Future of Freight Mobility Act of 2021
Bill: S.1765 | Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. (R-OK)
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Future of Freight Mobility Act of 2021
This bill makes the project on Marine Highway Corridor M-40 in Arkansas and Oklahoma on the Arkansas, Verdigris, and White Rivers eligible for funding through certain federal-aid highway programs if the Department of Transportation determines that the project is functionally connected to the National Highway Freight Network and is likely to reduce on-road mobile source emissions.

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide greater flexibility 
      for multimodal freight improvements, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Future of Freight Mobility Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the national movement of freight is critical to the 
        economic growth of the United States, transporting 
        $1,240,000,000,000 in goods each year, accounting for nearly 6 
        percent of annual gross domestic product in the United States;
            (2) multimodal movement of freight, via road, air, rail and 
        water, is critical to the national competitiveness of the 
        United States, supporting every sector of the United States 
        economy by employing a cohesive network to both distribute 
        goods around the country and deliver exports of the United 
        States to the rest of the world;
            (3) the United States inland waterways system moves more 
        than 500,000,000,000 tons of waterborne cargo every year, 
        valued at over $130,000,000,000, and sustains over 65,000 jobs;
            (4) the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System 
        (referred to in this Act as the ``MKARNS'') moves more than 
        $4,000,000,000 in critical commodities every year and supports 
        more than 56,000 jobs, driving economic growth and efficiency 
        for a 12-State region consisting of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, 
        Texas, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, 
        North Dakota, Missouri, and Idaho;
            (5) Congress authorized the Corps of Engineers to deepen 
        the MKARNS from 9 feet to 12 feet in 2003, and approximately 90 
        percent of the MKARNS is already 12 feet deep; and
            (6) in 2015, the Maritime Administration--
                    (A) designated the MKARNS as Marine Highway 
                Corridor M-40; and
                    (B) changed the status of the MKARNS from a 
                moderate to high-use waterway after waterborne commerce 
                increased.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY PROGRAM.

    (a) Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects.--Section 
117(d)(1)(A) of title 23, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in clause (iii)(II), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (iv), by striking ``and'' at the end and 
        inserting ``or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(v) a project on Marine Highway Corridor 
                        M-40 in Arkansas and Oklahoma on the Arkansas, 
                        Verdigris, and White Rivers, if the Secretary 
                        determines that the project--
                                    ``(I) is functionally connected to 
                                the National Highway Freight Network; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) is likely to reduce on-road 
                                mobile source emissions; and''.
    (b) Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.--
Section 149(b) of title 23, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (8)(B), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(10) if the project is a project on Marine Highway 
        Corridor M-40 in Arkansas and Oklahoma on the Arkansas, 
        Verdigris, and White Rivers that--
                    ``(A) is functionally connected to the Federal-aid 
                highway system; and
                    ``(B) the Secretary determines is likely to 
                contribute to the attainment or maintenance of a 
                national ambient air quality standard.''.
    (c) National Highway Freight Program.--Section 167(i)(5)(B) of 
title 23, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) on Marine Highway Corridor M-40 in 
                        Arkansas and Oklahoma on the Arkansas, 
                        Verdigris, and White Rivers, if the Secretary 
                        determines that the project--
                                    ``(I) is functionally connected to 
                                the National Highway Freight Network; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) is likely to reduce on-road 
                                mobile source emissions.''.
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