I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6299 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to reauthorize and modify the surface 

transportation project delivery pilot program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Ms. RICHARDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to reauthorize and 

modify the surface transportation project delivery pilot 

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 ‘‘Jobs Through Envi5 ronmental Safeguarding and Streamlining Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROJECT DELIVERY 

7 PILOT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) ASSUMPTION OF RESPONSIBILITY.— 


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1 (1) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Section 

2 327(a)(2)(B)(ii)(I) of title 23, United States Code, 

3 is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(I) responsibility for any con5 formity determination (other than a 

6 conformity determination for an indi7 vidual project) required under section 

8 176 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 7506); or’’. 

10 (2) HIGHWAY PROJECTS INVOLVING MORE

11 THAN ONE DOT MODAL ADMINISTRATION.—Section 

12 327(a)(2) of such title is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘(F) HIGHWAY PROJECTS INVOLVING

15 MORE THAN ONE DOT MODAL ADMINISTRA16 TION.— 

17 ‘‘(i) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.—For 

18 purposes of subparagraph (A), a project 

19 shall be treated as a ‘highway project’ if 

20 the Secretary determines that the Federal 

21 Highway Administration is the lead agency 

22 for the project. 

23 ‘‘(ii) ASSIGNMENT OF AUTHORI24 TIES.—In the case of a highway project 

25 that involves the Federal Highway AdminVerDate Mar 15 2010 18:34 Oct 12, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6299.IH H6299

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1 istration and another modal administration 

2 of the Department of Transportation, the 

3 authorities of the Secretary that may be 

4 assigned to a State under this subsection 

5 shall include the authorities of the Sec6 retary that relate to the Federal Highway 

7 Administration and the other modal ad8 ministration.’’. 

9 (b) STATE PARTICIPATION.— 

10 (1) NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING STATES.—Sec11 tion 327(b)(1) of such title is amended— 

12 (A) in the paragraph heading by striking 

13 ‘‘NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING STATES’’ and in14 serting ‘‘IN GENERAL’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘not more than 5’’ and all 

16 that follows through ‘‘Texas)’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘any State that meets the selection criteria con18 tained in paragraph (4)’’. 

19 (2) WRITTEN AGREEMENT.—Section 327(c) of 

20 such title is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(c) WRITTEN AGREEMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A written agreement under 

23 this section shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) be executed by the Governor or the 

25 top-ranking transportation official in the State 


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1 who is charged with responsibility for highway 

2 construction; 

3 ‘‘(B) be in such form as the Secretary may 

4 prescribe; 

5 ‘‘(C) provide that the State— 

6 ‘‘(i) agrees to assume all or part of 

7 the responsibilities of the Secretary de8 scribed in subsection (a); 

9 ‘‘(ii) agrees to carry out those respon10 sibilities using the best available science; 

11 ‘‘(iii) expressly consents, on behalf of 

12 the State, to accept the jurisdiction of the 

13 Federal courts for the compliance, dis14 charge, and enforcement of any responsi15 bility of the Secretary assumed by the 

16 State; 

17 ‘‘(iv) certifies that State laws (includ18 ing regulations) are in effect that— 

19 ‘‘(I) authorize the State to take 

20 the actions necessary to carry out the 

21 responsibilities being assumed; and 

22 ‘‘(II) are comparable to section 

23 552 of title 5, including providing that 

24 any decision regarding the public 

25 availability of a document under those 


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1 State laws is reviewable by a court of 

2 competent jurisdiction; and 

3 ‘‘(D) agrees to maintain the financial re4 sources necessary to carry out the responsibil5 ities being assumed. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCLUDED PROJECTS.—A written agree7 ment with a State under this section may include a 

8 list of projects in the State that are excluded from 

9 the program. The list shall be updated annually by 

10 mutual agreement between the Secretary and the 

11 State. 

12 ‘‘(3) TERM.—A written agreement with a State 

13 under this section shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) have a term of not more than 5 

15 years; and 

16 ‘‘(B) be renewable. 

17 ‘‘(4) USE OF PROJECT DELIVERY METHODS.— 

18 A written agreement with a State under this section 

19 may not impose on the State a limitation on the use 

20 of a project delivery method if the limitation would 

21 not otherwise apply to the State under this title or 

22 another provision of law. In this paragraph, the 

23 term ‘project delivery method’ includes the authority 

24 of a State to acquire rights-of-way and conduct final 

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1 risk basis prior to completion of the environmental 

2 review process for the project.’’. 

3 (3) AUDITS AND MONITORING.—Section 327(g) 

4 of such title is amended— 

5 (A) in the subsection heading by inserting 

6 ‘‘AND MONITORING’’ after ‘‘AUDITS’’; 

7 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

8 paragraph (3); 

9 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(2) MONITORING.—If a State has been partici12 pating in the program pursuant to a written agree13 ment under subsection (c) for a period of 10 con14 secutive years, the Secretary may monitor compli15 ance by the State with the agreement instead of con16 ducting audits under paragraph (1). If a State, 

17 while participating in the monitoring program under 

18 this section, repeatedly fails to comply with all as19 pects of the written agreement under subsection (c), 

20 the Secretary shall commence the auditing process. 

