I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5871 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to make certain natural infrastructure 
projects eligible for surface transportation block grant funding, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2020 
Mr. MALINOWSKI (for himself, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, and Mr. 
SIRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to make certain 
natural infrastructure projects eligible for surface trans-
portation block grant funding, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Natural Infrastructure 
and Resilience Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESILIENCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a) of title 23, United 
States Code, is amended— 
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(1) by redesignating paragraphs (17) through 
(34) as paragraphs (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), 
(25), (26), (27), (28), (29), (30), (31), (32), (33), 
(34), and (35), respectively; 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (16) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(17) NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 
‘natural infrastructure’ means infrastructure that 
uses, restores, or emulates natural ecological proc-
esses and— 
‘‘(A) is created through the action of nat-
ural physical, geological, biological, and chem-
ical processes over time; 
‘‘(B) is created by human design, engineer-
ing, and construction to emulate or act in con-
cert with natural processes; or 
‘‘(C) involves the use of plants, soils, and 
other natural features, including through the 
creation, restoration, or preservation of vege-
tated areas using materials appropriate to the 
region to manage stormwater and runoff, to at-
tenuate flooding and storm surges, and for 
other related purposes.’’; 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (23) (as so re-
designated) the following: 
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‘‘(24) RESILIENCE.—The term ‘resilience’, with 
respect to a project, means a project with the ability 
to anticipate, prepare for, or adapt to conditions or 
withstand, respond to, or recover rapidly from dis-
ruptions, including the ability— 
‘‘(A)(i) to resist hazards or withstand im-
pacts from weather events and natural disas-
ters; or 
‘‘(ii) to reduce the magnitude, duration, or 
impact of a disruptive weather event or natural 
disaster to a project; and 
‘‘(B) to have the absorptive capacity, 
adaptive capacity, and recoverability to decrease 
project vulnerability to weather events or other 
natural disasters.’’; and 
(4) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (32) (as 
so redesignated)— 
(A) by striking the period at the end and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘through the implementa-
tion’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘through— 
‘‘(i) the implementation’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) the consideration of incorpor-
ating natural infrastructure.’’. 
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(b) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BLOCK GRANT PRO-
GRAM.—Section 133(b) of title 23, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 
(15) as paragraphs (5) through (16), respectively; 
and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(4) Projects that use natural infrastructure 
alone or in combination with other eligible projects 
to enhance resilience of a transportation facility oth-
erwise eligible for assistance under this section.’’. 
Æ 
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