I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3825 

To establish the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Improvement Program to improve freight mobility in the United States, to establish 

the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Fund, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2014 

Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. SIRES, and Ms. 

HAHN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee 

on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure 

Improvement Program to improve freight mobility in the 

United States, to establish the National Freight Mobility 

Infrastructure Fund, 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 ‘‘Freight Infrastructure 

5 Reinvestment Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE 

2 IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor4 tation shall establish a National Freight Mobility Infra5 structure Improvement Program under which the Sec6 retary is authorized to make grants, on a competitive 

7 basis, to States and designated entities for eligible costs 

8 associated with projects to improve efficiency and capacity 

9 with respect to freight mobility in the United States. 

10 (b) GRANT APPLICATIONS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

12 grant under the program a State or designated enti13 ty shall submit to the Secretary an application at 

14 such time, in such form, and containing such infor15 mation as the Secretary may require. 

16 (2) SOLICITATION.—The Secretary shall con17 duct a national solicitation for applications under 

18 the program. 

19 (c) GRANT CRITERIA.— 

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in ac21 cordance with this subsection, shall establish criteria 

22 for selecting among applications submitted for 

23 grants under the program. 

24 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A project is eligible for a 

25 grant under the program only if the Secretary deter26 mines that the project— 


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1 (A) is of national or regional significance, 

2 including projects to assist— 

3 (i) the construction of grade separa4 tions at railroad, highway, and railroad5 highway junctions; 

6 (ii) the construction of railroad by7 passes and spurs; 

8 (iii) the construction of railroad side 

9 tracks; 

10 (iv) the expansion of rail and highway 

11 tunnels to accommodate wider, taller, and 

12 additional volumes of vehicular and rail 

13 freight and container stacks; 

14 (v) the addition of railroad track and 

15 intermodal facilities at international gate16 ways, land, air, and sea ports, points of 

17 congestion, and logistic centers; 

18 (vi) highway and road construction 

19 (including reinforcement for heavy weight 

20 vehicles and heavy traffic volume) at inter21 national gateways, land, air, and sea ports, 

22 points of congestion, and logistic centers to 

23 better accommodate and speed the flow of 

24 freight traffic; 


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1 (vii) the construction and improve2 ment of rail and highway bridges that 

3 carry a substantial amount of freight; 

4 (viii) the construction of highway 

5 ramps built to carry a substantial amount 

6 of freight; and 

7 (ix) the construction of highway lanes, 

8 including lanes that segregate freight and 

9 passenger vehicular traffic; 

10 (B) will improve freight mobility, capacity, 

11 and efficiency in the United States; 

12 (C) is cost effective; 

13 (D) is based on the results of preliminary 

14 engineering; 

15 (E) is justified based on the extent to 

16 which the project— 

17 (i) will enhance State, regional, or na18 tional economic development, performance, 

19 and efficiency as measured by— 

20 (I) the creation of new businesses 

21 and jobs and the retention of existing 

22 businesses and jobs; 

23 (II) State and local tax receipts; 

24 and 


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1 (III) improved safety, as meas2 ured by reductions in accidents, inju3 ries, and fatalities; and 

4 (ii) will maximize economic opportuni5 ties for communities; and 

6 (F) is supported by an acceptable degree 

7 of non-Federal financial commitments, includ8 ing that— 

9 (i) the project provides for the avail10 ability of contingency amounts that, as de11 termined by the Secretary, are reasonable 

12 to cover unanticipated cost increases; and 

13 (ii) each proposed non-Federal source 

14 of financing is stable, reliable, and avail15 able within the project timetable. 

16 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting a project 

17 for a grant under the program, the Secretary shall 

18 consider the extent to which the project— 

19 (A) meets the requirements specified in 

20 paragraph (2); 

21 (B) complements and supports the objec22 tives of applicable freight plans developed by 

23 States under section 1118 of MAP–21 (23 

24 U.S.C. 167 note); 


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1 (C) facilitates freight throughput of higher 

2 volume and values; 

3 (D) uses operational efficiencies, including 

4 intelligent transportation systems, that enhance 

5 the efficiency or effectiveness (or both) of the 

6 project; 

7 (E) helps maintain or protect the environ8 ment; and 

9 (F) improves or enhances segments of the 

10 primary freight network designated under sec11 tion 167(d) of title 23, United States Code. 

12 (d) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—Not less than 90 days 

13 before making a grant under the program, the Secretary 

14 shall submit to Congress written notice of the grant. 

