GRACE Act
Bill: S.1223 | Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John (R-TX)
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Giving Relief to American Communities in Emergencies Act or the GRACE Act
This bill extends authority through FY2022 for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to distribute formula funding for certain programs using the 2000 Census for areas that lost their urbanized area designation because their population fell below 50,000 after the 2000 census as a result of a major disaster.
Upon request by a state in which an urbanized area that experiences a disaster-related population decrease is located, DOT may elect for purposes of the public transportation emergency relief program to (1) use the population of such area, as determined in the decennial census before the most recent decennial census; and (2) continue to treat the area as an urbanized area.

To revise the treatment of urbanized areas experiencing population 
                  changes following a major disaster.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Giving Relief to American 
Communities in Emergencies Act'' or the ``GRACE Act''.

SEC. 2. URBANIZED AREAS.

    (a) Extension of Treatment of Urbanized Areas.--Section 21101 of 
division B of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-123; 
132 Stat. 103) is amended by striking ``and 2020'' and inserting 
``2020, 2021, and 2022''.
    (b) Census Discretion.--Section 5324 of title 49, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Census Discretion.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Disaster-related population decrease.--The 
                term `disaster-related population decrease', with 
                respect to an urbanized area, means that--
                            ``(i) the population of the urbanized area 
                        decreases to be less than 50,000 individuals, 
                        as determined in a decennial census after the 
                        decennial census in which the area was 
                        designated as an urbanized area; and
                            ``(ii) the decrease described in clause (i) 
                        is a result of a major disaster declared by the 
                        President under section 401 of the Robert T. 
                        Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
                        Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170).
                    ``(B) Urbanized area.--The term `urbanized area' 
                means an area designated in a decennial census as an 
                urbanized area by the Secretary of Commerce.
            ``(2) Election.--On request by the Governor of a State in 
        which an urbanized area that experiences a disaster-related 
        population decrease is located, the Secretary may elect for the 
        purposes of this chapter, including for purposes of making 
        apportionments under this chapter--
                    ``(A) to use the population of the urbanized area, 
                as determined in the decennial census before the most 
                recent decennial census; and
                    ``(B) to continue to treat the area as an urbanized 
                area.''.
                                 <all>