I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8447 

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to provide loans for the 

acquisition of electric or fuel cell buses and related infrastructure. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 

Mr. BEYER (for himself, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on 

Energy and Commerce, 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 authorize the Secretary of Transportation to provide loans 

for the acquisition of electric or fuel cell buses and 

related infrastructure. 

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 ‘‘Community Health 

5 and Clean Transit Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘covered loan’’ means a direct loan 

2 made by the Secretary under section 4; 

3 (2) the term ‘‘electric bus’’ means a bus that is 

4 a zero emission vehicle (as defined in section 

5 5339(c)(1) of title 49, United States Code) that is 

6 fully battery-powered; 

7 (3) the term ‘‘eligible area’’ means an area that 

8 is— 

9 (A) designated as a nonattainment area 

10 for ozone or carbon monoxide under section 

11 107(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 7407(d)); or 

13 (B) any area that was nonattainment and 

14 subsequently designated to attainment in ac15 cordance with section 107(d)(3) of that Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 7407(d)(3)) and that is subject to a 

17 maintenance plan under section 175A of that 

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 7505a); 

19 (4) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means an eligible 

20 recipient, as described in section 5339(a)(4) of title 

21 49, United States Code; 

22 (5) the term ‘‘eligible project’’ has the meaning 

23 given the term in section 5339(c)(1) of title 49, 

24 United States Code, except that— 


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1 (A) that definition shall be applied by sub2 stituting ‘‘electric or fuel cell buses’’ for ‘‘low or 

3 no emission vehicles’’; and 

4 (B) an eligible project only includes a 

5 project in an eligible area (as defined in this 

6 section); 

7 (6) the term ‘‘eligible project cost’’— 

8 (A) means the cost of an eligible project; 

9 and 

10 (B) includes (and in the case of an eligible 

11 project described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of 

12 section 5339(c)(1)(B), means only)— 

13 (i) the incremental cost of acquiring 

14 an electric or fuel cell bus necessary to 

15 meet the needs of the eligible entity, as 

16 compared to the average cost of a diesel 

17 bus; and 

18 (ii) the cost of technical assistance for 

19 the acquisition, financing, and operation of 

20 an electric or fuel cell bus and related in21 frastructure, including technical assistance 

22 for route electrification, technology selec23 tion, and vehicle-to-grid interfacing; 

24 (7) the term ‘‘fuel cell’’ means a method to pro25 pel by power derived from 1 or more cells which conVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Oct 24, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8447.IH H8447

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1 vert chemical energy directly into electricity by com2 bining oxygen with hydrogen fuel which is stored on 

3 board the vehicle in any form and may or may not 

4 require reformation prior to use; 

5 (8) the term ‘‘Secretary’’, except as otherwise 

6 provided in this Act, means the Secretary of Trans7 portation; and 

8 (9) the term ‘‘subsidy amount’’ means the 

9 amount of budget authority sufficient to cover the 

10 estimated long-term cost to the Federal Government 

11 of a covered loan— 

12 (A) calculated on a net present value basis; 

13 and 

14 (B) excluding administrative costs and any 

15 incidental effects on governmental receipts or 

16 outlays in accordance with the Federal Credit 

17 Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). 

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

19 The purpose of this Act is to help entities that pro20 vide or finance public transportation to choose and be able 

21 to afford the best vehicles for their needs, and to achieve 

22 fuel and maintenance cost savings, by providing loans to 

23 eligible entities to acquire electric or fuel cell buses and 

24 related infrastructure. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE. 

2 The Secretary may make a direct loan to an eligible 

3 entity for eligible project costs. 

4 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a cov6 ered loan shall submit to the Secretary an application 

7 that— 

8 (1) includes an implementation plan for use of 

9 the covered loan; 

10 (2) estimates the amounts the eligible entity 

11 will save on fuel and maintenance costs due to the 

12 covered loan; and 

13 (3) provides reasonable assurance that the eligi14 ble entity will make all payments on the covered 

15 loan. 

16 (b) LINK TO LOW OR NO EMISSION BUS AND BUS

17 FACILITIES GRANT APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

18 establish a procedure under which an eligible entity that 

19 submits an application for a grant under section 5339 of 

20 title 49, United States Code, may amend the application 

21 to also be considered for a covered loan under this Act 

22 without having to submit a separate application under this 

23 section. 

24 (c) GUIDANCE AND BEST PRACTICES.—Not later 

25 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

26 Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary 


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1 of Transportation, shall develop and publish on the 

2 website of the Department of Energy guidance on best 

3 practices for transit districts to enter into innovative rela4 tionships with public utilities and bus manufacturers to 

5 incorporate into operations and financing of electric or 

6 fuel cell buses and infrastructure— 

7 (1) secondary use or recycling of the battery; 

8 (2) vehicle-to-grid integration; 

9 (3) charging infrastructure cost shares; or 

10 (4) battery performance guarantees. 

11 SEC. 6. TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—A covered loan— 

13 (1) shall not accrue interest; and 

14 (2) shall be on such terms and conditions and 

15 contain such covenants, representations, warranties, 

16 and requirements (including requirements for au17 dits) as the Secretary may prescribe. 

18 (b) TERM OF LOAN.—The Secretary may provide a 

19 covered loan only if the final maturity date of the covered 

20 loan is not later than the date on which the electric or 

21 fuel cell bus acquired using the covered loan is expected 

22 to exceed its useful life, based on the average life expect23 ancy of the electric or fuel cell bus. 

24 (c) BUY AMERICA.—Section 5323(j) of title 49, 

25 United States Code, shall apply with respect to a project 


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1 funded using a covered loan in the same manner as to 

2 a project funded using amounts appropriated to carry out 

3 chapter 53 of such title 49. 

4 (d) NON-FEDERAL SHARE FOR LOW-NO GRANTS.— 

5 The proceeds of a covered loan may be used for any non6 Federal share of project costs required under section 

7 5339(c) of title 49, United States Code, if the covered loan 

8 is repayable from non-Federal funds. 

9 SEC. 7. REPAYMENT. 

10 (a) COMMENCEMENT.—Scheduled repayments of 

11 principal on a covered loan provided to an eligible entity 

12 shall commence not later than 180 days after the date on 

13 which the eligible entity places in revenue service the elec14 tric or fuel cell bus and necessary infrastructure that were 

15 acquired using the covered loan. 

16 (b) PREPAYMENT.—An eligible entity may make re17 payments on a covered loan in advance of the scheduled 

18 repayment date with no penalty. 

19 (c) DELINQUENCY.—Notwithstanding any other pro20 vision of law, if an eligible entity fails to make a scheduled 

21 repayment on a covered loan, the Secretary may withhold 

22 from the eligible entity an equivalent amount of any assist23 ance that would otherwise be provided to the eligible entity 

24 under a formula grant program under chapter 53 of title 

25 49, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 8. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS. 

2 Subject to the availability of funds and except as oth3 erwise provided in this Act, amounts provided by the Sec4 retary under this Act shall be available until expended. 

5 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro7 priated $15,000,000 for each of the first 5 fiscal years 

8 beginning after the date of enactment of this Act for the 

9 subsidy amount of covered loans. 

10 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—There is authorized to 

11 be appropriated such sums as are necessary for the admin12 istrative cost of providing covered loans. 

Æ 


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