I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 969

To establish sources of funding for certain transportation infrastructure

projects in the vicinity of the border between the United States and

Mexico that are necessary to accommodate increased traffic resulting

from the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement,

including construction of new Federal border crossing facilities, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 6, 1997

Mr. FILNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 sources of funding for certain transportation

infrastructure projects in the vicinity of the border between the United States and Mexico that are necessary

to accommodate increased traffic resulting from the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, including construction of new Federal border

crossing facilities, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Border Infrastructure

3 Safety and Congestion Relief Act of 1997’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) because of the North American Free Trade

7 Agreement, all 4 States along the United States8 Mexico border will require significant investments in

9 highway infrastructure capacity and motor carrier

10 safety enforcement at a time when border States

11 face extreme difficulty in meeting current highway

12 funding needs;

13 (2) the full benefits of increased international

14 trade can be realized only if delays at the borders

15 are significantly reduced; and

16 (3) Federal receipts from United States cus17 toms duties and fees are estimated to increase by an

18 average of $800,000,000 annually in fiscal years

19 1999 through 2002, and these monies are an appro20 priate source of funding for programs designed to

21 address the infrastructure needs of border States.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this Act, the following definitions apply:

24 (1) BORDER REGION.—The term ‘‘border re25 gion’’ means the region located within 60 miles of

26 the United States border with Mexico.
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1 (2) BORDER STATE.—The term ‘‘border State’’

2 means California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

3 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Bor4 der Transportation Infrastructure Fund established

5 under section 4(g).

6 (4) NAFTA.—The term ‘‘NAFTA’’ means the

7 North American Free Trade Agreement.

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

9 the Secretary of Transportation.

10 SEC. 4. DIRECT FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR BORDER CON11 STRUCTION AND CONGESTION RELIEF.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Using amounts in the Fund, the

13 Secretary shall make grants under this section to border

14 States that submit an application that demonstrates need,

15 due to increased traffic resulting from the implementation

16 of NAFTA, for assistance in carrying out transportation

17 projects that are necessary to relieve traffic congestion or

18 improve enforcement of motor carrier safety laws.

19 (b) GRANTS FOR CONNECTORS TO FEDERAL BOR20 DER CROSSING FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall make

21 grants to border States for the purposes of connecting,

22 through construction or reconstruction, the National

23 Highway System designated under section 103(b) of title

24 23, United States Code, with Federal border crossing fa25 cilities located in the United States in the border region.
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1 (c) GRANTS FOR WEIGH-IN-MOTION DEVICES IN

2 MEXICO.—The Secretary shall make grants to assist bor3 der States in the purchase, installation, and maintenance

4 of weigh-in-motion devices and associated electronic equip5 ment that are to be located in Mexico if real time data

6 from the devices is provided to the nearest United States

7 port of entry and to State commercial vehicle enforcement

8 facilities that serve the port of entry.

9 (d) GRANTS FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENFORCE10 MENT FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall make grants to

11 border States to construct, operate, and maintain commer12 cial vehicle enforcement facilities located in the border re13 gion.

14 (e) LIMITATIONS ON EXPENDITURES OF FUNDS.—

15 (1) COST SHARING.—A grant under this section

16 shall be used to pay the Federal share of the cost

17 of a project. The Federal share shall be 80 percent.

18 (2) ALLOCATION AMONG STATES.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year,

20 the Secretary shall allocate amounts remaining

21 in the Fund, after any transfers under section

22 5, among border States in accordance with an

23 equitable formula established by the Secretary

24 in accordance with subparagraphs (B) and (C).
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1 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—Subject to sub2 paragraph (C), in establishing the formula, the

3 Secretary shall consider—

4 (i) the annual volume of international

5 commercial vehicle traffic at the ports of

6 entry of each border State as compared to

7 the annual volume of international com8 mercial vehicle traffic at the ports of entry

9 of all border States, based on the data pro10 vided in the most recent report submitted

11 under section 8;

12 (ii) the percentage by which inter13 national commercial vehicle traffic in each

14 border State has grown during the period

15 beginning on the date of the enactment of

16 the North American Free Trade Agree17 ment Implementation Act (Public Law

18 103–182) as compared to that percentage

19 for each other border State; and

20 (iii) the extent of border transpor21 tation improvements carried out by each

22 border State during the period beginning

23 on the date of the enactment of the North

24 American Free Trade Agreement Imple25 mentation Act (Public Law 103–182).
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1 (C) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Each border

2 State shall receive not less than 5 percent of

3 the amounts made available to carry out this

4 section during the period of authorization under

5 subsection (i).

