than this Act and, under

23 such other provisions of law, would be subject to title III

24 of the Act of March 3, 1933, popularly known as the Buy

25 American Act, or similar requirements, such project shall
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1 be subject to such title of such Act of March 3, 1933,

2 or such similar requirements under this Act in the same

3 manner and to the same extent as such project would be

4 subject to such title of such Act of March 3, 1933, or such

5 similar requirements under such other provisions of law.

6 (f) MINORITY PARTICIPATION.—If a local public

7 works project carried out with Federal financial assistance

8 under this Act would be eligible for Federal financial as9 sistance under provisions of law other than this Act and,

10 under such other provisions of law, would be subject to

11 any minority participation requirement, such project shall

12 be subject to such requirement under this Act in the same

13 manner and to the same extent as such project would be

14 subject to such requirement under such other provisions

15 of law.

16 (g) APPLICABILITY OF LAWS REGARDING INDIVID17 UALS WITH DISABILITIES.—Sections 504 and 505 of the

18 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Dis19 abilities Act of 1990 shall apply to local public works

20 projects carried out under this Act.

21 SEC. 6. RULES, REGULATIONS, AND PROCEDURES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, not later

23 than 30 days after date of enactment of this Act, prescribe

24 those rules, regulations, and procedures (including appli25 cation forms) necessary to carry out this Act. Such rules,
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1 regulations, and procedures shall assure that adequate

2 consideration is given to the relative needs of various sec3 tions of the country. The Secretary shall consider among

4 other factors (1) the severity and duration of unemploy5 ment in proposed project areas, (2) the income levels and

6 extent of underemployment in proposed project area, and

7 (3) the extent to which proposed projects will contribute

8 to the reduction of unemployment.

9 (b) CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS.—The Sec10 retary shall make a final determination with respect to

11 each completed application for a grant submitted under

12 this Act not later than the 60th day after the date the

13 Secretary receives such completed application. Failure to

14 make such final determination within such period shall be

15 deemed to be an approval by the Secretary of the grant

16 requested.

17 (c) CONSIDERATION OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

18 UNEMPLOYMENT.—For purposes of this section, in con19 sidering the extent of unemployment or underemployment,

20 the Secretary shall consider the amount of unemployment

21 or underemployment in the construction and construction22 related industries.
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1 SEC. 7. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS; PREFERENCES.

2 (a) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Secretary shall al3 locate funds appropriated under section 9 of this Act as

4 follows:

(1) INDIAN TRIBES.—21 5 ⁄2 percent of such funds

6 shall be set aside and shall be expended only for

7 grants for public works projects under this Act to

8 Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages. None of

9 the remainder of such funds shall be expended for

10 such grants to such tribes and villages.

11 (2) OTHERS.—After the set-aside required by

12 paragraph (1) of this subsection, 65 percent of such

13 funds shall be allocated among the States on the

14 basis of the ratio that the number of unemployed

15 persons in each State bears to the total number of

16 unemployed persons in all the States and 35 percent

17 of such funds shall be allocated among those States

18 with an average unemployment rate for the preced19 ing 6-month period in excess of 6.0 percent on the

20 basis of the relative severity of unemployment in

21 each such State, except that no State shall be allo22 cated less than three-quarters of one percent or

more than 121 23 ⁄2 percent of such funds for local pub24 lic works projects within such State, except that in

25 the case of Guam, the Virgin Islands, American

26 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
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1 Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, not less than 1 2 ⁄2 of 1 percent in the aggregate

3 shall be granted for such projects in all 5 of such

4 territories.

5 (b) PREFERENCES.—

6 (1) LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROJECTS.—In mak7 ing grants under this Act, the Secretary shall give

8 priority and preference to public works projects of

9 local governments.

10 (2) LOCALLY ENDORSED PROJECTS.—In mak11 ing grants under this Act, the Secretary shall also

12 give priority and preference to any public works

13 project requested by a State or by a special purpose

14 unit of local government which is endorsed by a gen15 eral purpose local government within such State.

16 (c) HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES.—

17 (1) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this

18 Act, if for the 12 most recent consecutive months,

19 the average national unemployment rate is equal to

20 or exceeds 6.0 percent, the Secretary shall (A) expe21 dite and give priority to applications submitted by

22 States or local governments having unemployment

23 rates for the 12 most recent consecutive months in

24 excess of the national unemployment rate, and (B)

25 shall give priority thereafter to applications submit-
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1 ted by States or local governments having average

2 unemployment rates for the 12 most recent consecu3 tive months in excess of 6.0 percent, but less than

4 the national unemployment rate.

5 (2) INFORMATION REGARDING UNEMPLOYMENT

6 RATES.—Information regarding unemployment rates

7 may be furnished either by the Federal Government,

8 or by States or local governments, provided the Sec9 retary (A) determines that the unemployment rates

10 furnished by States or local governments are accu11 rate, and (B) shall provide assistance to States or

12 local governments in the calculation of such rates to

13 ensure validity and standardization.

14 (3) LIMITATION ON APPLICABILITY.—Para15 graph (1) of this subsection shall not apply to any

16 State which receives a minimum allocation pursuant

17 to paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of this section.

18 (d) STATE AND LOCAL PRIORITIZATION OF APPLICA19 TIONS.—Whenever a State or local government submits

20 applications for grants under this Act for 2 or more

21 projects, such State or local government shall submit as

22 part of such applications its priority for each such project.

23 (e) LOCALIZATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT DETERMINA24 TIONS.—The unemployment rate of a local government

25 shall, for the purposes of this Act, and upon request of
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1 the applicant, be based upon the unemployment rate of

2 any community or neighborhood (defined without regard

3 to political or other subdivisions or boundaries) within the

4 jurisdiction of such local government.

5 SEC. 8. PREVAILING RATE OF WAGES.

6 If a local public works project carried out with Fed7 eral financial assistance under this Act would be eligible

8 for Federal financial assistance under provisions of law

9 other than this Act and, under such other provisions of

10 law, would be subject to the Act of March 3, 1931, known

11 as the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 276a–276a–5), or

12 similar requirements, such project shall be subject to such

13 Act of March 3, 1931, or such similar requirements under

14 this Act in the same manner and to the same extent as

15 such project would be subject to such Act of March 3,

16 1931, or such similar requirements under such other pro17 visions of law.

18 SEC. 9. FUNDING.

19 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

20 this Act not to exceed $10,000,000,000.

21 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

22 As used in this Act, the following definitions apply:

23 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

24 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Eco25 nomic Development Administration.
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1 (2) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local

2 government’’ means any city, county, town, parish,

3 or other political subdivision of a State, and any In4 dian tribe.

5 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the

6 several States, the District of Columbia, the Com7 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,

8 Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the

9 Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory

10 of the Pacific Islands.

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