II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2552 

To promote long-term economic recovery and job creation in underserved 

communities by providing for investment in catalytic local predevelopment 

projects for resilient climate infrastructure innovation and to provide 

assistance to support State and local project development, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2021 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To promote long-term economic recovery and job creation 

in underserved communities by providing for investment 

in catalytic local predevelopment projects for resilient 

climate infrastructure innovation and to provide assistance to support State and local project 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 ‘‘Local Infrastructure 

5 Funding & Technical Assistance Act’’ or the ‘‘LIFT Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

3 (1) infrastructure systems in the United States 

4 are in a period of significant disrepair and are in5 creasingly vulnerable due to climate change; 

6 (2) aging infrastructure, new technologies, in7 creasing complexity, and increasing incidents of se8 vere weather due to climate change pose new chal9 lenges to the resilience of those infrastructure sys10 tems; 

11 (3) the climate resilience challenge is most 

12 acute in underserved communities in the United 

13 States, which face a chronic underinvestment in in14 frastructure systems and require restorative invest15 ments to rebuild with equity; 

16 (4) in purchasing infrastructure, the Federal 

17 Government typically accepts a low-cost capital bid 

18 without a plan for maintaining an asset that is de19 signed to last 30 to 40 years, such that investing in 

20 local best practices and capacity for better procure21 ment, asset management, design, lifecycle finance, 

22 and innovative data and sensor systems will partially 

23 address the resilient infrastructure funding crisis in 

24 the United States; 

25 (5) experts have determined that predevelop26 ment funding at the local and project levels is the 


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1 critical gap in accelerating efforts of the Federal 

2 Government— 

3 (A) to support climate-resilient infrastruc4 ture systems and regional economies; and 

5 (B) to create a steady stream of ‘‘shovel6 worthy’’ and well-maintained community 

7 projects; 

8 (6) economic analyses have determined that ex9 isting Federal and State predevelopment programs 

10 generate as much as $16 to $20 in economic activity 

11 for every $1 of public funds expended; 

12 (7) studies demonstrate that the development of 

13 stronger lifecycle infrastructure methods by State 

14 and local project sponsors will likely help local gov15 ernments better leverage current and future Federal 

16 taxpayer investment in public infrastructure through 

17 partnerships with impact investors; 

18 (8) well-managed and resilient regional, State, 

19 and local infrastructure assets will lower future Fed20 eral taxpayer costs for recovery and restoration ef21 forts; 

22 (9) States and regions have unique infrastruc23 ture systems and challenges, such as— 

24 (A) wildfires and droughts in the West; 


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1 (B) failing dams and levees in the Midwest 

2 and Mississippi regions; 

3 (C) stormwater management issues in the 

4 East; and 

5 (D) broadband connectivity in the Inter6 mountain region; 

7 (10) the interconnected nature of energy, water, 

8 building stock, transportation, and communication 

9 systems demands new investments and innova10 tions— 

11 (A) to prepare for mitigating risks and 

12 cyberattacks; and 

13 (B) to carry out integrated deployment 

14 strategies; 

15 (11) the basic infrastructure needs of many 

16 communities are changing during the COVID–19 

17 era to emphasize distance learning and public 

18 health, while much of the infrastructure stock of the 

19 United States created in the 1950s, 1960s, and 

20 1970s is aging; 

(12) 2 21 ⁄3 of United States infrastructure is fund22 ed at the State and local levels; 

23 (13) the Federal Government, in the role of a 

24 long-term strategic infrastructure partner, should 

25 focus on making catalytic investments that— 


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1 (A) promote local best practices in resilient 

2 infrastructure through performance-based in3 vestments in States and communities; 

4 (B) encourage regional innovation, innova5 tive partnerships, and economic resilience strat6 egies and outcomes that fund long-term capac7 ity building and economic recovery; and 

8 (C) provide strategic capacity building re9 sources, technical assistance, and flexible 

10 predevelopment support for resilient infrastruc11 ture project development that allows States and 

12 communities to accelerate the most critical 

13 State and community infrastructure needs; and 

14 (14) grantees and applicants of the Assistance 

15 for Coal Communities program of the Economic De16 velopment Administration have expressed financial 

17 hardship with meeting all project predevelopment 

18 costs needed to be eligible for that program and to 

19 transition away from fossil fuel infrastructure. 

