I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7248 

To authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and 

transit programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 18, 2020 

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. 

GIBBS, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. BABIN, Mr. 

GRAVES of Louisiana, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. BOST, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 

LAMALFA, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. SMUCKER, Mr. MAST, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. SPANO, Mr. STAUBER, Mrs. MILLER, Mr. 

PENCE, Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto Rico, and Mr. WITTMAN) 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 authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety 

programs, and transit programs, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Surface Transportation Advanced through Reform, 


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1 Technology, and Efficient Review Act’’ or the ‘‘STARTER 

2 Act’’. 

3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

4 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

DIVISION A—SURFACE TRANSPORTATION 

Sec. 1001. Extension of Federal surface transportation programs. 

Sec. 1002. Extension of highway trust fund expenditure authority. 

Sec. 1003. Extension of highway-related taxes. 

Sec. 1004. Additional contract authority. 

Sec. 1005. Effective date. 

TITLE I—FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS 

Subtitle A—Authorizations and Programs 

Sec. 1101. Nationally significant freight and highway projects. 

Sec. 1102. National highway freight program. 

Sec. 1103. Truck parking safety improvement. 

Sec. 1104. Temporary Federal share for Federal-aid highway projects. 

Sec. 1105. Consolidated funding program. 

Subtitle B—Acceleration of Project Delivery 

Sec. 1201. Environmental reviews for major projects. 

Sec. 1202. Efficient environmental reviews for project decision making. 

Sec. 1203. Application of categorical exclusions for transportation projects. 

Sec. 1204. Air quality and conformity. 

Sec. 1205. Agreements relating to use of and access to rights-of-way Interstate 

System. 

Sec. 1206. Permits for dredged or fill material. 

Sec. 1207. Pilot program on use of innovative practices for environmental reviews. 

TITLE II—INNOVATIVE PROJECT FINANCE 

Sec. 2001. Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 1998 

temporary loan relief due to COVID-19. 

TITLE III—PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION 

Sec. 3001. Short title. 

Sec. 3002. Urbanized area formula grants. 

Sec. 3003. Fixed guideway capital investment grants. 

Sec. 3004. Enhanced mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 3005. Formula grants for rural areas. 

Sec. 3006. Non-emergency medical transportation. 

Sec. 3007. Technical assistance and workforce development. 

Sec. 3008. General provisions. 

Sec. 3009. Apportionments. 

Sec. 3010. Grants for bus and bus facilities. 


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Sec. 3011. Elimination of apportionments based on high density State factors. 

Sec. 3012. Innovative mobility and technology deployment grants. 

TITLE IV—HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY 

Sec. 4001. Funding and grant requirements. 

Sec. 4002. Highway safety research and development. 

Sec. 4003. National priority safety programs. 

Sec. 4004. National priority safety program grant eligibility. 

TITLE V—MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY 

Sec. 5001. Funding and grant requirements. 

Sec. 5002. Compliance, safety, and accountability reform. 

Sec. 5003. Entry-level driver training regulations. 

Sec. 5004. Trucking industry workforce development. 

Sec. 5005. Hours of service requirements for agricultural operations. 

TITLE VI—INNOVATION 

Sec. 6001. Advanced transportation technologies program. 

Sec. 6002. Connected vehicle deployment pilot program. 

Sec. 6003. Automated driving system demonstration program. 

Sec. 6004. Accelerated implementation and deployment of advanced digital construction management systems. 

Sec. 6005. Innovative project delivery methods. 

Sec. 6006. Surface transportation system funding alternatives. 

Sec. 6007. Surface transportation system road usage charge national pilot. 

TITLE VII—RESILIENCY 

Sec. 7001. Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and 

Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) grant program. 

Sec. 7002. National highway performance program. 

Sec. 7003. Resiliency in transit. 

Sec. 7004. Highway emergency relief and resiliency. 

Sec. 7005. Highway resiliency incentives. 

Sec. 7006. Guidance on inundated and submerged roads. 

Sec. 7007. Guidance on evacuation routes. 

Sec. 7008. Definitions. 

Sec. 7009. University transportation centers. 

Sec. 7010. Pre-disaster hazard mitigation pilot program. 

1 DIVISION A—SURFACE 

2 TRANSPORTATION 

3 SEC. 1001. EXTENSION OF FEDERAL SURFACE TRANSPOR4 TATION PROGRAMS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

6 this Act, the requirements, authorities, conditions, eligi7 bilities, limitations, and other provisions authorized under 


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1 the covered laws, which would otherwise expire on or cease 

2 to apply after September 30, 2020, are incorporated by 

3 reference and shall continue in effect through September 

4 30, 2025. 

5 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 (1) HIGHWAY TRUST FUND.— 

7 (A) HIGHWAY ACCOUNT.—There is author8 ized to be appropriated from the Highway Ac9 count for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

10 2025, for each program with respect to which 

11 amounts are authorized to be appropriated from 

12 such account for fiscal year 2020, an amount 

13 equal to 110 percent of the amount authorized 

14 for appropriation with respect to the program 

15 from such account under the covered laws for 

16 fiscal year 2020. 

17 (B) MASS TRANSIT ACCOUNT.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated from the Mass 

19 Transit Account for each of fiscal years 2021 

20 through 2025, for each program with respect to 

21 which amounts are authorized to be appro22 priated from such account for fiscal year 2020, 

23 an amount equal to 110 percent of the amount 

24 authorized for appropriation with respect to the 


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1 program from such account under the covered 

2 laws for fiscal year 2020. 

3 (2) GENERAL FUND.—There is authorized to be 

4 appropriated for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

5 2025, for each program with respect to which 

6 amounts are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 

7 year 2020 from an account other than the Highway 

8 Account or the Mass Transit Account under the ti9 tles specified in subsection (e)(1)(A), an amount 

10 equal to the amount authorized for appropriation 

11 with respect to the program under such titles for fis12 cal year 2020. 

13 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Subject to section 1004(b), 

14 amounts authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal 

15 years 2021 through 2025 with respect to a program under 

16 subsection (b) shall be distributed, administered, limited, 

17 and made available for obligation in the same manner as 

18 amounts authorized to be appropriated with respect to the 

19 program for fiscal year 2020 under the covered laws. 

20 (d) OBLIGATION LIMITATION.—Subject to section 

21 1004(d), a program for which amounts are authorized to 

22 be appropriated under subsection (b)(1) shall be subject 

23 to a limitation on obligations for each of fiscal years 2021 

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1 ner as the limitation applicable with respect to the pro2 gram for fiscal year 2020. 

3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi4 nitions apply: 

5 (1) COVERED LAWS.—The term ‘‘covered laws’’ 

6 means the following: 

7 (A) Titles I, III, IV, V, and VI of division 

8 A of the FAST Act (Public Law 114–94). 

9 (B) Division A, division B, subtitle A of 

10 title I and title II of division C, and division E 

11 of MAP–21 (Public Law 112–141). 

12 (C) Titles I, II, and III of the SAFETEA– 

13 LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (Public 

14 Law 110–244). 

15 (D) Titles I, II, III, IV, V, and VI of 

16 SAFETEA–LU (Public Law 109–59). 

17 (E) Titles I, II, III, IV, and V of the 

18 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 

19 (Public Law 105–178). 

20 (F) Titles II, III, and IV of the National 

21 Highway System Designation Act of 1995 

22 (Public Law 104–59). 

23 (G) Title I, part A of title II, title III, title 

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1 face Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 

2 (Public Law 102–240). 

3 (H) Title 23, United States Code. 

4 (I) Subtitle IV of Title 40, United States 

5 Code. 

6 (J) Sections 116, 117, 330, and 5505 and 

7 chapters 53, 303, 311, 313, 701, and 702 of 

8 title 49, United States Code. 

9 (2) HIGHWAY ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘Highway 

10 Account’’ means the portion of the Highway Trust 

11 Fund that is not the Mass Transit Account. 

12 (3) MASS TRANSIT ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘Mass 

13 Transit Account’’ means the portion of the Highway 

14 Trust Fund established under section 9503(e)(1) of 

15 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

16 SEC. 1002. EXTENSION OF HIGHWAY TRUST FUND EXPENDI17 TURE AUTHORITY. 

18 Section 9503 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

19 is amended— 

20 (a) by striking ‘‘October 1, 2020’’ in subsections 

21 (b)(6)(B), (c)(1), and (e)(3) and inserting ‘‘October 1, 

22 2021’’; and 

23 (b) by striking ‘‘FAST Act’’ in subsections (c)(1) and 

24 (e)(3) and inserting ‘‘STARTER Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 1003. EXTENSION OF HIGHWAY-RELATED TAXES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

3 (1) Each of the following provisions of the In4 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘September 30, 2022’’ and inserting ‘‘September 

6 30, 2025’’: 

7 (A) Section 4041(a)(1)(C)(iii)(I). 

8 (B) Section 4041(m)(1)(B). 

9 (C) Section 4081(d)(1). 

10 (2) Each of the following provisions of such 

11 Code is amended by striking ‘‘October 1, 2022’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘October 1, 2025’’: 

13 (A) Section 4041(m)(1)(A). 

14 (B) Section 4051(c). 

15 (C) Section 4071(d). 

16 (D) Section 4081(d)(3). 

17 (b) EXTENSION OF TAX, ETC., ON USE OF CERTAIN

18 HEAVY VEHICLES.—Each of the following provisions of 

19 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘2023’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘2025’’: 

21 (1) Section 4481(f). 

22 (2) Subsections (c)(4) and (d) of section 4482. 

23 (c) FLOOR STOCKS REFUNDS.—Section 6412(a)(1) 

24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

25 (1) by striking ‘‘October 1, 2022’’ each place it 

26 appears and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2025’’; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘March 31, 2023’’ each place it 

2 appears and inserting ‘‘March 31, 2025’’; and 

3 (3) by striking ‘‘January 1, 2023’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘January 1, 2025’’. 

5 (d) EXTENSION OF CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS.— 

6 (1) Section 4221(a) of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘October 1, 

8 2022’’ and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2025’’. 

9 (2) Section 4483(i) of such Code is amended by 

10 striking ‘‘October 1, 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘October 

11 1, 2025’’. 

12 (e) EXTENSION OF TRANSFERS OF CERTAIN

13 TAXES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9503 of the Internal 

15 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

16 (A) in subsection (b)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘October 1, 2022’’ 

18 each place it appears in paragraphs (1) 

19 and (2) and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2025’’; 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘OCTOBER 1, 2022’’ in 

21 the heading of paragraph (2) and inserting 

22 ‘‘OCTOBER 1, 2025’’; 

23 (iii) by striking ‘‘September 30, 

24 2022’’ in paragraph (2) and inserting 

25 ‘‘September 30, 2025’’; and 


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1 (iv) by striking ‘‘July 1, 2023’’ in 

2 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘July 1, 

3 2025’’; and 

4 (B) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘July 

5 1, 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘July 1, 2025’’. 

6 (2) MOTORBOAT AND SMALL-ENGINE FUEL TAX

7 TRANSFERS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraphs (3)(A)(i) 

9 and (4)(A) of section 9503(c) of such Code are 

10 each amended by striking ‘‘October 1, 2022’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2025’’. 

12 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO LAND

13 AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND.—Section 

14 200310 of title 54, United States Code, is 

15 amended by striking ‘‘October 1, 2023’’ each 

16 place it appears and inserting ‘‘October 1, 

17 2025’’; and (ii) by striking ‘‘October 1, 2022’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2025.’’ 

19 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2020. 

21 SEC. 1004. ADDITIONAL CONTRACT AUTHORITY. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of law, for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, 

24 any excess amount authorized to be appropriated from the 


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1 Highway Account or the Mass Transit Account shall be 

2 distributed as described in subsection (b). 

3 (b) ADJUSTMENT TO CORE ACCOUNT PROGRAMS.— 

4 For each fiscal year in which an excess amount as de5 scribed in subsection (a) is authorized to be appropriated 

6 from the Highway Account or the Mass Transit Account, 

7 the Secretary shall— 

8 (1) under section 1001 of this Act make avail9 able for core account programs authorized from such 

10 account an amount equal to the amount authorized 

11 for such programs in fiscal year 2020 under the 

12 FAST Act; 

13 (2) under this section, make available an addi14 tional amount for such programs equal to the excess 

15 amount authorized to be appropriated as described 

16 in subsection (a); and 

17 (3) distribute the additional amount under 

18 paragraph (2) to each of such core account pro19 grams in accordance with subsection (c). 

20 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF ADJUSTMENT AMONG CORE

21 ACCOUNT PROGRAMS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—In making an adjustment 

23 for core account programs authorized from the 

24 Highway Account or the Mass Transit Account for 


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1 a fiscal year under subsection (b), the Secretary 

2 shall— 

3 (A) determine the ratio that— 

4 (i) the amount authorized to be ap5 propriated for a core account program 

6 from the account for fiscal year 2020; 

7 bears to 

8 (ii) the total amount authorized to be 

9 appropriated for such fiscal year for all 

10 core account programs under such account; 

11 (B) multiply the ratio determined under 

12 subparagraph (A) by the amount of the adjust13 ment under subsection (b)(2); and 

14 (C) adjust the amount that the Secretary 

15 would otherwise have allocated for the core ac16 count program for the fiscal year by the 

17 amount calculated under subparagraph (B). 

18 (2) FORMULA PROGRAMS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), for a program for which funds are 

21 distributed by formula, the Secretary shall add 

22 the adjustment to the amount authorized for 

23 the program but for this section and make 

24 available the adjusted program amount for such 

25 program in accordance with such formula. 


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1 (B) EXCEPTION.—In making the adjust2 ment under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

3 shall exclude subsections (b)(4), (b)(5)(D), and 

4 (b)(6) of section 104 of title 23, United States 

5 Code, from the formula calculations. 

6 (3) AVAILABILITY FOR OBLIGATION.—Adjusted 

7 amounts under this subsection shall be available for 

8 obligation and administered in the same manner as 

9 other amounts made available for the program for 

10 which the amount is adjusted. 

11 (4) SPECIAL RULE.— 

12 (A) ADJUSTMENT.—In making an adjust13 ment under subsection (c)(1) for an allocation, 

14 reservation, or set-aside from an amount au15 thorized from the Highway Account or Mass 

16 Transit Account referred to in subparagraph 

17 (B), the Secretary shall— 

18 (i) determine the ratio that— 

19 (I) the amount authorized to be 

20 appropriated for the allocation, res21 ervation, or set-aside from the account 

22 for fiscal year 2020; bears to 

23 (II) the total amount authorized 

24 to be appropriated for such fiscal year 


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1 for all core account programs under 

2 such account; 

3 (ii) multiply the ratio determined 

4 under clause (i) by the amount of the ad5 justment determined under subsection 

6 (b)(2); and 

7 (iii) adjust the amount that the Sec8 retary would have allocated for the alloca9 tion, reservation, or set-aside for the fiscal 

10 year but for this section by the amount 

11 calculated under clause (ii). 

12 (B) ALLOCATIONS, RESERVATIONS, AND

13 SET-ASIDES.—The allocations, reservations, and 

14 set-asides referred to in subparagraph (A) 

15 are— 

16 (i) the amount reserved for a fiscal 

17 year under section 133(h)(1)(A); 

18 (ii) the amount set aside for a fiscal 

19 year for the National Highway Freight 

20 Program under section 104(b)(5); 

21 (iii) supplemental funds reserved for a 

22 fiscal year for the National Highway Per23 formance Program under section 

24 104(h)(1); and 


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1 (iv) supplemental funds reserved for a 

2 fiscal year for the surface transportation 

3 block grant program under section 

4 104(h)(2). 

5 (d) REVISION TO OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS.—If the 

6 Secretary makes an adjustment under subsection (b) for 

7 a fiscal year to an amount subject to a limitation on obli8 gations imposed by any other provision of law— 

9 (1) such limitation on obligations for such fiscal 

10 year shall be revised by an amount equal to such ad11 justment; and 

12 (2) the Secretary shall distribute such limita13 tion on obligations, as revised under paragraph (1), 

14 in accordance with such provisions. 

15 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi16 nitions apply— 

17 (1) HIGHWAY ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘Highway 

18 Account’’ means the portion of the Highway Trust 

19 Fund that is not the Mass Transit Account. 

20 (2) MASS TRANSIT ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘Mass 

21 Transit Account’’ means the Mass Transit Account 

22 of the Highway Trust Fund established under sec23 tion 9503(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

24 1986. 


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1 (3) CORE ACCOUNT PROGRAMS.—The term 

2 ‘‘core account programs’’ means— 

3 (A) the National Highway Performance 

4 Program under section 119 of title 23, United 

5 States Code; 

6 (B) the Surface Transportation Block 

7 Grant Program under section 133 of title 23, 

8 United States Code; 

9 (C) the Highway Safety Improvement Pro10 gram under section 148 of title 23, United 

11 States Code; 

12 (D) the National Highway Freight Pro13 gram under section 167 of title 23, United 

14 States Code; and 

15 (E) the Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

16 Program under section 5311 of title 49, United 

17 States Code. 

18 (4) EXCESS AMOUNT.—The term ‘‘excess 

19 amount’’ means— 

20 (A) the amount authorized to be appro21 priated for a fiscal year from the Highway Ac22 count or the Mass Transit Account; minus 

23 (B) the amount authorized to be appro24 priated for fiscal year 2020 from such account 

25 under the FAST Act (Public Law 114–94). 


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1 SEC. 1005. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

3 take effect on October 1, 2020. 

4 TITLE I—FEDERAL-AID 

5 HIGHWAYS 

6 Subtitle A—Authorizations and 

7 Programs 

8 SEC. 1101. NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT FREIGHT AND HIGH9 WAY PROJECTS. 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated out of the 

11 Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Ac12 count) for the nationally significant freight and highway 

13 projects program under section 117 of title 23, United 

14 States Code, such sums as may be necessary for each of 

15 fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 

16 SEC. 1102. NATIONAL HIGHWAY FREIGHT PROGRAM. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated out of the 

18 Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Ac19 count) for the national highway freight program under 

20 section 167 of title 23, United States Code, such sums 

21 as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

22 2025. 

23 SEC. 1103. TRUCK PARKING SAFETY IMPROVEMENT. 

24 (a) PARKING FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES.—Chapter 

25 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding 

26 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 171. Truck parking safety improvement 

2 ‘‘(a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall pro3 vide grants under this section, on a competitive basis, for 

4 projects to provide parking for commercial motor vehicles 

5 on Federal-aid highways or on a facility with reasonable 

6 access to— 

7 ‘‘(1) a Federal-aid highway; or 

8 ‘‘(2) a freight facility. 

9 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant 

10 under this subsection, an entity shall submit to the Sec11 retary an application at such time and in such manner 

12 as the Secretary may require. 

13 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—An application 

14 under subsection (b) shall contain— 

15 ‘‘(1) a description of the proposed project; and 

16 ‘‘(2) any other information that the Secretary 

17 may require. 

18 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The following entities 

19 shall be eligible to receive amounts under this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) A State. 

21 ‘‘(2) Any public agency carrying out responsibil22 ities relating to commercial motor vehicle parking. 

23 ‘‘(3) A metropolitan planning organization. 

24 ‘‘(4) A local government. 

25 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An entity may use funds 

2 provided under this section only for projects de3 scribed in paragraph (2) that are located— 

4 ‘‘(A) on a Federal-aid highway; or 

5 ‘‘(B) on a facility with reasonable access 

6 to— 

7 ‘‘(i) a Federal-aid highway; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) a freight facility. 

9 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS DESCRIBED.—A project re10 ferred to in paragraph (1) is a project to— 

11 ‘‘(A) construct safety rest areas (as such 

12 term is defined in section 120(c)) that include 

13 parking for commercial motor vehicles; 

14 ‘‘(B) construct commercial motor vehicle 

15 parking facilities— 

16 ‘‘(i) adjacent to private commercial 

17 truck stops and travel plazas; 

18 ‘‘(ii) within the boundaries of, or adja19 cent to, a publicly owned freight facility, 

20 including a port terminal operated by a 

21 public authority; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) at existing facilities, including 

23 inspection and weigh stations and park24 and-ride locations; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) convert existing weigh stations and 

2 rest areas to facilities for the exclusive use of 

3 commercial motor vehicle parking. 

4 ‘‘(f) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Entities may use alloca6 tions under this subsection for the following activi7 ties of an eligible project: 

8 ‘‘(A) Development phase activities, includ9 ing planning, feasability analysis, benefit-cost 

10 analysis, environmental review, preliminary en11 gineering and design work, and other 

12 preconstruction activities. 

13 ‘‘(B) Construction, reconstruction, rehabili14 tation, acquisition of real property, environ15 mental mitigation, construction contingencies, 

16 acquisition of equipment, and operational im17 provements directly related to expanding com18 mercial motor vehicle parking. 

19 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—An entity may not use more 

20 than 10 percent of a grant under this subsection for 

21 activities described in paragraph (1)(A). 

22 ‘‘(g) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this sub23 section, the Secretary shall give priority to entities that— 

24 ‘‘(1) demonstrate a safety need for commercial 

25 motor vehicle parking capacity in the corridor in 


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1 which the project described under subsection (e)(1) 

2 is proposed to be carried out; 

3 ‘‘(2) have consulted with affected State and 

4 local governments, trucking organizations, and pri5 vate providers of commercial motor vehicle parking; 

6 ‘‘(3) demonstrate that the project described 

7 under subsection (e)(1) will likely— 

8 ‘‘(A) increase commercial motor vehicle 

9 parking capacity; 

10 ‘‘(B) facilitate the efficient movement of 

11 freight; and 

12 ‘‘(C) improve highway safety, traffic con13 gestion, and air quality; and 

14 ‘‘(4) demonstrate the ability to provide for the 

15 maintenance and operation cost necessary to keep 

16 the facility available for use after completion of con17 struction. 

18 ‘‘(h) FEDERAL SHARE.—Notwithstanding any other 

19 provision of law, the Federal share for a project carried 

20 out under this subsection shall be 90 percent. 

21 ‘‘(i) TREATMENT OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding sec22 tion 126, funds made available under this subsection shall 

23 remain available until expended and shall not be transfer24 able. 


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1 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITION ON CHARGING FEES.—To be eligi2 ble for a grant under this section, an entity shall agree 

3 that no fees will be charged for a commercial motor vehicle 

4 to access and park at any part of the facility constructed 

5 with funds made available under this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(k) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—Not less than 3 

7 days before making a grant for a project under this sec8 tion, the Secretary shall notify, in writing, the Committee 

9 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 

10 Representatives and the Committee on Environment and 

11 Public Works of the Senate of— 

12 ‘‘(1) the amount of each proposed grant to be 

13 made under this subsection; and 

14 ‘‘(2) the evaluation and justification for the 

15 project selection. 

16 ‘‘(l) SURVEY AND COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

18 after the date of enactment of this subsection, and 

19 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary, in consulta20 tion with appropriate State motor carrier safety per21 sonnel and State departments of transportation, 

22 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 

23 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

24 and the Committee on Environment and Public 

25 Works of the Senate a report that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) evaluates the capability of the States 

2 to provide adequate parking and rest facilities 

3 for commercial motor vehicles engaged in inter4 state transportation; 

5 ‘‘(B) evaluates the effectiveness of the 

6 projects funded under this subsection in im7 proving access to truck parking; 

8 ‘‘(C) evaluates the ability of entities receiv9 ing a grant under this subsection to sustain the 

10 operation of parking facilities constructed with 

11 funds provided under this subsection; and 

12 ‘‘(D) reports on the progress being made 

13 to provide adequate commercial motor vehicle 

14 parking facilities in the State. 

15 ‘‘(2) RESULTS.—The Secretary shall make the 

16 report under paragraph (1) available to the public 

17 on the website of the Department of Transportation. 

18 ‘‘(m) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.—Notwithstanding 

19 any other provision of law, a project carried out under this 

20 section shall be treated as if the project is located on a 

21 Federal-aid highway under this chapter. 

22 ‘‘(n) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE DEFINED.—In 

23 this section, the term ‘commercial motor vehicle’ has the 

24 meaning given such term in section 31132 of title 49. 


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1 ‘‘(o) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 is authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec3 essary to carry out this section.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap5 ter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add6 ing after the item relating to section 171 the following: 

‘‘171. Truck parking safety improvement.’’. 

7 SEC. 1104. TEMPORARY FEDERAL SHARE FOR FEDERAL-AID 

8 HIGHWAY PROJECTS. 

9 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Fed10 eral share of the cost of a project under title 23, United 

11 States Code, for which amounts are made available during 

12 fiscal year 2021 and 2022 may be up to 100 percent, at 

13 the discretion of the Secretary of Transportation. 

14 SEC. 1105. CONSOLIDATED FUNDING PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 23, United 

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘§ 172. Consolidated funding program 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after 

20 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

21 establish a pilot program to allow up to 5 States to receive 

22 the base apportionment for the State in a lump sum, to 

23 be obligated and expended in accordance with this section. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall develop criteria 

2 for selection of a State to receive a block grant under this 

3 Act, including requiring that recipient States— 

4 ‘‘(1) meet minimum levels for the condition of 

5 pavement established by the Secretary under section 

6 150(c)(3); 

7 ‘‘(2) meet minimum levels for the condition for 

8 bridges on the National Highway System as de9 scribed in section 119(f)(2); 

10 ‘‘(3) uses a performance-based approach to 

11 transportation planning and programming for state12 wide and metropolitan planning areas to meet the 

13 requirements of sections 134, 135, and 150; and 

14 ‘‘(4) meet recertification requirements for State 

15 asset management plans for the National Highway 

16 System as described in section 119(e). 

17 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) REQUEST.—Not later than 6 months after 

19 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

20 shall request applications in accordance with para21 graph (2). 