15 (e) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

16 program using amounts made available to the Secretary 

17 from the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Fund 

18 established under section 9512 of the Internal Revenue 

19 Code of 1986. 

20 (f) LIMITATION ON GRANT DISTRIBUTION.—Not 

21 more than 10 percent of the amounts available during a 

22 fiscal year for grants under the program may be used for 

23 projects located in a single State. 

24 (g) FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENTS.—The Sec25 retary may enter into a grant under the program that proVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:07 Jan 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3825.IH H3825

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1 vides funding for a project in more than one fiscal year. 

2 An agreement for such a grant shall— 

3 (1) establish the maximum amount of Federal 

4 financial assistance for the project; 

5 (2) establish the time period for Federal finan6 cial assistance for the project; 

7 (3) provide grant funds for the fiscal year in 

8 which the grant is made; and 

9 (4) include a commitment, that is not an obli10 gation of the Federal Government and that is con11 tingent on the availability of funds, for grant 

12 amounts to be provided in fiscal years following the 

13 fiscal year in which the grant is made. 

14 (h) NON-FEDERAL FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS.— 

15 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

16 the cost of a project for which a grant is made 

17 under the program, as estimated by the Secretary, 

18 shall be not more than 80 percent. 

19 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In assessing the sta20 bility, reliability, and availability of proposed sources 

21 of non-Federal financing for purposes of subsection 

22 (c)(2)(F)(ii), the Secretary shall consider— 

23 (A) existing financial commitments; 

24 (B) the degree to which financing sources 

25 are dedicated to the purposes proposed; 


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1 (C) any debt obligation that exists or is 

2 proposed by the grant recipient for the pro3 posed project; and 

4 (D) the extent to which the project has a 

5 non-Federal financial commitment that exceeds 

6 the required non-Federal share of the cost of 

7 the project. 

8 (i) HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION.—A grant made to as9 sist the construction of a highway under the program shall 

10 be subject to the requirements relating to such construc11 tion under title 23, United States Code. 

12 (j) OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary 

13 shall ensure that all grants made under the program are 

14 subject to terms, conditions, and requirements that the 

15 Secretary decides are necessary or appropriate for pur16 poses of this section, including requirements for the dis17 position of net increases in the value of real property re18 sulting from the project assisted under the program. 

19 (k) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—In carrying out the 

20 program, the Secretary shall seek to minimize administra21 tive costs, including overhead, enforcement, and auditing 

22 costs related to the program. 

23 (l) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

25 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on TransporVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:07 Jan 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3825.IH H3825

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1 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

2 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor3 tation of the Senate a report on the activities of the Sec4 retary under the program. 

5 (m) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

7 regulations to carry out this section. 

8 (n) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi9 nitions apply: 

10 (1) DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘des11 ignated entity’’ means— 

12 (A) an entity designated by the chief exec13 utive officer of a State (or the chief executive 

14 officer’s designee) as eligible to apply for and 

15 receive funding under the program; 

16 (B) a regional authority responsible under 

17 the laws of a State for a project eligible for 

18 funding under the program; and 

19 (C) a public port. 

20 (2) ELIGIBLE COSTS.—The term ‘‘eligible 

21 costs’’ means the costs of a project with respect to— 

22 (A) development phase activities, including 

23 planning, feasibility analysis, revenue fore24 casting, environmental review, preliminary engiVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:07 Jan 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3825.IH H3825

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1 neering and design work, and other 

2 preconstruction activities; and 

3 (B) construction, reconstruction, rehabili4 tation, acquisition of real property (including 

5 land related to a project and improvements to 

6 land), environmental mitigation, construction 

7 contingencies, acquisition of equipment, and 

8 operational improvements. 

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

10 the National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Im11 provement Program established under subsection 

12 (a). 

13 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean14 ing given such term in section 101(a) of title 23, 

15 United States Code. 

16 SEC. 3. FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE TAX. 

17 (a) IMPOSITION OF TAX.—Chapter 33 of the Internal 

18 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding after sub19 chapter C the following new subchapter: 

20 ‘‘Subchapter D—Transportation by Freight 

21 and Highway 

‘‘Sec. 4286. Imposition of tax. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 4286. IMPOSITION OF TAX. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby imposed upon 

24 taxable ground transportation of property within the 


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1 United States a tax equal to 1 percent of the amount paid 

2 for such transportation. 

