a Federal facility located in the United States that
is used to enter the United States from Mexico.
(4) MEXICAN
BORDER
STATE.—The term
‘‘Mexican border State’’ means California, Arizona,
New Mexico, and Texas.
(5) MINOR MEXICAN BORDER CROSSING FACIL-
ITY.—The term ‘‘minor Mexican border crossing fa-
cility’’ means a Mexican border crossing facility used
by less than 150,000 northbound commercial motor
vehicles in a calendar year.
(6) NAFTA.—The term ‘‘NAFTA’’ means the
North American Free Trade Agreement.
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Transportation.
SEC. 4. DIRECT FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR BORDER CON-
STRUCTION AND CONGESTION RELIEF.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants
under subsections (b) and (c) to eligible recipients that
submit to the Secretary an application that demonstrates
need, due to increased traffic resulting from the implemen-
tation of NAFTA, for assistance in carrying out transpor-
tation projects that are necessary to relieve traffic conges-
tion and improve enforcement of motor carrier safety laws.
(b) GRANTS FOR CONNECTORS TO MEXICAN BORDER
CROSSING FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall make grants
to Mexican border States and units of general purpose
local government in Mexican border States for the pur-
poses of—
(1) connecting the National Highway System
designated under section 103(b) of title 23, United
States Code, with Mexican border crossing facilities;
and
(2) upgrading connectors described in para-
graph (1) that are in existence as of the date of the
grant.
(c) GRANTS FOR COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE EN-
FORCEMENT
FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall make
grants to Mexican border States to construct, operate, and
maintain commercial motor vehicle enforcement facilities.
(d) LOCATION OF PROJECTS.—All projects carried
out using amounts from grants made available under this
section shall be located in the United States and within
60 miles of the border of the United States and Mexico,
except as specifically approved by the Secretary.
(e) APPORTIONMENT OF AMOUNTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall appor-
tion the amounts appropriated for a fiscal year for
making grants under this section among the Mexi-
can border States as follows:
(A) 90 percent in the ratio which the num-
ber of major Mexican border crossing facilities
in each Mexican border State bears to the total
number of major Mexican border crossing facili-
ties in all Mexican border States, as determined
by the Secretary under paragraph (2).
(B) 10 percent in the ratio which the num-
ber of minor Mexican border crossing facilities
in each Mexican border State bears to the total
number of minor Mexican border crossing facili-
ties in all Mexican border States, as determined
by the Secretary under paragraph (2).
(2) DETERMINATIONS.—The Secretary shall
make each determination required by paragraph (1)
concerning the number of commercial motor vehicles
using a Mexican border crossing facility on an an-
nual basis using the most recent calendar year infor-
mation that can be obtained from the United States
Customs Service.
(f) COST SHARING.—A grant under this section shall
be used to pay the Federal share of the cost of a project.
The Federal share shall be 80 percent.
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1998 through 2003.
SEC. 5. BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATIVE FINANC-
ING.
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—
(1) to encourage the establishment and oper-
ation of State infrastructure banks in accordance
with section 350 of the National Highway System
Designation Act of 1995 (109 Stat. 618; 23 U.S.C.
101 note); and
(2) to advance transportation infrastructure
projects supporting international trade and com-
merce.
(b) FEDERAL LINE OF CREDIT.—Section 350 of the
National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 (109
Stat. 618; 23 U.S.C. 101 note) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection
(m); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (k) the follow-
ing:
‘‘(l) FEDERAL LINE OF CREDIT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be
appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury
$98,000,000 to be used by the Secretary to enter
into agreements with Mexican border States that
have established infrastructure banks under this sec-
tion to make lines of credit available to the States.
‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The line of credit available to
each participating Mexican border State shall be
equal to the product of—
‘‘(A) the amount appropriated under para-
graph (1); and
‘‘(B) the quotient obtained by dividing—
‘‘(i) the contributions of the Mexican
border State to the Highway Trust Fund
during the preceding fiscal year; and
‘‘(ii) the total contributions of all par-
ticipating Mexican border States with in-
frastructure banks to the Highway Trust
Fund during the preceding fiscal year.
‘‘(3) USE OF LINE OF CREDIT.—The line of
credit under this subsection shall be available to pro-
vide Federal support in accordance with this sub-
section to a State infrastructure bank engaged in
providing credit enhancement for projects to con-
struct Federal-aid highways which will support a sig-
nificant amount of traffic resulting from NAFTA.
‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A line of credit under
this subsection may be drawn on only—
‘‘(i) with respect to a completed
project described in paragraph (3) that is
receiving credit enhancement through an
infrastructure bank;
‘‘(ii) when the cash balance available
in the infrastructure bank is insufficient to
pay a claim for payment relating to the
project; and
‘‘(iii) when all subsequent revenues of
the project have been pledged to the infra-
structure bank.
‘‘(B) THIRD PARTY CREDITOR RIGHTS.—
No third party creditor of a public or private
entity carrying out a project eligible for assist-
ance from an infrastructure bank shall have
any right against the Federal Government with
respect to a line of credit under this subsection,
including any guarantee that the proceeds of a
line of credit will be available for the payment
of any particular cost of the public or private
entity that may be financed under this sub-
section.
‘‘(5) INTEREST
RATE
AND
REPAYMENT
PE-
RIOD.—Any draw on a line of credit under this sub-
section shall—
‘‘(A) accrue, beginning on the date the
draw is made, interest at a rate equal to the