I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 227 

To provide dedicated funding for the national infrastructure investment 

program and the capital investment grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2021 

Mr. HASTINGS (for himself and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 provide dedicated funding for the national infrastructure 

investment program and the capital investment 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 ‘‘Build America Act of 

5 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor4 tation shall carry out a national infrastructure investment 

5 program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘program’’) 

6 for capital investments in surface transportation infra7 structure in accordance with the requirements of this sec8 tion. 

9 (b) DISCRETIONARY GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 

10 distribute funds made available to carry out the program 

11 as discretionary grants to be awarded to a State, local gov12 ernment, or transit agency, or a collaboration among such 

13 entities, on a competitive basis for projects that will have 

14 a significant impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area, 

15 or a region. 

16 (c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Projects that are eligible 

17 for funding under the program include, at a minimum, 

18 the following: 

19 (1) Highway and bridge projects eligible under 

20 title 23, United States Code. 

21 (2) Public transportation projects eligible under 

22 chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code. 

23 (3) Passenger and freight rail transportation 

24 projects. 

25 (4) Port infrastructure investments (including 

26 inland port infrastructure and land ports of entry). 


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1 (d) TIFIA.—The Secretary may use up to 20 percent 

2 of the funds made available to carry out the program for 

3 a fiscal year for the purpose of paying the subsidy and 

4 administrative costs of projects eligible for Federal credit 

5 assistance under chapter 6 of title 23, United States Code, 

6 if the Secretary finds that such use of the funds would 

7 advance the purposes of the program. 

8 (e) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—In distributing funds 

9 provided under the program, the Secretary shall take 

10 measures to ensure— 

11 (1) an equitable geographic distribution of 

12 funds; 

13 (2) an appropriate balance in addressing the 

14 needs of urban and rural areas; and 

15 (3) investment in a variety of transportation 

16 modes. 

17 (f) FAIR CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary shall en18 sure that— 

19 (1) eligible projects receive fair consideration 

20 under the program; and 

21 (2) funds made available to carry out the pro22 gram are used to provide funding for eligible 

23 projects to the maximum extent practicable. 


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1 (g) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant funded under the 

2 program shall be not less than $5,000,000 and not greater 

3 than $45,000,000. 

4 (h) AWARDS IN SINGLE STATE.—Not more than 10 

5 percent of the funds made available under the program 

6 for a fiscal year may be awarded to projects in a single 

7 State. 

8 (i) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

9 costs for which an expenditure is made under the program 

10 shall be, at the option of the recipient, up to 80 percent. 

11 (j) PRIORITY PROJECTS.—In carrying out the pro12 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to projects that re13 quire a contribution of Federal funds in order to complete 

14 an overall financing package. 

15 (k) RURAL AREAS.— 

16 (1) SET ASIDE.—Not less than 20 percent of 

17 the funds provided under the program for a fiscal 

18 year shall be for projects located in rural areas (as 

19 defined in section 101(a) of title 23, United States 

20 Code). 

21 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS; FEDERAL SHARE.—For 

22 projects located in rural areas— 

23 (A) the minimum grant size under the pro24 gram shall be $1,000,000; and 


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1 (B) the Secretary may increase the Fed2 eral share of costs above 80 percent. 

3 (l) WAGE RATE REQUIREMENTS.—Projects con4 ducted using funds provided under the program must com5 ply with the requirements of subchapter IV of chapter 31 

6 of title 40, United States Code. 

7 (m) ANNUAL COMPETITIONS.—For each fiscal year, 

8 the Secretary shall conduct a new competition to select 

9 projects for grants and credit assistance awarded under 

10 the program. 

11 (n) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—To fund the 

12 award and oversight of grants and credit assistance made 

13 under the program, the Secretary may— 

14 (1) retain up to $25,000,000 of the funds pro15 vided to carry out the program for a fiscal year, in16 cluding to appoint and fix the pay of additional per17 sonnel; and 

18 (2) transfer portions of those funds to the Ad19 ministrators of the Federal Highway Administration, 

20 the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal 

21 Railroad Administration, and the Maritime Adminis22 tration. 

23 (o) PERIOD FOR OBLIGATION OF FUNDS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Funds made available for a 

25 fiscal year to carry out the program shall remain 


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1 available to the Secretary for obligation under the 

2 program for a period of 3 years after the last day 

3 of the fiscal year for which the funds are authorized. 

4 (2) TRANSFER OF UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.—Any 

5 amounts made available to carry out the program 

6 that remain unobligated at the end of the 3-year pe7 riod referred to in paragraph (1) shall be transferred 

8 to the Highway Trust Fund. 

9 (p) FUNDING.—There shall be available, without fur10 ther appropriation, from the National Infrastructure In11 vestment Trust Fund for expenditure by the Secretary to 

12 carry out the program $3,000,000,000 for each fiscal 

13 year. 

14 SEC. 3. FIXED GUIDEWAY CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANTS. 

15 (a) FUNDING.—There shall be available from the Na16 tional Infrastructure Investment Trust Fund, without fur17 ther appropriation, for expenditure by the Secretary of 

18 Transportation to carry out section 5309 of title 49, 

19 United States Code, $9,000,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

20 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amounts 

21 made available for a fiscal year under subsection (a) to 

22 carry out section 5309 of title 49, United States Code, 

23 the Secretary may retain not more than 1 percent of the 

24 total funds made available to carry out such section to 

25 administer the award and oversee grants made under the 


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1 program, including to appoint and fix the pay of additional 

2 personnel. 