22 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 

23 under this paragraph shall include a plan on how the 

24 State and each affected metropolitan planning orga25 nization shall continue to meet, or make significant 


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1 progress toward meeting, performance measures and 

2 standards under section 150(c) of title 23, United 

3 States Code. 

4 ‘‘(d) USE OF BLOCK GRANT FUNDS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITIES.—Funds made available to 

6 a State under this program shall be eligible for use 

7 for any project eligible under— 

8 ‘‘(A) the national highway performance 

9 program under section 119; 

10 ‘‘(B) the surface transportation block 

11 grant program under section 133; 

12 ‘‘(C) the highway safety improvement pro13 gram under section 148; 

14 ‘‘(D) the congestion mitigation and air 

15 quality improvement program under section 

16 149; 

17 ‘‘(E) for metropolitan planning under sec18 tion 134; or 

19 ‘‘(F) the national highway freight program 

20 under section 167. 

21 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Of the total 

22 amount of funds provided under this section in a fis23 cal year for projects described in paragraph (1)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) 25 percent of funds shall be obli2 gated, in proportion to the relative shares of the 

3 population of the State— 

4 ‘‘(i) to urbanized areas of the State 

5 with an urbanized area population of over 

6 200,000; 

7 ‘‘(ii) to areas of the State other than 

8 urban areas with a population greater than 

9 5,000; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) to other areas of the State; and 

11 ‘‘(B) for any funds that are not obligated 

12 under subparagraph (A), such funds may be ob13 ligated in any area of the State. 

14 ‘‘(e) BLOCK GRANT SELECTION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ISSUANCE.—The Secretary shall provide 

16 grants under this section beginning with fiscal year 

17 2022. 

18 ‘‘(2) OBLIGATION AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

19 section shall be construed to increase an obligation 

20 limitation applied to funds made available under this 

21 section. 

22 ‘‘(3) SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.—Subject to 

23 subsection (g)(2), the Secretary shall continue to ap24 portion block grants to the awarded States. 


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1 ‘‘(4) SUNSET.—The authority to provide grants 

2 under this section shall cease on the last day of fis3 cal year 2025. 

4 ‘‘(f) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—Funds reserved under 

5 section 104(h) shall be treated as if apportioned in lump 

6 sum under this section, and shall be in addition to 

7 amounts apportioned under this section. 

8 ‘‘(g) PROGRESS REPORT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

10 after the first fiscal year in which funds are provided 

11 under this section, any State receiving funds shall 

12 submit to the Secretary a progress report on meet13 ing, or making significant progress toward meeting, 

14 performance measures and standards under section 

15 150(c). 

16 ‘‘(2) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after 

17 the initial funds are provided under this section, the 

18 Secretary shall promulgate guidance to lump sum 

19 recipients on requirements for submitting a progress 

20 report under paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(3) REVIEW.—If the Secretary finds that a 

22 State that received funds under this section did not 

23 meet, or achieve significant progress (as defined by 

24 the Secretary) toward target achievement of, all per25 formance targets set in the report required under 


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1 paragraph (1), the Secretary may not provide funds 

2 to such State under the program in the following fis3 cal year or 6 months after determination that the 

4 State failed to meet, or make significant progress to5 ward target achievement, whichever is later. 

6 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

7 than 30 days after which the Secretary receives a re8 port from a State under paragraph (1), the Sec9 retary shall transmit the progress report to the 

10 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

11 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

12 Environment and Public Works of the Senate. 

13 ‘‘(h) TREATMENT OF LAW.—Notwithstanding any 

14 other provision of law, projects funded under this section 

15 shall be treated as projects on a Federal-aid highway 

16 under this chapter. 

17 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF BASE APPORTIONMENT.—In 

18 this section, the term ‘base apportionment’ has the mean19 ing given the term in section 104(i).’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap21 ter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add22 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘172. Consolidated funding program.’’. 


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1 Subtitle B—Acceleration of Project 

2 Delivery 

3 SEC. 1201. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS FOR MAJOR 

4 PROJECTS. 

5 Section 139 of title 23, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (3)(B) by striking ‘‘proc9 ess for and completion of any environmental 

10 permit’’ and inserting ‘‘process and schedule, 

11 including a timetable for and completion of any 

12 environmental permit’’; 

13 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (5) 

14 through (8) as paragraphs (9) through (11); 

15 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

16 through (4) as paragraphs (4) through (6); 

17 (D) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION.—The term ‘authoriza20 tion’ means any environmental license, permit, ap21 proval, finding, or other administrative decision re22 lated to an environmental review process that is re23 quired under Federal law to site, construct, or re24 construct a project. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT.—The term 

2 ‘environmental document’ means an environmental 

3 assessment, finding of no significant impact, notice 

4 of intent, environmental impact statement, or record 

5 of decision under the National Environmental Policy 

6 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).’’; and 

7 (E) by inserting after paragraph (6), as re8 designated, the following: 

9 ‘‘(7) MAJOR PROJECT.—The term ‘major 

10 project’ means a project for which— 

11 ‘‘(A) multiple permits, approvals, reviews, 

12 or studies are required under a Federal law 

13 other than the National Environmental Policy 

14 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

15 ‘‘(B) the project sponsor has identified the 

16 reasonable availability of funds sufficient to 

17 complete the project; 

18 ‘‘(C) the project is not a covered project, 

19 as such term is defined in section 41001 of the 

20 FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m); and 

21 ‘‘(D) the head of the lead agency has de22 termined that— 

23 ‘‘(i) an environmental impact state24 ment is required; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an environmental assessment is 

2 required, and the project sponsor requests 

3 that the project be treated as a major 

4 project.’’; 

5 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘, including major 

7 projects,’’ after ‘‘all projects’’; and 

8 (B) by inserting ‘‘, at the request of a 

9 project sponsor’’ after ‘‘be applied’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (c)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (6)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (B) by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (C) by striking 

15 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

16 and’’; and 

17 (iii) by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(D) to calculate annually the average 

20 time taken by the lead agency to complete all 

21 environmental documents for each project dur22 ing the previous fiscal year.’’; and 

23 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(7) PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS FOR

25 PROJECTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 review existing practices, procedures, pro3 grammatic agreements, and applicable laws to 

4 identify potential changes that would facilitate 

5 an efficient environmental review process for 

6 projects. 

7 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the 

8 review required by subparagraph (A), the Sec9 retary shall consult, as appropriate, with the 

10 heads of other Federal agencies that participate 

11 in the environmental review process. 

12 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 

13 after the date of enactment of the One Federal 

14 Decision Act of 2020, Secretary shall submit to 

15 the Committee on Environment and Public 

16 Works of the Senate and the Committee on 

17 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

18 of Representatives a report that includes— 

19 ‘‘(i) the results of the review required 

20 by subparagraph (A); and 

21 ‘‘(ii) an analysis of whether additional 

22 resources would help the Secretary meet 

23 the requirements applicable to the projects 

24 under this section.’’; 

25 (4) in subsection (d)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (8)— 

2 (i) in the heading, by striking 

3 ‘‘NEPA’’ and inserting ‘‘ENVIRON4 MENTAL’’; 

5 (ii) by amending subparagraph (A) to 

6 read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as inconsistent 

8 with paragraph (7), and except as provided in 

9 subparagraph (D), to the maximum extent 

10 practicable and consistent with Federal law, all 

11 Federal authorizations and reviews for a project 

12 shall rely on a single environmental document 

13 for each type of environmental document pre14 pared under the National Environmental Policy 

15 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) under the 

16 leadership of the lead agency.’’; and 

17 (iii) by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(D) EXCEPTION.—The lead agency may 

20 waive the application of subparagraph (A) with 

21 respect to a project if— 

22 ‘‘(i) the project sponsor requests that 

23 agencies issue separate environmental doc24 uments; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the obligations of a cooperating 

2 agency or participating agency under the 

3 National Environmental Policy Act of 

4 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) have al5 ready been satisfied with respect to such 

6 project; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) the lead agency determines that 

8 such application would not facilitate com9 pletion of the environmental review process 

10 for such project within the timeline estab11 lished under paragraph (10).’’; and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(10) TIMELY AUTHORIZATIONS FOR MAJOR

14 PROJECTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) DEADLINE.—Except as provided in 

16 subparagraph (C), notwithstanding any other 

17 provision of law, all authorization decisions nec18 essary for the construction of a major project 

19 shall be completed by not later than 90 days 

20 after the date of the issuance of a record of de21 cision for the major project. 

22 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED LEVEL OF DETAIL.—The 

23 final environmental impact statement for a 

24 major project shall include an adequate level of 

25 detail to inform decisions necessary for the role 


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1 of the participating agencies in the environ2 mental review process. 

3 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—Not 

4 later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

5 of the One Federal Decision Act of 2020, the 

6 Secretary shall establish procedures for a lead 

7 agency to extend a deadline under subpara8 graph (A) in cases in which— 

9 ‘‘(i) Federal law prohibits the lead 

10 agency or another agency from issuing an 

11 approval or permit within the period de12 scribed in such subparagraph; 

13 ‘‘(ii) such an extension is requested by 

14 the project sponsor; or 

15 ‘‘(iii) such extension would facilitate 

16 the completion of the environmental review 

17 and authorization process of the major 

18 project.’’; 

19 (5) in subsection (g)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

21 (i) by amending clause (ii)(IV) to read 

22 as follows: 

23 ‘‘(IV) the overall time required 

24 by an agency to conduct an environ25 mental review and make decisions 


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1 under applicable Federal law relating 

2 to a project (including the issuance or 

3 denial of a permit or license) and the 

4 cost of the project;’’; and 

5 (ii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(iii) MAJOR PROJECT SCHEDULE.— 

8 To the maximum extent practicable and 

9 consistent with applicable Federal law, in 

10 the case of a major project, the lead agen11 cy shall develop, in consultation with the 

12 project sponsor, a schedule for the major 

13 project that is consistent with an agency 

14 average of not more than 2 years for the 

15 completion of the environmental review 

16 process for major projects. The time period 

17 measured, as applicable— 

18 ‘‘(I) in the case of a project that 

19 requires an environmental impact 

20 statement, begins on the date of pub21 lication of a notice of intent to pre22 pare an environmental impact state23 ment and ends on the date of publica24 tion of a record of decision; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) in the case of a project 

2 which does not require an environ3 mental impact statement, begins on 

4 the date that the decision is made to 

5 prepare an environmental assessment 

6 and ends on the date of issuance of a 

7 finding of no significant impact.’’; 

8 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 

9 subparagraph (F); and 

10 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(E) FAILURE TO MEET DEADLINE.—If a 

13 Federal cooperating agency fails to meet a 

14 deadline established under subparagraph 

15 (D)(ii)(I)— 

16 ‘‘(i) not later than 30 days after the 

17 date such agency failed to meet such dead18 line, such agency shall submit to the Sec19 retary a report on why the deadline was 

20 not met; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) not later than 30 days after the 

22 date on which a report is submitted under 

23 clause (i), the Secretary shall— 

24 ‘‘(I) transmit to the Committee 

25 on Environment and Public Works of 


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1 the Senate and the Committee on 

2 Transportation and Infrastructure of 

3 the House of Representatives a copy 

4 of such report; and 

5 ‘‘(II) make such report available 

6 to the public on the internet.’’; and 

7 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(p) ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTING FOR MAJOR

9 PROJECTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of enactment of the One Federal Deci12 sion Act of 2020, the Secretary shall establish a per13 formance accountability system to track each major 

14 project. 

15 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The performance ac16 countability system required under paragraph (1) 

17 shall, for each major project, track— 

18 ‘‘(A) the environmental review process for 

19 such project, including the project schedule re20 quired by subsection (g)(1)(B)(iii); 

21 ‘‘(B) whether the lead agency, cooperating 

22 agencies, and participating agencies are meet23 ing such schedule; and 

24 ‘‘(C) the time taken to complete the envi25 ronmental review process. 


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1 ‘‘(q) DEVELOPMENT OF CATEGORICAL EXCLU2 SIONS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

5 Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) in consultation with the agencies de7 scribed in paragraph (2), identify the categor8 ical exclusions established by the Federal High9 way Administration that would accelerate deliv10 ery of a project if such categorical exclusions 

11 were available to such agencies; 

12 ‘‘(B) collect existing documentation and 

13 substantiating information on the categorical 

14 exclusions described in subparagraph (A); and 

15 ‘‘(C) provide to each agency described in 

16 paragraph (2) a list of the categorical exclu17 sions identified under subparagraph (A) and 

18 the documentation and substantiating informa19 tion collected under subparagraph (B). 

20 ‘‘(2) AGENCIES DESCRIBED.—The following 

21 agencies are described in this paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(A) The Departments of— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Interior; 

24 ‘‘(ii) Commerce; 

25 ‘‘(iii) Agriculture; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Energy; and 

2 ‘‘(v) Defense, including the United 

3 States Army Corps of Engineers. 

4 ‘‘(B) Any other Federal agency that has 

5 participated in an environmental review process 

6 for a major project, as determined by the Sec7 retary. 

8 ‘‘(3) ADOPTION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLU9 SIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

11 after the date on which the Secretary provides 

12 the list under paragraph (1)(C), an agency de13 scribed in paragraph (2) shall publish a notice 

14 of proposed rulemaking to propose any categor15 ical exclusions from the list applicable to the 

16 agency, subject to the condition that the cat17 egorical exclusion identified under paragraph 

18 (1)(A) meets the criteria for a categorical exclu19 sion under section 102 of the National Environ20 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

21 seq.). 

22 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC COMMENT.—In a notice of 

23 proposed rulemaking under subparagraph (A), 

24 the applicable agency shall solicit comments on 

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1 clusions meet the criteria for a categorical ex2 clusion under section 1508.4 of title 40, Code 

3 of Federal Regulations (or successor regula4 tions).’’. 

5 SEC. 1202. EFFICIENT ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS FOR 

6 PROJECT DECISION MAKING. 

7 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Title I of the National Environ8 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) is amended— 

9 (1) in section 102(2)(C), by inserting ‘‘subject 

10 to section 106,’’ before ‘‘include’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 106 PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINATIONS. 

13 ‘‘(a) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.—Each 

15 notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact 

16 statement under section 102 shall include a request 

17 for public comment on potential alternatives or im18 pacts and on relevant information, studies, or anal19 yses with respect to the proposed Federal action. 

20 ‘‘(2) SPONSOR PREPARATION.—A lead agency 

21 may allow a project sponsor to prepare an environ22 mental impact statement, if such agency provides 

23 such sponsor with appropriate guidance and assists 

24 in the preparation. The lead agency shall independ25 ently evaluate the environmental impact statement 


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1 before adopting it, and shall take responsibility for 

2 the contents upon adoption. 

3 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE.—Each environmental impact 

4 statement shall be completed not later than 2 years 

5 after the date of publication of the notice of intent 

6 to prepare such environmental impact statement is 

7 issued unless the lead agency approves a delay in 

8 writing and establishes a new timeline that provides 

9 only so much additional time as is necessary to com10 plete such environmental impact statement. The lead 

11 agency may only approve such a delay if such delay 

12 is necessary to complete the environmental impact 

13 statement. 

14 ‘‘(4) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND NEED.— 

15 Each environmental impact statement shall include a 

16 statement of purpose and need that briefly summa17 rizes the underlying purpose and need for the pro18 posed agency action. In a case where the agency is 

19 reviewing an application for authorization, such 

20 statement shall focus on the goals of the applicant 

21 and the agency’s authority. 

22 ‘‘(5) ESTIMATED TOTAL COST.—The cover 

23 sheet for each environmental impact statement shall 

24 include a statement of the estimated total cost of 

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1 cluding the costs of agency full-time equivalent per2 sonnel hours, contractor costs, and other direct 

3 costs. 

4 ‘‘(6) WORD LIMIT.—A statement of environ5 mental impact may not exceed 75,000 words un6 less— 

7 ‘‘(A) the proposal is of unusual scope or 

8 complexity; or 

9 ‘‘(B) the lead agency approves a longer 

10 statement in writing and establishes a new 

11 word limit. 

12 ‘‘(b) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) SPONSOR PREPARATION.—A lead agency 

14 may allow a project sponsor to prepare an environ15 mental assessment, if such agency provides such 

16 sponsor with appropriate guidance and assists in the 

17 preparation. The lead agency shall independently 

18 evaluate the environmental assessment before adopt19 ing it, and shall take responsibility for the contents 

20 upon adoption. 

21 ‘‘(2) WORD LIMIT.—An environmental assess22 ment may not exceed 37,500 words, excluding ap23 pendices, unless the lead agency approves a longer 

24 statement in writing and establishes a new word 

25 limit. 


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1 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE.—Environmental assessments 

2 required by section 102 shall be completed not later 

3 than 1 year after the date on which the decision to 

4 prepare such environmental assessment is made un5 less the lead agency approves a delay in writing and 

6 establishes a new timeline that provides only so 

7 much additional time as is necessary to complete 

8 such environmental assessment. 

9 ‘‘(c) REVIEW FOR APPLICATION OF SECTION 102.— 

10 In reviewing a Federal action to determine the appropriate 

11 review under section 102: 

12 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR A COOPERATING

13 AGENCY.—A cooperating agency shall submit any 

14 comments within a time period specified by the lead 

15 agency and limit such comments to matters on 

16 which such agency has jurisdiction by law or special 

17 expertise with respect to an environmental issue. 

18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF SIGNIFICANCE.—In deter19 mining whether the effects of a proposed Federal ac20 tion are significant, a Federal official shall only con21 sider the reasonably foreseeable effects with a rea22 sonably close causal relationship to the action being 

23 considered and may not consider cumulative effects. 

24 ‘‘(d) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.—Not later than 90 

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1 cil on Environmental Quality shall establish procedures for 

2 a Federal agency to adopt a categorical exclusion estab3 lished by another Federal agency. 

4 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No agency action taken 

5 under parts 1500 through 1508 of title 40, Code of Fed6 eral Regulations, (or any successor regulations) may be 

7 subject to judicial review before the issuance of a record 

8 of decision or other final agency decision. 

9 ‘‘(f) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—A violation of this Act 

10 shall not constitute the basis for injunctive relief. 

11 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The term 

13 ‘categorical exclusion’ means a category of actions 

14 that a Federal agency has determined do not under 

15 usual circumstances have a significant effect on the 

16 human environment for the purposes of this Act. 

17 ‘‘(2) COOPERATING AGENCY.—The term ‘co18 operating agency’ has the meaning given such term 

19 in section 139 of title 23, United States Code. 

20 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.—The 

21 term ‘environmental assessment’ means an environ22 mental assessment prepared under section 102. 

23 ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

24 The term ‘environmental impact statement’ means 


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1 an environmental impact statement prepared under 

2 section 102. 

3 ‘‘(5) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 

4 has the meaning given such term in section 139 of 

5 title 23, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(6) REASONABLY FORESEEABLE.—The term 

7 ‘reasonably foreseeable’ means sufficiently likely to 

8 occur such that a person of ordinary prudence would 

9 take such occurrence into account in reaching a de10 cision. 

11 ‘‘(7) SPECIAL EXPERTISE.—The term ‘special 

12 expertise’ means statutory responsibility, agency 

13 mission, or related program experience.’’. 

14 (b) REGULATORY CHANGES.— 

15 (1) CONTROVERSY AS A FACTOR IN DETER16 MINING SIGNIFICANCE.—The Council on Environ17 mental Quality shall, not later than 90 days after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, issue regulations 

19 to remove consideration of the level of controversy 

20 with respect to a determination regarding whether a 

21 proposed Federal action is significant as such term 

22 is used in section 102 of the National Environmental 

23 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

24 (2) ALTERNATIVES OUTSIDE OF AGENCY JURIS25 DICTION.—The Council on Environmental Quality 


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1 shall, not later than 120 days after the date of en2 actment of this Act, issue regulations to remove any 

3 requirement that a lead agency consider alternatives 

4 not within the jurisdiction of such agency unless 

5 such consideration is necessary for agency decision 

6 making under section 102 of the National Environ7 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

8 SEC. 1203. APPLICATION OF CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS 

9 FOR TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of title 49, United 

11 States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) in the section heading by striking 

13 ‘‘multimodal’’ and inserting ‘‘transpor14 tation’’; 

15 (2) in subsection (a)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘Department of Trans18 portation operating administration or sec19 retarial office’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal 

20 agency’’; 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘lead authority’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘lead agency’’; and 

23 (iii) by striking ‘‘multimodal’’; 

24 (B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 

25 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(2) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 

2 means a Federal agency, or State agency that has 

3 been delegated authority under the National Envi4 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

5 seq.), that has the lead responsibility for compliance 

6 with such Act with respect to a proposed project.’’; 

7 and 

8 (C) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

9 follows: 

10 ‘‘(3) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ has the 

11 meaning given such term in section 139(a) of title 

12 23.’’; 

13 (3) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘multimodal’’; 

14 (4) in subsection (c)— 

15 (A) in the heading by striking 

16 ‘‘MULTIMODAL’’; 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘multimodal project, a lead 

18 authority’’ and inserting ‘‘project, a lead agen19 cy’’; 

20 (C) by striking ‘‘procedures of a cooper21 ating authority for a proposed multimodal 

22 project’’ and inserting ‘‘procedures of any other 

23 Federal agency for a proposed project’’; 

24 (D) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘lead authority makes 

2 a determination, with the concurrence of 

3 the cooperating authority’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘the Federal agency proposing to apply the 

5 categorical exclusion makes a determina6 tion, after consultation with the other Fed7 eral agencies’’; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (A) by striking 

9 ‘‘multimodal’’; and 

10 (iii) in subparagraph (B) by striking 

11 the semicolon and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

12 (E) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘lead authority’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘lead agency proposing to apply 

15 the categorical exclusion’’; and 

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘of the cooperating au17 thority or procedures under that Act; and’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘or procedures of the other 

19 Federal agency under that Act.’’; and 

20 (F) by striking paragraph (3); and 

21 (5) in subsection (d) by striking ‘‘multimodal’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap23 ter 3 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by strik24 ing the item relating to section 304 and inserting the fol25 lowing: 

‘‘304. Application of categorical exclusions for transportation projects.’’. 


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1 SEC. 1204. AIR QUALITY AND CONFORMITY. 

2 (a) SEPARATING REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO

3 PROJECTS.—Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 7506(c)) is amended— 

5 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

6 in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘Conformity to’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘Conformity to’’; 

8 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘(2) Any transportation’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘(2)(A) Any transportation’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘any transportation plan, 

12 program or project unless such plan, program 

13 or project’’ and inserting ‘‘any transportation 

14 plan or program unless such plan or program’’; 

15 (C) by striking ‘‘(A) no transportation’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘(i) no transportation’’; 

17 (D) by striking ‘‘(B) no metropolitan’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘(ii) no metropolitan’’; 

19 (E) by striking ‘‘(C) a transportation 

20 project may be adopted or approved by a metro21 politan planning organization or any recipient 

22 of funds designated under title 23, United 

23 States Code, chapter 53 of title 49, United 

24 States Code, or found in conformity by a metro25 politan planning organization or approved, ac26 cepted, or funded by the Department of TransVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7248.IH H7248

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1 portation only if it meets either the require2 ments of subparagraph (D)’’ and inserting the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(B) Except as provided in this section, no Federal 

5 agency may approve, accept, or fund any transportation 

6 project unless such project has been found to conform to 

7 any applicable implementation plan in effect under this 

8 Act. A transportation project may be found in conformity 

9 by the Department of Transportation only if it meets ei10 ther the requirements of subparagraph (C)’’; 

11 (F) by adjusting the margins of clauses (i), 

12 (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (B), as redesig13 nated, 2 ems to the left; and 

14 (G) by striking ‘‘(D) Any project not re15 ferred to’’ and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(C) Any project not referred to’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMITY DETERMINATIONS PRIOR TO CON18 STRUCTION OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—Paragraph 

19 (2) of section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 7506(c)), as amended by subsection (a), is further amend21 ed by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

22 ‘‘(E) The conformity determinations required by this 

23 section with respect to transportation projects shall be co24 ordinated with the transportation planning process under 

25 sections 134 and 135 of title 23, United States Code, and 


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1 with the environmental review process required under the 

2 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and other ap3 plicable laws, in accordance with the following require4 ments: 

5 ‘‘(i) The Secretary of Transportation shall 

6 make its conformity determination for a transpor7 tation project prior to initiation of construction of 

8 the project. 

9 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary of Transportation shall in10 clude the transportation project in the plan or pro11 gram developed pursuant to title 23 or chapter 53 

12 of title 49, as applicable, before the Secretary of 

13 Transportation makes a conformity determination 

14 for the project. 

15 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary of Transportation shall— 

16 ‘‘(I) ensure that any environmental docu17 ment prepared for the project under the Na18 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

19 U.S.C. 4332 et seq.) discloses the need for a 

20 transportation conformity determination and 

21 evaluates consistency with conformity require22 ments; and 

23 ‘‘(II) condition any approval issued by the 

24 Secretary in the environmental review process 


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1 on satisfying conformity requirements prior to 

2 construction.’’. 

