II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1209 

To establish State revolving loan funds to repair or replace natural gas 

distribution pipelines. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2015 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish State revolving loan funds to repair or replace 

natural gas distribution pipelines. 

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 ‘‘Pipeline Revolving 

5 Fund and Job Creation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Pipeline and 

10 Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. 


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1 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

2 (A) a State; and 

3 (B) the District of Columbia. 

4 (3) STATE LOAN FUND.—The term ‘‘State loan 

5 fund’’ means a pipeline replacement revolving loan 

6 fund established by a State under section 

7 3(a)(2)(B). 

8 SEC. 3. STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS. 

9 (a) GRANTS TO STATES TO ESTABLISH LOAN

10 FUNDS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

12 offer to enter into agreements with eligible States to 

13 make capitalization grants, including letters of cred14 it, to the States under this subsection to repair or 

15 replace natural gas distribution pipelines. 

16 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

17 capitalization grant under this section, a State 

18 shall— 

19 (A) enter into a capitalization agreement 

20 with the Administrator under paragraph (1); 

21 and 

22 (B) establish a pipeline replacement revolv23 ing loan fund. 


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1 (3) DEPOSIT.—Funds granted to a State under 

2 this section shall be deposited in the State loan fund 

3 established by the State. 

4 (4) PERIOD.—The funds granted to a State 

5 shall be available to the State for obligation during 

6 the fiscal year for which the funds are authorized 

7 and during the following fiscal year. 

8 (5) ALLOTMENT.—Funds made available to 

9 carry out this section shall be allotted to States at 

10 the discretion of the Administrator. 

11 (6) REALLOTMENT.—Any funds not obligated 

12 by a State by the last day of the period for which 

13 the grants are available shall be reallotted in accord14 ance with paragraph (5). 

15 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts deposited in a 

17 State loan fund, including loan repayments and in18 terest earned on the amounts, shall be used only for 

19 providing loans or loan guarantees or as a source of 

20 reserve and security for leveraged loans. 

21 (2) LIMITATIONS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Loans or loan guaran23 tees made by a State under paragraph (1)— 

24 (i) may be used only for expenditures 

25 of a type or category that the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:30 May 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1209.IS S1209

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1 trator has determined, through guidance, 

2 will— 

3 (I) facilitate compliance with a 

4 plan submitted under subsection (c); 

5 or 

6 (II) otherwise significantly fur7 ther the replacement or repair of nat8 ural gas distribution pipelines that 

9 have been identified as leak-prone; 

10 and 

11 (ii) may not be used for the acquisi12 tion of real property or an interest in real 

13 property, unless the acquisition is— 

14 (I) integral to a plan submitted 

15 under subsection (c); and 

16 (II) from a willing seller. 

17 (B) BUYING AMERICAN.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

19 shall ensure, through guidance, that, to the 

20 maximum extent practicable, none of the 

21 funds from a loan or loan guarantee made 

22 by a State under paragraph (1) are used 

23 to repair or replace natural gas distribu24 tion pipelines unless all of the iron, steel, 

25 plastic, and manufactured goods used in 


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1 the repair or replacement are produced in 

2 the United States. 

3 (ii) WAIVER.—Clause (i) shall not 

4 apply in any case or category of cases in 

5 which the Administrator finds that— 

6 (I) applying that clause would be 

7 inconsistent with the public interest; 

8 (II) iron, steel, plastic, or the ap9 plicable manufactured goods are not 

10 produced in the United States in suf11 ficient and reasonably available quan12 tities and of a satisfactory quality; or 

13 (III) inclusion of iron, steel, plas14 tic, and manufactured goods produced 

15 in the United States will increase the 

16 cost of the overall repair or replace17 ment by more than 25 percent. 

18 (iii) PUBLICATION.—If the Adminis19 trator determines that it is necessary to 

20 waive the application of clause (i) based on 

21 a finding under clause (ii), the Adminis22 trator shall publish in the Federal Register 

23 a detailed written justification as to why 

24 the provision is being waived. 


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1 (iv) APPLICABILITY.—This section 

2 shall be applied in a manner consistent 

3 with United States obligations under inter4 national agreements. 

