I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 198 

To amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to establish national policies 

and programs to strengthen freight-related infrastructure, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2015 

Mr. SIRES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to establish 

national policies and programs to strengthen freight-related infrastructure, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Multimodal Opportunities Via Enhanced Freight Act of 

6 2015’’ or the ‘‘MOVE Freight Act of 2015’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

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TITLE I—NATIONAL AND STATE FREIGHT POLICY AND 

PLANNING 

Sec. 101. National freight policy. 

Sec. 102. State freight plans. 

TITLE II—NATIONAL FREIGHT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT 

Sec. 201. National freight infrastructure investment grants. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The rapid and cost efficient movement of 

4 goods throughout the United States supply chain, 

5 and particularly through United States trade gate6 ways and corridors, is vital to securing the Nation’s 

7 economic future and maintaining the Nation’s com8 petitiveness in world markets. 

9 (2) More than $16 trillion worth of freight was 

10 moved in the United States in 2010, accounting for 

11 $13 trillion in domestic shipments and $3 trillion in 

12 international exports and imports. 

13 (3) Freight is forecasted to grow, with indica14 tors showing that United States shipments will more 

15 than double between 2010 and 2040 to roughly 

16 $39.5 trillion annually, with an estimated $10.3 tril17 lion worth of goods using multiple modes of trans18 portation each year. 

19 (4) By 2020, the Nation’s projected surface 

20 transportation infrastructure deficiencies are ex21 pected to cost the national economy cumulatively almstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 most $900 billion in gross domestic product, rising 

2 to $2.7 billion through 2040. 

3 (5) It is the responsibility of the Federal Gov4 ernment to support business by helping to ensure 

5 multimodal freight networks that will provide reli6 able, efficient, and safe transportation, allowing 

7 cost-effective transport of goods to markets near and 

8 far. 

9 (6) A national campaign of strategic investment 

10 to expand capacity and increase efficiency can cir11 cumvent the projected loss in United States produc12 tivity and decline in global competitiveness. 

13 (7) In establishing national policies and pro14 grams to strengthen freight-related infrastructure, 

15 the President, Federal officials, and other relevant 

16 stakeholders should consider the critical importance 

17 of freight to United States businesses and global 

18 economic competitiveness. 

19 (8) Under the Constitution, it is the role of the 

20 Federal Government to protect and promote com21 merce with foreign nations and among the States 

22 through all reasonable means, including through in23 vestment in goods movement infrastructure. 

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1 TITLE I—NATIONAL AND STATE 

2 FREIGHT POLICY AND PLAN3 NING 

4 SEC. 101. NATIONAL FREIGHT POLICY. 

5 (a) NATIONAL FREIGHT NETWORK DEFINED.—Sec6 tion 101(a) of title 23, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (15) through 

8 (34) as paragraphs (16) through (35), respectively; 

9 and 

10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(15) NATIONAL FREIGHT NETWORK.—The 

13 term ‘national freight network’ means a network 

14 composed of highways, railways, navigable water15 ways, seaports, airports, freight intermodal connec16 tors, and aerotropolis transportation systems most 

17 critical to the multimodal movement of freight.’’. 

18 (b) ESTABLISHMENT AND DESIGNATION OF NA19 TIONAL FREIGHT NETWORK.—Subsections (c) and (d) of 

20 section 167 of title 23, United States Code, are amended 

21 to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL FREIGHT NET23 WORK.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab25 lish a national freight network in accordance with 

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1 this section to assist States in strategically directing 

2 resources toward improved system performance for 

3 efficient movement of freight— 

4 ‘‘(A) on highways (including highways on 

5 the national highway system), railways, navi6 gable waterways, freight intermodal connectors, 

7 and aerotropolis transportation systems; and 

8 ‘‘(B) into and out of inland ports, sea9 ports, and airports. 

10 ‘‘(2) NETWORK COMPONENTS.—The national 

11 freight network shall consist of multimodal transpor12 tation infrastructure, including— 

13 ‘‘(A) the primary freight network, as des14 ignated by the Secretary under subsection (d) 

15 (referred to in this section as the ‘primary 

16 freight network’) as the network composed of 

17 highways, railways, navigable waterways, sea18 ports, airports, freight intermodal connectors, 

19 and aerotropolis transportation systems most 

20 critical to the multimodal movement of freight; 

21 ‘‘(B) the portions of the Interstate System 

22 not designated as part of the primary freight 

23 network; and 

24 ‘‘(C) critical rural freight corridors estab25 lished under subsection (e). 

