I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6193 

To establish the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Fund, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 

Mr. SMITH of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure 

Fund, 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 ‘‘Freight Infrastructure 

5 Reinvestment Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE 

7 IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor9 tation shall establish a National Freight Mobility InfraVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Oct 01, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6193.IH H6193

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1 structure Improvement Program under which the Sec2 retary is authorized to make grants, on a competitive 

3 basis, to States and designated entities for eligible costs 

4 associated with projects to improve efficiency and capacity 

5 with respect to freight mobility in the United States. 

6 (b) GRANT APPLICATIONS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

8 grant under the program a State or designated enti9 ty shall submit to the Secretary an application at 

10 such time, in such form, and containing such infor11 mation as the Secretary may require. 

12 (2) SOLICITATION.—The Secretary shall con13 duct a national solicitation for applications under 

14 the program. 

15 (c) GRANT CRITERIA.— 

16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in ac17 cordance with this subsection, shall establish criteria 

18 for selecting among applications submitted for 

19 grants under the program. 

20 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A project is eligible for a 

21 grant under the program only if the Secretary deter22 mines that the project— 

23 (A) is of national or regional significance, 

24 including projects to assist— 


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1 (i) the construction of grade separa2 tions at railroad, highway, and railroad3 highway junctions; 

4 (ii) the construction of railroad by5 passes and spurs; 

6 (iii) the construction of railroad side 

7 tracks; 

8 (iv) the expansion of rail and highway 

9 tunnels to accommodate wider, taller, and 

10 additional volumes of vehicular and rail 

11 freight and container stacks; 

12 (v) the addition of railroad track and 

13 intermodal facilities at international gate14 ways, land, air, and sea ports, points of 

15 congestion, and logistic centers; 

16 (vi) highway and road construction 

17 (including reinforcement for heavy weight 

18 vehicles and heavy traffic volume) at inter19 national gateways, land, air, and sea ports, 

20 points of congestion, and logistic centers to 

21 better accommodate and speed the flow of 

22 freight traffic; 

23 (vii) the construction and improve24 ment of rail and highway bridges that 

25 carry a substantial amount of freight; 


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1 (viii) the construction of highway 

2 ramps built to carry a substantial amount 

3 of freight; 

4 (ix) the construction of highway lanes, 

5 including lanes that segregate freight and 

6 passenger vehicular traffic; and 

7 (x) the construction and improvement 

8 of marine terminal facilities used for 

9 freight; 

10 (B) will improve freight mobility, capacity, 

11 and efficiency in the United States; 

12 (C) is cost effective; 

13 (D) is based on the results of preliminary 

14 engineering; 

15 (E) is justified based on the extent to 

16 which the project— 

17 (i) will enhance State, regional, or na18 tional economic development, performance, 

19 and efficiency as measured by— 

20 (I) the creation of new businesses 

21 and jobs and the retention of existing 

22 businesses and jobs; 

23 (II) State and local tax receipts; 

24 and 


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1 (III) improved safety, as meas2 ured by reductions in accidents, inju3 ries, and fatalities; and 

4 (ii) will maximize economic opportuni5 ties for communities; and 

6 (F) is supported by an acceptable degree 

7 of non-Federal financial commitments, includ8 ing that— 

9 (i) the project provides for the avail10 ability of contingency amounts that, as de11 termined by the Secretary, are reasonable 

12 to cover unanticipated cost increases; and 

13 (ii) each proposed non-Federal source 

14 of financing is stable, reliable, and avail15 able within the project timetable. 

16 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting a project 

17 for a grant under the program, the Secretary shall 

18 consider the extent to which the project— 

19 (A) meets the requirements specified in 

20 paragraph (2); 

21 (B) facilitates freight throughput of higher 

22 volume and values; 

23 (C) uses operational efficiencies, including 

24 intelligent transportation systems, that enhance 


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1 the efficiency or effectiveness (or both) of the 

2 project; 

3 (D) helps maintain or protect the environ4 ment; and 

5 (E) improves or enhances segments of the 

6 primary freight network designated under sec7 tion 167(d) of title 23, United States Code. 

8 (d) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND DIS9 APPROVAL.— 

10 (1) NOTIFICATION.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—At least 60 days before 

12 making a grant for a project under the pro13 gram, the Secretary shall notify, in writing, the 

14 Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc15 ture of the House of Representatives and the 

16 Committee on Environment and Public Works 

17 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

18 Transportation of the Senate of the proposed 

19 grant. 

20 (B) CONTENTS.—The notification shall in21 clude an evaluation and justification for each 

22 successful project that includes— 

23 (i) a detailed explanation of how the 

24 project satisfied grant criteria and consid25 erations; 


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1 (ii) the amount of the proposed grant 

2 award; and 

3 (iii) an executive summary of the 

4 project application submitted for funding. 

