II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1891

To establish sources of funding for certain transportation infrastructure

projects in the vicinity of the border between the United States and

Mexico that are necessary to accommodate increased traffic resulting

from the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement,

including construction of new Federal border crossing facilities, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 19, 1996

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and

Public Works

A BILL

To establish sources of funding for certain transportation

infrastructure projects in the vicinity of the border between the United States and Mexico that are necessary

to accommodate increased traffic resulting from the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, including construction of new Federal border

crossing facilities, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Infrastructure

3 Safety and Congestion Relief Act of 1996’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) although the United States Customs Service

7 has collected increased duties, merchandise fees, and

8 revenues from other commerce-related activities be9 cause of the approval and implementation of the

10 North American Free Trade Agreement, these in11 creased revenues have not been accompanied by Fed12 eral funding for improving transportation facilities

13 along the international borders of the United States

14 to ensure the free and safe flow of trade destined for

15 all States and regions of the United States;

16 (2) because of NAFTA, all 4 States along the

17 United States-Mexico border will require significant

18 investments in highway infrastructure capacity and

19 motor carrier safety enforcement at a time when

20 border States face extreme difficulty in meeting cur21 rent highway funding needs;

22 (3) the full benefits of increased international

23 trade can be realized only if delays at the borders

24 are significantly reduced; and

25 (4) the increased revenues to the general fund

26 of the Treasury described in paragraph (1) should
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1 be sufficient to provide Federal funding for trans2 portation improvements required to accommodate

3 NAFTA-generated traffic, in an amount above and

4 beyond regular Federal transportation funding ap5 portionments.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) BORDER REGION.—The term ‘‘border re9 gion’’ means the region located within 60 miles of

10 the United States border with Mexico.

11 (2) BORDER STATE.—The term ‘‘border State’’

12 means California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

13 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Bor14 der Transportation Infrastructure Fund established

15 under section 4(g).

16 (4) NAFTA.—The term ‘‘NAFTA’’ means the

17 North American Free Trade Agreement.

18 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

19 the Secretary of Transportation.

20 SEC. 4. DIRECT FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR BORDER CON21 STRUCTION AND CONGESTION RELIEF.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Using amounts in the Fund, the

23 Secretary shall make grants under this section to border

24 States that submit an application that demonstrates need,

25 due to increased traffic resulting from the implementation
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1 of NAFTA, for assistance in carrying out transportation

2 projects that are necessary to relieve traffic congestion or

3 improve enforcement of motor carrier safety laws.

4 (b) GRANTS FOR CONNECTORS TO FEDERAL BOR5 DER CROSSING FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall make

6 grants to border States for the purposes of connecting,

7 through construction or reconstruction, the National

8 Highway System designated under section 103(b) of title

9 23, United States Code, with Federal border crossing fa10 cilities located in the United States in the border region.

11 (c) GRANTS FOR WEIGH-IN-MOTION DEVICES IN

12 MEXICO.—The Secretary shall make grants to assist bor13 der States in the purchase, installation, and maintenance

14 of weigh-in-motion devices and associated electronic equip15 ment that are to be located in Mexico if real time data

16 from the devices is provided to the nearest United States

17 port of entry and to State commercial vehicle enforcement

18 facilities that serve the port of entry.

19 (d) GRANTS FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENFORCE20 MENT FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall make grants to

21 border States to construct, operate, and maintain commer22 cial vehicle enforcement facilities located in the border re23 gion.

24 (e) LIMITATIONS ON EXPENDITURES OF FUNDS.—
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1 (1) COST SHARING.—A grant under this section

2 shall be used to pay the Federal share of the cost

3 of a project. The Federal share shall be 80 percent.

4 (2) ALLOCATION AMONG STATES.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years

6 1998 through 2001, the Secretary shall allocate

7 amounts remaining in the Fund, after any

8 transfers under section 5, among border States

9 in accordance with an equitable formula estab10 lished by the Secretary in accordance with sub11 paragraphs (B) and (C).