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1 ‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF PRIMARY FREIGHT NET2 WORK.— 

3 ‘‘(1) INITIAL DESIGNATION OF PRIMARY

4 FREIGHT NETWORK.— 

5 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 1 

6 year after the date of enactment of this section, 

7 the Secretary shall designate a multimodal pri8 mary freight network— 

9 ‘‘(i) based on an inventory of national 

10 freight volume conducted by the Secretary, 

11 in consultation with stakeholders, including 

12 system users, transport providers, and 

13 States; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) that shall be comprised of— 

15 ‘‘(I) not more than 27,000 miles 

16 of existing major freight corridors 

17 that are most critical; 

18 ‘‘(II) critical rail corridors; 

19 ‘‘(III) critical intermodal connec20 tions; and 

21 ‘‘(IV) critical inland port, sea22 port, and airport infrastructure, at 

23 the discretion of the Secretary. 

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1 ‘‘(B) FACTORS FOR DESIGNATION.—In 

2 designating the primary freight network, the 

3 Secretary shall consider— 

4 ‘‘(i) the generation of national eco5 nomic benefits, including job creation, ex6 panded business opportunities, and bene7 fits to the gross domestic product; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the origins and destinations of 

9 freight movement in the United States; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the total freight tonnage and 

11 value of freight moved; 

12 ‘‘(iv) the percentage of annual average 

13 daily traffic; 

14 ‘‘(v) land and maritime ports of entry; 

15 ‘‘(vi) access to energy exploration, de16 velopment, installation, or production 

17 areas; 

18 ‘‘(vii) population centers; and 

19 ‘‘(viii) network connectivity. 

20 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL MILES ON MULTIMODAL PRI21 MARY FREIGHT NETWORK.—In addition to the miles 

22 of existing major freight corridors initially des23 ignated under paragraph (1), the Secretary may in24 crease the number of miles designated as part of the 

25 primary freight network by not more than 3,000 admstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 ditional miles of freight corridors (which may include 

2 existing or planned corridors) critical to future effi3 cient movement of goods on the primary freight net4 work. 

5 ‘‘(3) REDESIGNATION OF PRIMARY FREIGHT

6 NETWORK.—Effective beginning 10 years after the 

7 designation of the primary freight network and every 

8 10 years thereafter, using the designation factors de9 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall redesig10 nate the primary freight network (including addi11 tional mileage described in paragraph (2)).’’. 

12 SEC. 102. STATE FREIGHT PLANS. 

13 Section 1118(a) of MAP–21 (23 U.S.C. 167 note; 

14 126 Stat. 473) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘encourage’’ and inserting ‘‘re16 quire’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Each 

18 State shall coordinate with neighboring States to en19 sure multistate network continuity and 

20 connectivity.’’. 

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1 TITLE II—NATIONAL FREIGHT 

2 INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT 

3 SEC. 201. NATIONAL FREIGHT INFRASTRUCTURE INVEST4 MENT GRANTS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Chapter 55 of 

6 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 

9 ‘‘§ 5581. National freight infrastructure investment 

10 grants 

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

12 of Transportation shall establish a competitive grant pro13 gram to provide financial assistance for capital invest14 ments that improve the efficiency of the national transpor15 tation system to move freight. 

16 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—An applicant is eligible 

17 for a grant under this section for— 

18 ‘‘(1) a port development or improvement 

19 project; 

20 ‘‘(2) a multimodal terminal facility project; 

21 ‘‘(3) a land port of entry project; 

22 ‘‘(4) a freight rail improvement or capacity ex23 pansion project; 

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1 ‘‘(5) an intelligent transportation system 

2 project primarily for freight benefit that reduces 

3 congestion or improves safety; 

4 ‘‘(6) a project that improves access to a port or 

5 terminal facility; 

6 ‘‘(7) an aerotropolis system, which for purposes 

7 of this section is a planned and coordinated 

8 multimodal freight and passenger transportation 

9 network that, as determined by the Secretary, pro10 vides efficient, cost-effective, sustainable, and inter11 modal connectivity to a defined region of economic 