3 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION TO MARGINS.—The 

4 margins of paragraphs (5) through (10) of section 176(c) 

5 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7506(c)) are amended 

6 by moving such margins 2 ems to the left. 

7 (d) APPLICABILITY.—Section 176(c)(5) of the Clean 

8 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7506(c)(5)), as amended by subsection 

9 (c), is further amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY.—This sub11 section’’ and inserting ‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY.—(A) 

12 This subsection’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(B) If a new national ambient air quality standard 

16 is promulgated for an air pollutant under section 109, the 

17 requirements of this section apply only with respect to the 

18 most recently promulgated standard.’’. 

19 (e) PROGRAMMATIC CONFORMITY DETERMINA20 TIONS.—Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 7506(c)), as amended, is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(11) PROGRAMMATIC CONFORMITY DETERMINA24 TIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Trans2 portation— 

3 ‘‘(i) shall, to the maximum extent prac4 ticable, use programmatic conformity deter5 minations to streamline the process for satis6 fying transportation conformity requirements 

7 under this subsection; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) may issue a programmatic conformity 

9 determination, in consultation with the Admin10 istrator, on a nationwide, statewide, metropoli11 tan, or other geographic basis. 

12 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 

14 days after the date of enactment of this para15 graph, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

16 issue regulations implementing this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—The regulations re18 quired by clause (i) shall include, at a min19 imum, procedures for making programmatic 

20 conformity determinations for— 

21 ‘‘(I) projects in marginal nonattain22 ment areas; 

23 ‘‘(II) projects that are not exempt 

24 from conformity requirements, but would 

25 have individually and cumulatively minor 


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1 effects on the applicable area’s ability to 

2 control pollutants; and 

3 ‘‘(III) projects located in areas in 

4 which the ambient levels of the applicable 

5 pollutant are substantially lower than the 

6 level required by the applicable national 

7 ambient air quality standard, such that an 

8 exceedance of that standard is determined 

9 by the Secretary to be unlikely to occur. 

10 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the term 

11 ‘programmatic conformity determination’ includes 

12 any conformity determination that applies to a cat13 egory of transportation plans, programs, or 

14 projects.’’. 

15 SEC. 1205. AGREEMENTS RELATING TO USE OF AND AC16 CESS TO RIGHTS-OF-WAY INTERSTATE SYS17 TEM. 

18 Section 111(e) of title 23, United States Code, is 

19 amended by striking subsection (e) and inserting the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(e) JUSTIFICATION REPORTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon request of a State, 

23 the Secretary shall enter into a written agreement 

24 with the State that assigns the full responsibility of 

25 the Secretary to the State for granting any approvVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7248.IH H7248

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1 als required under subsection (a) for changes in 

2 points of access to, or exits from, the Interstate Sys3 tem (including new or modified freeway-to-crossroad 

4 interchanges inside a transportation management 

5 area (designated or identified under section 5303(k) 

6 of title 49)). 

7 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—In entering into a written 

8 agreement under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

9 include appropriate conditions to ensure that the re10 sponsibilities assigned are carried out in a manner 

11 consistent with maintaining a safe and efficient 

12 Interstate System.’’. 

13 SEC. 1206. PERMITS FOR DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL. 

14 Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

15 Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (f)(1)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘or 

18 the maintenance of drainage ditches’’; 

19 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (D), 

20 (E), and (F) as subparagraphs (E), (F), and 

21 (G), respectively; and 

22 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(D) activities involving maintenance, re25 pair and/or construction of roadside ditches, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7248.IH H7248

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1 cluding emergency activities, temporary fills, 

2 and changes in the character, scope, and/or size 

3 of the original fill design to meet current design 

4 and safety standards, provided that they do not 

5 result in significant alterations to flow or cir6 culation, and maintain to the maximum extent 

7 practicable, the course, condition, capacity, and 

8 location of open waters;’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (s)(3) by striking ‘‘acton’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘action’’. 

11 SEC. 1207. PILOT PROGRAM ON USE OF INNOVATIVE PRAC12 TICES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS. 

13 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

14 (1) The environmental review process for trans15 portation infrastructure projects is complex and inef16 ficient, resulting in delays and increased costs of de17 livery of needed improvements to our transportation 

18 system. 

19 (2) It is in the national interest to promote 

20 truly innovative approaches that have the potential 

21 to yield positive environmental and transportation 

22 outcomes more quickly and efficiently, with greater 

23 transparency and responsiveness to all stakeholders. 

24 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor25 tation shall establish a pilot program to promote the use 


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1 of innovative practices in carrying out environmental re2 views for transportation projects, including innovative 

3 practices that— 

4 (1) integrate environmental planning or other 

5 techniques involving consideration of multiple re6 sources on a watershed or ecosystem scale; 

7 (2) enhance environmental mitigation and en8 hancement measures that will result in a substantial 

9 improvement over existing conditions in an eco10 system or watershed; 

11 (3) use innovative technologies that enable more 

12 effective public participation in decision making, in13 cluding use of visualization, animation, and other 

14 advanced methods for depicting alternatives; and 

15 (4) focus on environmental and transportation 

16 outcomes rather than processes. 

17 (c) FLEXIBILITIES.—In carrying out the pilot pro18 gram established under subsection (b), the Secretary, in 

19 concurrence with the affected agency may waive, with re20 spect to an eligible project, any requirement under Federal 

21 law, regulation, or order, if the Secretary and such agen22 cies find that waiving the requirement is reasonably ex23 pected to— 

24 (1) promote the development of innovative prac25 tices for the environmental review process, as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7248.IH H7248

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1 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection 

2 (b); 

3 (2) enable the more efficient delivery of needed 

4 improvements to the transportation system; and 

5 (3) result in achieving the conservation goals of 

6 relevant statutes. 

7 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—In carrying out the pilot program 

8 established under subsection (b), the Secretary may not 

9 select more than 15 eligible projects to participate in the 

10 program. 

11 (e) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and the af13 fected agency shall be jointly responsible for review14 ing and approving applications for participation in 

15 the program, as set forth in this subsection. 

16 (2) APPLICATION.—The applicant shall submit 

17 a written application, in a form prescribed by the 

18 Secretary, requesting use of one or more innovative 

19 practices in the environmental review process for the 

20 project or proposal and identifying any flexibilities 

21 needed to carry out those innovative practices. 

22 (3) WRITTEN RECOMMENDATION.—If the Sec23 retary recommends approval of the application, the 

24 Secretary shall submit a written recommendation to 

25 the affected agency for review. The Secretary’s recVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7248.IH H7248

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1 ommendation may include modifications to the appli2 cant’s proposal. 

3 (4) APPROVAL OR DENIAL OF APPLICATION.— 

4 The affected agency shall approve or deny the appli5 cation, or approve the application with conditions. 

6 (5) COMMUNICATION OF DECISION.—Upon the 

7 final approval decision by the Secretary and affected 

8 agency, the Secretary shall communicate the decision 

9 in writing to the project sponsor, the affected State 

10 (if not the project sponsor), and each affected agen11 cy, and shall post the decision on the agency’s public 

12 website, and publish the decision in the Federal Reg13 ister. The Secretary’s notice shall identify, with 

14 specificity, each Federal requirement that has been 

15 waived or otherwise modified. This decision shall be 

16 final. 

17 (f) IMPLEMENTATION.—Upon publication of the deci18 sion in the Federal Register pursuant to subsection (e)(5), 

19 the Secretary may initiate the proposal or the environ20 mental review process for the project. Each Federal agen21 cy with responsibility for review, consultation, approval, 

22 or other role in the environmental review process for the 

23 project or proposal shall proceed in accordance with the 

24 decision. 

25 (g) TERMINATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or any af2 fected agency may terminate the participation of a 

3 project in the pilot program under this section if the 

4 Secretary or affected agency determines that— 

5 (A) the conditions for participation (as set 

6 forth in the application approval decision) have 

7 not been met; and 

8 (B) termination is in the public interest. 

9 (2) NOTICE.—Before terminating a project’s 

10 participation under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

11 shall give the project sponsor (and the State, if the 

12 State is not the sponsor) written notice and a period 

13 of at least 30 days to address the concerns. 

14 (h) REPORTING.— 

15 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary, in con16 sultation with the affected agency, shall annually 

17 submit to the Committee on Transportation and In18 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the 

19 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

20 Senate a report on each eligible project participating 

21 in the program. 

22 (2) CONTENTS.—The annual report under 

23 paragraph (1) shall— 

24 (A) identify each eligible project; 


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1 (B) provide a status update on the envi2 ronmental review process for such project; and 

3 (C) summarize any lessons learned from 

4 the use of innovative practices authorized under 

5 the pilot program. 

6 (i) SUNSET.—The pilot program established under 

7 subsection (b) shall terminate on the date that is 5 years 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) AFFECTED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘affected 

11 agency’’ means a Federal agency or agencies, other 

12 than the Department of Transportation, with an ap13 proval or consultation role that would be affected if 

14 the flexibilities described in subsection (c) are used. 

15 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti16 ty’’ means any State department of transportation. 

17 (3) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

18 project’’ includes— 

19 (A) any project (as such term is defined in 

20 section 139(a)(6) of title 23, United States 

21 Code) for which the environmental review proc22 ess has not been initiated for such project; and 

23 (B) any proposal to meet paragraphs (1) 

24 through (4) of subsection (c). 


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1 TITLE II—INNOVATIVE PROJECT 

2 FINANCE 

3 SEC. 2001. TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE 

4 AND INNOVATION ACT OF 1998 TEMPORARY 

5 LOAN RELIEF DUE TO COVID–19. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ELIGIBLE BORROWER.—The term ‘‘eligible 

8 borrower’’ means a recipient of an eligible loan ad9 ministered by the National Surface Transportation 

10 and Innovative Finance Bureau. 

11 (2) ELIGIBLE LOAN.—The term ‘‘eligible loan’’ 

12 means a loan provided on or before the date of en13 actment of this Act under a program described in 

14 subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 116(d)(1) of title 

15 49, United States Code. 

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

17 the Secretary of Transportation. 

18 (b) INTEREST RATE RESET.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, at any time after the 

20 date of execution of an eligible loan, the eligible bor21 rower of such eligible loan is impacted by COVID– 

22 19 and unable to generate sufficient revenues from 

23 the dedicated revenue source to pay the scheduled 

24 repayments of principal and interest on such eligible 

25 loan— 


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1 (A) the eligible borrower may submit to 

2 the Secretary a request to reset the interest 

3 rate of the eligible loan in such manner and 

4 containing such information as the Secretary 

5 may require; and 

6 (B) the Secretary— 

7 (i) in accordance with such criteria as 

8 the Secretary may establish under sub9 section (d), shall determine whether the el10 igible borrower is impacted by COVID–19; 

11 and 

12 (ii) if a positive determination is made 

13 under clause (i), may reset the interest 

14 rate of such eligible loan (including 

15 through amendment of such eligible loan) 

16 to a lower interest rate equal to not less 

17 than the yield on United States Treasury 

18 securities of a similar maturity to the ma19 turity of the eligible loan on the date of the 

20 reset, in accordance with this section. 

21 (2) APPLICABILITY.—A lower interest rate pro22 vided for an eligible loan pursuant to paragraph 

23 (1)(B)(ii) shall apply until the final maturity date of 

24 the eligible loan. 


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1 (c) OTHER LOAN MODIFICATIONS.—With respect to 

2 an eligible borrower impacted by COVID–19, the Sec3 retary, on determining that the eligible borrower has been 

4 impacted by COVID–19, may— 

5 (1) allow, for a maximum aggregate period of 

6 not more than 5 years, an obligor to add unpaid 

7 principal and interest to the outstanding balance of 

8 the loan, subject to the requirements under section 

9 502(j)(3)(B) of the Railroad Revitalization and Reg10 ulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 

11 822(j)(3)(B)) or section 603(c)(3)(B) of title 23, 

12 United States Code, as applicable; and 

13 (2) extend any applicable disbursement period 

14 established under an agreement for credit assistance 

15 made pursuant to section 502 of the Railroad Revi16 talization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 

17 U.S.C. 822) or section 603 of title 23, United States 

18 Code, as applicable. 

19 (d) CRITERIA.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

21 lower interest rate or other loan modification under 

22 this section, an eligible borrower shall achieve com23 pliance with such criteria as the Secretary may es24 tablish, in accordance with paragraph (2). 


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1 (2) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.—In estab2 lishing criteria for purposes of paragraph (1), the 

3 Secretary may take into consideration such factors 

4 as the Secretary determines to be relevant, including 

5 achieving the objectives of— 

6 (A) maintaining the operation of a project 

7 carried out by an eligible borrower in a disaster, 

8 emergency, or other extenuating circumstance; 

9 (B) mitigating the financial impact on an 

10 eligible borrower of a disaster, emergency, or 

11 other extenuating circumstance; and 

12 (C) protecting the interests of the Federal 

13 Government in critical infrastructure. 

14 (e) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the Sec16 retary to reset interest rates pursuant to this section 

17 shall terminate on September 30, 2021. 

18 (2) EFFECT OF SUBSECTION.—Nothing in this 

19 subsection affects any eligible loan that is modified 

20 pursuant to this section on or before September 30, 

21 2021. 


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1 TITLE III—PUBLIC 

2 TRANSPORTATION 

3 SEC. 3001. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Public Trans5 portation Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 3002. URBANIZED AREA FORMULA GRANTS. 

7 Section 5307(f)(2) of title 49, United States Code, 

8 is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘At least once every 3 years’’ 

10 and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At least once every 3 

12 years, except as provided for under subpara13 graph (B)’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(B) TARGETED REVIEW FOR HIGH-PER16 FORMING RECIPIENTS.—In the case of a recipi17 ent under this section for which no action under 

18 paragraph (3) has been found to be necessary 

19 for 6 or more consecutive years, the triennial 

20 review shall be a targeted review, as determined 

21 by the Secretary, to ascertain whether there is, 

22 with respect to the performance of a program 

23 under this section— 

24 ‘‘(i) any outstanding or unresolved 

25 finding from prior reviews; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) evidence of noncompliance with 

2 an applicable statutory or administrative 

3 requirement under this chapter; or 

4 ‘‘(iii) any material change since the 

5 most recent triennial review that the Sec6 retary determines risks the recipient’s com7 pliance with respect to such performance.’’. 

8 SEC. 3003. FIXED GUIDEWAY CAPITAL INVESTMENT 

9 GRANTS. 

10 Section 5309 of title 49, United States Code, is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (7)— 

14 (i) in subparagraph (A) by striking 

15 ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘$200,000,000’’; and 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (B) by striking 

18 ‘‘$300,000,000’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘$400,000,000’’; and 

20 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(8) RURAL START PROJECT.—The term ‘rural 

22 start project’ means a new transit capital project 

23 that is not in an urbanized area for which— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the Federal assistance provided or to 

2 be provided under this section is less than 

3 $80,000,000; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the total estimated net capital cost is 

5 less than $150,000,000.’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (b)(1) by striking ‘‘or small 

7 start projects’’ and inserting ‘‘, small start projects, 

8 or rural start projects’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (c)(1) by striking ‘‘small start 

10 projects’’ and inserting ‘‘, small start projects, rural 

11 start projects’’; and 

12 (4) in subsection (h)— 

13 (A) in the heading by striking ‘‘SMALL

14 START PROJECTS’’ and inserting ‘‘SMALL

15 START PROJECTS AND RURAL START

16 PROJECTS’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘small 

18 start project’’ and inserting ‘‘small start project 

19 or rural start project’’; 

20 (C) in paragraph (2)(A) by striking ‘‘small 

21 starts project’’ and inserting ‘‘small start 

22 project or rural start project’’; 

23 (D) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘small 

24 start project’’ and inserting ‘‘small start project 

25 or rural start project’’; and 


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1 (E) in paragraph (6)(A) by striking ‘‘small 

2 start project’’ and inserting ‘‘small start project 

3 or rural start project’’. 

4 SEC. 3004. ENHANCED MOBILITY OF SENIORS AND INDIVID5 UALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

6 Section 5310 of title 49, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (b)(2) by striking ‘‘(A) 

9 AMOUNT AVAILABLE’’ and all that follows through 

10 ‘‘A recipient of a grant under’’ and inserting ‘‘A re11 cipient of a grant under’’; 

12 (2) in subsection (c)(2) by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(E) REALLOCATION.—Amounts appor15 tioned under section 5310(c)(1)(A) may be re16 allocated to projects in areas other than urban17 ized areas.’’; 

18 (3) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub19 section (d) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) CAPITAL PROJECTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

22 subparagraph (B), a grant awarded under this 

23 section for a capital project shall be 80 percent 

24 of the net costs of the project, as determined by 

25 the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—A State described in 

2 section 120(b) of title 23 shall receive a Gov3 ernment share of the net costs in accordance 

4 with the formula under such section. 

5 ‘‘(2) OPERATING ASSISTANCE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 

7 subparagraph (B), a grant awarded under this 

8 section for a operating assistance may not ex9 ceed an amount equal to 50 percent of the net 

10 operating costs of the project, as determined by 

11 the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—A State described in 

13 section 120(b) of title 23 shall receive a Gov14 ernment share of the net costs that is equal to 

15 62.5 percent of the Government share provided 

16 for under paragraph (1)(B).’’; and 

17 (4) by striking subsection (e)(1) and inserting 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent the Secretary 

20 determines appropriate, the requirements of— 

21 ‘‘(A) section 5307 shall apply to recipients 

22 of grants made in urbanized areas under this 

23 subsection; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) section 5311 shall apply to recipients 

2 of grants made in rural areas under this sub3 section.’’. 

4 SEC. 3005. FORMULA GRANTS FOR RURAL AREAS. 

5 Section 5311(g) of title 49, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1) by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(C) PROJECTS IN QUALIFIED OPPOR10 TUNITY ZONES, MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED

11 AREAS, OR AREAS WITH A MEDICALLY UNDER12 SERVED POPULATION.—A grant awarded under 

13 this section for a capital project in a qualified 

14 opportunity zone, a medically underserved area, 

15 or areas with a medically underserved popu16 lation shall be for 90 percent of the net costs 

17 of the project, as determined by the Sec18 retary.’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (2) by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(C) PROJECTS IN QUALIFIED OPPOR22 TUNITY ZONES, MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED

23 AREAS, OR AREAS WITH A MEDICALLY UNDER24 SERVED POPULATION.—A grant awarded under 

25 this section for a capital project in a qualified 


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1 opportunity zone, a medically underserved area, 

2 or an area with a medically underserved popu3 lation shall be for 62.5 percent of the Govern4 ment share provided for under paragraph 

5 (1)(B).’’; and 

6 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) QUALIFIED OPPORTUNITY ZONE.— 

9 The term ‘qualified opportunity zone’ has the 

10 meaning given such term in section 1400Z–1 of 

11 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

12 ‘‘(B) MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS; 

13 AN AREA WITH A MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED

14 POPULATION.—The term ‘medically under15 served areas’ or ‘an area with a medically un16 derserved population’ means an area or popu17 lations that are designated as medically under18 served by the Secretary of Health and Human 

19 Services pursuant to section 330(b)(3) of the 

20 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 254b(b)(3)).’’. 

22 SEC. 3006. NON-EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION. 

23 (a) RESEARCH PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—Section 

24 5312(c)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (M), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (N) as sub4 paragraph (O); and 

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (M) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(N) access to hospitals and healthcare 

8 providers in areas underserved by transit or 

9 with limited public transportation options, as 

10 determined by the Secretary; or’’. 

11 (b) INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT ELI12 GIBILITY.—Section 5312(d)(2) of title 49, United States 

13 Code, is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

15 the end; 

16 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as sub17 paragraph (I); and 

18 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (G) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(H) public transportation projects that 

21 improve health care access and outcomes; or’’. 

22 (c) DEMONSTRATION, DEPLOYMENT, AND EVALUA23 TION PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—Section 5312(e)(3) of title 

24 49, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

4 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(D) the deployment of public transpor7 tation projects or practices that— 

8 ‘‘(i) achieve measurable improvements 

9 in transportation access to health care for 

10 medically underserved areas or popu11 lations, as designated by the Health Re12 sources and Services Administration pursu13 ant to section 330(b)(3) of the Public 

14 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 254b(b)(3)); 

16 ‘‘(ii) implement transportation strate17 gies for addressing significant health needs 

18 as identified by a community health needs 

19 assessment pursuant to the requirements 

20 of section 501(r)(3)(A) of the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986; or 

22 ‘‘(iii) eliminate or reduce transpor23 tation barriers to accessing health care 

24 that are identified and prioritized in the 

25 coordinated public transit-human services 


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1 transportation plan described in section 

2 5310(e)(2)(A).’’. 

3 SEC. 3007. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND WORKFORCE DE4 VELOPMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5314(a) of title 49, 

6 United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (H) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

9 at the end; 

10 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as 

11 subparagraph (J); and 

12 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (H) 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(I) provide innovation and capacity build15 ing to rural and tribal public transportation re16 cipients but not to duplicate the activities of 

17 sections 5311(b) or 5312; and’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Of the 

20 amounts made available to carry out this section 

21 under section 5338(c), such sums as necessary shall 

22 be available to carry out activities described in para23 graph (2)(I).’’. 


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1 (b) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Section 

2 5314(c)(4)(A) of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

3 by inserting ‘‘5311,’’ after ‘‘5307,’’. 

4 SEC. 3008. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

5 (a) REASONABLE ACCESS TO PUBLIC TRANSPOR6 TATION FACILITIES.—Section 5323(r) of title 49, United 

7 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(r) REASONABLE ACCESS TO PUBLIC TRANSPOR9 TATION FACILITIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of assistance 

11 under this chapter may not deny reasonable access 

12 for a private or charter transportation operator to 

13 federally funded public transportation facilities, in14 cluding intermodal facilities, park-and-ride lots, and 

15 bus-only highway lanes. In determining reasonable 

16 access, capacity requirements of the recipient of as17 sistance and the extent to which access would be 

18 detrimental or beneficial to existing public transpor19 tation services must be considered. A recipient shall 

20 respond to any request for reasonable access within 

21 90 days of the receipt of the request. 

22 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE TO REQUEST.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a recipient of as24 sistance under this chapter fails to respond to 

25 a request within the 90-day period described in 


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1 paragraph (1), the operator may seek assist2 ance from the Secretary to obtain a response. 

3 ‘‘(B) DENIAL OF ACCESS.—If a recipient 

4 of assistance under this chapter denies access 

5 to a private intercity or charter transportation 

6 operator based on the reasonable access stand7 ards provided in paragraph (1), the recipient 

8 shall provide, in writing, the reasons for the de9 nial.’’. 

10 (b) WAIVERS AND DEFERRALS; ADMINISTRATIVE

11 OPTION.—Section 5323 of title 49, United States Code, 

12 is amended by striking subsection (t) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(t) WAIVERS AND DEFERRALS; ADMINISTRATIVE

15 OPTION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

17 provision of law, the Secretary shall have the author18 ity to waive, exempt, defer, or establish a simplified 

19 level of compliance for recipients of assistance under 

20 this chapter that operate 10 or fewer vehicles in 

21 service, or that receive financial assistance under 

22 both sections 5307 and 5311 of this chapter. 

23 ‘‘(2) GUIDANCE REQUIRED.—Not later than 

24 180 days of enactment of the Federal Public Trans25 portation Act of 2020, the Secretary shall publish 


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1 guidance for recipients of assistance under this 

2 chapter that operate 10 or fewer buses in service or 

3 that receive financial assistance under both of sec4 tions 5307 and 5311 concerning— 

5 ‘‘(A) which specific requirements may be 

6 considered for waivers, exemptions, deferrals, or 

7 simplified levels of compliance by recipients of 

8 assistance described in paragraph (1); 

9 ‘‘(B) the process by which recipients of as10 sistance described in paragraph (1) may request 

11 such waivers, exemptions, deferrals, or sim12 plified levels of compliance; 

13 ‘‘(C) the criteria by which the Secretary 

14 shall evaluate and act upon such requests; 

15 ‘‘(D) the terms and conditions the Sec16 retary shall attach to any waiver, exemption, 

17 deferral or simplified level of compliance that is 

18 awarded under paragraph (1); 

19 ‘‘(E) actions the Secretary may take if a 

20 recipient fails to comply the terms and condi21 tions attached to a waiver, exemption, deferral, 

22 or simplified level of compliance that has been 

23 awarded under paragraph (1); and 

24 ‘‘(F) the circumstances under which the 

25 Secretary may use this paragraph to award a 


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1 waiver, exemption, deferral or simplified level of 

2 compliance to a recipient of assistance under 

3 this chapter and described in this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(3) MAINTAIN SAFETY.—The Secretary shall 

5 not take any action under this subsection that would 

6 degrade safety to lives or property. 

7 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to 

8 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af9 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Transpor10 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Represent11 atives an annual report detailing the requests and 

12 actions that have been taken under this subsection 

13 in the preceding 12 months.’’. 

