I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4273 

To establish a program to award grants to entities that provide transportation 

connectors from critically underserved urban communities and rural communities to green spaces. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 

Mr. GOMEZ (for himself and Mr. STIVERS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To establish a program to award grants to entities that 

provide transportation connectors from critically underserved urban communities and rural communities to 

green spaces. 

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 ‘‘Transit to Trails Act 

5 of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSIT TO TRAILS GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) CRITICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.— 

2 The term ‘‘critically underserved community’’ 

3 means— 

4 (A) a community that can demonstrate to 

5 the Secretary that the community has inad6 equate, insufficient, or no park space or recre7 ation facilities, including by demonstrating— 

8 (i) quality concerns relating to the 

9 available park space or recreation facilities; 

10 (ii) the presence of recreational facili11 ties that do not serve the needs of the com12 munity; or 

13 (iii) the inequitable distribution of 

14 park space for high-need populations, 

15 based on income, age, or other measures of 

16 vulnerability and need; 

17 (B) a community in which at least 50 percent of the population is not located within 1 18 ⁄2

19 mile of park space; 

20 (C) a community that is designated as a 

21 qualified opportunity zone under section 

22 1400Z–1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

23 or 

24 (D) any other community that the Sec25 retary determines to be appropriate. 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means— 

3 (A) a State; 

4 (B) a political subdivision of a State (in5 cluding a city or a county) that represents or 

6 otherwise serves an urban area or a rural area; 

7 (C) a special purpose district (including a 

8 park district); 

9 (D) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 

10 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu11 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) that 

12 represents or otherwise serves an urban area or 

13 a rural area; or 

14 (E) a metropolitan planning organization 

15 (as defined in section 134(b) of title 23, United 

16 States Code). 

17 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

18 the Transit to Trails Grant Program established 

19 under subsection (b)(1). 

20 (4) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 

21 means a community that is not an urban area. 

22 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Transportation. 

24 (6) TRANSPORTATION CONNECTOR.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘transpor2 tation connector’’ means a system that— 

3 (i) connects 2 zip codes or commu4 nities within a 175-mile radius of a des5 ignated service area; and 

6 (ii) offers rides available to the public. 

7 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘transpor8 tation connector’’ includes microtransits, bus 

9 lines, bus rails, light rail, rapid transits, or per10 sonal rapid transits. 

11 (7) URBAN AREA.—The term ‘‘urban area’’ 

12 means a community that— 

13 (A) is densely developed; 

14 (B) has residential, commercial, and other 

15 nonresidential areas; and 

16 (C)(i) is an urbanized area with a popu17 lation of 50,000 or more; or 

18 (ii) is an urban cluster with a population 

19 of— 

20 (I) not less than 2,500; and 

21 (II) not more than 50,000. 

22 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es24 tablish a grant program, to be known as the ‘‘TranVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273

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1 sit to Trails Grant Program’’, under which the Sec2 retary shall award grants to eligible entities for— 

3 (A) projects that develop transportation 

4 connectors or routes in or serving, and related 

5 education materials for, critically underserved 

6 communities to increase access and mobility to 

7 Federal or non-Federal public land, waters, 

8 parkland, or monuments; or 

9 (B) projects that facilitate transportation 

10 improvements to enhance access to Federal or 

11 non-Federal public land and recreational oppor12 tunities in critically underserved communities. 

13 (2) ADMINISTRATION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ad15 minister the program to assist eligible entities 

16 in the development of transportation connectors 

17 or routes in or serving, and related education 

18 materials for, critically underserved commu19 nities and Federal or non-Federal public land, 

20 waters, parkland, and monuments. 

21 (B) JOINT PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary 

22 shall encourage joint partnership projects under 

23 the program, if available, among multiple agen24 cies, including school districts, nonprofit organi25 zations, metropolitan planning organizations, 


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1 regional transportation authorities, transit 

2 agencies, and State and local governmental 

3 agencies (including park and recreation agen4 cies and authorities) to enhance investment of 

5 public sources. 

6 (C) ANNUAL GRANT PROJECT PROPOSAL

7 SOLICITATION, REVIEW, AND APPROVAL.— 

8 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

9 shall— 

10 (I) annually solicit the submis11 sion of project proposals for grants 

12 from eligible entities under the pro13 gram; and 

14 (II) review each project proposal 

15 submitted under subclause (I) on a 

16 timeline established by the Secretary. 

