I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7192 

To amend chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, to establish a program 

to provide public transportation agencies with grants to be used during 

a disaster declaration. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2020 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, to 

establish a program to provide public transportation 

agencies with grants to be used during a disaster declaration. 

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 ‘‘Transit Reliability, Ac5 knowledgment, Investment and Need Act of 2020’’ or the 

6 ‘‘TRAIN Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR EMERGENCY OPERATIONS 

2 FUNDING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION DURING 

3 MAJOR DISASTERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 5341. Emergency and continuity of operations dur8 ing disaster declarations 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—The 

10 Secretary of Transportation shall establish a program to 

11 provide public transportation agencies with grants to be 

12 used during a State disaster declaration. 

13 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBLE AGENCIES.—A public 

14 transportation agency is eligible to participate in the pro15 gram if the agency— 

16 ‘‘(1) at the time of application, receives funds 

17 (or eligible for such funds) under the surface trans18 portation block grant program under section 133 of 

19 title 23; 

20 ‘‘(2) for each of the 3 years before the date of 

21 application, has received funding (or eligible for such 

22 funds) for a public transportation project under this 

23 chapter; and 

24 ‘‘(3) submits an application as described in sub25 section (c). 


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1 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—In accordance with such re2 quirements as the Secretary may by rule establish, each 

3 application for a grant under this section shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) include a strategy and detailed implemen5 tation plan that reflects consultation with commu6 nity groups and appropriate stakeholders, and shall 

7 specify how the transit agency will continue oper8 ations during a disaster declaration; 

9 ‘‘(2) assess the public transportation agency’s 

10 ability to operate during a disaster declaration; 

11 ‘‘(3) identify how the grant will ensure con12 tinuity of public transportation services and meet 

13 applicable safety and health standards requirements 

14 under subsection (i) during such disaster declara15 tion; 

16 ‘‘(4) demonstrate the agency’s plan to provide 

17 no-cost transportation for general transportation 

18 service, premium transportation service, and para19 transit services during the time period under which 

20 such disaster declaration; 

21 ‘‘(5) include the total of revenue losses as of the 

22 date of application caused by the disaster declara23 tion and a projection of such future losses antici24 pated during the course of such disaster declaration 

25 and shall include an analysis and description of such 


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1 revenue losses following the 6-month period fol2 lowing the expected termination of such disaster dec3 laration; 

4 ‘‘(6) describe the mechanisms to be employed 

5 by the public transportation agency to protect em6 ployees from exposure to the conditions generating 

7 the disaster declaration; 

8 ‘‘(7) provide a list of protocol and supplies that 

9 will be used to clean and disinfect surfaces impacted 

10 by the events generating the disaster declaration; 

11 ‘‘(8) include a list of protective gear to be used 

12 by public transit employees that will reduce em13 ployee exposure to the conditions generating the dis14 aster declaration; 

15 ‘‘(9) identify related governmental and commu16 nity initiatives which compliment or will be coordi17 nated with the proposal; 

18 ‘‘(10) certify that there has been appropriate 

19 coordination with all appropriate agencies; and 

20 ‘‘(11) additional information as required by the 

21 Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(d) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE.—Funds provided under 

23 this section may be expended for— 


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1 ‘‘(1) providing continued services during the 

2 pandemic or disaster declaration, consistent with the 

3 requirements under subsection (i); 

4 ‘‘(2) stabilization of fare prices for passengers 

5 during the period of such disaster declaration; 

6 ‘‘(3) no-cost public transportation services dur7 ing such disaster declaration; 

8 ‘‘(4) provision of new or supplemental public 

9 transportation service bus routes, or bus rapid sys10 tems; and 

11 ‘‘(5) procurement of personal protective gear 

12 and equipment needed to protect employees from 

13 hazards generated or originating from the disaster 

14 declaration. 

15 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULE ON EXPENDITURES AND MIN16 IMUM REQUIREMENT FOR ELIGIBILITY OF FUNDS.—A 

17 public transportation agency receiving grant funds under 

18 this section shall provide assistance to the general public 

19 under subsection (d)(3) and (d)(4) during the disaster 

20 declaration period and, subsequently, for a period of 6 

21 months after the termination of such disaster declaration. 