14 (c) THRESHOLD FOR THE SALE OF TRANSIT VEHI15 CLES AFTER SERVICE LIFE.—Section 5323 of title 49, 

16 United States Code, is further amended by adding at the 

17 end the following: 

18 ‘‘(v) THRESHOLD FOR THE SALE OF TRANSIT VEHI19 CLES AFTER SERVICE LIFE.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of law or regulation, for programs under this 

21 chapter the threshold amount for transit vehicles after the 

22 service life is reached shall be 20 percent of the original 

23 acquisition cost of the purchased equipment. For transit 

24 vehicles sold for an amount above such amount, the 

25 threshold amount shall be retained by the transit agency 


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1 upon sale of the asset for use by the transit agency for 

2 the purpose of operating or capital expenditures, and the 

3 remainder shall be remitted to the Secretary and shall be 

4 deposited into the Mass Transit Account of the Highway 

5 Trust Fund. If such a vehicle is sold for an amount below 

6 or equal to the threshold amount, the transit agency shall 

7 retain all funds from the sale.’’. 

8 SEC. 3009. APPORTIONMENTS. 

9 Section 5336(h)(3) of title 49, United States Code, 

10 is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(3) of amount not apportioned under para12 graphs (1) and (2), 3 percent shall be apportioned 

13 to urbanized areas with populations of less than 

14 200,000 in accordance with subsection (i);’’. 

15 SEC. 3010. GRANTS FOR BUS AND BUS FACILITIES. 

16 Section 5339 of title 49, United States Code is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)(5) by striking subpara19 graph (A) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION.—For each 

21 of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, each State 

22 shall be allocated 0.6 percent of the amount 

23 made available under section 5338(a)(2)(L) and 

24 each territory shall be allocated 0.15 percent of 

25 such amount.’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b)(5) by striking ‘‘10’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘20’’; and 

3 (3) in subsection (c)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (1)(E)— 

5 (i) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 

6 inserting a semicolon; 

7 (ii) in clause (ii) by striking the semi8 colon and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

9 (iii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(iii) with respect to projects in rural 

12 areas, any passenger vehicle that is 

13 equipped with any technology, including 

14 compressed natural gas and liquefied nat15 ural gas that reduces energy consumption 

16 or harmful emissions, including direct car17 bon emissions, when compared to a diesel 

18 powered vehicle;’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking ‘‘re20 quirements of section 5307’’ and inserting the 

21 following: ‘‘requirements of— 

22 ‘‘(i) for eligible recipients of grants 

23 made in urbanized areas, section 5307; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) for eligible recipients of grants 

2 made in rural areas, section 5311.’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(8) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANT FUNDS.—Of the 

5 funds allocated under section 5338(a)(2)(M) for no 

6 or low emission grants under section 5339(c), not 

7 less than 10 percent of the amounts shall be distrib8 uted to projects in rural areas.’’. 

9 SEC. 3011. ELIMINATION OF APPORTIONMENTS BASED ON 

10 HIGH DENSITY STATE FACTORS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5340 of title 49, United 

12 States Code, is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘and sub14 section (d)’’; and 

15 (2) by striking subsection (d). 

16 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Section 5340 of title 

17 49, United States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (b) by striking 

19 ‘‘5338(b)(2)(N)’’ and inserting ‘‘5338(a)(2)(N)’’; 

20 and 

21 (2) in subsection (c)(1) by striking ‘‘subsection 

22 (b)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’. 


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1 SEC. 3012. INNOVATIVE MOBILITY AND TECHNOLOGY DE2 PLOYMENT GRANTS. 

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

4 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5312 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 5313. Innovative mobility and technology deploy7 ment grants 

8 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall establish an 

9 innovative mobility and technology deployment grants pro10 gram to award grants to entities described in subsection 

11 (b) to assist in financing of public transportation projects 

12 that— 

13 ‘‘(1) allow for the integration of mobility serv14 ices or technologies in public transportation services, 

15 including traveler information, trip planning infor16 mation, new or expanded reservation capabilities, in17 tegrated payment solutions, fare automation, or de18 livery designs to improve options in public transpor19 tation; 

20 ‘‘(2) advance first-mile, last-mile, late night, or 

21 low density services that connect riders to public 

22 transportation, including— 

23 ‘‘(A) microtransit; 

24 ‘‘(B) commuter busing; or 

25 ‘‘(C) commuter highway vehicles; 


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1 ‘‘(3) advance on demand complementary para2 transit services; 

3 ‘‘(4) provide accessibility and connectivity for 

4 rural areas not being adequately served by public 

5 transportation, as determined by the Secretary; 

6 ‘‘(5) expand high-performing public transpor7 tation business models that increase access to public 

8 transportation; or 

9 ‘‘(6) provide any other transit service that the 

10 Secretary determines appropriate to meet the pur11 poses of this section. 

12 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible for a grant 

13 under this section, an entity shall be— 

14 ‘‘(1) a State or local government; or 

15 ‘‘(2) a publicly owned operator of public trans16 portation. 

17 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

18 under this section, an entity described in subsection (b) 

19 shall submit to the Secretary an application in such form 

20 and contain such information as the Secretary may re21 quire. 

22 ‘‘(d) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) issue such regulations as are necessary to 

24 carry out this section, and publish such regulations 


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1 in the Federal Register, not later than 270 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this section; and 

3 ‘‘(2) in issuing such regulations, solicit and re4 ceive comments from stakeholders not later than 

5 180 days after the date of enactment of this section. 

6 ‘‘(e) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may 

7 approve modified grant requirements for projects carried 

8 out using a grant under this section. 

9 ‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PERIOD OF GRANT.—A grant under this 

11 section shall be for a 3-year period beginning on the 

12 date on which the first payment of any amount 

13 under the grant is provided to an eligible entity. 

14 ‘‘(2) RURAL GRANT MINIMUM.—The Secretary 

15 shall award not less than 20 percent of the total 

16 amounts made available to carry out this section to 

17 support activities described under subsection (a) in 

18 rural areas. 

19 ‘‘(3) GOVERNMENT SHARE OF COSTS.—The 

20 Federal share of the total project cost of a project 

21 carried out under this section may not exceed 80 

22 percent. 

23 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts authorized 

24 to be appropriated to carry out this section for each 


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1 fiscal year, not more than 20 percent may be award2 ed under subsection (a) to a single entity. 

3 ‘‘(g) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary shall annu4 ally collect from, review, and disseminate to public trans5 portation agencies findings or best practices from projects 

6 funded under this section. 

7 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) COMMUTER HIGHWAY VEHICLE.—The 

9 term ‘commuter highway vehicle’ has the meaning 

10 given such term in section 132(f)(5)(B) of the Inter11 nal Revenue Code of 1986. 

12 ‘‘(2) HIGH-PERFORMING PUBLIC TRANSPOR13 TATION.—The term ‘high-performing public trans14 portation’ means a public transportation service, 

15 whether provided by a public agency, private non16 profit, or for-profit organization, that is able to col17 lect all operating costs through fare-box revenue or 

18 other dedicated sources for an activity and increases 

19 access to public transportation. 

20 ‘‘(3) MICRO-TRANSIT.—The term ‘micro-transit’ 

21 means internet-enabled, public transportation serv22 ices that use dynamically generated routes calculated 

23 by algorithms developed to increase the occupancy of 

24 vehicles.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap2 ter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by in3 serting after section 5312 the following: 

‘‘5313. Innovative mobility and technology deployment grants.’’. 

4 TITLE IV—HIGHWAY TRAFFIC 

5 SAFETY 

6 SEC. 4001. FUNDING AND GRANT REQUIREMENTS. 

7 The funds provided for programs under chapter 4 of 

8 title 23, United States Code, and chapter 303 of title 49, 

9 United States Code, shall be subject to the following re10 quirements: 

11 (1) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Except as 

12 otherwise provided in chapter 4 of title 23, United 

13 States Code, and chapter 303 of title 49, United 

14 States Code, amounts made available under sub15 section (a) for fiscal years 2021 through 2025 shall 

16 be available for obligation in the same manner as if 

17 such funds were apportioned under chapter 1 of title 

18 23, United States Code. 

19 (2) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Grants award20 ed under this title shall be carried out in accordance 

21 with regulations issued by the Secretary of Trans22 portation. 

23 (3) STATE MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—If a 

24 grant awarded under chapter 4 of title 23, United 

25 States Code, requires a State to share in the cost, 


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1 the aggregate of all expenditures for highway safety 

2 activities made during a fiscal year by the State and 

3 its political subdivisions (exclusive of Federal funds) 

4 for carrying out the grant (other than planning and 

5 administration) shall be available for the purpose of 

6 crediting the State during such fiscal year for the 

7 non-Federal share of the cost of any other project 

8 carried out under chapter 4 of title 23, United 

9 States Code (other than planning or administration), 

10 without regard to whether such expenditures were 

11 made in connection with such project. 

12 (4) GRANT APPLICATION AND DEADLINE.—To 

13 receive a grant under chapter 4 of title 23, United 

14 States Code, a State shall submit an application, 

15 and the Secretary shall establish a single deadline 

16 for such applications to enable the award of grants 

17 early in the next fiscal year. 

18 (5) PROHIBITION ON OTHER USES.—Except as 

19 otherwise provided in chapter 4 of title 23, United 

20 States Code, and chapter 303 of title 49, United 

21 States Code, the amounts made available from the 

22 Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit 

23 Account) for a program under such chapters— 

24 (A) shall only be used to carry out such 

25 program; and 


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1 (B) may not be used by States or local 

2 governments for construction purposes. 

3 SEC. 4002. HIGHWAY SAFETY RESEARCH AND DEVELOP4 MENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of title 23, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (h) by striking paragraph (2) 

8 and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall obligate 

10 such sums as are necessary in fiscal year 2021 

11 through 2024 from the funds made available to 

12 carry out this section to conduct the research de13 scribed in paragraph (1).’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(k) DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING PREVENTION PILOT

16 PROGRAM.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec19 retary shall establish a pilot program to create, and 

20 study the effects of, a public awareness campaign to 

21 reduce instances of driving while under the influence 

22 of prescription and over-the-counter medications. 

23 ‘‘(2) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall imple24 ment the pilot program in States that are, or a re25 gion that is, most affected by the opioid epidemic, as 


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1 measured by the most recent opioid-involved over2 dose deaths per 10,000 persons, as reported by the 

3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

4 ‘‘(3) SUNSET.—The authority of the Secretary 

5 under paragraph (1) shall terminate on the date 

6 that is 2 years after the date on which the pilot pro7 gram is established pursuant to paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of termination of the pilot program described in 

10 paragraph (3), the Secretary shall submit to the 

11 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

12 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

13 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen14 ate a report on the results of the study of the effects 

15 of the public awareness and enforcement campaign. 

16 ‘‘(l) RESEARCH AND TRAINING ON MARIJUANA DE17 TECTION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

19 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

20 shall carry out a collaborative research effort to 

21 study the effect that marijuana has on driving and 

22 research ways to detect and reduce incidences of 

23 driving under the influence of marijuana. 

24 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—The Administrator shall sub25 mit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 


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1 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

2 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 

3 Representatives an annual report that— 

4 ‘‘(A) describes the progress made in car5 rying out the collaborative research effort; and 

6 ‘‘(B) includes an accounting for the use of 

7 Federal funds obligated or expended in carrying 

8 out such effort.’’. 

9 (b) STUDY OF ILLEGAL PASSING OF SCHOOL

10 BUSES.—Section 403 of title 23, United States Code, is 

11 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(m) STUDY OF ILLEGAL PASSING OF SCHOOL

13 BUSES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

15 the United States shall conduct a study on illegal 

16 passing of school buses. 

17 ‘‘(2) STUDY ELEMENTS.—In completing the 

18 study under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General 

19 shall compile and examine the following issues re20 lated to illegal passing of school buses: 

21 ‘‘(A) Description of illegal passing laws in 

22 each State relating to school buses. 

23 ‘‘(B) Identification of laws that may affect 

24 or intersect with illegal school bus passing laws. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Description of how each State en2 forces such laws. 

3 ‘‘(D) Evaluation of methods that each 

4 State uses to review, document, and report to 

5 law enforcement school bus stop-arm violations 

6 and illegal school bus passing. 

7 ‘‘(E) Review of driver education materials. 

8 ‘‘(F) Identification of best practices relat9 ing to the most effective approaches to address 

10 illegal passing of school buses. 

11 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

12 date of enactment of this subsection, the Comp13 troller General shall submit to the Committee on 

14 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 

15 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

16 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

17 on the results of the study under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(n) PUBLIC SAFETY MEDIA PROGRAMS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) CHILD HEATSTROKE.—Not later than 1 

20 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

21 the Secretary shall establish and implement a public 

22 safety messaging program to educate the public and 

23 reduce heatstroke-related deaths of children in unat24 tended vehicles. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ILLEGAL PASSING OF SCHOOL BUSES.— 

2 Not later than 18 months after the date of enact3 ment of this subsection, the Secretary shall establish 

4 and implement a public safety messaging program to 

5 educate the public and reduce the illegal passing of 

6 school buses.’’. 

7 SEC. 4003. NATIONAL PRIORITY SAFETY PROGRAMS. 

8 Section 405(a)(9)(A) of title 23, United States Code, 

9 is amended by striking ‘‘date of enactment of the FAST 

10 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘date of enactment of the STARTER 

11 Act’’. 

12 SEC. 4004. NATIONAL PRIORITY SAFETY PROGRAM GRANT 

13 ELIGIBILITY. 

14 Not later than 60 days after the date on which the 

15 Secretary of Transportation awards grants under section 

16 405 of title 23, United States Code, the Secretary shall 

17 make publicly available on a website of the Department 

18 of Transportation— 

19 (1) an identification of— 

20 (A) the States that were awarded grants 

21 under such section; 

22 (B) the States that applied and were not 

23 awarded grants under such section; and 

24 (C) the States that did not apply for a 

25 grant under such section; and 


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1 (2) a list of deficiencies that made a State ineli2 gible for a grant under such section for each State 

3 described in paragraph (1)(B). 

4 TITLE V—MOTOR CARRIER 

5 SAFETY 

6 SEC. 5001. FUNDING AND GRANT REQUIREMENTS. 

7 The funds provided for programs under chapter 311 

8 of title 49, United States Code, shall be subject to the 

9 following requirements: 

10 (1) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Except as 

11 otherwise provided in chapter 311 of title 49, United 

12 States Code, amounts made available under sub13 section (a) for fiscal years 2021 through 2025 shall 

14 be available for obligation in the same manner as if 

15 such funds were apportioned under chapter 1 of title 

16 23, United States Code. 

17 (2) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Grants award18 ed under this title shall be carried out in accordance 

19 with regulations issued by the Secretary of Trans20 portation. 

21 (3) STATE MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—If a 

22 grant awarded under chapter 311 of title 49, United 

23 States Code, requires a State to share in the cost, 

24 the aggregate of all expenditures for highway safety 

25 activities made during a fiscal year by the State and 


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1 its political subdivisions (exclusive of Federal funds) 

2 for carrying out the grant (other than planning and 

3 administration) shall be available for the purpose of 

4 crediting the State during such fiscal year for the 

5 non-Federal share of the cost of any other project 

6 carried out under chapter 311 of title 49, United 

7 States Code (other than planning or administration), 

8 without regard to whether such expenditures were 

9 made in connection with such project. 

10 (4) GRANT APPLICATION AND DEADLINE.—To 

11 receive a grant under chapter 311 of title 49, United 

12 States Code, a State shall submit an application, 

13 and the Secretary shall establish a single deadline 

14 for such applications to enable the award of grants 

15 early in the next fiscal year. 

16 (5) PROHIBITION ON OTHER USES.—Except as 

17 otherwise provided in chapter 311 of title 49, United 

18 States Code, the amounts made available from the 

19 Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit 

20 Account) for a program under such chapters— 

21 (A) shall only be used to carry out such 

22 program; and 

23 (B) may not be used by States or local 

24 governments for construction purposes. 


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1 SEC. 5002. COMPLIANCE, SAFETY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY 

2 REFORM. 

3 (a) MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY GRANTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

5 (A) SELECTION STANDARD.—For any ap6 plicable legal requirement with respect to a cov7 ered entity contracting with a covered motor 

8 carrier for the shipment of goods or household 

9 goods, the covered entity shall be considered 

10 reasonable and prudent in the selection of such 

11 motor carrier if the covered entity verifies, not 

12 later than the date of shipment and not earlier 

13 than 45 days before the date of shipment, that 

14 the covered motor carrier— 

15 (i) is registered under section 13902 

16 of title 49, United States Code, as a motor 

17 carrier or household goods motor carrier; 

18 (ii) has at least the minimum insur19 ance coverage required by Federal and 

20 State law; and 

21 (iii) is not determined unfit to operate 

22 safely commercial motor vehicles under 

23 section 31144 of title 49, United States 

24 Code, or otherwise ordered to discontinue 

25 operations by the Federal Motor Carrier 

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1 newing a Department of Transportation 

2 registration number) or a State. 

3 (B) SUNSET.—The standard established 

4 under paragraph (1) shall sunset on the effec5 tive date of a regulation issued pursuant to sub6 section (c). 

7 (2) REVOCATION OF REGISTRATION.—Section 

8 31144(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amend9 ed— 

10 (A) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘and’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (4) by striking the period 

12 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(5) prescribe by regulation a process for revok15 ing the registration of an owner or operator deter16 mined unfit to operate safely a commercial motor ve17 hicle under this section.’’. 

18 (3) RULEMAKING.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 

20 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

21 the Secretary of Transportation shall— 

22 (i) update and revise the regulations 

23 issued pursuant to subsection (b) of sec24 tion 31144 of title 49, United States Code, 


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1 to include the requirements of subsection 

2 (a); and 

3 (ii) issue such regulations as are nec4 essary to carry out section 31144(a)(5) of 

5 title 49, United States Code, as added by 

6 this Act. 

7 (B) FACTORS FOR AN UNSATISFACTORY

8 RATING.—The regulations updated under para9 graph (1)(A) shall provide a procedure for the 

10 Secretary to determine if a motor carrier is not 

11 fit to operate a commercial motor vehicle in or 

12 affecting interstate commerce in accordance 

13 with section 31144 of title 49, United States 

14 Code. 

15 (4) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section 

16 shall be construed to preempt or supersede any 

17 State law or regulation relating to drayage. 

18 (5) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (A) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘cov20 ered entity’’ means a person acting as— 

21 (i) a shipper or cosignee of goods, ex22 cept that such term does not mean a per23 son acting as an individual shipper (as 

24 such term is defined in section 13103 of 

25 title 49, United States Code); 


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1 (ii) a broker, a freight forwarder, or a 

2 household goods freight forwarder (as such 

3 terms are defined in section 13102 of title 

4 49, United States Code); 

5 (iii) an ocean transportation inter6 mediary (as such term is defined in section 

7 40102 of title 46, United States Code), 

8 when arranging for inland transportation 

9 as part of an international through move10 ment involving ocean transportation be11 tween the United States and a foreign 

12 port; 

13 (iv) an indirect air carrier holding a 

14 Standard Security Program approved by 

15 the Transportation Security Administra16 tion only to the extent that the indirect air 

17 carrier is engaging in the activities as an 

18 air carrier defined in paragraph (2) or (3) 

19 of section 40102 of title 49, United States 

20 Code; 

21 (v) a customs broker licensed in ac22 cordance with section 111.2 of title 19, 

23 Code of Federal Regulations, only to the 

24 extent that the customs broker is engaging 

25 in a movement under a customs bond or in 


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1 a transaction involving customs business, 

2 as defined by section 111.1 of title 19, 

3 Code of Federal Regulations; or 

4 (vi) a motor carrier registered under 

5 chapter 139 of title 49, United States 

6 Code. 

7 (B) COVERED MOTOR CARRIER.—The term 

8 ‘‘covered motor carrier’’ means a motor carrier 

9 or a household goods motor carrier (as such 

10 terms are defined in section 13102 of title 49, 

11 United States Code) that is subject to Federal 

12 motor carrier financial responsibility and safety 

13 regulations. 

14 (C) HOUSEHOLD GOODS.—The term 

15 ‘‘household goods’’ has the meaning given such 

16 term in section 13102 of title 49, United States 

17 Code. 

18 (D) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

19 means the Secretary of Transportation. 

20 (b) REMOTE AUDIT.—Section 31144 of title 49, 

21 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(j) REMOTE AUDITS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab25 lish a pilot program to conduct remote compliance 


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1 reviews under subpart A of part 385 of title 49, 

2 Code of Federal Regulations, to assign a safety rat3 ing for commercial motor carriers. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—In conducting the pilot pro5 gram, the Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) use the same standards that would 

7 otherwise be applicable to commercial motor 

8 carriers; 

9 ‘‘(B) apply the procedures of part 385 of 

10 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, including 

11 the safety fitness rating methodology under ap12 pendix B, prior to assigning a safety rating 

13 under such pilot program; 

14 ‘‘(C) assign safety ratings regardless of 

15 whether an on-site review of activities has taken 

16 place; and 

17 ‘‘(D) leverage all available technology to 

18 access information and records. 

19 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Motor carriers that 

21 are eligible to participate in the pilot program 

22 under this subsection shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) voluntarily agree to participate in 

24 such pilot program; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) be able to opt out of participa2 tion at any time. 

3 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION.— 

4 Motor carriers that transport hazardous mate5 rials or passengers shall be prohibited from par6 ticipating in the pilot program under this sec7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZED AGENTS.—Remote compli9 ance reviews conducted under the pilot program 

10 under this section may be conducted by— 

11 ‘‘(A) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin12 istration personnel; 

13 ‘‘(B) State commercial motor vehicle au14 thorities that meet acceptable standards set 

15 forth by the Secretary; or 

16 ‘‘(C) private contractors that meet accept17 able standards set forth by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF SAFETY RATINGS.— 

19 Safety ratings determined under the pilot program 

20 under this subsection may not be released publicly 

21 by the Secretary or by any authorized agent de22 scribed in paragraph (4) that is participating in the 

23 pilot program under this subsection.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5003. ENTRY-LEVEL DRIVER TRAINING REGULATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 7, 2022, 

3 the Secretary of Transportation shall implement the min4 imum training requirements for entry-level commercial 

5 motor vehicle operators published in the final rule issued 

6 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on 

7 December 8, 2016, titled ‘‘Minimum Training Require8 ments for Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle Opera9 tors’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 88732). 

10 (b) TRAINING PROVIDER REGISTRY DEPLOYMENT.— 

11 Not later than October 1, 2021, the Federal Motor Carrier 

12 Safety Administration shall deploy the training provider 

13 registry referenced in the final regulation issued by the 

14 Administration on December 8, 2016, titled ‘‘Minimum 

15 Training Requirements for Entry-Level Commercial 

16 Motor Vehicle Operators’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 88732) to allow 

17 training providers to sign up prior to the implementation 

18 date described in subsection (a). 

19 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Feb20 ruary 7, 2021, and every 90 days thereafter until the im21 plementation of the requirements described in subsection 

22 (a), the Secretary of Transportation shall submit to the 

23 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

24 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com25 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

26 describing— 


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1 (1) the status of the training provider registry 

2 described in subsection (b); and 

3 (2) the Federal and State efforts to implement 

4 the final rule described in subsection (a). 

5 (d) REPORT ON NONCOMPLIANCE.—Not later than 

6 45 days after the date on which compliance with the final 

7 rule described in subsection (a) is required under sub8 section (a), the Secretary of Transportation shall submit 

9 to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

10 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

11 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a 

12 report containing a list of all States in substantial non13 compliance with such final rule. 

14 SEC. 5004. TRUCKING INDUSTRY WORKFORCE DEVELOP15 MENT. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) APPRENTICE.—The term ‘‘apprentice’’ 

18 means an employee under the age of 21 who holds 

19 a commercial driver’s license required to operate a 

20 class of vehicles described in part 383 of title 49, 

21 Code of Federal Regulations. 

22 (2) COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE.—The 

23 term ‘‘commercial driver’s license’’ has the meaning 

24 given the term in section 31301 of title 49, United 

25 States Code. 


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1 (3) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

2 ‘‘commercial motor vehicle’’ means a commercial 

3 motor vehicle that meets the definition under para4 graph (1) or (4) of the definition of the term ‘‘com5 mercial motor vehicle’’ in section 390.5 of title 49, 

6 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

7 date of enactment of this Act). 

8 (4) DRIVING TIME.—The term ‘‘driving time’’ 

9 has the meaning given the term in section 395.2 of 

10 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

11 the date of enactment of this Act). 

12 (5) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ has the 

13 meaning given such term in section 31132 of title 

14 49, United States Code. 

15 (6) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the 

16 meaning given such term in section 31132 of title 

17 49, United States Code. 

18 (7) EXPERIENCED DRIVER.—The term ‘‘experi19 enced driver’’ means an individual who— 

20 (A) is not less than 21 years of age; 

21 (B) has held a commercial driver’s license 

22 for the 2-year period ending on the date on 

23 which the individual serves as an experienced 

24 driver under subsection (c)(3)(B); 


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1 (C) has had no preventable accidents re2 portable to the Department of Transportation 

3 or pointed moving violations during the 1-year 

4 period ending on the date on which the indi5 vidual serves as an experienced driver under 

6 subsection (c)(3)(B); and 

7 (D) has a minimum of 2 years of experi8 ence driving a commercial motor vehicle in 

9 interstate commerce. 

10 (8) ON-DUTY TIME.—The term ‘‘on-duty time’’ 

11 has the meaning given the term in section 395.2 of 

12 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 

13 the date of enactment of this Act). 