6 (f) ELIGIBILITY FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR PRE7 VIOUSLY COMMENCED PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall

8 make a grant under this section to a border State that

9 reimburses the border State for a project for which con10 struction commenced after January 1, 1994, if the project

11 is otherwise eligible for assistance under this section.

12 (g) BORDER TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE

13 FUND.—

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

15 the Treasury of the United States the Border Trans16 portation Infrastructure Fund to be used in carrying

17 out this section, consisting of such amounts as are

18 appropriated to the Fund under subsection (i).

19 (2) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara21 graph (B), upon request by the Secretary, the

22 Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from

23 the Fund to the Secretary of Transportation

24 such amounts as the Secretary of Transpor25 tation determines are necessary to make grants
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1 under this section and transfers under section

2 5.

3 (B) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An

4 amount not exceeding 1 percent of the amounts

5 in the Fund shall be available for each fiscal

6 year to pay the administrative expenses nec7 essary to carry out this section.

8 (h) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Title 23, United

9 States Code, shall apply to grants made under this section.

10 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

11 authorized to be appropriated to the Fund to carry out

12 this section and section 5 $125,000,000 for each of fiscal

13 years 1999 through 2002. The appropriated amounts shall

14 remain available for obligation until the end of the third

15 fiscal year following the fiscal year for which the amounts

16 are appropriated.

17 SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSPORTATION INFRA18 STRUCTURE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PUR19 POSES.

20 At the request of the Attorney General, the Secretary

21 may transfer up to $10,000,000 of the amounts from the

22 Fund for fiscal years 1999 through 2002 to the Attorney

23 General for the construction of transportation infrastruc24 ture necessary for law enforcement in border States.
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1 SEC. 6. BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATIVE FINANC2 ING.

3 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—

4 (1) to encourage the establishment and oper5 ation of State infrastructure banks in accordance

6 with section 350 of the National Highway System

7 Designation Act of 1995 (109 Stat. 618; 23 U.S.C.

8 101 note); and

9 (2) to advance transportation infrastructure

10 projects supporting international trade and com11 merce.

12 (b) FEDERAL LINE OF CREDIT.—Section 350 of the

13 National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 (109

14 Stat. 618; 23 U.S.C. 101 note) is amended—

15 (1) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection

16 (m); and

17 (2) by inserting after subsection (k) the follow18 ing:

19 ‘‘(l) FEDERAL LINE OF CREDIT.—

20 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

21 There is authorized to be appropriated from the gen22 eral fund of the Treasury $100,000,000 to be used

23 by the Secretary to enter into agreements to make

24 lines of credit available to—

25 ‘‘(A) border States that have established

26 infrastructure banks under this section; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the State of New Mexico which has

2 established a border authority that has bonding

3 capacity.

4 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The line of credit available to

5 each participating border State shall be equal to the

6 product of—

7 ‘‘(A) the amount appropriated under para8 graph (1); and

9 ‘‘(B) the quotient obtained by dividing—

10 ‘‘(i) the contributions of the State to

11 the Highway Trust Fund during the latest

12 fiscal year for which data are available; by

13 ‘‘(ii) the total contributions of all par14 ticipating border States to the Highway

15 Trust Fund during that fiscal year.

16 ‘‘(3) USE OF LINE OF CREDIT.—The line of

17 credit under this subsection shall be available to pro18 vide Federal support in accordance with this sub19 section for funding agreements with—

20 ‘‘(A) a State infrastructure bank engaged

21 in providing credit enhancement to creditworthy

22 eligible public and private multimodal projects

23 that support international trade and commerce

24 in the border region; and

25 ‘‘(B) the New Mexico Border Authority;
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1 (each referred to in this subsection as a ‘border in2 frastructure bank’).