21 The Secretary shall develop procedures for con22 ducting monitoring under this paragraph.’’; and 

23 (D) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated by 

24 subparagraph (B) of this paragraph) by insert25 ing after ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ the following: ‘‘, and 


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1 the results of monitoring conducted under para2 graph (2),’’. 

3 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Section 327(h) of such 

4 title is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(h) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of enactment of the Jobs Through 

8 Environmental Safeguarding and Streamlining Act 

9 of 2010, and every 4 years thereafter, the Secretary 

10 shall submit to Congress, and make available to the 

11 public, a report on the results of the program. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—For each reporting period, 

13 the report shall contain, at a minimum, the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(A) An assessment of whether delays 

16 were reduced and project delivery was enhanced 

17 as a result of the program. 

18 ‘‘(B) An assessment of whether there were 

19 cost savings for States participating in the pro20 gram and the Department of Transportation as 

21 a result of the program. 

22 ‘‘(C) An assessment of whether environ23 mental concerns were protected and considered 

24 in States participating in the program at a level 

25 consistent with nonparticipating States. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Recommendations for changes (if 

2 any) that could be made to enhance or improve 

3 the program. 

4 ‘‘(E) An assessment of the impact and ef5 fectiveness of an environmental document qual6 ity control program of the transportation de7 partment of any State participating in the pro8 gram.’’. 

9 (d) TERMINATION DATE.—Section 327(i)(1) of such 

10 title is amended by striking ‘‘date of enactment of this 

11 section’’ and inserting ‘‘date of enactment of the Jobs 

12 Through Environmental Safeguarding and Streamlining 

13 Act of 2010’’. 

14 (e) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—Section 327 of 

15 such title is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(j) USE OF STATE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW LAWS

17 FOR LOW IMPACT PROJECTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—Subject to 

19 the requirements of this subsection, the Secretary 

20 shall carry out a demonstration program to permit 

21 eligible States that assume responsibilities of the 

22 Secretary under subsection (a)(2) to carry out the 

23 responsibilities through the implementation of the 

24 environmental laws of the State instead of Federal 

25 environmental laws. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON STATE AUTHORITY.— 

2 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION.—The authority of a 

3 State under the demonstration program shall be 

4 limited to conducting the Secretary’s respon5 sibilities for environmental reviews, consulta6 tion, and other requirements with respect to low 

7 impact projects. 

8 ‘‘(B) LOW IMPACT PROJECT DEFINED.—In 

9 this subsection, the term ‘low impact project’ 

10 means a highway project that meets such cri11 teria as may be established by the Secretary by 

12 regulation. 

13 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE STATES.—The Secretary may 

14 permit a State to participate in the demonstration 

15 program only if the Secretary determines, after re16 viewing the environmental laws of the State, and 

17 such other materials as the Secretary may require, 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(A) the environmental laws of the State 

20 provide a substantially equivalent level of envi21 ronmental protection as applicable Federal 

22 laws; and 

23 ‘‘(B) participation by the State in the dem24 onstration program will not diminish protection 

25 of the environment. 


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1 ‘‘(4) CONCURRENCE OF OTHER AGENCIES.— 

2 The Secretary may permit a State to participate in 

3 the demonstration program only with the concur4 rence of the Council on Environmental Quality, the 

5 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

6 Agency, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary 

7 of Commerce, and the heads of other appropriate 

8 Federal environmental and natural resource agen9 cies, as identified by the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(5) AUDITS AND MONITORING.—A State par11 ticipating in the demonstration program shall con12 tinue to be subject to the requirements of subsection 

13 (g), including requirements relating to the public 

14 availability of audits and monitoring results. 

15 ‘‘(6) MODIFICATION OF WRITTEN AGREE16 MENT.—The Secretary shall provide for the partici17 pation of a State in the demonstration program by 

18 modifying the written agreement entered into by the 

19 Secretary with the State under subsection (c). 

20 ‘‘(7) TERMINATION OF STATE PARTICIPA21 TION.—The Secretary may terminate the participa22 tion of a State in the demonstration program in ac23 cordance with the procedures specified in subsection 

24 (i)(2). 

25 ‘‘(8) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one 

2 year after the date on which the first State is 

3 selected for participation in the demonstration 

4 program, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

5 shall submit to Congress, and make available to 

6 the public, a report on the results of the dem7 onstration program. 

8 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—For each reporting pe9 riod, the report shall contain, at a minimum, 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(i) A list identifying how many 

12 projects have been completed under the 

13 demonstration program. 

14 ‘‘(ii) An assessment of whether delays 

15 were reduced and project delivery was en16 hanced as a result of the demonstration 

17 program. 

18 ‘‘(iii) An assessment of whether there 

19 have been any adverse impacts or risks to 

20 the environment as a result of the dem21 onstration program. 

22 ‘‘(9) SUNSET DATE.—The demonstration pro23 gram shall terminate on the date that is 6 years 

24 after the date of enactment of this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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