14 (9) POINTED MOVING VIOLATION.—The term 

15 ‘‘pointed moving violation’’ means a violation that 

16 results in points being added to the license of a driv17 er, or a similar comparable violation, as determined 

18 by the Secretary. 

19 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

20 means the Secretary of Transportation. 

21 (b) APPRENTICE.—An apprentice may— 

22 (1) drive a commercial motor vehicle in inter23 state commerce while taking part in the 120-hour 

24 probationary period under subsection (c)(1) or the 

25 280-hour probationary period under subsection 


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1 (c)(2), pursuant to an apprenticeship program estab2 lished by an employer in accordance with this sec3 tion; and 

4 (2) drive a commercial motor vehicle in inter5 state commerce after the apprentice completes an 

6 apprenticeship program described in paragraph (1). 

7 (c) APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.—An apprenticeship 

8 program referred to in subsection (b) is a program that 

9 consists of the following requirements: 

10 (1) 120-HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The apprentice shall 

12 complete 120 hours of on-duty time, of which 

13 not less than 80 hours are driving time in a 

14 commercial motor vehicle. 

15 (B) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—In 

16 order to complete the 120-hour probationary 

17 period under subparagraph (A), an employer 

18 shall determine that the apprentice is com19 petent in each of the following areas: 

20 (i) Interstate, city traffic, rural 2- 

21 lane, and evening driving. 

22 (ii) Safety awareness. 

23 (iii) Speed and space management. 

24 (iv) Lane control. 

25 (v) Mirror scanning. 


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1 (vi) Right and left turns. 

2 (vii) Logging and complying with 

3 rules relating to hours of service. 

4 (2) 280-HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—After completing the 

6 120-hour probationary period under paragraph 

7 (1), the apprentice shall complete 280 hours of 

8 on-duty time, of which not less than 160 hours 

9 are driving time in a commercial motor vehicle. 

10 (B) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—In 

11 order to complete the 280-hour probationary 

12 period under subparagraph (A), an employer 

13 shall determine that the apprentice is com14 petent in each of the following areas: 

15 (i) Backing and maneuvering in close 

16 quarters. 

17 (ii) Pre-trip inspections. 

18 (iii) Fueling procedures. 

19 (iv) Weighing loads, weight distribu20 tion, and sliding tandems. 

21 (v) Coupling and uncoupling proce22 dures. 

23 (vi) Trip planning, truck routes, map 

24 reading, navigation, and permits. 


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1 (3) RESTRICTIONS FOR 120-HOUR AND 280- 

2 HOUR PROBATIONARY PERIODS.—During the 120- 

3 hour probationary period under paragraph (1) and 

4 the 280-hour probationary period under paragraph 

5 (2)— 

6 (A) the apprentice may only drive a com7 mercial motor vehicle that has— 

8 (i) automatic manual or automatic 

9 transmissions; 

10 (ii) active braking collision mitigation 

11 systems; 

12 (iii) forward-facing video event cap13 ture; and 

14 (iv) governed speeds of 65 miles per 

15 hour at the pedal and 65 miles per hour 

16 under adaptive cruise control; and 

17 (B) the apprentice shall be accompanied in 

18 the cab of the commercial motor vehicle by an 

19 experienced driver. 

20 (4) RECORDS RETENTION.—The employer shall 

21 maintain records, in a manner required by the Sec22 retary, relating to the satisfaction of the require23 ments of paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) by the ap24 prentice. 


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1 (5) REPORTABLE INCIDENTS.—If the appren2 tice is involved in a preventable accident reportable 

3 to the Department of Transportation or a pointed 

4 moving violation while driving a commercial motor 

5 vehicle as part of an apprenticeship program de6 scribed in this subsection, the apprentice shall un7 dergo remediation and additional training until the 

8 apprentice can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of 

9 the employer, competence in each of the performance 

10 benchmarks described in paragraphs (1)(B) and 

11 (2)(B). 

12 (6) COMPLETION OF PROGRAM.—The appren13 tice shall be considered to have completed the ap14 prenticeship program on the date on which the ap15 prentice completes the 280-hour probationary period 

16 under paragraph (2). 

17 (7) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act 

19 prevents an employer from imposing additional 

20 requirements on an apprentice taking part in 

21 an apprenticeship program established pursuant 

22 to this section. 

23 (B) TECHNOLOGIES.—Nothing in this Act 

24 prevents an employer from requiring or install25 ing additional technologies in a commercial 


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1 motor vehicle in addition to the technologies de2 scribed in paragraph (3)(A). 

3 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promul5 gate regulations to implement this Act. 

6 (e) NO EFFECT ON LICENSE REQUIREMENT.—Noth7 ing in this Act exempts an apprentice from any require8 ment to hold a commercial driver’s license in order to op9 erate a commercial motor vehicle. 

10 (f) EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY.—An employer shall 

11 not knowingly allow, require, permit, or authorize a driver 

12 under the age of 21 to operate a commercial motor vehicle 

13 in interstate commerce unless the driver is participating 

14 in or has completed an apprenticeship program that meets 

15 the requirements of subsection (c). 

16 SEC. 5005. HOURS OF SERVICE REQUIREMENTS FOR AGRI17 CULTURAL OPERATIONS. 

18 Section 229 of the Motor Carrier Safety Improve19 ment Act of 1999 (49 U.S.C. 31136 note) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

21 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

22 (A), by striking ‘‘during planting and harvest 

23 periods, as determined by each State,’’; and 

24 (B) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 

25 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(A) drivers transporting agricultural com2 modities within a 150 air-mile radius from— 

3 ‘‘(i) the source of the agricultural 

4 commodities; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) the destination of the agricul6 tural commodities;’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (e)(8)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘during the planting and 

9 harvesting seasons within each State, as deter10 mined by the State,’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘at any time of the year’’. 

12 TITLE VI—INNOVATION 

13 SEC. 6001. ADVANCED TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES 

14 PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title 23, United 

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘§ 520. Advanced transportation technologies pro19 gram 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

21 shall establish a program to provide grants to eligible enti22 ties to deploy, install, and operate advanced transportation 

23 technologies to improve safety, efficiency, system perform24 ance, mobility, intermodal connectivity, and infrastructure 

25 return on investment. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA.—In carrying out the program under 

2 subsection (a), the Secretary shall develop criteria for se3 lection of an eligible entity to receive a grant, including 

4 how the proposed deployment of technology— 

5 ‘‘(1) reduces costs and improves return on in6 vestments, including through the optimization of ex7 isting transportation capacity; 

8 ‘‘(2) delivers environmental benefits by alle9 viating congestion and streamlining traffic flow; 

10 ‘‘(3) measures and improves the operational 

11 performance of the applicable transportation net12 work; 

13 ‘‘(4) reduces the number and severity of traffic 

14 accidents and increases driver, passenger, and pedes15 trian safety; 

16 ‘‘(5) collects, disseminates, and uses informa17 tion on real-time traffic, work zone, weather, transit, 

18 paratransit, parking, and other transportation-re19 lated information to improve mobility, reduce con20 gestion, and provide for more efficient, accessible, 

21 and integrated transportation and transportation 

22 services; 

23 ‘‘(6) monitors transportation assets to improve 

24 infrastructure management, reduce maintenance 


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1 costs, prioritize investment decisions, and ensure a 

2 state of good repair; 

3 ‘‘(7) delivers economic benefits by reducing 

4 delays, improving system performance, and providing 

5 for the efficient and reliable movement of goods and 

6 services; or 

7 ‘‘(8) accelerates the deployment of vehicle-to-ve8 hicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, autonomous vehicles, 

9 and other technologies. 

10 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—An application submitted for a 

11 project to be carried out by a grant under this program 

12 shall include the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) A plan to deploy and provide for the long14 term operation and maintenance of advanced trans15 portation technologies to improve safety, efficiency, 

16 system performance, and return on investment. 

17 ‘‘(2) Objectives for quantifiable system perform18 ance improvements, such as— 

19 ‘‘(A) reducing traffic-related accidents, 

20 congestion, and costs; 

21 ‘‘(B) optimizing system efficiency; and 

22 ‘‘(C) improving access to transportation 

23 services. 

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1 mates of how the project proposes to improve the 

2 applicable transportation system efficiency and how 

3 such project proposes to reduce traffic congestion. 

4 ‘‘(4) A plan for any partnerships with private 

5 sector entities or public agencies, including 

6 multimodal and multijurisdictional entities, research 

7 institutions, organizations representing transpor8 tation and technology leaders, or other transpor9 tation stakeholders. 

10 ‘‘(5) A plan to leverage and optimize existing 

11 local and regional advanced transportation tech12 nology investments. 

13 ‘‘(d) GRANT SELECTION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) GRANT AWARDS.—Each fiscal year for 

15 which funding is made available under this section, 

16 the Secretary shall award grants to not less than 5 

17 and not more than 10 eligible entities. 

18 ‘‘(2) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), in awarding a grant under this sec21 tion, the Secretary shall ensure, to the extent 

22 practicable, that grant recipients represent di23 verse geographic areas of the United States, in24 cluding urban areas and rural areas. 


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1 ‘‘(B) RURAL SET-ASIDE.—Not less than 20 

2 percent of the amounts made available to carry 

3 out this section shall be reserved for projects 

4 serving rural areas, to the extent there are suf5 ficient eligible applications. 

6 ‘‘(3) TECHNOLOGY DIVERSITY.—In awarding a 

7 grant under this section, the Secretary shall ensure, 

8 to the extent practicable, that grant recipients rep9 resent a variety of technology solutions. 

10 ‘‘(e) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—A grant recipient may 

11 use funds awarded under this section to deploy advanced 

12 transportation technologies, including— 

13 ‘‘(1) advanced traveler information systems; 

14 ‘‘(2) advanced transportation management tech15 nologies; 

16 ‘‘(3) advanced transportation technologies to 

17 improve emergency evacuation and response by Fed18 eral, State, and local authorities; 

19 ‘‘(4) infrastructure maintenance, monitoring, 

20 and condition assessment; 

21 ‘‘(5) advanced public transportation systems; 

22 ‘‘(6) transportation system performance data 

23 collection, analysis, and dissemination systems; 

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1 structure communications, technologies associated 

2 with autonomous vehicles, and other collision avoid3 ance technologies, including systems using cellular 

4 technology; 

5 ‘‘(8) integration of intelligent transportation 

6 systems with the Smart Grid and other energy dis7 tribution and charging systems; 

8 ‘‘(9) integrated corridor management systems; 

9 ‘‘(10) advanced parking reservation or variable 

10 pricing systems; 

11 ‘‘(11) electronic pricing, toll collection, and pay12 ment systems; 

13 ‘‘(12) technology that enhances high occupancy 

14 vehicle toll lanes, cordon pricing, or congestion pric15 ing; 

16 ‘‘(13) advanced mobility and access tech17 nologies, such as dynamic ridesharing and informa18 tion systems to support human services for elderly 

19 and disabled individuals; 

20 ‘‘(14) technology that collects and maintains 

21 automated driving system safety data and data anal22 ysis tools; 

23 ‘‘(15) cybersecurity protection measures and ac24 tivities to protect against cybersecurity threats; or 


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1 ‘‘(16) advanced vulnerable road user safety in2 formation systems. 

3 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO SECRETARY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

5 that a recipient of a grant under this section sub6 mits, not later than 1 year after the recipient re7 ceives a grant and annually thereafter, a report to 

8 the Secretary that describes— 

9 ‘‘(A) deployment and operational costs of 

10 the project compared to the benefits and sav11 ings the project provides; and 

12 ‘‘(B) how the project has met the original 

13 expectations projected in the deployment plan 

14 submitted with the application, such as— 

15 ‘‘(i) data on how the project has 

16 helped reduce traffic accidents, congestion, 

17 costs, and other benefits of the deployed 

18 systems; 

19 ‘‘(ii) data on the effect of measuring 

20 and improving transportation system per21 formance through the deployment of ad22 vanced transportation technologies; 

23 ‘‘(iii) the effectiveness of providing 

24 real-time integrated traffic, transit, and 

25 multimodal transportation information to 


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1 the public to make informed travel deci2 sions; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) lessons learned and rec4 ommendations for future deployment strat5 egies to optimize transportation mobility, 

6 efficiency, and multimodal system perform7 ance. 

8 ‘‘(2) REPORT CONSISTENCY.— 

9 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary 

10 shall provide grant recipients with methods and 

11 techniques to support consistent data collection 

12 across grant recipients and may update such 

13 methods and techniques as appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(B) UPDATE.—The Secretary shall pro15 vide grant recipients notice of an update de16 scribed in subparagraph (A) not less than 90 

17 days before carrying out such update. 

18 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

19 of enactment of this section, and once every 2 years there20 after, the Secretary shall make available to the public on 

21 the website of the Department of Transportation an up22 dated report that describes the effectiveness of grant re23 cipients in meeting projected deployment plans including 

24 data described in subsection (f) on how the program has— 


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1 ‘‘(1) reduced traffic-related fatalities and inju2 ries; 

3 ‘‘(2) reduced traffic congestion and improved 

4 travel time reliability; 

5 ‘‘(3) reduced transportation-related emissions; 

6 ‘‘(4) optimized multimodal system performance; 

7 ‘‘(5) improved access to transportation alter8 natives; 

9 ‘‘(6) provided the public with access to real-time 

10 integrated traffic, transit, and multimodal transpor11 tation information to make informed travel deci12 sions; 

13 ‘‘(7) provided cost savings to transportation 

14 agencies, businesses, and the traveling public; or 

15 ‘‘(8) provided other benefits to transportation 

16 users and the general public. 

17 ‘‘(h) PENALTY.—The Secretary may terminate a 

18 grant provided under this section and deobligate funds 

19 provided by such grant if— 

20 ‘‘(1) the Secretary determines from a report 

21 submitted pursuant to subsection (f) that a recipient 

22 of such grant is not carrying out the requirements 

23 of the grant; and 

24 ‘‘(2) the Secretary provides written notice to 

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1 ture and Science, Space, and Technology of the 

2 House of Representatives and the Committees on 

3 Environment and Public Works and Commerce, 

4 Science, and Transportation of the Senate 60 days 

5 prior to deobligating funds under this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—Of the amounts provided to carry 

7 out this section, the Secretary may set aside $2,000,000 

8 each fiscal year for program reporting, evaluation, and ad9 ministrative costs related to this section. 

10 ‘‘(j) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

11 cost of a project for which a grant is awarded under this 

12 subsection shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost of the 

13 project. 

14 ‘‘(k) GRANT LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not 

15 award more than 15 percent of the amount described 

16 under subsection (i). 

17 ‘‘(l) EXPENSES FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.—A grant 

18 recipient under this section may use not more than 5 per19 cent of the funds awarded each fiscal year to carry out 

20 planning and reporting requirements. 

21 ‘‘(m) GRANT FLEXIBILITY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, by August 1 of each fis23 cal year, the Secretary determines that there are not 

24 enough grant applications that meet the require25 ments described in subsection (c) to carry out this 


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1 section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall transfer 

2 to the programs specified in paragraph (2)— 

3 ‘‘(A) any of the funds reserved for the fis4 cal year under subsection (i) that the Secretary 

5 has not yet awarded under this section; and 

6 ‘‘(B) an amount of obligation limitation 

7 equal to the amount of funds that the Secretary 

8 transfers under subparagraph (A). 

9 ‘‘(2) PROGRAMS.—The programs referred to in 

10 paragraph (1) are— 

11 ‘‘(A) the programs under sections 503(b) 

12 and 503(c); and 

13 ‘‘(B) the programs under sections 512 

14 through 518. 

15 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION.—Any transfer of funds 

16 and obligation limitation under paragraph (1) shall 

17 be divided among the programs referred to in that 

18 paragraph in the same proportions as the Secretary 

19 originally reserved funding from the programs for 

20 the fiscal year under subsection (i). 

21 ‘‘(n) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

22 definitions apply: 

23 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED TRANSPORTATION TECH24 NOLOGIES.—The term ‘advanced transportation 

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1 ficiency, safety, or state of good repair of surface 

2 transportation systems, including intelligent trans3 portation systems. 

4 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en5 tity’ means a State or local government, a transit 

6 agency, metropolitan planning organization, or a po7 litical subdivision of a State or local government or 

8 a multijurisdictional group or a consortium of re9 search institutions or academic institutions. 

10 ‘‘(3) MULTIJURISDICTIONAL GROUP.—The term 

11 ‘multijurisdictional group’ means any combination of 

12 State governments, local governments, metropolitan 

13 planning organizations, transit agencies, or other po14 litical subdivisions of a State for which each member 

15 of the group— 

16 ‘‘(A) has signed a written agreement to 

17 implement a project carried out under this sec18 tion across jurisdictional boundaries; and 

19 ‘‘(B) is an eligible entity under this sec20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(4) SMART GRID.—The term ‘Smart Grid’ 

22 means a system that provides for any of the smart 

23 grid functions set forth in section 1306(d) of the 

24 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 

25 U.S.C. 17386(d)).’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap2 ter 5 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add3 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘520. Advanced transportation technologies program.’’. 

4 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Chapter 5 of title 

5 23, United States Code, is amended by striking section 

6 503(c)(4). 

7 SEC. 6002. CONNECTED VEHICLE DEPLOYMENT PILOT PRO8 GRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title 23, United 

10 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘§ 521. Connected vehicle deployment pilot program 

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor15 tation shall establish a connected vehicle deployment 

16 pilot program to make grants, on a competitive 

17 basis, to spur operational deployments to meet the 

18 transportation needs of eligible entities through the 

19 use of the best available and emerging intelligent 

20 transportation systems. 

21 ‘‘(2) GOALS.—The goals of the program shall 

22 be to— 

23 ‘‘(A) spur connected vehicle technology de24 ployment through wirelessly connected vehicles 

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1 cluding mobile devices, infrastructure, and 

2 other elements; 

3 ‘‘(B) realize safety, mobility, and environ4 mental impacts through operational deploy5 ments; 

6 ‘‘(C) capture and use new forms of con7 nected vehicle and mobile device data to support 

8 improved surface transportation system per9 formance and enhanced performance-based 

10 management; 

11 ‘‘(D) encourage partnerships of multiple 

12 stakeholders (including private companies, 

13 State and local agencies, transit agencies, com14 mercial vehicle operators, freight shippers, and 

15 transportation network companies); 

16 ‘‘(E) deploy applications using data cap17 tured from multiple sources (including vehicles, 

18 mobile devices, and infrastructure) across all 

19 elements of the surface transportation system 

20 (including transit, highway, arterial highways, 

21 parking facilities, and toll highways); and 

22 ‘‘(F) support deployment sites that create 

23 foundations for future expanded and enhanced 

24 deployments. 


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1 ‘‘(b) GRANT AMOUNT.—Each grant made under this 

2 section shall be in an amount that is at least $10,000,000. 

3 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may make 

4 a grant under this section to any of the following entities: 

5 ‘‘(1) A State or a group of States. 

6 ‘‘(2) A transit agency. 

7 ‘‘(3) A metropolitan planning organization that 

8 serves an urbanized area with a population of more 

9 than 200,000 individuals. 

10 ‘‘(4) A unit of local government or a group of 

11 local governments. 

12 ‘‘(5) A political subdivision of a State or local 

13 government. 

14 ‘‘(6) A special purpose district or public author15 ity with a transportation function, including a port 

16 authority. 

17 ‘‘(7) A multijurisdictional group (as defined 

18 under section 520) or a consortium of research insti19 tutions or academic institutions. 

20 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—A grant recipient may 

21 use funds awarded under this section for a project that 

22 deploys connected vehicle applications and technologies, 

23 including— 

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1 tions, technologies associated with autonomous vehi2 cles, and other collision avoidance technologies, in3 cluding systems using cellular technology; 

4 ‘‘(2) integration of intelligent transportation 

5 systems with the Smart Grid and other energy dis6 tribution and charging systems; 

7 ‘‘(3) electronic pricing and payment systems; 

8 ‘‘(4) advanced mobility and access technologies, 

9 such as dynamic ridesharing and information sys10 tems to support human services for elderly and dis11 abled individuals; and 

12 ‘‘(5) any deployment concept eligible, before the 

13 date of enactment of this section, under the con14 nected vehicle pilot deployment program carried out 

15 by the Department of Transportation. 

16 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant amounts received for 

17 a project under this section may be used for— 

18 ‘‘(1) activities in the development phase, includ19 ing planning, feasibility analysis, revenue fore20 casting, environmental review process (as defined 

21 under section 139), preliminary engineering and de22 sign work, and other preconstruction activities; 

23 ‘‘(2) construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, 

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1 ronmental mitigation, construction contingencies, ac2 quisition of equipment, and operational improvement 

3 directly related to improving system performance; 

4 ‘‘(3) providing incentives to attract driver par5 ticipation; and 

6 ‘‘(4) purchasing and installing any connected 

7 vehicle equipment (including vehicle applications, 

8 roadside units, and back-office equipment). 

9 ‘‘(f) APPLICATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant 

11 under this section, an entity described under sub12 section (c) shall submit to the Secretary an applica13 tion in such form, at such time, and containing such 

14 information as the Secretary determines is appro15 priate, including— 

16 ‘‘(A) a plan to deploy and provide for the 

17 long-term operation and maintenance of con18 nected vehicle technologies to improve safety, 

19 efficiency, and system performance; 

20 ‘‘(B) objectives to improve and measure 

21 system performance in 1 or more of— 

22 ‘‘(i) system productivity; 

23 ‘‘(ii) mobility, including impact on 

24 freight movements; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) livability and accessibility of 

2 goods, services, and activities; 

3 ‘‘(iv) environment and fuel use; and 

4 ‘‘(v) traveler and system safety, in5 cluding advising individuals of potentially 

6 unsafe conditions and mitigating the im7 pact of events that may cause vehicle acci8 dents; and 

9 ‘‘(C) a plan for partnering with private 

10 sector entities or public agencies, including 

11 multimodal and multijurisdictional entities, re12 search institutions, organizations representing 

13 transportation and technology leaders, or other 

14 transportation stakeholders. 

15 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA.—When evaluating applications 

16 under this section, the Secretary may not require 

17 that a pilot deployment under the program be based 

18 on research carried out or funded by the Depart19 ment of Transportation. 

20 ‘‘(g) GRANT SELECTION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) GRANT AWARDS.—Not later than 1 year 

22 after the date of enactment of this section, and each 

23 fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary shall award 

24 grants to not less than 3 and not more than 5 eligi25 ble entities described in subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(2) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In awarding a 

2 grant under this section, the Secretary shall ensure, 

3 to the extent practicable, that grant recipients rep4 resent diverse geographic areas of the United States, 

5 including urban areas and rural areas. 

6 ‘‘(h) GRANT MANAGEMENT.—In carrying out the 

7 grant program under this section, the Secretary shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) emphasize project sustainability and long9 term funding goals; 

10 ‘‘(2) create a noncompetitive environment and 

11 encourage collaboration among project sites; 

12 ‘‘(3) balance the privacy of users and secure op13 erations of pilot projects, while maintaining the abil14 ity to measure performance factors; and 

15 ‘‘(4) be wary of technological maturity of con16 nected vehicle applications and impact of long-term 

17 viability of non-deployment ready applications. 

18 ‘‘(i) SMART GRID DEFINED.—In this section, the 

19 term ‘Smart Grid’ means a system that provides for any 

20 of the smart grid functions set forth in section 1306(d) 

21 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 

22 U.S.C. 17386(d)).’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap24 ter 5 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add25 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘521. Connected vehicle deployment pilot program.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6003. AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title 23, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 522. Automated driving system demonstration pro7 gram 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor10 tation shall establish an automated driving system 

11 demonstration program to make grants, on a com12 petitive basis, to eligible entities to— 

13 ‘‘(A) test the safe integration of automated 

14 driving system technologies into the on-road 

15 transportation system of the United States and 

16 demonstrate how challenges to the safe integra17 tion of such technologies can be addressed; 

18 ‘‘(B) ensure significant data gathering and 

19 sharing of project data to identify— 

20 ‘‘(i) a baseline of safety metrics need21 ed to characterize the safety risk of inte22 grating automated driving system tech23 nologies into the transportation system; 

24 ‘‘(ii) a baseline for the safety of auto25 mated driving system technology integra26 tion; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a baseline of roadway character2 istics needed for the safe and efficient op3 eration of automated driving system tech4 nologies; and 

5 ‘‘(C) encourage collaboration and partner6 ships of multiple stakeholders to carry out sub7 paragraphs (A) and (B). 

8 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may make 

9 a grant under this section to the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) A State or a group of States. 

11 ‘‘(2) A transit agency. 

12 ‘‘(3) A metropolitan planning organization that 

13 serves an urbanized area with a population of more 

14 than 200,000 individuals. 

15 ‘‘(4) A unit of local government or a group of 

16 local governments. 

17 ‘‘(5) A political subdivision of a State or local 

18 government. 

19 ‘‘(6) A special purpose district or public author20 ity with a transportation function, including a port 

21 authority. 

22 ‘‘(7) A public academic institution, public re23 search institution, a multijurisdictional group (as 

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1 tium of research institutions or academic institu2 tions. 