3 ‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A line of credit under

5 this subsection may be drawn on only—

6 ‘‘(i) with respect to a completed

7 project described in paragraph (3) that is

8 receiving credit enhancement through a

9 border infrastructure bank;

10 ‘‘(ii) when the cash balance available

11 in the border infrastructure bank is insuf12 ficient to pay a claim for payment relating

13 to the project; and

14 ‘‘(iii) when all subsequent revenues of

15 the project have been pledged to the border

16 infrastructure bank.

17 ‘‘(B) THIRD PARTY CREDITOR RIGHTS.—

18 No third party creditor of a public or private

19 entity carrying out a project eligible for assist20 ance from a border infrastructure bank shall

21 have any right against the Federal Government

22 with respect to a line of credit under this sub23 section, including any guarantee that the pro24 ceeds of a line of credit will be available for the

25 payment of any particular cost of the public or
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1 private entity that may be financed under this

2 subsection.

3 ‘‘(5) INTEREST RATE AND REPAYMENT PE4 RIOD.—Any draw on a line of credit under this sub5 section shall—

6 ‘‘(A) accrue, beginning on the date the

7 draw is made, interest at a rate equal to the

8 current (as of the date the draw is made) mar9 ket yield on outstanding, marketable obligations

10 of the United States with maturities of 30

11 years; and

12 ‘‘(B) be repaid within a period of not more

13 than 30 years.

14 ‘‘(6) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE APPORTION15 MENT.—Funds made available to States to carry out

16 this subsection shall be in addition to funds appor17 tioned to States under section 104 of title 23, Unit18 ed States Code.

19 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, terms

20 ‘border State’ and ‘border region’ have the meaning

21 such terms have under section 3 of the Border In22 frastructure Safety and Congestion Relief Act of

23 1996.’’.
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1 SEC. 7. RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT

2 PROGRAM.

3 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro4 vide assistance for freight rail projects in border States

5 that benefit international trade and relieve highways of in6 creased traffic resulting from NAFTA.

7 (b) ISSUANCE OF OBLIGATIONS.—The Secretary

8 shall issue to the Secretary of the Treasury notes or other

9 obligations pursuant to section 512 of the Railroad Revi10 talization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C.

11 832), in such amounts, and at such times, as may be nec12 essary to—

13 (1) pay any amounts required pursuant to the

14 guarantee of the principal amount of an obligation

15 under section 511 of such Act (45 U.S.C. 831) for

16 any eligible freight rail project described in sub17 section (c) during the period that the guaranteed ob18 ligation is outstanding; and

19 (2) during the period referred to in paragraph

20 (1), meet the applicable requirements of this section

21 and sections 511 and 513 of such Act (45 U.S.C.

22 832 and 833).
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1 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—Assistance provided under this

2 section shall be limited to those freight rail projects lo3 cated in the United States that provide intermodal connec4 tions that enhance cross-border traffic in the border re5 gion.

6 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of law, the aggregate unpaid principal amounts of ob8 ligations that may be guaranteed by the Secretary under

9 this section may not exceed $100,000,000 during any of

10 fiscal years 1999 through 2002.

11 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

12 are authorized to be appropriated to make loan guarantees

13 under this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years

14 1999 through 2002.

15 SEC. 8. REPORT.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annually sub17 mit to Congress and the Governor of each border State

18 a report concerning—

19 (1) the volume and nature of international com20 mercial vehicle traffic crossing the border between

21 the United States and Mexico; and

22 (2)(A) the number of international commercial

23 vehicle inspections conducted by each border State

24 at each United States port of entry; and
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1 (B) the rate of out-of-service violations of inter2 national commercial vehicles found through the in3 spections.

4 (b) INFORMATION PROVIDED BY UNITED STATES

5 CUSTOMS SERVICE.—For the purpose of preparing each

6 report under subsection (a)(1), the Commissioner of Cus7 toms shall provide to the Secretary such information de8 scribed in subsection (a)(1) as the Commissioner has

9 available.

10 SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

11 It is the sense of Congress that the programs author12 ized under this Act should be fully financed in a budget

13 neutral manner by offsetting receipts derived from cus14 toms duties and fees.

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