5 (c) INTENDED USE PLANS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—After providing for public 

7 review and comment, each State that has entered 

8 into a capitalization agreement pursuant to this sec9 tion shall annually prepare a plan that identifies the 

10 intended uses of the amounts available from the 

11 State loan fund of the State. 

12 (2) CONTENTS.—An intended use plan shall in13 clude— 

14 (A) a list of the projects to be carried out 

15 by entities receiving the loans in the first fiscal 

16 year that begins after the date of the plan, in17 cluding a description of the project; 

18 (B) the criteria and methods established 

19 for the use of funds; and 

20 (C) a description of the financial status of 

21 the State loan fund and the short- and long22 term goals of the State loan fund. 

23 (3) LIST OF PROJECTS.—Each State shall, 

24 after notice and opportunity for public comment, 

25 publish and periodically update a list of projects in 


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1 the State that are eligible for assistance under this 

2 section, including the priority assigned to each 

3 project and, to the maximum extent practicable, the 

4 expected funding schedule for each project and, if 

5 possible, an estimate of expected reductions in 

6 greenhouse gas emissions for the project. 

7 (d) FUND MANAGEMENT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State loan fund under 

9 this section shall be established, maintained, and 

10 credited with repayments and interest and the fund 

11 corpus shall be available in perpetuity in accordance 

12 with this section. 

13 (2) INVESTMENT AUTHORIZED.—To the extent 

14 amounts in the fund are not required for current ob15 ligation or expenditure, the amounts shall be in16 vested in interest bearing obligations. 

17 (e) STATE CONTRIBUTIONS.—Each capitalization 

18 agreement entered into pursuant to this section shall re19 quire that the State deposit in the State loan fund from 

20 State moneys an amount equal to not less than 20 percent 

21 of the total amount of the grant to be made to the State 

22 on or before the date on which the grant payment is made 

23 to the State. 

24 (f) ADMINISTRATION OF STATE LOAN FUND.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State may annually 

2 use not greater than 4 percent of the funds allotted 

3 to the State under this section to cover the reason4 able costs of administration of the programs under 

5 this section, including the recovery of reasonable 

6 costs expended to establish a State loan fund that 

7 are incurred after the date of enactment of this Act. 

8 (2) GUIDANCE AND REGULATIONS.—The Ad9 ministrator shall issue guidance and promulgate reg10 ulations as are necessary to carry out this section, 

11 including guidance and regulations— 

12 (A) to ensure that each State commits and 

13 expends funds allotted to the State under this 

14 section as efficiently as practicable in accord15 ance with this section and applicable State law; 

16 (B) to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse; 

17 and 

18 (C) to ensure that the States receiving 

19 grants under this section use accounting, audit, 

20 and fiscal procedures that conform to generally 

21 accepted accounting standards. 

22 (3) STATE REPORT.—Each State administering 

23 a State loan fund under this section shall submit to 

24 the Administrator a report every 2 years on the ac25 tivities carried out under this section, including the 


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1 findings of the most recent audit of the fund and the 

2 entire State allotment. 

3 (4) AUDITS.—The Administrator shall periodi4 cally audit all State loan funds established by, and 

5 all other amounts allotted to, the States pursuant to 

6 this section in accordance with procedures estab7 lished by the Comptroller General of the United 

8 States. 

9 (g) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL LAW.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall en11 sure that all laborers and mechanics employed on 

12 projects funded directly, or assisted in whole or in 

13 part, by this Act and contributed to a State loan 

14 fund established by this Act shall be paid wages at 

15 rates not less than those prevailing on projects of a 

16 character similar in the locality as determined by the 

17 Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 

18 IV of chapter 31 of part A of subtitle II of title 40, 

19 United States Code. 

20 (2) AUTHORITY.—With respect to the labor 

21 standards specified in paragraph (1), the Secretary 

22 of Labor shall have the authority and functions set 

23 forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 

24 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of 

25 title 40, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro3 priated to carry out this Act such sums as are necessary 

4 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2026. 

5 (b) LIMITATION.—Only sums appropriated pursuant 

6 to subsection (a) may be used to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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