3 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 

4 this section, an entity described under subsection (b) shall 

5 submit to the Secretary an application in such form, at 

6 such time, and containing such information as the Sec7 retary determines is appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE USES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant recipient may use 

10 funds awarded under this section to demonstrate 

11 automated driving system technologies, including— 

12 ‘‘(A) advanced safety systems, including 

13 vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure 

14 communications, technologies associated with 

15 autonomous vehicles, and other collision avoid16 ance technologies, including systems using cel17 lular technology; 

18 ‘‘(B) innovative mobility solutions that in19 volve deployment of automated vehicles; 

20 ‘‘(C) automated driving systems that en21 hance safety and mobility for elderly and dis22 abled individuals; 

23 ‘‘(D) demonstration of shared interoper24 able fleet of automated vehicles; 


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1 ‘‘(E) demonstration and validation of ex2 changes of data that can support the safe, effi3 cient, and secure interoperable integration of 

4 automated driving systems; 

5 ‘‘(F) any technology associated with auto6 mated driving systems; and 

7 ‘‘(G) any deployment concept eligible under 

8 the automated driving system demonstration 

9 grant program carried out by the Department 

10 of Transportation before the date of enactment 

11 of this section. 

12 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL USES.—A grant recipient 

13 may use funds awarded under this section for infra14 structure needs, including capital expenses and 

15 maintenance activities, necessary to the proper and 

16 safe operation of the automated driving system tech17 nology. 

18 ‘‘(e) GRANT SELECTION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) GRANT AWARDS.—The Secretary may 

20 award grants to not less than 8 and not more than 

21 10 eligible entities described under subsection (b) in 

22 a fiscal year. 

23 ‘‘(2) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In awarding a grant 

25 under this section, the Secretary shall ensure, 


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1 to the maximum extent practicable, that grant 

2 recipients represent diverse geographic areas of 

3 the United States, including urban areas and 

4 rural areas. 

5 ‘‘(B) RURAL SET-ASIDE.—Not less than 20 

6 percent of the amounts made available to carry 

7 out this section shall be reserved for projects 

8 serving rural areas, to the extent there are suf9 ficient eligible applications for such projects. 

10 ‘‘(f) DEMONSTRATION REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec11 retary shall ensure that any project carried out with funds 

12 provided under this section shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) carry out research and development of 

14 automated driving system technologies of Level 3 or 

15 greater, as such term is defined pursuant to sub16 section (h); 

17 ‘‘(2) include physical and fully operational dem18 onstrations; 

19 ‘‘(3) include gathering and sharing of all rel20 evant data with the Department of Transportation 

21 and the relevant State transportation agencies; and 

22 ‘‘(4) address scalability to be applicable across 

23 the United States to similar road environments. 

24 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

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1 tion, and annually thereafter until such grant is expended, 

2 the recipient shall submit to the Secretary and to the 

3 transportation agency of the State in which the project 

4 takes place, a report that describes— 

5 ‘‘(1) lessons learned and how the demonstration 

6 has met project objectives; 

7 ‘‘(2) a summary of any complications experi8 enced with the project, including complications re9 lated to pedestrians, infrastructure, and other vehi10 cles; 

11 ‘‘(3) how to use the results of the project to 

12 help the public interact and better understand the 

13 operations of automated driving system technologies; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(4) recommendations for improving roadway 

16 characteristics needed for the safe and efficient oper17 ation of automated driving system technologies with18 in the State or jurisdiction in which the project took 

19 place. 

20 ‘‘(h) GUIDANCE REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 

21 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec22 retary shall issue guidance defining the term Level 3 or 

23 greater by considering industry best practices and stand24 ards, including the definition found within ‘Taxonomy and 

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1 tems for On-Road Motor Vehicles’ published by SAE 

2 International on June 15, 2018 (J3016l201806), or sub3 sequent versions. 

4 ‘‘(i) AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM TECHNOLOGIES

5 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘automated driving 

6 system technologies’ means the hardware and software 

7 that are collectively capable of performing the entire dy8 namic driving task on a sustained basis, regardless of 

9 whether such capability is limited to a specific operational 

10 design domain.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap12 ter 5 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add13 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘522. Automated driving system demonstration program.’’. 

14 (c) PREPARING ROADWAYS FOR AUTOMATED VEHI15 CLES.—Section 133(b) of title 23, United States Code, is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(16) Capital and maintenance expenses for in18 frastructure improvements to ensure the proper and 

19 safe operation of automated driving system tech20 nologies for which a demonstration project was car21 ried out under section 522.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6004. ACCELERATED IMPLEMENTATION AND DEPLOY2 MENT OF ADVANCED DIGITAL CONSTRUC3 TION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 503(c) of title 23, United 

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

7 ‘‘(4) ACCELERATED IMPLEMENTATION AND DE8 PLOYMENT OF ADVANCED DIGITAL CONSTRUCTION

9 MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 

11 months after the date of enactment of this 

12 paragraph, the Secretary of Transportation 

13 shall establish and implement an advanced dig14 ital construction management system program 

15 under the technology and innovation deploy16 ment program established under paragraph (1) 

17 and implemented pursuant to paragraph (2) 

18 to— 

19 ‘‘(i) deploy advanced digital construc20 tion management systems that enable the 

21 use of digital technologies on construction 

22 sites by contractors and leverage the use of 

23 such technologies, including state-of-the24 art automated and connected machinery 

25 and optimized routing software that allows 

26 individuals to perform tasks faster, safer, 


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1 more accurately, and with minimal super2 vision; 

3 ‘‘(ii) accelerate State adoption of ad4 vanced digital construction management 

5 systems applied throughout the design, en6 gineering, construction, and operations 

7 phases of a construction project that— 

8 ‘‘(I) maximize interoperability 

9 with other systems, products, tools, or 

10 applications; 

11 ‘‘(II) increase productivity; 

12 ‘‘(III) manage complexity of a 

13 construction project; 

14 ‘‘(IV) reduce project delays and 

15 cost overruns; and 

16 ‘‘(V) enhance safety of individ17 uals involved and quality of a con18 struction project; 

19 ‘‘(iii) share information among stake20 holders through reduced reliance on paper 

21 to manage construction processes and 

22 deliverables, including blueprints, design 

23 drawings, procurement and supply-chain 

24 orders, equipment logs, daily progress re25 ports, and punch lists; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) develop and deploy best practices 

2 for use in advanced digital construction 

3 management systems; 

4 ‘‘(v) increase the adoption and deploy5 ment of technology by States and units of 

6 local government that enables entities car7 rying out construction projects to— 

8 ‘‘(I) integrate the adoption of ad9 vanced digital construction manage10 ment systems and technologies in con11 tracts; and 

12 ‘‘(II) weigh the cost of 

13 digitization and technology in setting 

14 project budgets; 

15 ‘‘(vi) implement technology training 

16 and workforce development to build the ca17 pabilities of entities carrying out construc18 tion projects that enables States and units 

19 of local government to— 

20 ‘‘(I) better manage projects using 

21 advanced digital construction manage22 ment technologies; and 

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1 struction projects carried out by the 

2 State or unit of local government; 

3 ‘‘(vii) develop guidance to assist 

4 States in updating regulations of such 

5 States to allow entities carrying out con6 struction projects to— 

7 ‘‘(I) report data relating to the 

8 project in digital formats; and 

9 ‘‘(II) fully capture the efficiencies 

10 and benefits of advanced digital con11 struction management systems and 

12 related technologies; 

13 ‘‘(viii) reduce the environmental foot14 print of construction projects by using ad15 vanced digital construction management 

16 systems to eliminate traffic congestion 

17 through more efficient projects; and 

18 ‘‘(ix) enhance worker and roadway 

19 user safety. 

20 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall obli21 gate for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025 

22 from funds made available to carry out this 

23 subsection such funds as may be necessary to 

24 carry out this paragraph. 

25 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—At least once 

2 every 2 years, the Secretary shall issue and 

3 make available to the public on the website 

4 of the Department of Transportation a re5 port on— 

6 ‘‘(I) progress made in the imple7 mentation of advanced digital con8 struction management systems by 

9 States; and 

10 ‘‘(II) the costs and benefits of 

11 the deployment of technology and in12 novations resulting from the program 

13 established under this paragraph. 

14 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—The report re15 quired under clause (i) may include an 

16 analysis of— 

17 ‘‘(I) Federal, State, and local 

18 cost savings; 

19 ‘‘(II) project delivery time im20 provements; 

21 ‘‘(III) traffic congestion impacts; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(IV) safety improvements for 

24 roadway users and construction work25 ers. 


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1 ‘‘(D) ADVANCED DIGITAL CONSTRUCTION

2 MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS DEFINED.—In this 

3 paragraph, the term ‘advanced digital construc4 tion management systems’ means commercially 

5 proven digital technologies and processes for 

6 the management of construction and engineer7 ing activities, including— 

8 ‘‘(i) systems for infrastructure plan9 ning, coordination, construction, mainte10 nance, modernization and management; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(ii) asset management systems for 

13 machines, site equipment, and personnel.’’. 

14 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

16 submit to the Committee on Environment and Public 

17 Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transpor18 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

19 a report that includes— 

20 (1) a description of— 

21 (A) the status of the program carried out 

22 under section 503(c)(4) of title 23, United 

23 States Code, and any other use of advanced 

24 digital construction management systems in 

25 each State; and 


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1 (B) the progress of each State toward ac2 celerating the adoption of advanced digital con3 struction management systems; and 

4 (2) an analysis of the savings in project delivery 

5 time and project costs that can be achieved through 

6 the use of advanced digital construction manage7 ment systems. 

8 SEC. 6005. INNOVATIVE PROJECT DELIVERY METHODS. 

9 Section 120(c)(3) of title 23, United States Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

12 (A) in clause (v) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

13 end; 

14 (B) in clause (vi) by striking the period 

15 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

16 (C) by inserting at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(vii) advanced digital construction 

18 management systems as defined in section 

19 503(c)(4).’’; and 

20 (2) in subparagraph (C)(i) by striking ‘‘10 per21 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘25 percent’’. 

22 SEC. 6006. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM FUNDING 

23 ALTERNATIVES. 

24 Section 6020 of the FAST Act (Public Law 114–94) 

25 is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘States’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘applicants’’; and 

4 (B) by inserting ‘‘to motor fuel and diesel 

5 taxes’’ after ‘‘alternative revenue mechanisms’’; 

6 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant 

10 under this section, an applicant that is a State or 

11 group of States shall submit to the Secretary an ap12 plication in such form and containing such informa13 tion as the Secretary shall require, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) for any applicant that has received a 

15 grant to carry out a program under this sec16 tion, how such applicant will use the grant to 

17 build on any such program; 

18 ‘‘(B) how the applicant will collect and 

19 analyze data on— 

20 ‘‘(i) lowering the administrative cost 

21 to collect revenue; 

22 ‘‘(ii) user experience with and accept23 ance of a user-based alternative revenue 

24 mechanism; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) impacts on rural and urban 

2 users; 

3 ‘‘(iv) potential revenue generation; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(v) revenue collection compliance 

6 strategies; and 

7 ‘‘(C) for any applicant that has not re8 ceived a grant to carry out a program under 

9 this section, how the applicant— 

10 ‘‘(i) will avoid redundancies with any 

11 other pilot programs for user-based alter12 native revenue mechanisms carried out by 

13 the applicant; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) plans to use best practices from 

15 any such pilot programs in structuring the 

16 program for which such funds are pro17 vided. 

18 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION GUIDANCE.—Not later than 

19 30 days after the date of enactment of the START20 ER Act, the Secretary shall publish online guidance 

21 on submission of an application for the program.’’; 

22 (3) in subsection (c)— 

23 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert24 ing the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) To test the design, acceptance, equity, and 

2 implementation of user-based alternative revenue 

3 mechanisms, including among— 

4 ‘‘(A) differing income groups; 

5 ‘‘(B) various geographic areas; and 

6 ‘‘(C) rural and urban drivers.’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (5) by striking ‘‘To mini8 mize the administrative cost’’ and inserting ‘‘To 

9 quantify and minimize the administrative 

10 costs’’; 

11 (4) in subsection (d)(1)(B) by inserting ‘‘and 

12 the safety of data collection’’ before the semicolon; 

13 (5) in subsection (e) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and in14 serting ‘‘may’’; 

15 (6) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(g) FEDERAL SHARE.—Except as otherwise pro18 vided, the Federal share of the cost of an activity carried 

19 out under this section may not exceed— 

20 ‘‘(1) 80 percent of the total cost of an activity 

21 that involves 2 or more States; and 

22 ‘‘(2) 60 percent of the total cost of any activity 

23 not described in paragraph (1).’’; 

24 (7) in subsection (h)(2) by striking ‘‘lessons 

25 learned’’ and inserting ‘‘recommendations’’; 


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1 (8) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub2 section (l); 

3 (9) by striking subsection (j) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(j) FUNDING.—Of the funds authorized to carry out 

6 section 503(b) of title 23, United States Code, the Sec7 retary shall reserve such sums as may be necessary to 

8 carry out this section. 

9 ‘‘(k) PLANNING GRANTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PLANNING, PREPARATION, DESIGN.—Of 

11 the funds authorized to carry out this section, the 

12 Secretary may award grants in amounts not to ex13 ceed 10 percent of such funds to entities for the 

14 planning, preparation, or design of projects eligible 

15 for funding under this section. 

16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE USES.—An entity receiving 

17 funding under this subsection may use the funds for 

18 planning, preparation, or design of an implementable 

19 pilot project, as well as the examination of issues re20 lated to data and privacy, cybersecurity, and the fi21 nancial analysis of urban and rural impacts of a 

22 project. 

23 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A grant under this 

24 subsection shall not exceed $500,000. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—To be eligi2 ble to receive funds under this subsection, an appli3 cant shall describe to the Secretary how the appli4 cant— 

5 ‘‘(A) will avoid redundancies with any 

6 other pilot programs for user-based alternative 

7 revenue mechanisms carried out by the appli8 cant; and 

9 ‘‘(B) plans to use best practices from any 

10 such pilot programs in structuring the program 

11 for which such funds are provided.’’; 

12 (10) in subsection (l), as so redesignated, by in13 serting ‘‘, to remain available until expended’’ after 

14 ‘‘United States Code’’; and 

15 (11) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(m) LIMITATION ON TRANSFER.—The Secretary 

17 shall notify in writing the Committee on Appropriations 

18 and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

19 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

20 Appropriations and the Committee on Environment and 

21 Public Works of the Senate of the intent to transfer funds 

22 under subsection (l). A transfer under such subsection 

23 may only be carried out if the Committees described in 

24 the previous sentence provide written authorization to the 


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1 Secretary for such transfer not later than 30 days after 

2 receiving a notification pursuant to this subsection.’’. 

3 SEC. 6007. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM ROAD 

4 USAGE CHARGE NATIONAL PILOT. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans7 portation, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treas8 ury, shall establish a pilot program to demonstrate imple9 mentation of a national per-mile road usage charge. 

10 (b) OBJECTIVES.—In establishing the program, the 

11 Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of the 

12 Treasury shall carry out the following objectives: 

13 (1) Test the design, acceptance, implementa14 tion, and financial sustainability of a national per15 mile road usage charge. 

16 (2) Collect and report data on the differential 

17 effects of a national per-mile road usage charge and 

18 the Federal motor fuels tax between urban and rural 

19 drivers. 

20 (3) Collect and report data on the interoper21 ability of road usage charge collection between 

22 States. 

23 (4) Provide recommendations regarding adop24 tion and implementation of a national per-mile road 


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1 usage charge and a recommendation for the amount 

2 of the national per-mile road usage charge. 

3 (c) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM ROAD

4 USAGE CHARGE ADVISORY BOARD.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 

6 under this section, the Secretary of Transportation 

7 shall establish a surface transportation system road 

8 usage charge advisory board to— 

9 (A) advance and implement the objectives 

10 under subsection (b); and 

11 (B) developing the recommendations and 

12 report under subsection (j)(1). 

13 (2) MEMBERS.—The advisory board established 

14 under paragraph (1) shall, at a minimum, be com15 posed of a total of 15 representatives of the fol16 lowing entities, to be appointed by the Secretary: 

17 (A) State departments of transportation. 

18 (B) Local transportation agencies located 

19 within a transportation management area (as 

20 identified or designated under section 134(k) of 

21 title 23, United States Code). 

22 (C) Any public or nonprofit entity that 

23 carried out a surface transportation system 

24 funding alternatives pilot project under section 

25 6020 of the FAST Act (23 U.S.C. 503 note). 


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1 (D) Owners and operators of toll facilities. 

2 (E) Fleet operators of commercial motor 

3 vehicles. 

4 (3) APPLICATION OF LAW.—The Federal Advi5 sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 

6 to the advisory board established under paragraph 

7 (1). 

8 (d) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the 

9 pilot program established in subsection (a), the Secretary 

10 of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary of 

11 the Treasury, shall— 

12 (1) establish appropriate methods for reporting 

13 vehicle miles traveled under the program; 

14 (2) solicit volunteer participants from all 50 

15 States and the District of Columbia; 

16 (3) ensure an equitable geographic distribution 

17 by population among volunteer participants; 

18 (4) enter into agreements, as is practicable, 

19 with owners of commercial motor vehicle fleets or 

20 passenger motor vehicle fleets for the collection and 

21 sharing of anonymized data throughout the pilot 

22 program; 

23 (5) enter into agreements with entities of the 

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1 dustry to develop a technology standard for onboard 

2 units used to report vehicle miles traveled; and 

3 (6) use components of and information from 

4 the State pilots under section 6020 of the FAST Act 

5 (Public Law 114–94), as applicable. 

6 (e) METHODS.—In establishing a method for col7 lecting information on vehicle miles traveled under the 

8 program, the Secretary of Transportation shall consider 

9 the following: 

10 (1) Third-party on-board diagnostic system-II 

11 devices. 

12 (2) Smart phone applications. 

13 (3) Solicitation of voluntary reporting by auto14 makers. 

15 (4) Solicitation of voluntary reporting by car in16 surance companies. 

17 (5) Solicitation of voluntary reporting through 

18 State departments of motor vehicles. 

19 (6) Any other method that the Secretary of 

20 Transportation considers appropriate. 

21 (f) PRIVACY OF PARTICIPANTS.—Not later than 30 

22 days after establishing the pilot program under this sec23 tion, the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with 

24 the Secretary of the Treasury, shall issue policies to— 


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1 (1) protect the privacy of volunteer partici2 pants; and 

3 (2) secure the data provided by volunteer par4 ticipants. 

5 (g) CALCULATION OF PER-MILE ROAD USAGE

6 CHARGE.—For the purposes of the pilot program estab7 lished in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 

8 shall establish on an annual basis— 

9 (1) for motor vehicles that are not commercial 

10 motor vehicles, a per-mile road usage charge that is 

11 equivalent to the annual gas tax revenues collected 

12 pursuant to section 4081 of the Internal Revenue 

13 Code of 1986 divided by the total vehicle miles trav14 eled by such motor vehicles; and 

15 (2) for commercial motor vehicles, a per-mile 

16 road usage charge equivalent to the annual diesel 

17 tax revenues collected pursuant to section 4041 of 

18 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 divided by the 

19 total vehicle miles traveled by medium and heavy20 duty trucks. 

21 (h) REVENUE COLLECTION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas23 ury, in coordination with the Secretary of Transpor24 tation, shall establish a mechanism to collect a perVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00156 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7248.IH H7248

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1 mile road usage charge from volunteer participants 

2 under the program that— 

3 (A) may be adjusted as needed to address 

4 technical challenges; and 

5 (B) may allow third-party vendors to col6 lect the payments and forward to Treasury. 

7 (2) LIMITATION ON REVENUE COLLECTED.— 

8 Any revenue collected under this section shall not be 

9 considered a toll under section 301 of title 23, 

10 United States Code. 

11 (3) HIGHWAY TRUST FUND.—Notwithstanding 

12 any other provision of law, the Secretary of the 

13 Treasury shall ensure that any revenue collected 

14 under this section is deposited into the Highway 

15 Trust Fund. 

16 (i) REFUND.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

17 annually calculate and issue an equivalent refund to volun18 teer participants for any otherwise applicable Federal 

19 motor fuel taxes under sections 4041 and 4081 of the In20 ternal Revenue Code of 1986. 

21 (j) REPORTS.— 

22 (1) ADVISORY BOARD.—Not later than 1 year 

23 after the date on which the surface transportation 

24 system road usage charge advisory board is estab25 lished under subsection (c), such board shall submit 


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1 to the Secretary of Transportation a report on the 

2 progress of the pilot program in meeting the objec3 tives described in subsection (b). 

4 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 

5 year after the date on which volunteer participants 

6 begin participating in the pilot program, and each 

7 year thereafter, the Secretary of Transportation and 

8 the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the 

9 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

10 and the Committee on Ways and Means of the 

11 House of Representatives and the Committee on En12 vironment and Public Works and the Committee on 

13 Finance of the Senate a report on the pilot program, 

14 including the report and recommendations submitted 

15 to the Secretary under paragraph (1). 

16 (k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

18 ‘‘commercial motor vehicle’’ has the meaning given 

19 the term in section 31101 of title 49, United States 

20 Code. 

21 (2) HIGHWAY TRUST FUND.—The term ‘‘High22 way Trust Fund’’ means the Highway Trust Fund 

23 established under section 9503 of the Internal Rev24 enue Code of 1986. 


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1 (3) VOLUNTEER PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘vol2 unteer participant’’ means— 

3 (A) the individual owner of a passenger 

4 motor vehicle or commercial motor vehicle who 

5 volunteers to participate in the pilot program; 

6 and 

7 (B) the owner of a fleet of commercial 

8 motor vehicles or passenger motor vehicles who 

9 volunteers to participate in the pilot program. 

10 TITLE VII—RESILIENCY 

11 SEC. 7001. PROMOTING RESILIENT OPERATIONS FOR 

12 TRANSFORMATIVE, EFFICIENT, AND COST13 SAVING TRANSPORTATION (PROTECT) GRANT 

14 PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 23, United 

16 States Code, as amended by this Act, is further amended 

17 by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘§ 173. Promoting Resilient Operations for Trans19 formative, Efficient, and Cost-saving 

20 Transportation (PROTECT) grant pro21 gram 

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

23 ‘‘(1) EMERGENCY EVENT.—The term ‘emer24 gency event’ means a natural disaster or cataVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00159 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7248.IH H7248

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1 strophic failure or an imminent natural disaster or 

2 catastrophic failure resulting in— 

3 ‘‘(A) an emergency declared by the Gov4 ernor of the State in which the disaster or fail5 ure occurred or will occur; or 

6 ‘‘(B) an emergency or disaster declared by 

7 the President pursuant to the Robert T. Staf8 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 

10 ‘‘(2) EVACUATION ROUTE.—The term ‘evacu11 ation route’ means a transportation route or system 

12 that— 

13 ‘‘(A) is owned, operated, or maintained by 

14 a Federal, State, Indian Tribe, or local govern15 ment or a private entity; 

16 ‘‘(B) is used— 

17 ‘‘(i) to transport the public away from 

18 emergency events; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) to transport emergency respond20 ers and recovery resources; and 

21 ‘‘(C) is designated by the eligible entity 

22 with jurisdiction over the area in which the 

23 route is located for the purposes described in 

24 subparagraph (B). 


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1 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

2 the grant program established under subsection 

3 (b)(1). 

4 ‘‘(4) RESILIENCE IMPROVEMENT.—The term 

5 ‘resilience improvement’ means the use of materials 

6 or structural or nonstructural techniques, including 

7 natural infrastructure— 

8 ‘‘(A) that allow a project— 

9 ‘‘(i) to better anticipate, prepare for, 

10 and adapt to changing conditions and to 

11 withstand and respond to disruptions; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) to be better able to continue to 

13 serve the primary function of the project 

14 during and after weather events and nat15 ural disasters for the expected life of the 

16 project; or 

17 ‘‘(B) that— 

18 ‘‘(i) reduce the cost, magnitude and 

19 duration of impacts of current and future 

20 weather events and natural disasters to a 

21 project; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) have the absorptive capacity, 

23 adaptive capacity, and recoverability to de24 crease project vulnerability to current and 

25 future weather events or natural disasters. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab3 lish a grant program, to be known as the ‘Promoting 

4 Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, 

5 and Cost-saving Transportation grant program’ or 

6 the ‘PROTECT grant program’. 

7 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is 

8 to provide grants for resilience improvements 

9 through— 

10 ‘‘(A) formula funding distributed to States; 

11 ‘‘(B) competitive planning grants to enable 

12 communities to assess vulnerabilities to current 

13 and future weather events and natural disasters 

14 and changing conditions, including sea level 

15 rise, and plan infrastructure improvements and 

16 emergency response strategies to address those 

17 vulnerabilities; and 

18 ‘‘(C) competitive resilience improvement 

19 grants to protect— 

20 ‘‘(i) infrastructure assets by making 

21 the assets more resilient to current and fu22 ture weather events and natural disasters, 

23 including severe storms, flooding, tornados, 

24 drought, levee and dam failures, wildfire, 

25 landslides, sea level rise, extreme weather, 


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1 including extreme temperature, and earth2 quakes; 

3 ‘‘(ii) communities through resilience 

4 improvements and strategies that allow for 

5 the continued operation or rapid recovery 

6 of surface transportation systems that— 

7 ‘‘(I) serve critical local, regional, 

8 and national needs, including evacu9 ation routes; and 

10 ‘‘(II) provide access or service to 

11 hospitals and other medical or emer12 gency service facilities, major employ13 ers, critical manufacturing centers, 

14 ports and intermodal facilities, utili15 ties, and Federal facilities; 

16 ‘‘(iii) coastal infrastructure, such as a 

17 tide gate, that is at long-term risk to sea 

18 level rise; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) natural infrastructure that pro20 tects and enhances surface transportation 

21 assets while improving ecosystem condi22 tions, including culverts that ensure ade23 quate flows in rivers and estuarine sys24 tems. 