20 (b) PURPOSE.—Recognizing that pressing climate-re21 silient infrastructure needs differ by State and region, and 

22 that Federal program support for project predevelopment 

23 is limited or inflexible due to programmatic silos, the pur24 pose of this Act is to establish new, flexible funding 

25 streams and expedited processes— 


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1 (1) to accelerate timely, resilient infrastructure 

2 deployment, specifically in underserved communities; 

3 (2) to reduce taxpayer costs in response to dis4 asters involving infrastructure; and 

5 (3) to preserve existing jobs and to create new 

6 jobs. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) CAPACITY BUILDING.—The term ‘‘capacity 

10 building’’ includes all activities associated with early 

11 stage community-based project formation and 

12 conceptualization, prior to project predevelopment 

13 activity, including stipends to local community orga14 nizations for planning participation, community out15 reach and engagement activities, grant writing, re16 search, and mentorship support to move projects 

17 from formation and conceptualization to project 

18 predevelopment. 

19 (2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

20 recipient’’ means— 

21 (A) an eligible recipient (as defined in sec22 tion 3 of the Public Works and Economic De23 velopment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3122)); and 

24 (B) a private individual, a nonprofit orga25 nization, or a for-profit organization. 


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1 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

5 (4) LEAD APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘lead appli6 cant’’ means the eligible recipient that is primarily 

7 responsible for the preparation, conduct, and admin8 istration of the project for which a grant is provided 

9 under section 4(b)(2). 

10 (5) MINORITY OR WOMAN-LED ENTITY.—The 

11 term ‘‘minority or woman-led entity’’ means an or12 ganization, as determined by the Secretary— 

13 (A) for which a majority of the governing 

14 board of directors and executive leadership of 

15 the organization are women or minority per16 sons; 

17 (B) that is not dependent on or influenced 

18 by another non-eligible person or organization; 

19 and 

20 (C) that has not been established for the 

21 purpose of this Act. 

22 (6) PROJECT PREDEVELOPMENT.—The term 

23 ‘‘project predevelopment’’ means a measure required 

24 to be completed before construction of a project may 

25 occur, such as— 


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1 (A) architectural or engineering work; 

2 (B) a market assessment; 

3 (C) community outreach and engagement; 

4 (D) an economic feasibility study; 

5 (E) the acquisition of a site or lease; 

6 (F) preparation of a business plan; 

7 (G) any activity relating to permitting; 

8 (H) any activity relating to the writing of 

9 grant applications; 

10 (I) capacity building in local governments, 

11 community institutions, and nonprofit organiza12 tions; and 

13 (J) training for unionized labor to execute 

14 on such activities. 

15 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of Commerce. 

17 (8) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 

18 ‘‘underserved community’’ means— 

19 (A) a community— 

20 (i) with significant representation of 

21 communities of color, low-income commu22 nities, or indigenous communities; and 

23 (ii) that experiences, or is at risk of 

24 experiencing, higher or more adverse 


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1 human health or environmental effects, as 

2 compared to other communities; 

3 (B) Tribal communities; 

4 (C) a community facing economic transi5 tion, deindustrialization, and historic under-in6 vestment; or 

7 (D) a community with a high rate of pov8 erty or unemployment. 

9 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts otherwise 

11 available, there is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 

12 year 2022, $15,000,000,000, to remain available until 

13 September 30, 2027, to the Secretary of Commerce for 

14 economic adjustment assistance under section 209 of the 

15 Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

16 U.S.C. 3149) to provide grants for project predevelopment 

17 and technical assistance. 

