I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2332 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a transformational 

infrastructure competitive grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2015 

Mr. HIGGINS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 

transformational infrastructure competitive grant program, 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 ‘‘Nation Building Here 

5 at Home Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSFORMATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE COMPETI7 TIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 270 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of TransVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 May 19, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2332.IH H2332

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1 portation shall establish a transformational infrastructure 

2 competitive grant program. 

3 (b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the pro4 gram established under subsection (a), the Secretary may 

5 make a grant, on a competitive basis, to any of the fol6 lowing: 

7 (1) A State government. 

8 (2) A local government. 

9 (3) A transit agency. 

10 (4) A port authority. 

11 (c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant made under sub13 section (b) may be used for any of the following, if 

14 the Secretary determines that the project will signifi15 cantly impact a metropolitan area, a region, or all 

16 of the United States: 

17 (A) A highway or bridge project eligible 

18 under title 23, United States Code, including 

19 interstate rehabilitation, improvements to the 

20 rural collector road system, the reconstruction 

21 of overpasses and interchanges, bridge replace22 ments, bridge painting, seismic retrofit projects 

23 for bridges, and road realignments. 

24 (B) A public transportation project eligible 

25 under chapter 53 of title 49, United States 


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1 Code, including investment in a project partici2 pating in the New Starts or Small Starts pro3 grams that will expedite the completion of that 

4 project and its entry into revenue service. 

5 (C) A passenger or freight rail transpor6 tation project. 

7 (D) A port infrastructure investment, in8 cluding a project that connects ports to other 

9 modes of transportation and improves the effi10 ciency of freight movement. 

11 (E) An aviation infrastructure project. 

12 (F) A water infrastructure project. 

13 (2) COORDINATION.—With respect to a project 

14 described in paragraph (1)(F), the Secretary shall 

15 coordinate any grant for such a project with the Ad16 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

17 and the Secretary of the Army (acting through the 

18 Chief of Engineers). 

19 (d) APPLICATIONS AND CRITERIA FOR GRANT

20 AWARDS.— 

21 (1) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant 

22 made under subsection (b), an entity described in 

23 paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4) of that subsection 

24 shall submit to the Secretary an application in such 


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1 form, at such time, and containing such information 

2 as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

3 (2) CRITERIA FOR GRANT AWARDS.—Not later 

4 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this 

5 Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations specifying 

6 the criteria that the Secretary will use to make 

7 grants on a competitive basis under subsection (b). 

8 (3) FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS.—The criteria 

9 specified by the Secretary under paragraph (2) shall 

10 include criteria for the consideration of— 

11 (A) whether there are financial commit12 ments in place with respect to a proposed 

13 project; 

14 (B) the degree of certainty with respect to 

15 such financial commitments; and 

16 (C) whether such financial commitments 

17 are from non-Federal sources. 

18 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

19 of a project assisted with a grant made under subsection 

20 (b) may not exceed 100 percent of that cost. 

21 (f) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making grants under sub22 section (b), the Secretary shall ensure, to the extent prac23 ticable, that the grants— 

24 (1) are distributed geographically in an equi25 table manner; 


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1 (2) address the needs of both urban and rural 

2 areas appropriately; 

3 (3) promote the training and employment of 

4 veterans, including by having applicable contractors 

5 provide to veterans a preference during the hiring 

6 and referral of laborers; and 

7 (4) are utilized in a manner that ensures an ap8 propriate percentage of grant amounts are expended 

9 through small business concerns owned and con10 trolled by socially and economically disadvantaged 

11 individuals (as determined by the Secretary). 

12 (g) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 40.—Each project con13 ducted using funds provided with a grant made under sub14 section (b) shall comply with the requirements of sub15 chapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. 

16 (h) BUY AMERICA.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—None of the funds made 

18 available for a project under this Act may be used 

19 for the project unless all of the iron, steel, and man20 ufactured goods used in the project are produced in 

21 the United States. 