3 (c) PERIOD FOR OBLIGATION OF FUNDS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Funds made available for a 

5 fiscal year under subsection (a) to carry out section 

6 5309 of title 49, United States Code, shall remain 

7 available to the Secretary for obligation under that 

8 section for a period of 4 years after the last day of 

9 the fiscal year for which the funds are authorized. 

10 (2) TRANSFER OF UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.—Any 

11 amounts made available under subsection (a) to 

12 carry out section 5309 of title 49, United States 

13 Code, that remain unobligated at the end of the 4- 

14 year period referred to in paragraph (1) shall be de15 posited in the Highway Trust Fund. 

16 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the 

18 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

19 the end thereof the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 9512. NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT 

21 TRUST FUND. 

22 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab23 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 

24 to be known as the ‘National Infrastructure Investment 

25 Trust Fund’, consisting of such amounts as may be approVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H227.IH H227

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1 priated or credited to the National Infrastructure Invest2 ment Trust Fund as provided in this section or section 

3 9602(b). 

4 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER TO NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN5 VESTMENT TRUST FUND OF AMOUNTS EQUIVALENT TO

6 CERTAIN TAXES.—There are hereby appropriated to the 

7 National Infrastructure Investment Trust Fund amounts 

8 equivalent to 25 percent of the portion of the taxes re9 ceived in the Treasury under the rates described in clauses 

10 (i) and (iii) of section 4081(a)(2)(A), and section 

11 4081(a)(2)(D), but only to the extent such amounts are 

12 attributable to the increase in rates under such clauses, 

13 and such section, by reason of the amendments made by 

14 section 5 of the Build America Act of 2021. For purposes 

15 of the preceding sentence, taxes received under section 

16 4041 and 4081 shall be determined without reduction for 

17 credits under section 6426. 

18 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM NATIONAL INFRASTRUC19 TURE INVESTMENT TRUST FUND.—Amounts in the Na20 tional Infrastructure Investment Trust Fund shall be 

21 available, without further appropriation, to the Secretary 

22 of Transportation for making expenditures after October 

23 1, 2020, under section 5309 of title 49, United States 

24 Code, pursuant to the authorization in section 3 of the 

25 Build America Act of 2021.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal Revenue 

3 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end thereof 

4 the following new items: 

‘‘Sec. 9512. National Infrastructure Investment Trust Fund.’’. 

5 SEC. 5. INCREASE IN TAX ON MOTOR FUELS. 

6 (a) GASOLINE OTHER THAN AVIATION GASOLINE.— 

7 Section 4081(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

8 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘18.3 cents’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘53.3 cents’’. 

10 (b) DIESEL FUEL OR KEROSENE.—Section 

11 4081(a)(2)(A)(iii) of such Code is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘24.3 cents’’ and inserting ‘‘59.3 cents’’. 

13 (c) INCREASE FOR INFLATION.—Section 4081(a)(2) 

14 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing new subparagraph: 

16 ‘‘(E) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—In 

17 the case of any calendar year beginning after 

18 2021, the rates of tax contained in clauses (i) 

19 and (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall each be in20 creased by an amount equal to— 

21 ‘‘(i) such rate, multiplied by 

22 ‘‘(ii) the cost of living adjustment de23 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal24 endar year, determined by substituting 


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1 ‘calendar year 2020’ for ‘calendar year 

2 1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof. 

3 Any increase under the preceding sentence shall 

4 be rounded to the nearest 0.1 cents.’’. 

5 (d) DIESEL-WATER FUEL EMULSION.—Section 

6 4081(a)(2)(D) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘sub7 stituting ‘‘19.7 cents’’ for ‘‘24.3 cents’’.’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘substituting a rate equal to 81 percent of the rate in ef9 fect for the calendar year under such subparagraph.’’. 

10 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply to fuels removed, entered, or sold 

12 after October 1, 2021. 

13 SEC. 6. HIGHWAY TRUST FUND. 

14 (a) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL INFRASTRUC15 TURE INVESTMENT TRUST FUND.—Section 9503(b)(4) of 

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph (C), by striking the pe18 riod at the end of subparagraph (D) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, 

19 and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

20 ‘‘(E) clauses (i) and (iii) of section 

21 4081(a)(2)(A), and section 4081(a)(2)(D), but 

22 only to the extent of amounts equivalent to the 

23 portion of such taxes as are appropriated to the 

24 National Infrastructure Investment Trust Fund 

25 under section 9513(b).’’. 


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1 (b) MASS TRANSIT PORTION ADJUSTED.—Section 

2 9503(e)(2)(A) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘2.86 

3 cents’’ and inserting ‘‘6.25 cents’’. 

4 (c) TRANSFER OF UNOBLIGATED NATIONAL INFRA5 STRUCTURE INVESTMENT AMOUNTS.—Section 9503(f) of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesig7 nating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11) and by inserting 

8 after paragraph (9) the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(10) FURTHER TRANSFERS TO TRUST

10 FUND.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby ap12 propriated to the Highway Trust Fund 

13 amounts to be transferred to the Trust Fund 

14 pursuant to sections 2(o) and 3(c)(2) of the 

15 Build America Act of 2021. 

16 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER OF PORTION TO MASS

17 TRANSIT ACCOUNT.—From such amounts, the 

18 Secretary shall transfer to the Mass Transit Ac19 count so much as bears the same ratio to such 

20 amount as the mass transit portion (as defined 

21 in subsection (e)(2)) bears to all taxes imposed 

22 with respect to fuel by sections 4041 and 4081 

23 and otherwise deposited into the Highway Trust 

24 Fund.’’. 

Æ 


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