5 (2) DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary may not 

6 make a grant or any other obligation or commitment 

7 to fund a project under the program if a joint reso8 lution is enacted disapproving funding for the 

9 project before the last day of the 60-day period de10 scribed in paragraph (1)(A). 

11 (e) REPORTS.— 

12 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall 

13 make available on the Internet Web site of the De14 partment of Transportation at the end of each fiscal 

15 year an annual report that lists each project for 

16 which a grant has been provided under the program 

17 during that fiscal year. 

18 (2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 

19 (A) ASSESSMENT.—The Comptroller Gen20 eral of the United States shall conduct an as21 sessment of the administrative establishment, 

22 solicitation, selection, and justification process 

23 with respect to the funding of grants under the 

24 program. 


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1 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the initial awarding of grants under the pro3 gram, the Comptroller General shall submit to 

4 the Committee on Transportation and Infra5 structure of the House of Representatives and 

6 the Committee on Environment and Public 

7 Works and the Committee on Commerce, 

8 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a re9 port that describes— 

10 (i) the adequacy and fairness of the 

11 process by which each project was selected, 

12 if applicable; and 

13 (ii) the justification and criteria used 

14 for the selection of each project, if applica15 ble. 

16 (f) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out the pro17 gram using amounts made available to the Secretary from 

18 the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Fund estab19 lished under section 9512 of the Internal Revenue Code 

20 of 1986. 

21 (g) LIMITATION ON GRANT DISTRIBUTION.—Not 

22 more than 10 percent of the amounts available during a 

23 fiscal year for grants under the program may be used for 

24 projects located in a single State. 


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1 (h) FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENTS.—The 

2 Secretary may enter into a grant under the program that 

3 provides funding for a project in more than 1 fiscal year. 

4 An agreement for such a grant shall— 

5 (1) establish the maximum amount of Federal 

6 financial assistance for the project; 

7 (2) establish the time period for Federal finan8 cial assistance for the project; 

9 (3) provide grant funds for the fiscal year in 

10 which the grant is made; and 

11 (4) include a commitment, that is not an obli12 gation of the Federal Government and that is con13 tingent on the availability of funds, for grant 

14 amounts to be provided in fiscal years following the 

15 fiscal year in which the grant is made. 

16 (i) NON-FEDERAL FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS.— 

17 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

18 the cost of a project for which a grant is made 

19 under the program, as estimated by the Secretary, 

20 shall be not more than 80 percent. 

21 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In assessing the sta22 bility, reliability, and availability of proposed sources 

23 of non-Federal financing for purposes of subsection 

24 (c)(2)(F)(ii), the Secretary shall consider— 

25 (A) existing financial commitments; 


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1 (B) the degree to which financing sources 

2 are dedicated to the purposes proposed; 

3 (C) any debt obligation that exists or is 

4 proposed by the grant recipient for the pro5 posed project; and 

6 (D) the extent to which the project has a 

7 non-Federal financial commitment that exceeds 

8 the required non-Federal share of the cost of 

9 the project. 

10 (j) HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION.—A grant made to as11 sist the construction of a highway under the program shall 

12 be subject to the requirements relating to such construc13 tion under title 23, United States Code. 

14 (k) OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Sec15 retary shall ensure that all grants made under the pro16 gram are subject to terms, conditions, and requirements 

17 that the Secretary decides are necessary or appropriate 

18 for purposes of this section, including requirements for the 

19 disposition of net increases in the value of real property 

20 resulting from the project assisted under the program. 

21 (l) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—In carrying out the 

22 program, the Secretary shall seek to minimize administra23 tive costs, including overhead, enforcement, and auditing 

24 costs related to the program. 


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1 (m) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

3 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Transpor4 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

5 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor6 tation of the Senate a report on the activities of the Sec7 retary under the program. 

8 (n) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

10 regulations to carry out this section. 

11 (o) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi12 nitions apply: 

13 (1) DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘des14 ignated entity’’ means— 

15 (A) an entity designated by the chief exec16 utive officer of a State (or the chief executive 

17 officer’s designee) as eligible to apply for and 

18 receive funding under the program; 

19 (B) a regional authority responsible under 

20 the laws of a State for a project eligible for 

21 funding under the program; and 

22 (C) a public port. 

23 (2) ELIGIBLE COSTS.—The term ‘‘eligible 

24 costs’’ means the costs of a project with respect to— 


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1 (A) development phase activities, including 

2 planning, feasibility analysis, revenue fore3 casting, environmental review, preliminary engi4 neering and design work, and other 

5 preconstruction activities; and 

6 (B) construction, reconstruction, rehabili7 tation, acquisition of real property (including 

8 land related to a project and improvements to 

9 land), environmental mitigation, construction 

10 contingencies, acquisition of equipment, and 

11 operational improvements. 

12 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

13 the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Im14 provement Program established under subsection 

15 (a). 