22 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

23 apply in any case or category of cases in which the 

24 Secretary finds that— 


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1 (A) applying paragraph (1) would be in2 consistent with the public interest; 

3 (B) iron, steel, or the relevant manufac4 tured goods are not produced in the United 

5 States in sufficient and reasonably available 

6 quantities or to a satisfactory quality; or 

7 (C) inclusion of iron, steel, and manufac8 tured goods produced in the United States will 

9 increase the cost of the overall project by more 

10 than 25 percent. 

11 (3) JUSTIFICATIONS.—If the Secretary deter12 mines that it is necessary to waive the application of 

13 paragraph (1) based on a finding under paragraph 

14 (2), the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Reg15 ister a detailed justification for the waiver. 

16 (4) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.—This sub17 section shall be applied in a manner consistent with 

18 United States obligations under international agree19 ments. 

20 (i) TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—In car21 rying out the program established under subsection (a), 

22 the Secretary shall— 

23 (1) take actions to ensure that grants made 

24 under subsection (b) are utilized as expeditiously 

25 and efficiently as possible; 


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1 (2) make available to the public, on an appro2 priate Web site of the Department of Transpor3 tation, information on each grant made under sub4 section (b); and 

5 (3) submit to Congress, not later than 1 year 

6 after the first grant is made under subsection (b), 

7 and annually thereafter, information on grants made 

8 under subsection (b), including the progress made 

9 on projects funded by such grants. 

10 (j) ENVIRONMENTAL STREAMLINING.—The Sec11 retary shall coordinate, to the maximum extent prac12 ticable, with relevant Federal departments and agencies 

13 to ensure that environmental reviews are conducted in a 

14 manner that facilitates the accelerated delivery of projects 

15 for which a grant is made under this section. 

16 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

18 appropriated to the Secretary to make grants under 

19 the program established under subsection (a) 

20 $985,000,000,000, in the aggregate, for fiscal years 

21 2016 through 2020. 

22 (2) ELIGIBLE PROJECT USE.—From the 

23 amounts made available under paragraph (1), the 

24 Secretary shall use— 


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1 (A) 85 percent of the amounts to make 

2 grants for projects described in subparagraph 

3 (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (c)(1); 

4 (B) 2 percent of the amounts to make 

5 grants for projects described in subparagraph 

6 (D) of subsection (c)(1); 

7 (C) 4 percent of the amounts to make 

8 grants for projects described in subparagraph 

9 (E) of subsection (c)(1); and 

10 (D) 9 percent of the amounts to make 

11 grants for projects described in subparagraph 

12 (F) of subsection (c)(1). 

13 SEC. 3. NATION BUILDING HERE AT HOME FINANCING INI14 TIATIVE. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

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

17 Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Transpor18 tation, shall establish a Nation Building Here at Home 

19 Financing Initiative in accordance with this section. 

20 (b) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE BONDS.—In carrying out 

21 the initiative established under subsection (a), the Sec22 retary of the Treasury may issue bonds. The aggregate 

23 face amount of bonds issued under this subsection may 

24 not exceed $300,000,000,000. 


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1 (c) CHARACTERISTICS OF BONDS.—Bonds issued 

2 under subsection (b) shall be issued in such amounts, bear 

3 such rates of interest, and be subject to such terms and 

4 conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe. 

5 (d) USE OF BOND PROCEEDS.—The Secretary of the 

6 Treasury shall make available to the Secretary of Trans7 portation the proceeds resulting from bonds issued under 

8 subsection (b). The Secretary of Transportation may use 

9 such proceeds only to carry out the program established 

10 under section 2(a) of this Act. 

11 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit 

14 to Congress a comprehensive report describing the trans15 portation needs of the United States for each of the fol16 lowing: 

17 (1) The 20-year period beginning on the date of 

18 enactment of this Act. 

19 (2) The 30-year period beginning after the pe20 riod described in paragraph (1). 

21 (3) The 50-year period beginning after the pe22 riod described in paragraph (2). 

Æ 


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