II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2308 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to modify the threshold for small 

start projects under the fixed guideway capital investment grant program, 

to allow certain environmental review expenditures to count for purposes 

of non-Federal matches, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2021 

Mr. WARNOCK (for himself and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to modify the threshold for small start projects under the fixed guideway 

capital investment grant program, to allow certain environmental review expenditures to count for purposes of 

non-Federal matches, 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. FIXED GUIDEWAY CAPITAL INVESTMENT 

4 GRANTS. 

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

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

2 through (7) as paragraphs (3) through (8), re3 spectively; 

4 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(2) COMMUTER OR DESTINATION-BASED BUS

7 RAPID TRANSIT PROJECT.—The term ‘commuter or 

8 destination-based bus rapid transit project’ means a 

9 small start project utilizing buses— 

10 ‘‘(A) in which the project represents a sub11 stantial investment in a defined corridor, as 

12 demonstrated by features that emulate the serv13 ices provided by commuter rail or other rail 

14 fixed guideway public transportation systems, 

15 including— 

16 ‘‘(i) defined stations; 

17 ‘‘(ii) traffic signal or access to man18 aged lanes for public transportation vehi19 cles; 

20 ‘‘(iii) short headway services for a 

21 substantial part of weekdays; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) any other features the Secretary 

23 may determine support a long-term cor24 ridor investment; and 

25 ‘‘(B) in which— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the majority of the project does 

2 not operate in a separated right-of-way 

3 dedicated for public transportation use 

4 during peak periods; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) a substantial portion of the 

6 project operates in a highway right-of7 way.’’; and 

8 (C) in paragraph (8) (as so redesig9 nated)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

11 ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘$320,000,000’’; and 

13 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 ‘‘$300,000,000’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘$400,000,000’’; 

16 (2) in subsection (h), by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(8) COMMUTER OR DESTINATION-BASED BUS

19 RAPID TRANSIT PROJECT RATINGS.—In issuing pol20 icy guidance under subsection (g)(5), the Secretary 

21 may establish alternative evaluation criteria for com22 muter or destination-based bus rapid transit projects 

23 for— 

24 ‘‘(A) economic development effects associ25 ated with those projects; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) policies and land use patterns that 

2 support public transportation.’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (k)(2), by striking subpara4 graphs (E) and (F); 

5 (4) in subsection (l), by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(9) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW EXPENDI8 TURES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

9 law, with respect to a project that receives a grant 

10 under this section, an expenditure made to comply 

11 with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

12 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) before the project enters 

13 project development may be considered as an ex14 penditure that helps meet the non-Federal financial 

15 commitment required for that project under this sec16 tion.’’; and 

17 (5) in subsection (o)— 

18 (A) by striking paragraph (2); 

19 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

20 paragraph (2); and 

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

22 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM DASHBOARD.— 

23 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

24 shall establish and maintain on a publicly availVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2308.IS S2308

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1 able website a fixed guideway capital invest2 ment grant program dashboard. 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The dashboard es4 tablished under subparagraph (A) shall con5 tain— 

6 ‘‘(i) the amount of funding appro7 priated to the program under this section 

8 for each fiscal year for each program com9 ponent, including funding for core capacity 

10 improvement projects, small start projects, 

11 and new fixed guideway capital projects, if 

12 specific amounts are appropriated for each 

13 program component; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the amount of funding allocated 

15 from the program under this section for 

16 each fiscal year to each program compo17 nent, including core capacity improvement 

18 projects, small start projects, and new 

19 fixed guideway capital projects; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) the amount of funding obligated 

21 from the program under this section to 

22 each program component, including core 

23 capacity improvement projects, small start 

24 projects, and new fixed guideway capital 

25 projects. 


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1 ‘‘(C) PROJECT TRACKER.—The dashboard 

2 established under subparagraph (A) shall, to 

3 the extent practicable, include a comprehensive 

4 tracker of the status of each project for which 

5 funding under this section is sought for the du6 ration during which the project participates in 

7 the program under this section, which shall in8 clude— 

9 ‘‘(i) the status of the project in the 

10 approval process, including— 

11 ‘‘(I) the date on which the 

12 project entered into each phase of the 

13 approval process, including, as appli14 cable, the date on which project devel15 opment, engineering, and construction 

16 begins and the date on which a grant 

17 agreement is executed; and 

18 ‘‘(II) the status of a request for 

19 approval of entry into each phase of 

20 the approval process, including— 

21 ‘‘(aa) whether the Federal 

22 Transit Administration, the Of23 fice of the Secretary, the Office 

24 of Management and Budget, or 


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1 another Federal agency is review2 ing the request for approval; 

3 ‘‘(bb) the date on which the 

4 project sponsor requested ap5 proval for entry into a new 

6 phase; and 

7 ‘‘(cc) whether the Federal 

8 Transit Administration, the Of9 fice of the Secretary, the Office 

10 of Management and Budget, or 

11 any other Federal agency, as ap12 plicable, has completed the review 

13 of the request for approval; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the status of the environmental 

15 review process for the project through a 

16 link to the relevant information with re17 spect to the project on the Permitting 

18 Dashboard required under section 

19 41003(b) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 4370m–2(b)); 

21 ‘‘(iii) the status of each project for 

22 which an early systems work agreement is 

23 requested, including— 

24 ‘‘(I) whether the Federal Transit 

25 Administration, the Office of the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2308.IS S2308

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1 retary, or the Office of Management 

2 and Budget is reviewing the request 

3 for the early systems work agreement; 

4 ‘‘(II) the status of the review 

5 under that office; and 

6 ‘‘(III) the date on which— 

7 ‘‘(aa) the request was re8 ceived; 

9 ‘‘(bb) the request was ap10 proved or denied; and 

11 ‘‘(cc) if the request was ap12 proved, the early systems work 

13 agreement was issued; 

14 ‘‘(iv) based on information from the 

15 project sponsor, the locally proposed finan16 cial plan for the project, which shall in17 clude the estimated breakdown of— 

18 ‘‘(I) Federal funds anticipated 

19 from sources other than the funding 

20 provided under this section; and 

21 ‘‘(II) State and local funds; and 

22 ‘‘(v) based on information provided by 

23 the project sponsor, the status of the 


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1 project sponsor in securing the required 

2 non-Federal cost share.’’. 

Æ 


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