18 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—In addition to 

19 amounts otherwise available, there is authorized to be ap20 propriated for fiscal year 2022, $300,000,000, to remain 

21 available until September 30, 2027, to the Secretary of 

22 Commerce for the administrative costs of carrying out this 

23 section, including the costs of utilizing temporary Federal 

24 personnel as may be necessary. 


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1 (c) TYPE OF GRANTS.—Of the amounts made avail2 able under subsection (a)— 

3 (1) $5,000,000,000 shall be for technical assist4 ance and grants to eligible recipients to perform ca5 pacity building; and 

6 (2) $10,000,000,000 shall be for grants to eligi7 ble recipients to perform project predevelopment ac8 tivities to assist States and communities that need 

9 support with climate infrastructure investments, 

10 subject to the requirements of section 5. 

11 (d) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.—Of the amounts 

12 made available under subsection (a), not less than 50 per13 cent shall be used for activities described in subsection (c) 

14 that are carried out in underserved communities. 

15 SEC. 5. LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING & TECHNICAL 

16 ASSISTANCE GRANT REQUIREMENTS. 

17 (a) LIMITATIONS.—In making grants with amounts 

18 made available under section 4(c)(2), the Secretary may 

19 not— 

20 (1) provide to an eligible recipient more than 1 

21 grant for which the eligible recipient is the lead ap22 plicant; or 

23 (2) make a grant in an amount of more than 

24 $500,000. 


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1 (b) PARTNERSHIPS.—An eligible recipient seeking to 

2 receive a grant under section 4(c)(2) may partner with 

3 1 or more— 

4 (1) eligible recipient; or 

5 (2) any other entity, as determined by the Sec6 retary. 

7 (c) USE OF GRANT.—An eligible recipient may use 

8 a grant under section 4(c)(2) for project predevelopment 

9 including— 

10 (1) project planning, community outreach and 

11 engagement, and feasibility studies; 

12 (2) demonstrations of innovative activities or 

13 strategic economic development investments; 

14 (3) management and operational assistance; 

15 (4) establishment of university centers; 

16 (5) establishment of business outreach centers; 

17 (6) studies evaluating the needs of, and devel18 opment potential for, economic growth of areas that 

19 the Secretary determines have substantial need for 

20 the assistance; 

21 (7) studies that evaluate the effectiveness of co22 ordinating projects funded under the Public Works 

23 and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

24 3121 et seq.) with projects funded under other Acts; 


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1 (8) assessment, marketing, and establishment 

2 of business clusters; 

3 (9) other activities determined by the Secretary 

4 to be appropriate; and 

5 (10) making a grant to an organization to carry 

6 out any of the activities described in paragraphs (1) 

7 through (9). 

8 (d) SELECTION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award a 

10 grant under section 4(c)(2) only after an evaluation 

11 of— 

12 (A) the merits of the application; 

13 (B) the likely low- to no-carbon opportuni14 ties described in the application that align with 

15 any Federal climate and resiliency goals; 

16 (C) the extent to which the proposed ac17 tivities would create efficiency of operations 

18 across services; and 

19 (D) the extent to which the proposed ac20 tivities would promote resources to invest in 

21 community infrastructure. 

22 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

23 section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible 

24 recipients that— 

25 (A) are minority or women-led entities; 


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1 (B) are partnerships between an institu2 tion of higher education and a labor organiza3 tion; 

4 (C) are located in an underserved commu5 nity; 

6 (D) propose to carry out activities that 

7 would— 

8 (i) result in predicted large green9 house gas reductions; or 

10 (ii) reduce air pollution; 

11 (E) propose to carry out activities that 

12 would result in large improvements to public 

13 health; 

14 (F) propose to carry out activities that 

15 would improve community adaptation and resil16 iency; or 

17 (G) propose to carry out activities that 

18 would modernize communities and community 

19 connectivity. 

Æ 


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