Climate Resilient Transportation Infrastructure Study Act
Bill: H.R.740 | Sponsor: Rep. Brownley, Julia (D-CA)
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Climate Resilient Transportation Infrastructure Study Act
This bill requires the Department of Transportation to enter into an agreement with the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies to conduct a study of the actions needed to ensure that federal agencies are taking into account current and future climate conditions in planning, designing, building, operating, maintaining, investing in, and upgrading any federally funded transportation infrastructure investments.

To require the Secretary of Transportation to solicit a study on 
    climate resilient transportation infrastructure, 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 ``Climate Resilient Transportation 
Infrastructure Study Act''.

SEC. 2. CLIMATE RESILIENT TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE STUDY.

    (a) Climate Resilient Transportation Infrastructure Study.--Not 
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Transportation shall enter into an agreement with the 
Transportation Research Board of the National Academies to conduct a 
study of the actions needed to ensure that Federal agencies are taking 
into account current and future climate conditions in planning, 
designing, building, operating, maintaining, investing in, and 
upgrading any federally funded transportation infrastructure 
investments.
    (b) Methodologies.--In conducting the study, the Transportation 
Research Board shall build on the methodologies examined and 
recommended in--
            (1) the 2018 report issued the American Society of Civil 
        Engineers, titled ``Climate-Resilient Infrastructure: Adaptive 
        Design and Risk Management''; and
            (2) the report issued by the California Climate-Safe 
        Infrastructure Working Group, titled ``Paying it Forward: The 
        Path Toward Climate-Safe Infrastructure in California''.
    (c) Contents of Study.--The study shall include specific 
recommendations regarding the following:
            (1) Integrating scientific knowledge of projected climate 
        change impacts, and other relevant data and information, into 
        Federal infrastructure planning, design, engineering, 
        construction, operation and maintenance.
            (2) Addressing critical information gaps and challenges.
            (3) Financing options to help fund climate-resilient 
        infrastructure.
            (4) A platform or process to facilitate communication 
        between climate scientists and other experts with 
        infrastructure planners, engineers and other relevant experts.
            (5) A stakeholder process to engage with representatives of 
        State, local, tribal and community groups.
            (6) A platform for tracking Federal funding of climate-
        resilient infrastructure.
            (7) Labor and workforce needs to implement climate-
        resilient transportation infrastructure projects including new 
        and emerging skills, training programs, competencies and 
        recognized postsecondary credentials that may be required to 
        adequately equip the workforce.
            (8) Outlining how Federal infrastructure planning, design, 
        engineering, construction, operation, and maintenance impact 
        the environment and public health of disproportionately exposed 
        communities. For purposes of this paragraph, the term 
        ``disproportionately exposed communities'' means a community in 
        which climate change, pollution, or environmental destruction 
        have exacerbated systemic racial, regional, social, 
        environmental, and economic injustices by disproportionately 
        affecting indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant 
        communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural 
        communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, 
        people experiencing homelessness, people with disabilities, 
        people who are incarcerated, or youth.
    (d) Considerations.--In carrying out the study, the Transportation 
Research Board shall determine the need for information related to 
climate resilient transportation infrastructure by considering--
            (1) the current informational and institutional barriers to 
        integrating projected infrastructure risks posed by climate 
        change into federal infrastructure planning, design, 
        engineering, construction, operation and maintenance;
            (2) the critical information needed by engineers, planners 
        and those charged with infrastructure upgrades and maintenance 
        to better incorporate climate change risks and impacts over the 
        lifetime of projects;
            (3) how to select an appropriate, adaptive engineering 
        design for a range of future climate scenarios as related to 
        infrastructure planning and investment;
            (4) how to incentivize and incorporate systems thinking 
        into engineering design to maximize the benefits of multiple 
        natural functions and emissions reduction, as well as regional 
        planning;
            (5) how to take account of the risks of cascading 
        infrastructure failures and develop more holistic approaches to 
        evaluating and mitigating climate risks;
            (6) how to ensure that investments in infrastructure 
        resilience benefit all communities, including communities of 
        color, low-income communities and tribal communities that face 
        a disproportionate risk from climate change and in many cases 
        have experienced long-standing unmet needs and underinvestment 
        in critical infrastructure;
            (7) how to incorporate capital assessment and planning 
        training and techniques, including a range of financing options 
        to help local and State governments plan for and provide 
        matching funds;
            (8) how federal agencies can track and monitor federally 
        funded resilient infrastructure in a coordinated fashion to 
        help build the understanding of the cost-benefit of resilient 
        infrastructure and to build the capacity for implementing 
        resilient infrastructure; and
            (9) the occupations, skillsets, training programs, 
        competencies and recognized postsecondary credentials that will 
        be needed to implement such climate-resilient transportation 
        infrastructure projects, and how to ensure that any new jobs 
        created by such projects ensure that priority hiring 
        considerations are given to individuals facing barriers to 
        employment, communities of color, low-income communities and 
        tribal communities that face a disproportionate risk from 
        climate change and have been excluded from job opportunities.
    (e) Consultation.--In carrying out the study, the Transportation 
Research Board--
            (1) shall convene and consult with a panel of national 
        experts, including operators and users of Federal 
        transportation infrastructure and private sector stakeholders; 
        and
            (2) is encouraged to consult with--
                    (A) representatives from the thirteen federal 
                agencies that comprise the United States Global Change 
                Research Program;
                    (B) representatives from the Department of the 
                Treasury;
                    (C) professional engineers with relevant expertise 
                in infrastructure design;
                    (D) scientists from the National Academies with 
                relevant expertise;
                    (E) scientists, social scientists and experts from 
                academic and research institutions who have expertise 
                in climate change projections and impacts; engineering; 
                architecture; or other relevant areas of expertise;
                    (F) licensed architects with relevant experience in 
                infrastructure design;
                    (G) certified planners;
                    (H) representatives of State, local and Tribal 
                governments;
                    (I) representatives of environmental justice 
                groups; and
                    (J) representatives of labor unions that represent 
                key trades and industries involved in infrastructure 
                projects.
    (f) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Transportation Research Board shall submit to the 
Secretary, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 
House of Representatives, and the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works of the Senate a report on the results of the study conducted 
under this section.
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