16 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean17 ing given such term in section 101(a) of title 23, 

18 United States Code. 

19 SEC. 3. FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE TAX. 

20 (a) IMPOSITION OF TAX.—Chapter 33 of the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding after sub22 chapter C the following new subchapter: 

23 ‘‘Subchapter D—Transportation By Freight 

24 And Highway 

‘‘Sec. 4286. Imposition of tax. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 4286. IMPOSITION OF TAX. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby imposed upon 

3 taxable ground transportation of property within the 

4 United States a tax equal to 1 percent of the amount paid 

5 for such transportation. 

6 ‘‘(b) BY WHOM PAID.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 

8 paragraph (2), the tax imposed by subsection (a) 

9 shall be paid— 

10 ‘‘(A) by the person making the payment 

11 subject to tax, or 

12 ‘‘(B) in the case of transportation by a re13 lated person, by the person for whom such 

14 transportation is made. 

15 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS MADE OUTSIDE THE UNITED

16 STATES.—If a payment subject to tax under sub17 section (a) is made outside the United States and 

18 the person making such payment does not pay such 

19 tax, such tax— 

20 ‘‘(A) shall be paid by the person to whom 

21 the property is delivered in the United States 

22 after the final segment of transportation in the 

23 United States, and 

24 ‘‘(B) shall be collected by the person fur25 nishing the last segment of such transportation. 


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1 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATIONS OF AMOUNTS PAID IN

2 CERTAIN CASES.—For purposes of this section, rules 

3 similar to the rules of section 4271(c) shall apply. 

4 ‘‘(c) TRANSPORTATION BY RELATED PERSONS.—In 

5 the case of transportation of property by the taxpayer or 

6 a person related to the taxpayer, the fair market value 

7 of such transportation shall be the amount which would 

8 be paid for transporting such property if such property 

9 were transported by an unrelated person, determined on 

10 an arms’ length basis. 

11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub12 chapter— 

13 ‘‘(1) TAXABLE GROUND TRANSPORTATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘taxable 

15 ground transportation’ means transportation of 

16 property by— 

17 ‘‘(i) freight rail, or 

18 ‘‘(ii) commercial motor vehicle (as de19 fined in section 31101(1) of title 49, 

20 United States Code) for a distance of more 

21 than 50 miles. 

22 ‘‘(B) PASSENGER BAGGAGE EXCLUDED.— 

23 For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 

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1 panying a passenger traveling on an established 

2 line. 

3 ‘‘(2) RELATED PERSON.—A person (hereinafter 

4 in this paragraph referred to as the ‘related person’) 

5 is related to any person if— 

6 ‘‘(A) the related person bears a relation7 ship to such person specified in section 267(b) 

8 or 707(b)(1), or 

9 ‘‘(B) the related person and such person 

10 are engaged in trades or businesses under com11 mon control (within the meaning of subsections 

12 (a) and (b) of section 52). 

13 For purposes of the preceding sentence, in applying 

14 section 267(b) and 707(b)(1), ‘10 percent’ shall be 

15 substituted for ‘50 percent’. 

16 ‘‘(e) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS EQUIVALENT TO TAX

17 TO NATIONAL FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE

18 FUND.—There are hereby appropriated to the National 

19 Freight Mobility Infrastructure Fund amounts equivalent 

20 to the taxes received in the Treasury under subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(f) EXEMPTION FOR UNITED STATES AND POSSES22 SIONS AND STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—The tax 

23 imposed by subsection (a) shall not apply to the transpor24 tation of property purchased for the exclusive use of the 


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1 United States, or any State or political subdivision there2 of.’’. 

3 (b) CREDITS OR REFUNDS TO PERSONS WHO COL4 LECTED CERTAIN TAXES.—Section 6415 of such Code is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘or 4271’’ each place it appears and 

6 inserting ‘‘4271, or 4286’’. 

7 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

9 the Treasury shall issue regulations to carry out the 

10 amendments made by this section. 

11 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall apply to transportation beginning on or 

13 after the last day of the 180-day period beginning on the 

14 date of the issuance of regulations under subsection (c). 

15 SEC. 4. NATIONAL FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE 

16 FUND. 

17 Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal Revenue 

18 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 9512. NATIONAL FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUC21 TURE FUND. 

22 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab23 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 

24 to be known as the ‘National Freight Mobility Infrastruc25 ture Fund’ (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 


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1 ‘Fund’) consisting of such amounts as may be appro2 priated or credited to such Fund as provided in this sec3 tion or section 9602(b). 

4 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO THE FUND.—There are hereby 

5 appropriated to the Fund amounts equivalent to taxes re6 ceived in the Treasury under section 4286. 

7 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—Amounts in the 

8 Fund shall be made available to the Secretary of Trans9 portation for each of the fiscal years 2017 to 2042, with10 out further appropriation, for making expenditures to 

11 meet the obligations of the United States to carry out sec12 tion 2 of the Freight Infrastructure Reinvestment Act of 

13 2016, not more than 4 percent of which for any fiscal year 

14 may be used for administrative expenses.’’. 

Æ 


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