I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2160 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to reauthorize and modify the surface 

transportation project delivery pilot program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 14, 2011 

Ms. RICHARDSON (for herself and Mr. FILNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to reauthorize and 

modify the surface transportation project delivery pilot 

program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jobs Through Envi5 ronmental Safeguarding and Streamlining Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADVANCED ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY. 

7 Section 108 of title 23, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (c)(2)(G) by striking ‘‘both 

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1 mental Protection Agency have concurred’’ and in2 serting ‘‘the Secretary has determined’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(d) CONSIDERATION OF LONG-RANGE TRANSPOR5 TATION NEEDS.—The Secretary is authorized to encour6 age States and other public authorities, where practicable, 

7 to acquire transportation rights-of-way that are sufficient 

8 to accommodate long-range transportation needs, where 

9 possible through the acquisition of broad rights-of-way 

10 that have the capacity for future expansion over a 50- to 

11 100-year period and that have the potential to accommo12 date one or more transportation modes.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. EFFICIENT ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS FOR 

14 PROJECT DECISIONMAKING. 

15 (a) PROGRAMMATIC COMPLIANCE.—Section 139(b) 

16 of title 23, United States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (2) by inserting ‘‘, and any re18 quirements established under this section may be 

19 satisfied,’’ after ‘‘exercised’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘(3) PROGRAMMATIC APPROACHES.—The Sec22 retary may modify the procedures developed under 

23 this section to encourage programmatic approaches 

24 and strategies with respect to environmental pro25 grams and permits.’’. 


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1 (b) DESIGNATION OF DOT MODAL ADMINISTRATION

2 TO SERVE AS LEAD AGENCY.—Section 139(c)(1) of such 

3 title is amended by inserting ‘‘, acting through a single 

4 modal administration of the Department designated by the 

5 Secretary,’’ after ‘‘Department of Transportation’’. 

6 (c) PROJECT INITIATION.—Section 139(e) of such 

7 title is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 

8 project sponsor may satisfy this requirement by submit9 ting to the Secretary a draft notice for publication in the 

10 Federal Register announcing the preparation of an envi11 ronmental impact statement for the project that contains 

12 the information required under this subsection.’’. 

13 (d) COORDINATION PLAN.—Section 139(g)(1)(A) of 

14 such title is amended by striking ‘‘project or category of 

15 projects’’ and inserting ‘‘project, category of projects, or 

16 program of projects’’. 

17 (e) GUIDELINES.—Section 139 of such title is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(m) GUIDELINES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ISSUANCE.—The Secretary shall issue 

21 guidelines to assist States and local governmental 

22 entities in assuming an increased role under this 

23 section in— 


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1 ‘‘(A) preparing environmental documents 

2 for projects under the National Environmental 

3 Policy Act of 1969; and 

4 ‘‘(B) participating in agency consultation. 

5 ‘‘(2) LIST OF STATE REPORTS.—The guidelines 

6 issued under paragraph (1) shall contain a list of 

7 State reports that may be adopted or used by the 

8 Secretary (or the Secretary’s designee) in satisfying 

9 requirements for projects under the National Envi10 ronmental Policy Act of 1969. 

11 ‘‘(3) SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—The guidelines 

12 issued under paragraph (1) shall specify the max13 imum extent to which a State or local government 

14 can participate in the environmental review process 

15 for a project without being subject to the jurisdiction 

16 of Federal courts with respect to such participa17 tion.’’. 

18 (f) RECIPROCITY AGREEMENTS.— 

19 (1) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

20 study on the feasibility of entering into reciprocity 

21 agreements with States to maximize State participa22 tion in the environmental review process for projects 

23 (as defined in section 139 of such title) and the po24 tential benefits of such agreements in expediting 

25 project delivery. 


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1 (2) 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 and the Com5 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 

6 the Senate a report on the results of the study. 

7 SEC. 4. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROJECT DELIVERY 

8 PROGRAM. 

9 (a) ASSUMPTION OF RESPONSIBILITY.— 

10 (1) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Section 

11 327(a)(2)(B)(ii)(I) of title 23, United States Code, 

12 is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(I) responsibility for any con14 formity determination (other than a 

15 conformity determination for an indi16 vidual project) required under section 

17 176 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 7506); or’’. 

19 (2) HIGHWAY PROJECTS INVOLVING MORE

20 THAN ONE DOT MODAL ADMINISTRATION.—Section 

21 327(a)(2) of such title is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following: 

23 ‘‘(F) HIGHWAY PROJECTS INVOLVING

24 MORE THAN ONE DOT MODAL ADMINISTRA25 TION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.—For 

2 purposes of subparagraph (A), a project 

3 shall be treated as a ‘highway project’ if 

4 the Secretary determines that the Federal 

5 Highway Administration is the lead agency 

6 for the project. 

7 ‘‘(ii) ASSIGNMENT OF AUTHORI8 TIES.—In the case of a highway project 

9 that involves the Federal Highway Admin10 istration and another modal administration 

11 of the Department of Transportation, the 

12 authorities of the Secretary that may be 

13 assigned to a State under this subsection 

14 shall include the authorities of the Sec15 retary that relate to the Federal Highway 

16 Administration and the other modal ad17 ministration.’’. 

18 (b) STATE PARTICIPATION.— 

19 (1) NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING STATES.—Sec20 tion 327(b)(1) of such title is amended to read as 

21 follows: 

22 ‘‘(1) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING STATES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

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1 teria contained in paragraph (4) to participate 

2 in the program. 

