II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1527 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to conduct, and submit to Congress a report describing the results of, an assessment of the total 

amount of nonhighway recreational fuel taxes received by the Secretary 

of the Treasury and transferred to the Highway Trust Fund, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. RISCH, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BURR, and Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to conduct, and 

submit to Congress a report describing the results of, 

an assessment of the total amount of nonhighway recreational fuel taxes received by the Secretary of the 

Treasury and transferred to the Highway Trust 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 ‘‘RTP Funding Trans5 parency Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NONHIGHWAY RECREATIONAL FUEL STUDY. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 (1) HIGHWAY TRUST FUND.—The term ‘‘High4 way Trust Fund’’ means the Highway Trust Fund 

5 established by section 9503(a) of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986. 

7 (2) NONHIGHWAY RECREATIONAL FUEL

8 TAXES.—The term ‘‘nonhighway recreational fuel 

9 taxes’’ means taxes under sections 4041 and 4081 

10 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect 

11 to fuel used in vehicles on recreational trails or back 

12 country terrain (including vehicles registered for 

13 highway use when used on recreational trails, trail 

14 access roads not eligible for funding under title 23, 

15 United States Code, or back country terrain). 

16 (3) RECREATIONAL TRAILS PROGRAM.—The 

17 term ‘‘recreational trails program’’ means the rec18 reational trails program under section 206 of title 

19 23, United States Code. 

20 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Transportation. 

22 (b) ASSESSMENT; REPORT.— 

23 (1) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act and not less fre25 quently than once every 5 years thereafter, as deter26 mined by the Secretary, the Secretary shall carry 


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1 out an assessment of the best available estimate of 

2 the total amount of nonhighway recreational fuel 

3 taxes received by the Secretary of the Treasury and 

4 transferred to the Highway Trust Fund for the pe5 riod covered by the assessment. 

6 (2) REPORT.—After carrying out each assess7 ment under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall sub8 mit to the Committees on Finance and Environment 

9 and Public Works of the Senate and the Committees 

10 on Ways and Means and Transportation and Infra11 structure of the House of Representatives a report 

12 that includes— 

13 (A) a description of the results of the as14 sessment and an evaluation of whether the cur15 rent recreational trails program funding level 

16 reflects the amount of nonhighway recreational 

17 fuel taxes collected and transferred to the gen18 eral fund of the Treasury and transferred to 

19 the Highway Trust Fund, to assist Congress in 

20 decisionmaking with respect to appropriate 

21 funding levels for the recreational trails pro22 gram; 

23 (B) an evaluation of whether the current 

24 recreational trails program funding level of each 

25 participating State accurately reflects the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527

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1 portionment criteria described in section 

2 133(h)(5) of title 23, United States Code; and 

3 (C) in the case of the first report sub4 mitted under this paragraph, an estimate of the 

5 frequency with which the Secretary anticipates 

6 carrying out the assessment under paragraph 

7 (1), subject to the condition that such an as8 sessment shall be carried out not less frequently 

9 than once every 5 years. 

10 (c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out an assessment 

11 under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary may consult with, 

12 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate— 

13 (1) the heads of— 

14 (A) State agencies designated by Gov15 ernors pursuant to section 206(c)(1) of title 23, 

16 United States Code, to administer the rec17 reational trails program; and 

18 (B) division offices of the Department of 

19 Transportation; 

20 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury; 

21 (3) the Administrator of the Federal Highway 

22 Administration; and 

23 (4) groups representing recreational activities 

24 and interests, including hiking, biking and mountain 

25 biking, horseback riding, water trails, snowshoeing, 


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1 cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-highway 

2 motorcycling, all-terrain vehicles and other offroad 

3 motorized vehicle activities, and recreational trail ad4 vocates. 

5 (d) MAINTENANCE IN EFFECT OF RECREATIONAL

6 TRAILS PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

7 of law, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 

8 of the Treasury, shall ensure that— 

9 (1) for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year 

10 thereafter, the amount made available to carry out 

11 the recreational trails program is equal to not less 

12 than the amount made available to carry out the 

13 recreational trails program during fiscal year 2019; 

14 and 

15 (2) the recreational trails program shall be car16 ried out as a distinct program of the Department of 

17 Transportation, in accordance with section 206 of 

18 title 23, United States Code. 

Æ 


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