```

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5446 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5446

To establish a program to fund electric public transportation in rural 
                              communities.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 5, 2024

   Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To establish a program to fund electric public transportation in rural 
                              communities.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Electrifying Rural Transportation 
Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. RURAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Electric bus.--The term ``electric bus'' means a 
        battery-electric or plug-in hybrid bus.
            (2) Electric vehicle.--The term ``electric vehicle''--
                    (A) means a battery-electric or plug-in hybrid 
                vehicle; and
                    (B) includes an electric bus.
            (3) Eligible recipient.--The term ``eligible recipient'' 
        means a State or Indian tribe that is eligible for a grant 
        under section 5311 of title 49, United States Code.
            (4) Microtransit.--The term ``microtransit''--
                    (A) means a technology-enabled service that--
                            (i) uses multi-passenger vehicles to 
                        provide shared-ride on-demand services with 
                        dynamically generated routing; and
                            (ii) is traditionally provided in a 
                        designated service area; and
                    (B) includes service models such as--
                            (i) first mile or last mile connections to 
                        fixed route services;
                            (ii) hub to hub zone-based services;
                            (iii) the commingling of ADA complementary 
                        paratransit services with general transit 
                        service; and
                            (iv) point-to-point service within a 
                        specific zone or geographic area.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Transportation.
    (b) Grant Program.--The Secretary shall award grants to eligible 
recipients, in accordance with the formula under section 5311(c) of 
title 49, United States Code, for the electrification of buses, 
microtransit vehicles, and other public transportation fleet vehicles.
    (c) Eligible Projects.--An eligible recipient may use a grant 
received under subsection (b)--
            (1) to purchase--
                    (A) an electric bus;
                    (B) an electric vehicle, other than an electric 
                bus, used for microtransit; or
                    (C) charging infrastructure;
            (2) to renovate a bus facility by upgrading existing 
        charging infrastructure or adding new charging infrastructure; 
        or
            (3) for operating assistance for electric public 
        transportation, including electric vehicles.
    (d) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary may use not more than 5 
percent of the amounts made available to carry out this section for a 
fiscal year to provide technical assistance to eligible recipients.
    (e) Workforce Development Training.--An eligible recipient may use 
not more than 5 percent of the amount of a grant received under 
subsection (b) for workforce development training for a transit agency 
in a rural area, as defined in section 5302 of title 49, United States 
Code, including--
            (1) costs associated with obtaining proper operating and 
        driving licenses for electric vehicles;
            (2) the cost of training for operations and maintenance of 
        electric buses and other electric vehicles; and
            (3) the cost of training for operations and maintenance of 
        charging equipment for electric vehicles.
    (f) Applicability of Section 5311 Requirements.--The requirements 
under section 5311 of title 49, United States Code, (other than 
subsection (f)) shall apply with respect to a grant awarded under this 
section in the same manner as if the grant were awarded under such 
section 5311.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $500,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.
                                 <all>
```