25 ‘‘(c) FORMULA AWARDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS TO STATES.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, 

3 the Secretary shall distribute among the States 

4 the amounts made available to carry out this 

5 subsection for that fiscal year in accordance 

6 with subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—The amount for 

8 each State shall be determined by multiplying 

9 the total amount made available to carry out 

10 this subsection for the applicable fiscal year by 

11 the ratio that— 

12 ‘‘(i) the total base apportionment for 

13 the State under section 104(c); bears to 

14 ‘‘(ii) the total base apportionments for 

15 all States under section 104(c). 

16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

18 subparagraph (B), a State shall use funds made 

19 available under paragraph (1) to carry out ac20 tivities eligible under subparagraph (A), (B), or 

21 (C) of subsection (d)(4). 

22 ‘‘(B) PLANNING SET-ASIDE.—Of the 

23 amounts made available to each State under 

24 paragraph (1) for each fiscal year, not less than 


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1 2 percent shall be for activities described in 

2 subsection (d)(3). 

3 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) PROJECTS IN CERTAIN AREAS.—If a 

5 project under this subsection is carried out, in 

6 whole or in part, within a base floodplain, the 

7 State shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) identify the base floodplain in 

9 which the project is to be located and dis10 close that information to the Secretary; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(ii) indicate to the Secretary whether 

13 the State plans to implement 1 or more 

14 components of the risk mitigation plan 

15 under section 322 of the Robert T. Staf16 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist17 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5165) with respect to 

18 the area. 

19 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITIES.—A State shall use 

20 funds made available under paragraph (1) for— 

21 ‘‘(i) a highway project eligible for as22 sistance under this title; 

23 ‘‘(ii) a public transportation facility or 

24 service eligible for assistance under chapter 

25 53 of title 49; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a facility or service for intercity 

2 rail passenger transportation (as defined in 

3 section 24102 of title 49). 

4 ‘‘(C) SYSTEM RESILIENCE.—A project car5 ried out by a State with funds made available 

6 under this subsection may include, consistent 

7 with State hazard mitigation plans, the use of 

8 natural infrastructure or the construction or 

9 modification of storm surge, flood protection, or 

10 aquatic ecosystem restoration elements that are 

11 functionally connected to a transportation im12 provement, such as— 

13 ‘‘(i) increasing marsh health and total 

14 area adjacent to a highway right-of-way to 

15 promote additional flood storage; 

16 ‘‘(ii) upgrades to and installation of 

17 culverts designed to withstand 100-year 

18 flood events; 

19 ‘‘(iii) upgrades to and installation of 

20 tide gates to protect highways; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) upgrades to and installation of 

22 flood gates to protect tunnel entrances. 

23 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL COST SHARE.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro25 vided in subsection (f)(1), the Federal 


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1 share of the cost of a project carried out 

2 using funds made available under para3 graph (1) shall not exceed 80 percent of 

4 the total project cost. 

5 ‘‘(ii) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—A State 

6 may use Federal funds other than Federal 

7 funds made available under this subsection 

8 to meet the non-Federal cost share re9 quirement for a project under this sub10 section. 

11 ‘‘(E) ELIGIBLE PROJECT COSTS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro13 vided in clause (ii), eligible project costs 

14 for activities carried out by a State with 

15 funds made available under paragraph (1) 

16 may include the costs of— 

17 ‘‘(I) development phase activities, 

18 including planning, feasibility anal19 ysis, revenue forecasting, environ20 mental review, preliminary engineer21 ing and design work, and other 

22 preconstruction activities; and 

23 ‘‘(II) construction, reconstruc24 tion, rehabilitation, and acquisition of 

25 real property (including land related 


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1 to the project and improvements to 

2 land), environmental mitigation, con3 struction contingencies, acquisition of 

4 equipment directly related to improv5 ing system performance, and oper6 ational improvements. 

7 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE PLANNING COSTS.—In 

8 the case of a planning activity described in 

9 subsection (d)(3) that is carried out by a 

10 State with funds made available under 

11 paragraph (1), eligible costs may include 

12 development phase activities, including 

13 planning, feasibility analysis, revenue fore14 casting, environmental review, preliminary 

15 engineering and design work, other 

16 preconstruction activities, and other activi17 ties consistent with carrying out the pur18 poses of subsection (d)(3). 

19 ‘‘(F) LIMITATIONS.—In carrying out this 

20 subsection, a State— 

21 ‘‘(i) may use not more than 25 per22 cent of the amounts made available under 

23 this subsection for the construction of new 

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1 effective and is directly related to the un2 derlying project; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) may use not more than 10 per4 cent of the amounts made available under 

5 this subsection for activities described in 

6 subparagraph (E)(i)(I). 

7 ‘‘(d) COMPETITIVE AWARDS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to funds dis9 tributed to States under subsection (c)(1), the Sec10 retary shall provide grants on a competitive basis 

11 under this subsection to eligible entities described in 

12 paragraph (2). 

13 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may 

14 make a grant under this subsection to any of the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(A) A State or political subdivision of a 

17 State. 

18 ‘‘(B) A metropolitan planning organiza19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(C) A unit of local government. 

21 ‘‘(D) A special purpose district or public 

22 authority with a transportation function, includ23 ing a port authority. 

24 ‘‘(E) An Indian tribe (as defined in section 

25 207(m)(1)). 


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1 ‘‘(F) A Federal land management agency 

2 that applies jointly with a State or group of 

3 States. 

4 ‘‘(G) A multi-State or multijurisdictional 

5 group of entities described in subparagraphs 

6 (A) through (F). 

7 ‘‘(3) PLANNING GRANTS.—Using funds made 

8 available for purposes under this subsection, the 

9 Secretary shall provide planning grants to eligible 

10 entities for the purpose of— 

11 ‘‘(A) in the case of a State or metropolitan 

12 planning organization, developing a resilience 

13 improvement plan under subsection (f)(2); 

14 ‘‘(B) resilience planning, predesign, design, 

15 or the development of data tools to simulate 

16 transportation disruption scenarios, including 

17 vulnerability assessments; 

18 ‘‘(C) technical capacity building by the eli19 gible entity to facilitate the ability of the eligi20 ble entity to assess the vulnerabilities of the in21 frastructure assets and community response 

22 strategies of the eligible entity under current 

23 conditions and a range of potential future con24 ditions; or 

25 ‘‘(D) evacuation planning and preparation. 


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1 ‘‘(4) RESILIENCE GRANTS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) RESILIENCE IMPROVEMENT

3 GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Using funds made 

5 available for purposes under this sub6 section, the Secretary shall provide resil7 ience improvement grants to eligible enti8 ties to carry out 1 or more eligible activi9 ties under clause (ii). 

10 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.— 

11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—An eligible 

12 entity may use a resilience improve13 ment grant under this subparagraph 

14 for 1 or more construction activities 

15 to enable an existing surface transpor16 tation infrastructure asset to with17 stand or reduce the costs and impact 

18 of 1 or more elements of a weather 

19 event or natural disaster, or to in20 crease the resilience of surface trans21 portation infrastructure from the 

22 costs and impacts of changing condi23 tions, such as sea level rise, flooding, 

24 extreme weather events, and other 

25 natural disasters. 


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1 ‘‘(II) INCLUSIONS.—An activity 

2 eligible to be carried out under this 

3 subparagraph includes— 

4 ‘‘(aa) resurfacing, restora5 tion, rehabilitation, reconstruc6 tion, replacement, improvement, 

7 or realignment of an existing sur8 face transportation facility eligi9 ble for assistance under this title; 

10 ‘‘(bb) the incorporation of 

11 natural infrastructure; 

12 ‘‘(cc) the upgrade of an ex13 isting surface transportation fa14 cility to meet or exceed Federal 

15 Highway Administration ap16 proved design standards; 

17 ‘‘(dd) the installation of 

18 mitigation measures that prevent 

19 the intrusion of floodwaters into 

20 surface transportation systems; 

21 ‘‘(ee) strengthening systems 

22 that remove rainwater from sur23 face transportation facilities; 

24 ‘‘(ff) a resilience project that 

25 addresses identified 


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1 vulnerabilities described in the 

2 resilience improvement plan of 

3 the eligible entity, if applicable; 

4 ‘‘(gg) relocating roadways in 

5 a base floodplain to higher 

6 ground above projected flood ele7 vation levels, or away from slide 

8 prone areas; 

9 ‘‘(hh) stabilizing slide areas 

10 or slopes; 

11 ‘‘(ii) installing riprap; 

12 ‘‘(jj) lengthening or raising 

13 bridges to increase waterway 

14 openings, including to respond to 

15 extreme weather; 

16 ‘‘(kk) deepening channels to 

17 prevent flooding; 

18 ‘‘(ll) increasing the size or 

19 number of drainage structures; 

20 ‘‘(mm) installing seismic ret21 rofits on bridges; 

22 ‘‘(nn) adding scour protec23 tion at bridges; 

24 ‘‘(oo) adding scour, stream 

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1 draulic countermeasures, includ2 ing spur dikes; and 

3 ‘‘(pp) any other protective 

4 features, including natural infra5 structure, as determined by the 

6 Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(iii) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall 

8 prioritize a resilience improvement grant to 

9 an eligible entity if— 

10 ‘‘(I) the Secretary determines— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the benefits of the eli12 gible activity proposed to be car13 ried out by the eligible entity ex14 ceed the costs of the activity; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) there is a need to ad16 dress the vulnerabilities of infra17 structure assets of the eligible 

18 entity with a high risk of, and 

19 impacts associated with, failure 

20 due to the impacts of weather 

21 events, natural disasters, or 

22 changing conditions, such as sea 

23 level rise and increased flood 

24 risk; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) the eligible activity pro2 posed to be carried out by the eligible 

3 entity is included in the applicable re4 silience improvement plan under sub5 section (f)(2). 

6 ‘‘(B) COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND EVAC7 UATION ROUTE GRANTS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Using funds made 

9 available for purposes under this sub10 section, the Secretary shall provide com11 munity resilience and evacuation route 

12 grants to eligible entities to carry out 1 or 

13 more eligible activities under clause (ii). 

14 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligi15 ble entity may use a community resilience 

16 and evacuation route grant under this sub17 paragraph for 1 or more projects that 

18 strengthen and protect evacuation routes 

19 that are essential for providing and sup20 porting evacuations caused by emergency 

21 events, including a project that— 

22 ‘‘(I) is an eligible activity under 

23 subparagraph (A)(ii), if that eligible 

24 activity will improve an evacuation 

25 route; 


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1 ‘‘(II) ensures the ability of the 

2 evacuation route to provide safe pas3 sage during an evacuation and re4 duces the risk of damage to evacu5 ation routes as a result of future 

6 emergency events, including restoring 

7 or replacing existing evacuation routes 

8 that are in poor condition or not de9 signed to meet the anticipated de10 mand during an emergency event, and 

11 including steps to protect routes from 

12 mud, rock, or other debris slides; 

13 ‘‘(III) if the Secretary determines 

14 that existing evacuation routes are not 

15 sufficient to adequately facilitate evac16 uations, including the transportation 

17 of emergency responders and recovery 

18 resources, expands the capacity of 

19 evacuation routes to swiftly and safely 

20 accommodate evacuations, including 

21 installation of— 

22 ‘‘(aa) communications and 

23 intelligent transportation system 

24 equipment and infrastructure; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) counterflow measures; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(cc) shoulders; 

4 ‘‘(IV) is for the construction of— 

5 ‘‘(aa) new or redundant 

6 evacuation routes, if the Sec7 retary determines that existing 

8 evacuation routes are not suffi9 cient to adequately facilitate 

10 evacuations, including the trans11 portation of emergency respond12 ers and recovery resources; or 

13 ‘‘(bb) sheltering facilities 

14 that are functionally connected to 

15 an eligible project; 

16 ‘‘(V) is for the acquisition of 

17 evacuation route or traffic incident 

18 management equipment, vehicles, or 

19 signage; or 

20 ‘‘(VI) will ensure access or serv21 ice to critical destinations, including 

22 hospitals and other medical or emer23 gency service facilities, major employ24 ers, critical manufacturing centers, 


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1 ports and intermodal facilities, utili2 ties, and Federal facilities. 

3 ‘‘(iii) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall 

4 prioritize community resilience and evacu5 ation route grants under this subpara6 graph for eligible activities that are cost-ef7 fective, as determined by the Secretary, 

8 taking into account— 

9 ‘‘(I) current and future 

10 vulnerabilities to an evacuation route 

11 due to future occurrence or recurrence 

12 of emergency events that are likely to 

13 occur in the geographic area in which 

14 the evacuation route is located; and 

15 ‘‘(II) projected changes in devel16 opment patterns, demographics, and 

17 extreme weather events based on the 

18 best available evidence and analysis. 

19 ‘‘(iv) CONSULTATION.—In providing 

20 grants for community resilience and evacu21 ation routes under this subparagraph, the 

22 Secretary shall consult with the Adminis23 trator of the Federal Emergency Manage24 ment Agency, who shall provide technical 


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1 assistance to the Secretary and to eligible 

2 entities. 

3 ‘‘(C) AT-RISK COASTAL INFRASTRUCTURE

4 GRANTS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF COASTAL

6 STATE.—In this subparagraph, the term 

7 ‘coastal State’ means— 

8 ‘‘(I) a State in, or bordering on, 

9 the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, 

10 the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island 

11 Sound, or 1 or more of the Great 

12 Lakes; 

13 ‘‘(II) the United States Virgin Is14 lands; 

15 ‘‘(III) Guam; 

16 ‘‘(IV) American Samoa; 

17 ‘‘(V) the Commonwealth of the 

18 Northern Mariana Islands; and 

19 ‘‘(VI) Puerto Rico. 

20 ‘‘(ii) GRANTS.—Using funds made 

21 available for purposes under this sub22 section, the Secretary shall provide at-risk 

23 coastal infrastructure grants to eligible en24 tities in coastal States to carry out 1 or 

25 more eligible activities under clause (iii). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eli2 gible entity may use an at-risk coastal in3 frastructure grant under this subpara4 graph for strengthening, stabilizing, hard5 ening, elevating, relocating, or otherwise 

6 enhancing the resilience of highway and 

7 non-rail infrastructure, including bridges, 

8 roads, pedestrian walkways, and bicycle 

9 lanes, and associated infrastructure, such 

10 as culverts and tide gates, that are subject 

11 to, or face increased long-term future risks 

12 of, a weather event, a natural disaster, or 

13 changing conditions, including coastal 

14 flooding, coastal erosion, wave action, 

15 storm surge, or sea level rise, in order to 

16 improve transportation and public safety 

17 and to reduce costs by avoiding larger fu18 ture maintenance or rebuilding costs. 

19 ‘‘(iv) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall 

20 provide at-risk coastal infrastructure 

21 grants under this subparagraph for a 

22 project— 

23 ‘‘(I) that addresses the risks 

24 from a current or future weather 

25 event or natural disaster, including 


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1 coastal flooding, coastal erosion, wave 

2 action, storm surge, or sea level rise; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(II) that reduces long-term in5 frastructure costs by avoiding larger 

6 future maintenance or rebuilding 

7 costs. 

8 ‘‘(v) COASTAL BENEFITS.—In addi9 tion to the criteria under clause (iv), for 

10 the purpose of providing at-risk coastal in11 frastructure grants under this subpara12 graph, the Secretary shall evaluate the ex13 tent to which a project will provide— 

14 ‘‘(I) access to coastal homes, 

15 businesses, communities, and other 

16 critical infrastructure, including ac17 cess by first responders and other 

18 emergency personnel; or 

19 ‘‘(II) access to a designated evac20 uation route. 

21 ‘‘(5) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) SOLICITATIONS FOR GRANTS.—In 

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1 ble projects to receive grants under paragraph 

2 (3) and subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of 

3 paragraph (4). 

4 ‘‘(B) APPLICATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to 

6 receive a grant under paragraph (3) or 

7 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of para8 graph (4), an eligible entity shall submit to 

9 the Secretary an application in such form, 

10 at such time, and containing such informa11 tion as the Secretary determines to be nec12 essary. 

13 ‘‘(ii) PROJECTS IN CERTAIN AREAS.— 

14 If a project is proposed to be carried out 

15 by the eligible entity, in whole or in part, 

16 within a base floodplain, the eligible entity 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) as part of the application, 

19 identify the floodplain in which the 

20 project is to be located and disclose 

21 that information to the Secretary; and 

22 ‘‘(II) indicate in the application 

23 whether, if selected, the eligible entity 

24 will implement 1 or more components 

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1 tion 322 of the Robert T. Stafford 

2 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist3 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5165) with re4 spect to the area. 

5 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBILITIES.—The Secretary may 

6 make a grant under paragraph (3) or subpara7 graph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (4) only 

8 for— 

9 ‘‘(i) a highway project eligible for as10 sistance under this title; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a public transportation facility or 

12 service eligible for assistance under chapter 

13 53 of title 49; or 

14 ‘‘(iii) a facility or service for intercity 

15 rail passenger transportation (as defined in 

16 section 24102 of title 49). 

17 ‘‘(D) SYSTEM RESILIENCE.—A project for 

18 which a grant is provided under paragraph (3) 

19 or subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph 

20 (4) may include the use of natural infrastruc21 ture or the construction or modification of 

22 storm surge, flood protection, or aquatic eco23 system restoration elements that the Secretary 

24 determines are functionally connected to a 

25 transportation improvement, such as— 


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1 ‘‘(i) increasing marsh health and total 

2 area adjacent to a highway right-of-way to 

3 promote additional flood storage; 

4 ‘‘(ii) upgrades to and installation of 

5 culverts designed to withstand 100-year 

6 flood events; 

7 ‘‘(iii) upgrades to and installation of 

8 tide gates to protect highways; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) upgrades to and installation of 

10 flood gates to protect tunnel entrances. 

11 ‘‘(E) FEDERAL COST SHARE.— 

12 ‘‘(i) PLANNING GRANT.—The Federal 

13 share of the cost of a planning activity car14 ried out using a planning grant under 

15 paragraph (3) shall be 100 percent. 

16 ‘‘(ii) RESILIENCE GRANTS.— 

17 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

18 provided in subclause (II) and sub19 section (f)(1), the Federal share of 

20 the cost of a project carried out using 

21 a grant under subparagraph (A), (B), 

22 or (C) of paragraph (4) shall not ex23 ceed 80 percent of the total project 

24 cost. 


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1 ‘‘(II) TRIBAL PROJECTS.—On 

2 the determination of the Secretary, 

3 the Federal share of the cost of a 

4 project carried out using a grant 

5 under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) 

6 of paragraph (4) by an Indian tribe 

7 (as defined in section 207(m)(1)) may 

8 be up to 100 percent. 

9 ‘‘(iii) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The eli10 gible entity may use Federal funds other 

11 than Federal funds provided under this 

12 subsection to meet the non-Federal cost 

13 share requirement for a project carried out 

14 with a grant under this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(F) ELIGIBLE PROJECT COSTS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) RESILIENCE GRANT PROJECTS.— 

17 Eligible project costs for activities funded 

18 with a grant under subparagraph (A), (B), 

19 or (C) of paragraph (4) may include the 

20 costs of— 

21 ‘‘(I) development phase activities, 

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1 ing and design work, and other 

2 preconstruction activities; and 

3 ‘‘(II) construction, reconstruc4 tion, rehabilitation, and acquisition of 

5 real property (including land related 

6 to the project and improvements to 

7 land), environmental mitigation, con8 struction contingencies, acquisition of 

9 equipment directly related to improv10 ing system performance, and oper11 ational improvements. 

12 ‘‘(ii) PLANNING GRANTS.—Eligible 

13 project costs for activities funded with a 

14 grant under paragraph (3) may include the 

15 costs of development phase activities, in16 cluding planning, feasibility analysis, rev17 enue forecasting, environmental review, 

18 preliminary engineering and design work, 

19 other preconstruction activities, and other 

20 activities consistent with carrying out the 

21 purposes of that paragraph. 

22 ‘‘(G) LIMITATIONS.—An eligible entity 

23 that receives a grant under subparagraph (A), 

24 (B), or (C) of paragraph (4)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) may use not more than 25 per2 cent of the amount of the grant for the 

3 construction of new capacity so long as 

4 such inclusion is cost-effective and is di5 rectly related to the underlying project; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) may use not more than 10 per8 cent of the amount of the grant for activi9 ties described in subparagraph (F)(i)(I). 

10 ‘‘(H) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the 

12 availability of funds, an eligible entity may 

13 request and the Secretary may distribute 

14 funds for a grant under this subsection on 

15 a multiyear basis, as the Secretary deter16 mines to be necessary. 

17 ‘‘(ii) RURAL SET-ASIDE.—Of the 

18 amounts made available to carry out this 

19 subsection for each fiscal year, the Sec20 retary shall use not less than 25 percent 

21 for grants for projects located in areas 

22 that are outside an urbanized area with a 

23 population of over 200,000. 

24 ‘‘(iii) TRIBAL SET-ASIDE.—Of the 

25 amounts made available to carry out this 


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1 subsection for each fiscal year, the Sec2 retary shall use not less than 2 percent for 

3 grants to Indian tribes (as defined in sec4 tion 207(m)(1)). 

5 ‘‘(iv) REALLOCATION.—For any fiscal 

6 year, if the Secretary determines that the 

7 amount described in clause (ii) or (iii) will 

8 not be fully utilized for the grant described 

9 in that clause, the Secretary may reallocate 

10 the unutilized funds to provide grants to 

11 other eligible entities under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(e) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the program, 

13 the Secretary shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) consult with the Assistant Secretary of the 

15 Army for Civil Works, the Administrator of the En16 vironmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the 

17 Interior, and the Secretary of Commerce; and 

18 ‘‘(2) solicit technical support from the Adminis19 trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agen20 cy. 

21 ‘‘(f) RESILIENCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN AND LOWER

22 NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL SHARE REDUCTIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives 

25 funds under subsection (c) or an eligible entity 


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1 that receives a grant under subsection (d) shall 

2 have the non-Federal share of a project carried 

3 out with the funds or grant, as applicable, re4 duced by an amount described in subparagraph 

5 (B) if the State or eligible entity meets the ap6 plicable requirements under that subparagraph. 

7 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF REDUCTIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) RESILIENCE IMPROVEMENT

9 PLAN.—Subject to clause (iii), the amount 

10 of the non-Federal share of the costs of a 

11 project carried out with funds under sub12 section (c) or a grant under subsection (d) 

13 shall be reduced by 7 percentage points 

14 if— 

15 ‘‘(I) in the case of a State or an 

16 eligible entity that is a State or a 

17 metropolitan planning organization, 

18 the State or eligible entity has— 

19 ‘‘(aa) developed a resilience 

20 improvement plan in accordance 

21 with this subsection; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) prioritized the project 

23 on that resilience improvement 

24 plan; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) in the case of an eligible en2 tity not described in subclause (I), the 

3 eligible entity is located in a State or 

4 an area served by a metropolitan 

5 planning organization that has— 

6 ‘‘(aa) developed a resilience 

7 improvement plan in accordance 

8 with this subsection; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) prioritized the project 

10 on that resilience improvement 

11 plan. 

12 ‘‘(ii) INCORPORATION OF RESILIENCE

13 IMPROVEMENT PLAN IN OTHER PLAN14 NING.—Subject to clause (iii), the amount 

15 of the non-Federal share of the cost of a 

16 project carried out with funds under sub17 section (c) or a grant under subsection (d) 

18 shall be reduced by 3 percentage points 

19 if— 

20 ‘‘(I) in the case of a State or an 

21 eligible entity that is a State or a 

22 metropolitan planning organization, 

23 the resilience improvement plan devel24 oped in accordance with this sub25 section has been incorporated into the 


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1 metropolitan transportation plan 

2 under section 134 or the long-range 

3 statewide transportation plan under 

4 section 135, as applicable; and 

5 ‘‘(II) in the case of an eligible en6 tity not described in subclause (I), the 

7 eligible entity is located in a State or 

8 an area served by a metropolitan 

9 planning organization that incor10 porated a resilience improvement plan 

11 into the metropolitan transportation 

12 plan under section 134 or the long13 range statewide transportation plan 

14 under section 135, as applicable. 

15 ‘‘(iii) LIMITATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(I) MAXIMUM REDUCTION.—A 

17 State or eligible entity may not receive 

18 a reduction under this paragraph of 

19 more than 10 percentage points for 

20 any single project carried out with 

21 funds under subsection (c) or a grant 

22 under subsection (d). 

23 ‘‘(II) NO NEGATIVE NON-FED24 ERAL SHARE.—A reduction under this 

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1 Federal share of the costs of a project 

2 carried out with funds under sub3 section (c) or a grant under sub4 section (d) to an amount that is less 

5 than zero. 