3 ‘‘(b) BY WHOM PAID.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 

5 paragraph (2), the tax imposed by subsection (a) 

6 shall be paid— 

7 ‘‘(A) by the person making the payment 

8 subject to tax, or 

9 ‘‘(B) in the case of transportation by a re10 lated person, by the person for whom such 

11 transportation is made. 

12 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS MADE OUTSIDE THE UNITED

13 STATES.—If a payment subject to tax under sub14 section (a) is made outside the United States and 

15 the person making such payment does not pay such 

16 tax, such tax— 

17 ‘‘(A) shall be paid by the person to whom 

18 the property is delivered in the United States 

19 after the final segment of transportation in the 

20 United States, and 

21 ‘‘(B) shall be collected by the person fur22 nishing the last segment of such transportation. 

23 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATIONS OF AMOUNTS PAID IN

24 CERTAIN CASES.—For purposes of this section, rules 

25 similar to the rules of section 4271(c) shall apply. 


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1 ‘‘(c) TRANSPORTATION BY RELATED PERSONS.—In 

2 the case of transportation of property by the taxpayer or 

3 a person related to the taxpayer, the fair market value 

4 of such transportation shall be the amount which would 

5 be paid for transporting such property if such property 

6 were transported by an unrelated person, determined on 

7 an arms’ length basis. 

8 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub9 chapter— 

10 ‘‘(1) TAXABLE GROUND TRANSPORTATION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘taxable 

12 ground transportation’ means transportation of 

13 property by— 

14 ‘‘(i) freight rail, or 

15 ‘‘(ii) commercial motor vehicle (as de16 fined in section 31101(1) of title 49, 

17 United States Code) for a distance of more 

18 than 50 miles. 

19 ‘‘(B) PASSENGER BAGGAGE EXCLUDED.— 

20 For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 

21 ‘property’ does not include baggage accom22 panying a passenger traveling on an established 

23 line. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RELATED PERSON.—A person (hereinafter 

2 in this paragraph referred to as the ‘related person’) 

3 is related to any person if— 

4 ‘‘(A) the related person bears a relation5 ship to such person specified in section 267(b) 

6 or 707(b)(1), or 

7 ‘‘(B) the related person and such person 

8 are engaged in trades or businesses under com9 mon control (within the meaning of subsections 

10 (a) and (b) of section 52). 

11 For purposes of the preceding sentence, in applying 

12 section 267(b) and 707(b)(1), ‘10 percent’ shall be 

13 substituted for ‘50 percent’. 

14 ‘‘(e) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS EQUIVALENT TO TAX

15 TO NATIONAL FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE

16 FUND.—There are hereby appropriated to the National 

17 Freight Mobility Infrastructure Fund amounts equivalent 

18 to the taxes received in the Treasury under subsection (a). 

19 ‘‘(f) EXEMPTION FOR UNITED STATES AND POSSES20 SIONS AND STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—The tax 

21 imposed by subsection (a) shall not apply to the transpor22 tation of property purchased for the exclusive use of the 

23 United States, or any State or political subdivision there24 of.’’. 


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1 (b) CREDITS OR REFUNDS TO PERSONS WHO COL2 LECTED CERTAIN TAXES.—Section 6415 of such Code is 

3 amended by striking ‘‘or 4271’’ each place it appears and 

4 inserting ‘‘4271, or 4286’’. 

5 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

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

7 the Treasury shall issue regulations to carry out the 

8 amendments made by this section. 

9 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall apply to transportation beginning on or 

11 after the last day of the 180-day period beginning on the 

12 date of the issuance of regulations under subsection (c). 

13 SEC. 4. NATIONAL FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE 

14 FUND. 

15 Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 9512. NATIONAL FREIGHT MOBILITY INFRASTRUC19 TURE FUND. 

20 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab21 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 

22 to be known as the ‘National Freight Mobility Infrastruc23 ture Fund’ (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 

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1 priated or credited to such Fund as provided in this sec2 tion or section 9602(b). 

3 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO THE FUND.—There are hereby 

4 appropriated to the Fund amounts equivalent to taxes re5 ceived in the Treasury under section 4286. 

6 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—Amounts in the 

7 Fund shall be made available to the Secretary of Trans8 portation for each of the fiscal years 2014 to 2039, with9 out further appropriation, for making expenditures to 

10 meet the obligations of the United States to carry out sec11 tion 2 of the Freight Infrastructure Reinvestment Act of 

12 2013, not more than 4 percent of which for any fiscal year 

13 may be used for administrative expenses.’’. 

Æ 


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