3 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES.—Any State partici4 pating in the program on September 30, 

5 2009— 

6 ‘‘(i) shall be permitted by the Sec7 retary to continue to participate in the pro8 gram; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) shall not be required to submit 

10 an application under paragraph (2) in 

11 order to participate in the program.’’. 

12 (2) WRITTEN AGREEMENT.—Section 327(c) of 

13 such title is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(c) WRITTEN AGREEMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A written agreement under 

16 this section shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) be executed by the Governor or the 

18 top-ranking transportation official in the State 

19 who is charged with responsibility for highway 

20 construction; 

21 ‘‘(B) be in such form as the Secretary may 

22 prescribe; 

23 ‘‘(C) provide that the State— 


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1 ‘‘(i) agrees to assume all or part of 

2 the responsibilities of the Secretary de3 scribed in subsection (a); 

4 ‘‘(ii) agrees to carry out those respon5 sibilities using the best available science; 

6 ‘‘(iii) expressly consents, on behalf of 

7 the State, to accept the jurisdiction of the 

8 Federal courts for the compliance, dis9 charge, and enforcement of any responsi10 bility of the Secretary assumed by the 

11 State; 

12 ‘‘(iv) certifies that State laws (includ13 ing regulations) are in effect that— 

14 ‘‘(I) authorize the State to take 

15 the actions necessary to carry out the 

16 responsibilities being assumed; and 

17 ‘‘(II) are comparable to section 

18 552 of title 5, including providing that 

19 any decision regarding the public 

20 availability of a document under those 

21 State laws is reviewable by a court of 

22 competent jurisdiction; and 

23 ‘‘(D) agrees to maintain the financial re24 sources necessary to carry out the responsibil25 ities being assumed. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCLUDED PROJECTS.—A written agree2 ment with a State under this section may include a 

3 list of projects in the State that are excluded from 

4 the program. The list shall be updated annually by 

5 mutual agreement between the Secretary and the 

6 State. 

7 ‘‘(3) TERM.—A written agreement with a State 

8 under this section shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) have a term of not more than 5 

10 years; and 

11 ‘‘(B) be renewable. 

12 ‘‘(4) USE OF PROJECT DELIVERY METHODS.— 

13 A written agreement with a State under this section 

14 may not impose on the State a limitation on the use 

15 of a project delivery method if the limitation would 

16 not otherwise apply to the State under this title or 

17 another provision of law. In this paragraph, the 

18 term ‘project delivery method’ includes the authority 

19 of a State to acquire rights-of-way and conduct final 

20 design work for a project with State funds on an at21 risk basis prior to completion of the environmental 

22 review process for the project.’’. 

23 (3) AUDITS AND MONITORING.—Section 327(g) 

24 of such title is amended— 


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1 (A) in the subsection heading by inserting 

2 ‘‘AND MONITORING’’ after ‘‘AUDITS’’; 

3 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

4 paragraph (3); 

5 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(2) MONITORING.—If a State has been partici8 pating in the program pursuant to a written agree9 ment under subsection (c) for a period of 10 con10 secutive years, the Secretary may monitor compli11 ance by the State with the agreement instead of con12 ducting audits under paragraph (1). If a State, 

13 while participating in the monitoring program under 

14 this section, repeatedly fails to comply with all as15 pects of the written agreement under subsection (c), 

16 the Secretary shall commence the auditing process. 

17 The Secretary shall develop procedures for con18 ducting monitoring under this paragraph.’’; and 

19 (D) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated by 

20 subparagraph (B) of this paragraph) by insert21 ing after ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ the following: ‘‘, and 

22 the results of monitoring conducted under para23 graph (2),’’. 

24 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Section 327(h) of such 

25 title is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

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

3 after the date of enactment of the Jobs Through 

4 Environmental Safeguarding and Streamlining Act 

5 of 2011, and every 4 years thereafter, the Secretary 

6 shall make available to the public and submit to the 

7 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

8 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

9 Environment and Public Works and the Committee 

10 on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Sen11 ate a report on the results of the program. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—For each reporting period, 

13 the report shall contain, at a minimum, the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(A) An assessment of whether delays 

16 were reduced and project delivery was enhanced 

17 as a result of the program. 

18 ‘‘(B) An assessment of whether there were 

19 cost savings for States participating in the pro20 gram and the Department of Transportation as 

21 a result of the program. 

22 ‘‘(C) An assessment of whether environ23 mental concerns were protected and considered 

24 in States participating in the program at a level 

25 consistent with nonparticipating States. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Recommendations for changes (if 

2 any) that could be made to enhance or improve 

3 the program. 

4 ‘‘(E) An assessment of the impact and ef5 fectiveness of an environmental document qual6 ity control program of the transportation de7 partment of any State participating in the pro8 gram.’’. 

9 (d) ELIMINATION OF TERMINATION DATE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 327(i)(1) of such 

11 title is repealed. 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 3 of 

13 such title is amended— 

14 (A) in section 327— 

15 (i) in the section heading by striking 

16 ‘‘pilot’’; and 

17 (ii) in subsection (a) by striking 

18 ‘‘pilot’’; and 

19 (B) in the chapter analysis by striking the 

20 item relating to section 327 and inserting the 

21 following: 

‘‘327. Surface transportation project delivery program.’’. 

Æ 


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