12 significance centered around a major airport; or 

13 ‘‘(8) planning, preparation, or design of any 

14 project described in this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(c) PROJECT SELECTION CRITERIA.—In deter16 mining whether to award a grant to an eligible applicant 

17 under this section, the Secretary shall consider the extent 

18 to which the project— 

19 ‘‘(1) supports the objectives of the national 

20 freight strategic plan developed under section 167(f) 

21 of title 23; 

22 ‘‘(2) leverages Federal investment by encour23 aging non-Federal contributions to the project, in24 cluding contributions from public-private partner25 ships; 

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1 ‘‘(3) improves the mobility of goods and com2 modities; 

3 ‘‘(4) incorporates new and innovative tech4 nologies, including freight-related intelligent trans5 portation systems; 

6 ‘‘(5) improves energy efficiency or reduces 

7 greenhouse gas emissions; 

8 ‘‘(6) helps maintain or protect the environment, 

9 including reducing air and water pollution; 

10 ‘‘(7) reduces congestion; 

11 ‘‘(8) improves the condition of the freight infra12 structure, including bringing it into a state of good 

13 repair; 

14 ‘‘(9) improves safety, including reducing trans15 portation accidents, injuries, and fatalities; 

16 ‘‘(10) demonstrates that the proposed project 

17 cannot be readily and efficiently realized without 

18 Federal support and participation; and 

19 ‘‘(11) enhances national or regional economic 

20 development, growth, and competitiveness. 

21 ‘‘(d) LETTERS OF INTENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may issue a 

23 letter of intent to an applicant announcing an inten24 tion to obligate, for a major capital project under 

25 this subsection, an amount from future available 

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1 budget authority specified in law that is not more 

2 than the amount stipulated as the financial partici3 pation of the Secretary in the project. 

4 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—At least 30 days 

5 before issuing a letter under paragraph (1), the Sec6 retary shall notify in writing the Committee on Com7 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

8 and the Committee on Transportation and Infra9 structure of the House of Representatives of the 

10 proposed letter or agreement. The Secretary shall in11 clude with the notification a copy of the proposed 

12 letter or agreement, the criteria used under sub13 section (c) for selecting the project for a grant 

14 award, and a description of how the project meets 

15 such criteria. 

16 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—An obligation or adminis17 trative commitment may be made only when 

18 amounts are made available. The letter of intent 

19 shall state that the contingent commitment is not an 

20 obligation of the Federal Government, and is subject 

21 to the availability of funds under Federal law and to 

22 Federal laws in force or enacted after the date of 

23 the contingent commitment. 

24 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL SHARE OF NET PROJECT COST.— 

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1 ‘‘(1) ESTIMATE OF NET PROJECT COST.—Based 

2 on engineering studies, studies of economic feasi3 bility, and information on the expected use of equip4 ment or facilities, the Secretary shall estimate the 

5 net project cost. 

6 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a 

7 grant for the project shall not exceed 80 percent of 

8 the project net capital cost. 

9 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri10 ority in allocating future obligations and contingent 

11 commitments to incur obligations to grant requests 

12 seeking a lower Federal share of the project net cap13 ital cost. 

14 ‘‘(f) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An applicant may enter 

16 into an agreement with any public, private, or non17 profit entity to cooperatively implement any project 

18 funded with a grant under this subchapter. 

19 ‘‘(2) FORMS OF PARTICIPATION.—Participation 

20 by an entity under paragraph (1) may consist of— 

21 ‘‘(A) ownership or operation of any land, 

22 facility, vehicle, or other physical asset associ23 ated with the project; 

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1 ‘‘(B) cost sharing of any project expense or 

2 non-Federal share of the project cost, including 

3 in-kind contributions; 

4 ‘‘(C) carrying out administration, construc5 tion management, project management, project 

6 operation, or any other management or oper7 ational duty associated with the project; and 

8 ‘‘(D) any other form of participation ap9 proved by the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(g) OVERSIGHT PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

13 establish an oversight program to monitor the 

14 effective and efficient use of funds authorized to 

15 carry out this section. 

16 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—At a min17 imum, the program shall be responsive to all 

18 areas relating to financial integrity and project 

19 delivery. 

20 ‘‘(2) FINANCIAL INTEGRITY.— 

21 ‘‘(A) FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYS22 TEMS.—The Secretary shall perform annual re23 views that address elements of the applicant’s 

24 financial management systems that affect 

25 projects approved under subsection (a). 