17 (ii) REQUIRED ELEMENTS FOR

18 PROJECT PROPOSAL.—A project proposal 

19 submitted under clause (i)(I) shall in20 clude— 

21 (I) a statement of the purposes 

22 of the project; 

23 (II) the name of the entity or in24 dividual with overall responsibility for 

25 the project; 


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1 (III) a description of the quali2 fications of the entity or individuals 

3 identified under subclause (II); 

4 (IV) a description of— 

5 (aa) staffing and stake6 holder engagement for the 

7 project; 

8 (bb) the logistics of the 

9 project; and 

10 (cc) anticipated outcomes of 

11 the project; 

12 (V) a proposed budget for the 

13 funds and time required to complete 

14 the project; 

15 (VI) information regarding the 

16 source and amount of matching fund17 ing available for the project; 

18 (VII) information that dem19 onstrates the clear potential of the 

20 project to contribute to increased ac21 cess to parkland for critically under22 served communities; and 

23 (VIII) any other information that 

24 the Secretary considers to be nec25 essary for evaluating the eligibility of 


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1 the project for funding under the pro2 gram. 

3 (iii) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR

4 DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary shall, with 

5 respect to each project proposal submitted 

6 under this subparagraph, as appropriate— 

7 (I) consult with the government 

8 of each State in which the proposed 

9 project is to be conducted; 

10 (II) after taking into consider11 ation any comments resulting from 

12 the consultation under subclause (I), 

13 approve or disapprove the proposal; 

14 and 

15 (III) provide written notification 

16 of the approval or disapproval to— 

17 (aa) the individual or entity 

18 that submitted the proposal; and 

19 (bb) each State consulted 

20 under subclause (I). 

21 (D) PRIORITY.—To the extent practicable, 

22 in determining whether to approve project pro23 posals under the program, the Secretary shall 

24 prioritize projects that are designed to increase 

25 access and mobility to local or neighborhood 


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1 Federal or non-Federal public land, waters, 

2 parkland, monuments, or recreational opportu3 nities. 

4 (3) TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCE5 DURES.— 

6 (A) PROCEDURES.—In consultation with 

7 the head of each appropriate Federal land man8 agement agency, the Secretary shall develop, by 

9 rule, transportation planning procedures for 

10 projects conducted under the program that are 

11 consistent with metropolitan and statewide 

12 planning processes. 

13 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—All projects carried 

14 out under the program shall be developed in co15 operation with States and metropolitan plan16 ning organizations. 

17 (4) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of re19 ceiving a grant under the program, an eligible 

20 entity shall provide funds in the form of cash 

21 or an in-kind contribution in an amount equal 

22 to not less than 100 percent of the amount of 

23 the grant. 

24 (B) SOURCES.—The non-Federal contribu25 tion required under subparagraph (A) may inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273

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1 clude amounts made available from State, local, 

2 nongovernmental, or private sources. 

3 (5) ELIGIBLE USES.—Grant funds provided 

4 under the program may be used— 

5 (A) to develop transportation connectors or 

6 routes in or serving, and related education ma7 terials for, critically underserved communities 

8 to increase access and mobility to Federal and 

9 non-Federal public land, waters, parkland, and 

10 monuments; and 

11 (B) to create or significantly enhance ac12 cess to Federal or non-Federal public land and 

13 recreational opportunities in an urban area or 

14 a rural area. 

15 (6) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant provided under 

16 the program shall be— 

17 (A) not less than $25,000; and 

18 (B) not more than $500,000. 

19 (7) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—It is the intent 

20 of Congress that grants provided under the program 

21 deliver project funds to areas of greatest need while 

22 offering technical assistance to all applicants and po23 tential applicants for grant preparation to encourage 

24 full participation in the program. 


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1 (8) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

2 shall ensure that current schedules and routes for 

3 transportation systems developed after the receipt of 

4 a grant under the program are available to the pub5 lic, including on a website maintained by the recipi6 ent of a grant. 

7 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

8 (1) REPORTS BY GRANT RECIPIENTS.—The 

9 Secretary shall require a recipient of a grant under 

10 the program to submit to the Secretary at least 1 

11 performance and financial report that— 

12 (A) includes— 

13 (i) demographic data on communities 

14 served by the project; and 

15 (ii) a summary of project activities 

16 conducted after receiving the grant; and 

17 (B) describes the status of each project 

18 funded by the grant as of the date of the re19 port. 

20 (2) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—In addition to the 

21 report required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

22 may require additional reports from a recipient, as 

23 the Secretary determines to be appropriate, includ24 ing a final report. 


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1 (3) DEADLINES.—The Secretary shall establish 

2 deadlines for the submission of each report required 

3 under paragraph (1) or (2). 

4 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

6 $10,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

Æ 


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