I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2595 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a nationally significant 

Federal lands and tribal projects program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 1, 2015 

Ms. NORTON (for herself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. BEYER, Ms. EDWARDS, and 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a nationally significant Federal lands and tribal projects 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 ‘‘Save Our National 

5 Parks Transportation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL LANDS AND 

2 TRIBAL PROJECTS PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title 23, United 

4 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 206 the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘§ 207. Nationally significant Federal lands and tribal 

7 projects program 

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The Secretary of Transportation 

9 shall establish a nationally significant Federal lands and 

10 tribal projects program to provide funding to construct, 

11 reconstruct, or rehabilitate nationally significant Federal 

12 lands and tribal transportation projects. 

13 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as specified in 

15 paragraph (2), an entity eligible to receive funds 

16 under sections 201, 202, 203 and 204 of this title 

17 is eligible to receive funds under this section. 

18 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—A State, county or local 

19 government is eligible to receive funds under this 

20 section if such government is sponsored by an eligi21 ble Federal land management agency or Indian 

22 tribe. 

23 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive funds 

24 under this section, an entity shall submit to the Secretary 

25 an application in such form and in accordance with such 

26 requirements as the Secretary may establish. 


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1 ‘‘(d) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible project 

2 under this section shall be a single continuous project— 

3 ‘‘(1) on a Federal lands transportation facility, 

4 a Federal lands access transportation facility, or a 

5 tribal transportation facility, except that such facil6 ity is not required to be included on an inventory as 

7 described under section 202 or 203; 

8 ‘‘(2) for which completion of activities required 

9 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

10 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), has been dem11 onstrated through a record of decision with respect 

12 to the project, a finding that the project has no sig13 nificant impact, or a determination that the project 

14 is categorically excluded; and 

15 ‘‘(3) having an estimated cost, based on the re16 sults of preliminary engineering, equal to or exceed17 ing $25,000,000, with priority consideration given to 

18 projects with an estimated cost equal to or exceeding 

19 $50,000,000. 

20 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—An applicant receiving funds 

21 under this section may only use such funds for construc22 tion, reconstruction, and rehabilitation activities, except 

23 that activities related to project design are not eligible. 


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1 ‘‘(f) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting a project to 

2 receive funds under this section the Secretary shall con3 sider the extent to which the project— 

4 ‘‘(1) furthers goals of the Department of 

5 Transportation, including state of good repair, envi6 ronmental sustainability, economic competitiveness, 

7 quality of life, and safety; 

8 ‘‘(2) improves the condition of critical 

9 multimodal transportation facilities; 

10 ‘‘(3) needs construction, reconstruction, or re11 habilitation; 

12 ‘‘(4) is included in or eligible for inclusion in 

13 the National Register of Historic Places; 

14 ‘‘(5) enhances environmental ecosystems; 

15 ‘‘(6) uses new technologies and innovations that 

16 enhance the efficiency of the project; 

17 ‘‘(7) is supported by funds other than those re18 ceived under this title to construct, maintain, and 

19 operate the facility; 

20 ‘‘(8) spans 2 or more States; and 

21 ‘‘(9) serves lands owned by multiple Federal 

22 agencies or Indian tribes.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

24 (1) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Section 201(b) 

25 of such title is amended— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘nation2 ally significant Federal lands and tribal projects 

3 program,’’ after ‘‘Federal lands transportation 

4 program,’’; 

5 (B) in paragraph (4)(A) by inserting ‘‘na6 tionally significant Federal lands and tribal 

7 projects program,’’ after ‘‘Federal lands trans8 portation program,’’; and 

9 (C) in paragraph (7) by adding at the end 

10 the following— 

11 ‘‘(C) NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL

12 LANDS AND TRIBAL PROJECTS PROGRAM.—The 

13 Federal share of the cost of a project carried 

14 out under the nationally significant Federal 

15 lands and tribal projects program may be up to 

16 100 percent.’’. 

17 (2) PLANNING.—Section 201(c)(3) of such title 

18 is amended by inserting ‘‘nationally significant Fed19 eral lands and tribal projects program’’ after ‘‘Fed20 eral lands transportation program,’’ the first time it 

21 appears. 

22 (3) ANALYSIS.—The analysis for chapter 2 of 

23 such title is amended by inserting after the item re24 lated to 206 the following: 

‘‘207. Nationally significant Federal lands and tribal projects program.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The following sums are author3 ized to be appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund 

4 (other than the Mass Transit Account): 

5 (1) NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL LANDS

6 AND TRIBAL PROJECTS PROGRAM.—For the Nation7 ally significant Federal lands and tribal projects pro8 gram under section 207 of title 23, United States 

9 Code, $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 

10 through 2021. 

11 (2) FEDERAL LANDS TRANSPORTATION PRO12 GRAM.—For the Federal lands transportation pro13 gram under section 203 of title 23, United States 

14 Code, $520,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 

15 through 2021, of which $460,000,000 of the amount 

16 made available for each fiscal year shall be the 

17 amount for the National Park Service and 

18 $30,000,000 of the amount made available for each 

19 fiscal year shall be the amount for the United States 

20 Fish and Wildlife Service. 

21 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Funds authorized by this section 

22 shall be available on October 1 of the fiscal year for which 

23 the funds are authorized and subject to any obligation lim24 itation on Federal-aid highways and highway safety con25 struction programs. 

Æ 


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