I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7869 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a national bridge 
replacement and improvement program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 30, 2020 
Mr. EMMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 
national bridge replacement and improvement program, 
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 ‘‘National Bridge Re-
placement and Improvement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL BRIDGE REPLACEMENT AND IMPROVE-
MENT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans-
portation shall establish a national bridge replacement and 
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improvement program (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Program’’) to assist safety improvements for high-risk 
intersections and interchanges. 
(b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the Pro-
gram, the Secretary may make grants on a competitive 
basis to covered entities. 
(c) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may 
only make a grant under the Program to assist a project 
that— 
(1) is a bridge on a Federal-aid highway that 
is eligible for funding under title 23, United States 
Code; and 
(2) will— 
(A) restore or increase the structural ca-
pacity of the bridge; 
(B) correct a major safety defect of the 
bridge; or 
(C) replace an existing bridge with a new 
bridge that— 
(i) is in the same general traffic cor-
ridor as the bridge being replaced, as de-
termined by the Secretary; and 
(ii) meets the requirements of sub-
paragraph (A) or (B). 
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(d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 
the Program, a covered entity shall submit to the Sec-
retary an application in such form, at such time, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary determines is 
appropriate. 
(e) LIMITATION.—The aggregate amount provided to 
a covered entity in a fiscal year through grants under the 
Program may not exceed 5 percent of the amount made 
available for all grants under the Program in that fiscal 
year. 
(f) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—At least 90 days be-
fore establishing the Program under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report detailing the 
selection process the Secretary shall use in making grants 
under the Program. 
(g) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘covered entity’’ means any of the following: 
(1) A State government entity. 
(2) A local government entity. 
(3) A territory of the United States. 
(4) A Tribal government. 
(5) A metropolitan planning organization. 
(6) Any entity composed of 2 or more entities 
described in paragraphs (1) through (5). 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other 
than the Mass Transit Account) to carry out the 
Program $1,000,000,000 for each fiscal year. 
(2) APPLICABILITY
OF
TITLE
23, 
UNITED 
STATES
CODE.—Funds authorized to be appro-
priated by paragraph (1) shall— 
(A) be available for obligation in the same 
manner as if those funds were apportioned 
under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, 
except that the Federal share of the cost of a 
project or activity carried out using such funds 
shall be 80 percent; and 
(B) remain available until expended and 
not be transferable. 
Æ 
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