II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2508 

To amend title 40, United States Code, to promote regional economic and 

infrastructure development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2018 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. LEAHY, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Mr. KING, and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; 

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

Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend title 40, United States Code, to promote regional 

economic and infrastructure development, 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 ‘‘Northern Border Re5 gional Commission Reauthorization Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES OF REGIONAL COM2 MISSIONS. 

3 Section 15304(c)(3)(A) of title 40, United States 

4 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘unanimous’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘majority’’. 

6 SEC. 3. ECONOMIC AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT 

7 GRANTS. 

8 Section 15501 of title 40, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

12 the end; 

13 (B) by redesignating paragraph (8) as 

14 paragraph (9); and 

15 (C) by inserting after paragraph (7) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(8) to grow the capacity for successful commu18 nity economic development in its region; and’’; 

19 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘paragraphs 

20 (1) through (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1), (2), 

21 (3), or (7)’’; and 

22 (3) in subsection (f), by striking the period at 

23 the end and inserting ‘‘, except that financial assist24 ance may be used as otherwise authorized by this 

25 subtitle to attract businesses to the region from out26 side the United States.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. STATE CAPACITY BUILDING GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

4 means the Northern Border Regional Commission 

5 established by section 15301(a)(3) of title 40, 

6 United States Code. 

7 (2) COMMISSION STATE.—The term ‘‘Commis8 sion State’’ means each of the States of Maine, New 

9 Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. 

10 (3) ELIGIBLE COUNTY.—The term ‘‘eligible 

11 county’’ means a county described in section 15733 

12 of title 40, United States Code. 

13 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

14 the State capacity building grant program estab15 lished under subsection (b). 

16 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

18 establish a State capacity building grant program to pro19 vide grants to Commission States to carry out the purpose 

20 under subsection (c). 

21 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is to 

22 support the efforts of Commission States— 

23 (1) to better support business retention and ex24 pansion in eligible counties; 

25 (2) to create programs to encourage job cre26 ation and workforce development; 


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1 (3) to prepare economic and infrastructure 

2 plans for eligible counties; 

3 (4) to expand access to high-speed broadband; 

4 (5) to encourage initiatives that drive invest5 ments in transportation, water, wastewater, and 

6 other critical infrastructure; 

7 (6) to create initiatives to increase the effective8 ness of local or regional economic developers; and 

9 (7) to implement new or innovative economic 

10 development practices that will better position the 

11 Commission States to compete in the global econ12 omy. 

13 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Funds from a grant under 

15 the program may be used to support a project, pro16 gram, or expense of the Commission State in an eli17 gible county. 

18 (2) LIMITATION.—Funds from a grant under 

19 the program shall not be used for— 

20 (A) the purchase of furniture, fixtures, or 

21 equipment; or 

22 (B) the compensation of— 

23 (i) any State member of the Commis24 sion (as described in section 


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1 15301(b)(1)(B) of title 40, United States 

2 Code); or 

3 (ii) any State alternate member of the 

4 Commission (as described in section 

5 15301(b)(2)(B) of title 40, United States 

6 Code). 

7 (e) ANNUAL WORK PLAN.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, before 

9 providing a grant under the program, each Commis10 sion State shall provide to the Commission an an11 nual work plan that includes the proposed use of the 

12 grant. 

13 (2) APPROVAL.—No grant under the program 

14 shall be provided to a Commission State unless the 

15 Commission has approved the annual work plan of 

16 the State. 

17 (f) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a grant pro19 vided to a Commission State under the program 

20 shall be an amount equal to the share of the State 

21 of administrative expenses of the Commission for a 

22 fiscal year (as determined under section 15304(c) of 

23 title 40, United States Code). 

24 (2) APPROVAL.—For each fiscal year, a grant 

25 provided under the program shall be approved and 


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1 made available as part of the approval of the annual 

2 budget of the Commission. 

3 (g) GRANT AVAILABILITY.—Funds from a grant 

4 under the program shall be available only during the fiscal 

5 year for which the grant is provided. 

6 (h) REPORT.—Each fiscal year, each Commission 

7 State shall submit to the Commission and make publicly 

8 available a report that describes the use of the grant funds 

9 and the impact of the program in the State. 

10 (i) FUNDING.— 

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

12 appropriated such sums as the Commission deter13 mines to be necessary, subject to the condition that 

14 the Commission may use not more than $5,000,000 

15 to carry out this section for any fiscal year. 

16 (2) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds 

17 made available to carry out this section shall supple18 ment and not supplant funds made available for the 

19 Commission and other activities of the Commission. 

20 SEC. 5. NORTHERN BORDER REGIONAL COMMISSION. 

21 Section 15733 of title 40, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

24 (A) by inserting ‘‘Belknap,’’ before ‘‘Car25 roll,’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘Cheshire,’’ before 

2 ‘‘Coos,’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘Addison, Bennington,’’ 

5 before ‘‘Caledonia,’’; 

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘Chittenden,’’ before 

7 ‘‘Essex,’’; 

8 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ and inserting ‘‘Or9 ange,’’ and 

10 (D) by inserting ‘‘, Rutland, Washington, 

11 Windham, and Windsor’’ after ‘‘Orleans’’. 

12 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 Section 15751(a) of title 40, United States Code, is 

14 amended by striking ‘‘2018’’ and inserting ‘‘2023’’. 

15 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. 

16 Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 of subtitle V of title 40, 

17 United States Code, are redesignated as chapters 151, 

18 153, 155, and 157, respectively. 

Æ 


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