6 ‘‘(2) PLAN CONTENTS.—A resilience improve7 ment plan referred to in paragraph (1)— 

8 ‘‘(A) shall be for the immediate and long9 range planning activities and investments of the 

10 State or metropolitan planning organization 

11 with respect to resilience; 

12 ‘‘(B) shall demonstrate a systemic ap13 proach to transportation system resilience and 

14 be consistent with and complementary of the 

15 State and local mitigation plans required under 

16 section 322 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

17 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 5165); 

19 ‘‘(C) shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) include a risk-based assessment 

21 of vulnerabilities of transportation assets 

22 and systems to current and future extreme 

23 weather events and natural disasters, in24 cluding severe storms, flooding, tornados, 

25 drought, levee and dam failures, wildfire, 


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1 landslides, sea level rise, extreme weather 

2 events, including extreme temperatures, 

3 and earthquakes; 

4 ‘‘(ii) designate evacuation routes and 

5 strategies, including multimodal facilities, 

6 designated with consideration for individ7 uals without access to personal vehicles; 

8 ‘‘(iii) plan for response to anticipated 

9 emergencies, including plans for the mobil10 ity of— 

11 ‘‘(I) emergency response per12 sonnel and equipment; and 

13 ‘‘(II) access to emergency serv14 ices, including for vulnerable or dis15 advantaged populations; 

16 ‘‘(iv) describe the resilience improve17 ment policies, including strategies, land-use 

18 and zoning changes, investments in natural 

19 infrastructure, or performance measures 

20 that will inform the transportation invest21 ment decisions of the State or metropolitan 

22 planning organization with the goal of in23 creasing resilience; 

24 ‘‘(v) include an investment plan 

25 that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) includes a list of priority 

2 projects; and 

3 ‘‘(II) describes how funds pro4 vided by a grant under the program 

5 would be invested and matched, which 

6 shall not be subject to fiscal con7 straint requirements; and 

8 ‘‘(vi) use science and data and indi9 cate the source of data and methodologies; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(D) shall, as appropriate— 

12 ‘‘(i) include a description of how the 

13 plan will improve the ability of the State or 

14 metropolitan planning organization— 

15 ‘‘(I) to respond promptly to the 

16 impacts of weather events and natural 

17 disasters; and 

18 ‘‘(II) to be prepared for changing 

19 conditions, such as sea level rise and 

20 increased flood risk; 

21 ‘‘(ii) describe the codes, standards, 

22 and regulatory framework, if any, adopted 

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1 posed projects included in the resilience 

2 improvement plan; 

3 ‘‘(iii) consider the benefits of com4 bining hard infrastructure assets, and nat5 ural infrastructure, through coordinated 

6 efforts by the Federal Government and the 

7 States; 

8 ‘‘(iv) assess the resilience of other 

9 community assets, including buildings and 

10 housing, emergency management assets, 

11 and energy, water, and communication in12 frastructure; 

13 ‘‘(v) use a long-term planning period; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(vi) include such other information 

16 as the eligible entity considers appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(3) NO NEW PLANNING REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 Nothing in this section requires a metropolitan plan19 ning organization or a State to develop a resilience 

20 improvement plan or to include a resilience improve21 ment plan under the metropolitan transportation 

22 plan under section 134 or the long-range statewide 

23 transportation plan under section 135, as applicable, 

24 of the metropolitan planning organization or State. 

25 ‘‘(g) MONITORING.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

2 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec3 retary, in consultation with the officials described in 

4 subsection (e), shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) establish, for the purpose of evalu6 ating the effectiveness and impacts of projects 

7 carried out under the program— 

8 ‘‘(i) subject to paragraph (2), trans9 portation and any other metrics as the 

10 Secretary determines to be necessary; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) procedures for monitoring and 

12 evaluating projects based on those metrics; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) select a representative sample of 

15 projects to evaluate based on the metrics and 

16 procedures established under subparagraph (A). 

17 ‘‘(2) NOTICE.—Before adopting any metrics de18 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) publish the proposed metrics in the 

20 Federal Register; and 

21 ‘‘(B) provide to the public an opportunity 

22 for comment on the proposed metrics. 

23 ‘‘(h) REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) REPORTS FROM ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Not 

25 later than 1 year after the date on which a project 


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1 carried out under the program is completed, the en2 tity that carried out the project shall submit to the 

3 Secretary a report on the results of the project and 

4 the use of the funds received under the program. 

5 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary 

7 shall submit to the Committee on Transpor8 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep9 resentatives and the Committee on Environ10 ment and Public Works of the Senate, and pub11 lish on the website of the Department of Trans12 portation, an annual report that describes the 

13 implementation of the program during the pre14 ceding calendar year, including— 

15 ‘‘(i) each project for which a grant 

16 was provided under the program; 

17 ‘‘(ii) information relating to project 

18 applications received; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the manner in which the con20 sultation requirements were implemented 

21 under this section; 

22 ‘‘(iv) recommendations to improve the 

23 administration of the program, including 

24 whether assistance from additional or 


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1 fewer agencies to carry out the program is 

2 appropriate; 

3 ‘‘(v) the period required to disburse 

4 grant funds to recipients based on applica5 ble Federal coordination requirements; and 

6 ‘‘(vi) a list of facilities that repeatedly 

7 require repair or reconstruction due to 

8 emergency events. 

9 ‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 5 

10 years after the date of enactment of the Surface 

11 Transportation Advanced through Reform, 

12 Technology, & Efficient Review Act, the Sec13 retary shall submit to Congress a report that 

14 includes the results of the reports submitted 

15 under subparagraph (A). The Secretary shall 

16 use not more than 5 percent of the amounts 

17 made available to carry out the program for 

18 each fiscal year for the costs of administering 

19 the program, including monitoring and evalua20 tion under subsection (g). 

21 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION.—In developing guid22 ance and regulations, and in providing grants 

23 under this section, the Secretary shall consult 

24 with the Administrator of the Federal Emer25 gency Management Agency, who shall provide 


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1 technical assistance to the Secretary and to eli2 gible entities.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap4 ter 1 of title 23, United States Code, as amended by this 

5 Act, is further amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

‘‘173. Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Costsaving Transportation (PROTECT) grant program.’’. 

7 SEC. 7002. NATIONAL HIGHWAY PERFORMANCE PROGRAM. 

8 Section 119 of title 23, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

12 the end; 

13 (B) in paragraph (3) by striking the period 

14 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) to provide support for measures to in17 crease the resiliency of Federal-aid highways and 

18 bridges on and off the National Highway System to 

19 mitigate the impacts of sea level rise, extreme weath20 er events, flooding, or other natural disasters.’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(k) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may use not more 

24 than 15 percent of the funds apportioned to the 


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1 State under section 104(b)(1) for each fiscal year 

2 for 1 or more protective features on a Federal-aid 

3 highway or bridge off the National Highway System, 

4 if the protective feature is designed to mitigate the 

5 risk of recurring damage, or the cost of future re6 pairs, from extreme weather events, flooding, or 

7 other natural disasters. 

8 ‘‘(2) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DESCRIBED.—A 

9 protective feature referred to in paragraph (1) may 

10 include— 

11 ‘‘(A) raising roadway grades; 

12 ‘‘(B) relocating roadways in a base flood13 plain to higher ground above projected flood 

14 elevation levels or away from slide prone areas; 

15 ‘‘(C) stabilizing slide areas; 

16 ‘‘(D) stabilizing slopes; 

17 ‘‘(E) installing riprap; 

18 ‘‘(F) lengthening or raising bridges to in19 crease waterway openings; 

20 ‘‘(G) deepening channels to prevent flood21 ing; 

22 ‘‘(H) increasing the size or number of 

23 drainage structures; 

24 ‘‘(I) replacing culverts with bridges or 

25 upsizing culverts; 


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1 ‘‘(J) repairing or maintaining tide gates; 

2 ‘‘(K) installing seismic retrofits on bridges; 

3 ‘‘(L) adding scour protection at bridges; 

4 ‘‘(M) adding scour, stream stability, coast5 al, or other hydraulic countermeasures, includ6 ing spur dikes; 

7 ‘‘(N) the use of natural infrastructure to 

8 mitigate the risk of recurring damage or the 

9 cost of future repair from extreme weather 

10 events, flooding, or other natural disasters; and 

11 ‘‘(O) any other features that mitigate the 

12 risk of recurring damage or the cost of future 

13 repair as a result of extreme weather events, 

14 flooding, or other natural disasters, as deter15 mined by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub17 section limits the ability of a State to carry out a 

18 project otherwise eligible under subsection (d) using 

19 funds apportioned under section 104(b)(1).’’. 

20 SEC. 7003. RESILIENCY IN TRANSIT. 

21 Section 5324 of title 49, United States Code, is 

22 amended by— 

23 (1) striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subsection 

24 (b)(1); 


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1 (2) striking the period at the end of subsection 

2 (b)(2)(B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the 

4 following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(3) mitigation projects and activities that the 

6 Secretary determines are cost-effective and which 

7 substantially reduce the risk of, or increase resilience 

8 to, future damage, hardship, or loss, related to 

9 equipment and facilities of a public transportation 

10 system operating in the United States or on an In11 dian reservation that the Secretary determines is in 

12 danger of suffering serious damage, or has suffered 

13 serious damage, as a result of an emergency.’’. 

14 SEC. 7004. HIGHWAY EMERGENCY RELIEF AND RESIL15 IENCY. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 125 of title 23, United 

17 States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘wildfire, 

19 sea level rise,’’ after ‘‘severe storm’’; 

20 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON ELIGIBILITY.—Funds under 

23 this section shall not be used for the repair or reconstruc24 tion of a bridge that has been permanently closed to all 

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1 sible local official because of imminent danger of collapse 

2 due to a structural deficiency or physical deterioration.’’; 

3 and 

4 (3) in subsection (d)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

6 (i) by striking the period at the end 

7 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘a facility that meets 

9 the current’’ and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘a facility that— 

11 ‘‘(i) meets the current’’; and 

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(ii) incorporates economically justifi15 able improvements designed and dem16 onstrated to mitigate and reduce the risk 

17 of recurring damage from extreme weather 

18 events, flooding, or other natural disas19 ters.’’; 

20 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

21 through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re22 spectively; and 

23 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(3) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The cost of an im2 provement that is part of a project under this 

3 section shall be an eligible expense under this 

4 section if the improvement is a protective fea5 ture that is designed and demonstrated to miti6 gate and reduce the risk of recurring damage, 

7 or the cost of future repair, from extreme 

8 weather events, flooding, or other natural disas9 ters. 

10 ‘‘(B) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DE11 SCRIBED.—A protective feature referred to in 

12 subparagraph (A) may include— 

13 ‘‘(i) raising roadway grades; 

14 ‘‘(ii) relocating roadways in a base 

15 floodplain to higher ground above projected 

16 flood elevation levels or away from slide 

17 prone areas; 

18 ‘‘(iii) stabilizing slide areas; 

19 ‘‘(iv) stabilizing slopes; 

20 ‘‘(v) installing riprap; 

21 ‘‘(vi) lengthening or raising bridges to 

22 increase waterway openings; 

23 ‘‘(vii) deepening channels to prevent 

24 flooding; 


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1 ‘‘(viii) increasing the size or number 

2 of drainage structures; 

3 ‘‘(ix) replacing culverts with bridges 

4 or upsizing culverts; 

5 ‘‘(x) repairing or maintaining tide 

6 gates; 

7 ‘‘(xi) installing seismic retrofits on 

8 bridges; 

9 ‘‘(xii) adding scour protection at 

10 bridges; 

11 ‘‘(xiii) adding scour, stream stability, 

12 coastal, and other hydraulic counter13 measures, including spur dikes; 

14 ‘‘(xiv) the use of natural infrastruc15 ture to mitigate the risk of recurring dam16 age or the cost of future repair from ex17 treme weather events, flooding, or other 

18 natural disasters; and 

19 ‘‘(xv) any other features that mitigate 

20 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 

21 future repair as a result of extreme weath22 er events, flooding, or other natural disas23 ters, as determined by the Secretary.’’. 

24 (b) EMERGENCY RELIEF PROJECTS.— 


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1 (1) DEFINITION OF EMERGENCY RELIEF

2 PROJECT.—In this section, the term ‘‘emergency re3 lief project’’ means a project carried out under the 

4 emergency relief program under section 125 of title 

5 23, United States Code. 

6 (2) IMPROVING THE EMERGENCY RELIEF PRO7 GRAM.—Not later than 90 days after the date of en8 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 

9 (A) revise the emergency relief manual of 

10 the Federal Highway Administration— 

11 (i) to include and reflect the definition 

12 of the term ‘‘resilience’’ (as defined in sec13 tion 101(a) of title 23, United States 

14 Code); 

15 (ii) to ensure resilience measures are 

16 cost-effective and substantially reduce the 

17 risk of, or increase resilience to, future 

18 damage, hardship, loss, or suffering in any 

19 area affected by a declared disaster; 

20 (iii) to identify procedures that States 

21 may use to incorporate resilience into 

22 emergency relief projects; and 

23 (iv) to encourage the use of Complete 

24 Streets design principles and consideration 


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1 of access for moderate- and low-income 

2 families impacted by a declared disaster; 

3 (B) develop best practices for improving 

4 the use of resilience in— 

5 (i) the emergency relief program 

6 under section 125 of title 23, United 

7 States Code; and 

8 (ii) emergency relief efforts; 

9 (C) provide to division offices of the Fed10 eral Highway Administration and State depart11 ments of transportation information on the best 

12 practices developed under paragraph (2); and 

13 (D) develop and implement a process to 

14 track— 

15 (i) the consideration of resilience as 

16 part of the emergency relief program under 

17 section 125 of title 23, United States 

18 Code; and 

19 (ii) the measurement of risk reduction 

20 and costs of emergency relief projects. 

21 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out actions 

22 pursuant to paragraph (2), the Secretary shall con23 sult with the Administrator of the Federal Emer24 gency Management Agency to ensure resiliency guid25 ance and activities are consistent with and do not 


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1 conflict with other resiliency and mitigation activities 

2 and priorities. 

3 SEC. 7005. HIGHWAY RESILIENCY INCENTIVES. 

4 Section 120(c) of title 23, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

8 other provision of law, the Federal share pay9 able for the cost of a protective feature on a 

10 Federal-aid highway or bridge project under 

11 this title may be up to 100 percent, at the dis12 cretion of the State, if the protective feature is 

13 an improvement designed and demonstrated to 

14 mitigate and reduce the risk of recurring dam15 age, or the cost of future repair, from extreme 

16 weather events, flooding, or other natural disas17 ters. 

18 ‘‘(B) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DE19 SCRIBED.—A protective feature referred to in 

20 subparagraph (A) may include— 

21 ‘‘(i) raising roadway grades; 

22 ‘‘(ii) relocating roadways in a base 

23 floodplain to higher ground above projected 

24 flood elevation levels or away from slide 

25 prone areas; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) stabilizing slide areas; 

2 ‘‘(iv) stabilizing slopes; 

3 ‘‘(v) installing riprap; 

4 ‘‘(vi) lengthening or raising bridges to 

5 increase waterway openings; 

6 ‘‘(vii) deepening channels to prevent 

7 flooding; 

8 ‘‘(viii) increasing the size or number 

9 of drainage structures; 

10 ‘‘(ix) replacing culverts with bridges 

11 or upsizing culverts; 

12 ‘‘(x) repairing or maintaining tide 

13 gates; 

14 ‘‘(xi) installing seismic retrofits on 

15 bridges; 

16 ‘‘(xii) adding scour protection at 

17 bridges; 

18 ‘‘(xiii) adding scour, stream stability, 

19 coastal, and other hydraulic counter20 measures, including spur dikes; 

21 ‘‘(xiv) the use of natural infrastruc22 ture to mitigate and reduce the risk of re23 curring damage or the cost of future repair 

24 from extreme weather events, flooding, or 

25 other natural disasters; and 


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1 ‘‘(xv) any other features that mitigate 

2 and reduce the risk of recurring damage or 

3 the cost of future repair as a result of ex4 treme weather events, flooding, or other 

5 natural disasters, as determined by the 

6 Secretary.’’. 

7 SEC. 7006. GUIDANCE ON INUNDATED AND SUBMERGED 

8 ROADS. 

9 Upon issuance of guidance issued pursuant to section 

10 1228 of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (Public 

11 Law 115–254), the Administrator of the Federal Highway 

12 Administration, in consultation with the Administrator of 

13 the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall review 

14 such guidance and issue guidance regarding repair, res15 toration, and replacement of inundated and submerged 

16 roads damaged or destroyed by a major disaster declared 

17 pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

18 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) with 

19 respect to roads eligible for assistance under Federal 

20 Highway Administration programs. 

21 SEC. 7007. GUIDANCE ON EVACUATION ROUTES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

23 (1) GUIDANCE.—The Administrator of the Fed24 eral Highway Administration, in coordination with 

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1 agement Agency and consistent with guidance issued 

2 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency pur3 suant to section 1209 of the Disaster Recovery Re4 form Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–254), shall re5 vise existing guidance or issue new guidance as ap6 propriate for State, local, and Indian Tribal govern7 ments regarding the design, construction, mainte8 nance, and repair of evacuation routes. 

9 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In revising or issuing 

10 guidance under subsection (a)(1), the Administrator 

11 of the Federal Highway Administration shall con12 sider— 

13 (A) methods that assist evacuation routes 

14 to— 

15 (i) withstand likely risks to viability, 

16 including flammability and hydrostatic 

17 forces; 

18 (ii) improve durability, strength (in19 cluding the ability to withstand tensile 

20 stresses and compressive stresses), and 

21 sustainability; and 

22 (iii) provide for long-term cost sav23 ings; 

24 (B) the ability of evacuation routes to ef25 fectively manage contraflow operations; 


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1 (C) for evacuation routes on public lands, 

2 the viewpoints of the applicable Federal land 

3 management agency regarding emergency oper4 ations, sustainability, and resource protection; 

5 and 

6 (D) such other items the Administrator of 

7 the Federal Highway Administration considers 

8 appropriate. 

9 (3) REPORT.—In the case in which the Admin10 istrator of the Federal Highway Administration, in 

11 consultation with the Administrator of the Federal 

12 Emergency Management Agency, concludes existing 

13 guidance addresses the considerations in paragraph 

14 (2), the Administrator of the Federal Highway Ad15 ministration shall submit to the Committee on 

16 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 

17 Representatives and the Committee on Environment 

18 and Public Works of the Senate a detailed report de19 scribing how existing guidance addresses such con20 siderations. 

21 (b) STUDY.—The Administrator of the Federal High22 way Administration, in coordination with the Adminis23 trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and 

24 State, local, territorial, and Indian Tribal governments, 

25 shall— 


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1 (1) conduct a study of the adequacy of available 

2 evacuation routes to accommodate the flow of evac3 uees; and 

4 (2) submit recommendations to Congress on 

5 how to help with anticipated evacuation route flow, 

6 based on the study conducted under paragraph (1). 

7 SEC. 7008. DEFINITIONS. 

8 Section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (4)(A) by inserting ‘‘assessing 

11 resilience,’’ after ‘‘surveying,’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(35) RESILIENCE.—Unless otherwise specified, 

14 the term ‘resilience’, with respect to a project, means 

15 a project with the ability to anticipate, prepare for, 

16 or adapt to conditions or mitigate against, with17 stand, respond to, or recover rapidly from disrup18 tions, including the ability— 

19 ‘‘(A) to resist hazards, mitigate against, 

20 reduce costs associated with or withstand im21 pacts from weather events and natural disas22 ters; or 

23 ‘‘(B) to have the absorptive capacity, 

24 adaptive capacity, and recoverability to decrease 


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1 project vulnerability to weather events or other 

2 natural disasters.’’. 

3 SEC. 7009. UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION CENTERS. 

4 Section 5505 of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)(2) by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(D) to consider the ability to anticipate, 

9 prepare for, or adapt to conditions or with10 stand, increase resiliency to, reduce costs re11 lated to, respond to, or recover rapidly from 

12 disruptions resulting from extreme weather 

13 events and natural disasters.’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (b)(4)(A) by striking ‘‘re15 search priorities identified in chapter 65.’’ and in16 serting the following: ‘‘following research priorities: 

17 ‘‘(i) Improving the mobility of people 

18 and goods. 

19 ‘‘(ii) Reducing congestion. 

20 ‘‘(iii) Promoting safety. 

21 ‘‘(iv) Improving the durability and ex22 tending the life of transportation infra23 structure and the existing transportation 

24 system. 


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1 ‘‘(v) Improving the ability to antici2 pate, prepare for, or adapt to conditions or 

3 withstand, respond to, or recover rapidly 

4 from disruptions resulting from extreme 

5 weather events and natural disasters.’’; 

6 and 

7 (3) in subsection (c)(4)— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (C) by adding at the 

9 end the following: ‘‘In awarding grants under 

10 this section, the Secretary shall also select not 

11 less than 1 grant recipient with each of the fol12 lowing focus areas: 

13 ‘‘(i) Improving the ability to antici14 pate, prepare for, or adapt to conditions or 

15 withstand, increase resiliency to, reduce 

16 costs related to, respond to, or recover rap17 idly from disruptions resulting from ex18 treme weather events and natural disas19 ters. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Developing innovative road de21 signs, materials, and restoration strategies 

22 to better enhance the durability and struc23 tural integrity of roads and subgrade soils 

24 that may become inundated during severe 

25 weather events. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Enhancing the viability and du2 rability of evacuation routes, including 

3 ways to effectively manage contraflow op4 erations to minimize casualties.’’; and 

5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(D) CONSIDERATIONS FOR SELECTED IN7 STITUTIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Tier 1 transpor9 tation centers awarded a grant under this 

10 paragraph with a focus area described in 

11 subparagraph (C) shall consider the fol12 lowing areas for research: 

13 ‘‘(I) Developing new materials 

14 and improving the performance and 

15 resiliency of existing materials for the 

16 construction of roads, bridges, rail, 

17 and related transportation infrastruc18 ture. 

19 ‘‘(II) Reducing local, State, Fed20 eral, and tribal costs associated with 

21 natural disasters and severe weather. 

22 ‘‘(III) Innovative technologies 

23 and approaches to pre-mitigate 

24 against severe weather. 


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1 ‘‘(IV) The durability of roadways 

2 and subgrade with respect to flamma3 bility and hydrostatic forces. 

4 ‘‘(V) Strategies to mitigate the 

5 costs associated with vulnerabilities in 

6 Federal evacuation routes, with re7 spect to overcrowding and inundation. 

8 ‘‘(ii) ACTIVITIES.—A tier 1 transpor9 tation center receiving a grant under this 

10 section with a focus area described in sub11 paragraph (C) may— 

12 ‘‘(I) establish best practices; 

13 ‘‘(II) develop modeling tools; and 

14 ‘‘(III) carry out other activities 

15 and develop technology that addresses 

16 the planning considerations described 

17 in clause (i).’’. 

18 SEC. 7010. PRE-DISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION PILOT PRO19 GRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 125 of title 23, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(h) PRE-DISASTER HAZARD MITIGATION PILOT

24 PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab2 lish a pre-disaster mitigation program for the pur3 pose of mitigating future hazards posed to Federal4 aid highways. 

5 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Every 6 

6 months, the Secretary shall total the amount of 

7 funds made available to each State, territory, Tribal, 

8 or other eligible entity under the emergency relief 

9 program during the preceding 6 months and remit 

10 an additional 5 percent from the Highway Trust 

11 Fund to those entities for eligible activities described 

12 in paragraph (3). 

13 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Funds made avail14 able under subsection (h)(2) shall be used for miti15 gation projects and activities that the Secretary de16 termines are cost-effective and that substantially re17 duce the risk of, or increase resilience to, future 

18 damage as a result of natural disasters, such as by 

19 flood, hurricane, tidal wave, earthquake, severe 

20 storm, or landslide by upgrading existing assets to 

21 meet or exceed design standards adopted by the 

22 Federal Highway Administration by means of the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(A) Relocating or elevating roadways. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Increasing the size or number of 

2 drainage structures, including culverts. 

3 ‘‘(C) Installing mitigation measures to pre4 vent the impairment of transportation assets as 

5 a result of the intrusion of floodwaters. 

6 ‘‘(D) Improving bridges to expand water 

7 capacity and prevent flooding. 

8 ‘‘(E) Deepening channels to prevent asset 

9 inundation and improve drainage. 

10 ‘‘(F) Improving strength of natural fea11 tures adjacent to highway rights-of-way to pro12 mote additional flood storage. 

13 ‘‘(G) Installing or upgrading tide gates 

14 and flood gates. 

15 ‘‘(H) Stabilizing slide areas or slopes. 

16 ‘‘(I) Installing seismic retrofits for bridges. 

17 ‘‘(J) Adding scour protection at bridges. 

18 ‘‘(K) Adding scour, stream stability, coast19 al, or other hydraulic countermeasures, includ20 ing riprap. 

21 ‘‘(L) Installing intelligent transportation 

22 system equipment to monitor infrastructure 

23 quality. 

24 ‘‘(M) Any other protective features as de25 termined by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to 

2 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

3 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

4 on Environment and Public Works of the Senate an 

5 annual report detailing— 

6 ‘‘(A) a description of the activities carried 

7 out under the pilot program; 

8 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

9 the pilot program in meeting purposes described 

10 in paragraph (1); and 

11 ‘‘(C) policy recommendations to improve 

12 the effectiveness of the pilot program.’’. 

13 (b) SUNSET.—The amendments made by this section 

14 shall be repealed on the date that is 5 years after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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