22 ‘‘(f) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under this 

24 section may not exceed $5,000,000,000. 

25 ‘‘(2) RENEWALS OF CERTAIN GRANTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A grant may be re2 newed during the disaster declaration period, 

3 provided the public transportation agency— 

4 ‘‘(i) submits to the Secretary an appli5 cation for renewal at such time, in such 

6 manner, and containing such information 

7 as the Secretary may require; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates in such application 

9 for renewal that— 

10 ‘‘(I) the initial grant was used in 

11 a manner required under the most re12 cently approved application; and 

13 ‘‘(II) the public transportation 

14 agency has made progress in achiev15 ing the objectives of the initial appli16 cation approved for the public trans17 portation agency under this section. 

18 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

20 appropriated to carry out this section 

21 $50,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 and 

22 2021. 

23 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Funds authorized to be 

24 appropriated under this section shall remain avail25 able until expended. 


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1 ‘‘(h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed to limit a project from receiving 

3 a grant under this section while simultaneously receiving 

4 funds for associated transit improvement or capital 

5 projects. 

6 ‘‘(i) REQUIRED CERTIFICATION OF SAFETY AND

7 HEALTH PROTOCOL.—A public transportation agency 

8 shall certify with the Secretary every 7 days that any use 

9 of funds under subsection (d) meet applicable health and 

10 safety standards and guidance by the Centers for Disease 

11 Control issued during the disaster declaration for pas12 sengers and employees of the public transportation agency 

13 that includes a description of the compliance mechanisms 

14 employed by such agency. 

15 ‘‘(j) ANNUAL REPORTS.—A public transportation 

16 agency that receives funds under this section during a fis17 cal year shall submit to the Secretary a description and 

18 an evaluation report on a date specified by the Secretary 

19 regarding the progress such projects have made to make 

20 transportation access points accessible to persons with 

21 limited mobility. 

22 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) DISASTER DECLARATION.—The term ‘dis24 aster declaration’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an emergency involving Federal pri2 mary responsibility determined to exist by the 

3 President under section 501(b) of the Robert T. 

4 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist5 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191(b)); 

6 ‘‘(B) a national emergency declared by the 

7 President under the National Emergencies Act 

8 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); 

9 ‘‘(C) an emergency declared by a Federal 

10 official with respect to coronavirus (as defined 

11 in section 506 of the Coronavirus Preparedness 

12 and Response Supplemental Appropriations 

13 Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–123)); or 

14 ‘‘(D) a public health emergency declared 

15 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

16 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 

17 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247(d)) with respect to 

18 COVID–19 or any other coronavirus with pan19 demic potential. 

20 ‘‘(2) GENERAL TRANSPORTATION SERVICE.— 

21 The term ‘general transportation service’ means a 

22 transportation service that is subject to the same 

23 base fare established by the transportation agency 

24 for local or general service. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PREMIUM TRANSPORTATION SERVICE.— 

2 The term ‘premium transportation service’ means a 

3 transportation service that is not a general transpor4 tation service. 

5 ‘‘(4) PARATRANSIT SERVICES.—The term ‘para6 transit services’ means service to individuals with 

7 disabilities that is comparable to the level of service 

8 provided to individuals without disabilities who use 

9 routes operated by the public transportation agen10 cy.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

12 for chapter 53 of subtitle III of title 49, United States 

13 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec14 tion 5340 the following new item: 

‘‘5341. Emergency and continuity of operations during disaster declarations.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 

16 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in the Fed18 eral Register interim final rules implementing this title, 

19 which shall allow eligible public transportation agencies to 

20 immediately apply for funds under section 5341 of title 

21 49, United States Code (as added by section 2). Notwith22 standing section 553 of title 5, United States Code, the 

23 regulation shall be effective, on an interim basis, imme24 diately upon publication, but may be subject to change and 

25 revision after public notice and opportunity for a period 


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1 of public comment. The Secretary shall finalize such rules 

2 not later than 90 days after the date of publication. 

Æ 


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