12 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—Subject to sub13 paragraph (C), in establishing the formula, the

14 Secretary shall consider—

15 (i) the annual volume of international

16 commercial vehicle traffic at the ports of

17 entry of each border State as compared to

18 the annual volume of international com19 mercial vehicle traffic at the ports of entry

20 of all border States, based on the data pro21 vided in the most recent report submitted

22 under section 8;

23 (ii) the percentage by which inter24 national commercial vehicle traffic in each

25 border State has grown during the period
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1 beginning on the date of enactment of the

2 North American Free Trade Agreement

3 Implementation Act (Public Law 103–182)

4 as compared to that percentage for each

5 other border State; and

6 (iii) the extent of border transpor7 tation improvements carried out by each

8 border State during the period beginning

9 on the date of enactment of the North

10 American Free Trade Agreement Imple11 mentation Act (Public Law 103–182).

12 (C) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Each border

13 State shall receive not less than 5 percent of

14 the amounts made available to carry out this

15 section during the period of authorization under

16 subsection (i).

17 (f) ELIGIBILITY FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR PRE18 VIOUSLY COMMENCED PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall

19 make a grant under this section to a border State that

20 reimburses the border State for a project for which con21 struction commenced after January 1, 1994, if the project

22 is otherwise eligible for assistance under this section.

23 (g) BORDER TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE

24 FUND.—
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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

2 the Treasury of the United States the Border Trans3 portation Infrastructure Fund to be used in carrying

4 out this section, consisting of such amounts as are

5 appropriated to the Fund under subsection (i).

6 (2) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara8 graph (B), upon request by the Secretary, the

9 Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from

10 the Fund to the Secretary such amounts as the

11 Secretary determines are necessary to make

12 grants under this section and transfers under

13 section 5.

14 (B) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An

15 amount not exceeding 1 percent of the amounts

16 in the Fund shall be available for each fiscal

17 year to pay the administrative expenses nec18 essary to carry out this section.

19 (h) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Title 23, United

20 States Code, shall apply to grants made under this section.

21 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund to carry

23 out this section and section 5 $125,000,000 for each of

24 fiscal years 1998 through 2001. The appropriated

25 amounts shall remain available for obligation until the end
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1 of the third fiscal year following the fiscal year for which

2 the amounts are appropriated.

3 SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSPORTATION INFRA4 STRUCTURE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PUR5 POSES.

6 At the request of the Attorney General, the Secretary

7 may transfer, during the period consisting of fiscal years

8 1998 through 2001, up to $10,000,000 of the amounts

9 from the Fund to the Attorney General for the construc10 tion of transportation infrastructure necessary for law en11 forcement in border States.

12 SEC. 6. BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATIVE FINANC13 ING.

14 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—

15 (1) to encourage the establishment and oper16 ation of State infrastructure banks in accordance

17 with section 350 of the National Highway System

18 Designation Act of 1995 (109 Stat. 618; 23 U.S.C.

19 101 note); and

20 (2) to advance transportation infrastructure

21 projects supporting international trade and com22 merce.

23 (b) FEDERAL LINE OF CREDIT.—Section 350 of the

24 National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 (109

25 Stat. 618; 23 U.S.C. 101 note) is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection

2 (m); and

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (k) the follow4 ing:

5 ‘‘(l) FEDERAL LINE OF CREDIT.—

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the

7 terms ‘border region’ and ‘border State’ have the

8 meanings provided in section 3 of the Border Infra9 structure Safety and Congestion Relief Act of 1996.

10 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

11 There is authorized to be appropriated from the gen12 eral fund of the Treasury $100,000,000 to be used

13 by the Secretary to make lines of credit available

14 to—

15 ‘‘(A) border States that have established

16 infrastructure banks under this section; and

17 ‘‘(B) the State of New Mexico which has

18 established a border authority that has bonding

19 capacity.

20 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT.—The line of credit available to

21 each participating border State shall be equal to the

22 product of—

23 ‘‘(A) the amount appropriated under para24 graph (2); and

25 ‘‘(B) the quotient obtained by dividing—
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1 ‘‘(i) the contributions of the State to

2 the Highway Trust Fund during the latest

3 fiscal year for which data are available; by

4 ‘‘(ii) the total contributions of all par5 ticipating border States to the Highway

6 Trust Fund during that fiscal year.

7 ‘‘(4) USE OF LINE OF CREDIT.—The line of

8 credit under this subsection shall be available to pro9 vide Federal support in accordance with this sub10 section to—

11 ‘‘(A) a State infrastructure bank engaged

12 in providing credit enhancement to creditworthy

13 eligible public and private multimodal projects

14 that support international trade and commerce

15 in the border region; and

16 ‘‘(B) the New Mexico Border Authority;

17 (each referred to in this subsection as a ‘border in18 frastructure bank’).