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1 ‘‘(B) PROJECT COSTS.—The Secretary 

2 shall develop minimum standards for estimating 

3 project costs and shall periodically evaluate the 

4 practices of applicants for estimating project 

5 costs, awarding contracts, and reducing project 

6 costs. 

7 ‘‘(3) PROJECT DELIVERY.—The Secretary shall 

8 perform annual reviews that address elements of the 

9 project delivery system of an applicant, which ele10 ments include one or more activities that are in11 volved in the life cycle of a project from conception 

12 to completion of the project. 

13 ‘‘(4) RESPONSIBILITY OF THE APPLICANTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each applicant shall 

15 submit to the Secretary for approval such 

16 plans, specifications, and estimates for each 

17 proposed project as the Secretary may require. 

18 ‘‘(B) APPLICANT SUBRECIPIENTS.—The 

19 applicant shall be responsible for determining 

20 that a subrecipient of Federal funds under this 

21 section has— 

22 ‘‘(i) adequate project delivery systems 

23 for projects approved under this section; 

24 and 

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1 ‘‘(ii) sufficient accounting controls to 

2 properly manage such Federal funds. 

3 ‘‘(C) PERIODIC REVIEW.—The Secretary 

4 shall periodically review the monitoring of sub5 recipients by the applicant. 

6 ‘‘(5) SPECIFIC OVERSIGHT RESPONSIBIL7 ITIES.—Nothing in this section shall affect or dis8 charge any oversight responsibility of the Secretary 

9 specifically provided for under this title or other 

10 Federal law. 

11 ‘‘(h) MAJOR PROJECTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant for 

13 a project under this section with an estimated total 

14 cost of $500,000,000 or more, and a recipient for 

15 such other projects as may be identified by the Sec16 retary, shall submit to the Secretary for each 

17 project— 

18 ‘‘(A) a project management plan; and 

19 ‘‘(B) an annual financial plan. 

20 ‘‘(2) PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN.—A project 

21 management plan shall document— 

22 ‘‘(A) the procedures and processes that are 

23 in effect to provide timely information to the 

24 project decisionmakers to effectively manage the 

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1 scope, costs, schedules, quality of, and the Fed2 eral requirements applicable to, the project; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the role of the agency leadership and 

4 management team in the delivery of the project. 

5 ‘‘(3) FINANCIAL PLAN.—A financial plan 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) be based on detailed estimates of the 

8 cost to complete the project; and 

9 ‘‘(B) provide for the annual submission of 

10 updates to the Secretary that are based on rea11 sonable assumptions, as determined by the Sec12 retary, of future increases in the cost to com13 plete the project. 

14 ‘‘(i) OTHER PROJECTS.—A recipient of Federal fi15 nancial assistance for a project under this section with an 

16 estimated total cost of $100,000,000 or more that is not 

17 covered by subsection (h) shall prepare an annual financial 

18 plan. Annual financial plans prepared under this sub19 section shall be made available to the Secretary for review 

20 upon the request of the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(j) OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Sec22 retary shall determine what additional grant terms and 

23 conditions are necessary and appropriate to meet the re24 quirements of this section. 

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1 ‘‘(k) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall pre3 scribe regulations to implement this section. 

4 ‘‘(l) APPLICANT DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

5 ‘applicant’ includes a State, a political subdivision of a 

6 State, government-sponsored authorities and corporations, 

7 and the District of Columbia. 

8 ‘‘(m) SECRETARIAL OVERSIGHT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION OVERSIGHT.—The Sec10 retary may use no more than 1 percent of amounts 

11 made available in a fiscal year for capital projects 

12 under this section to enter into contracts to oversee 

13 the construction of such projects. 

14 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE REVIEWS AND AUDITS.—The 

15 Secretary may use amounts available under para16 graph (1) to make contracts for safety, procurement, 

17 management, and financial compliance reviews and 

18 audits of a recipient of amounts under paragraph 

19 (1). 

20 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL COSTS.—The Federal Govern21 ment shall pay the entire cost of carrying out a con22 tract under this subsection.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

24 chapter 55 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

25 by adding at the end the following: 

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‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

‘‘5581. National freight infrastructure investment grants.’’. 

Æ 

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