19 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A line of credit under

21 this subsection may be drawn on only—

22 ‘‘(i) with respect to a completed

23 project described in paragraph (4) that is

24 receiving credit enhancement through a

25 border infrastructure bank;
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1 ‘‘(ii) when the cash balance available

2 in the border infrastructure bank is insuf3 ficient to pay a claim for payment relating

4 to the project; and

5 ‘‘(iii) when all subsequent revenues of

6 the project have been pledged to the border

7 infrastructure bank.

8 ‘‘(B) THIRD PARTY CREDITOR RIGHTS.—

9 No third party creditor of a public or private

10 entity carrying out a project eligible for assist11 ance from a border infrastructure bank shall

12 have any right against the Federal Government

13 with respect to a line of credit under this sub14 section, including any guarantee that the pro15 ceeds of a line of credit will be available for the

16 payment of any particular cost of the public or

17 private entity that may be financed under this

18 subsection.

19 ‘‘(6) INTEREST RATE AND REPAYMENT PE20 RIOD.—Any draw on a line of credit under this sub21 section shall—

22 ‘‘(A) accrue, beginning on the date the

23 draw is made, interest at a rate equal to the

24 current (as of the date the draw is made) mar25 ket yield on outstanding, marketable obligations
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1 of the United States with maturities of 30

2 years; and

3 ‘‘(B) shall be repaid within a period of not

4 more than 30 years.

5 ‘‘(7) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE APPORTION6 MENT.—Funds made available to States to carry out

7 this subsection shall be in addition to funds appor8 tioned to States under section 104 of title 23, Unit9 ed States Code.’’.

10 SEC. 7. RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT

11 PROGRAM.

12 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro13 vide assistance for freight rail projects in border States

14 that benefit international trade and relieve highways of in15 creased traffic resulting from NAFTA.

16 (b) ISSUANCE OF OBLIGATIONS.—The Secretary

17 shall issue to the Secretary of the Treasury notes or other

18 obligations pursuant to section 512 of the Railroad Revi19 talization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C.

20 832), in such amounts, and at such times, as may be nec21 essary to—

22 (1) pay any amounts required pursuant to the

23 guarantee of the principal amount of an obligation

24 under section 511 of the Act (45 U.S.C. 831) for

25 any eligible freight rail project described in sub-
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1 section (c) during the period that the guaranteed ob2 ligation is outstanding; and

3 (2) during the period referred to in paragraph

4 (1), meet the applicable requirements of this section

5 and sections 511 and 513 of the Act (45 U.S.C. 832

6 and 833).

7 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—Assistance provided under this

8 section shall be limited to those freight rail projects lo9 cated in the United States that provide intermodal connec10 tions that enhance cross-border traffic in the border re11 gion.

12 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law, the aggregate unpaid principal amounts of ob14 ligations that may be guaranteed by the Secretary under

15 this section may not exceed $100,000,000 during any of

16 fiscal years 1998 through 2001.

17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

18 are authorized to be appropriated to make loan guarantees

19 under this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years

20 1998 through 2001.

21 SEC. 8. REPORT.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annually sub23 mit to Congress and the Governor of each border State

24 a report concerning—
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1 (1) the volume and nature of international com2 mercial vehicle traffic crossing the border between

3 the United States and Mexico; and

4 (2)(A) the number of international commercial

5 vehicle inspections conducted by each border State

6 at each United States port of entry; and

7 (B) the rate of out-of-service violations of inter8 national commercial vehicles found through the in9 spections.

10 (b) INFORMATION PROVIDED BY UNITED STATES

11 CUSTOMS SERVICE.—For the purpose of preparing each

12 report under subsection (a)(1), the Commissioner of Cus13 toms shall provide to the Secretary such information de14 scribed in subsection (a)(1) as the Commissioner has

15 available.

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