Title: Capital Investment Grant Program Improvement Act of 2020
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Capital Investment Grant Program Improvement Act of 2020
This bill revises and extends through FY2025 the fixed guideway capital investment grant program.
Specifically, the bill (1) increases funding for the program; (2) revises how the Department of Transportation (DOT) evaluates and rates new fixed guideway capital projects under the program based upon, among other things, a consideration of inoperability; and (3) directs DOT to report on financing and technical barriers to the construction and operation of fixed guideway transportation projects with a total estimated capital cost of not more than $500,000 in small urbanized and rural areas.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3387 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3387

  To increase funding for the Capital Investment Grant program of the 
        Federal Transit Administration, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 4, 2020

  Ms. Hassan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To increase funding for the Capital Investment Grant program of the 
        Federal Transit Administration, 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 ``Capital Investment Grant Program 
Improvement Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 5338(d) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Federal Public Transportation Act of 
        2015, $2,301,785,760'' and inserting the following: ``Federal 
        Public Transportation Act of 2015--
                    ``(A) $2,301,785,760''; and
            (2) by striking the period at the end and inserting the 
        following: ``; and
                    ``(B) $3,300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 
                through 2025.''.
    (b) Consideration of Interoperability.--Section 5309(g)(2) of title 
49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Consideration of interoperability.--
                            ``(i) Definitions.--In this subparagraph--
                                    ``(I) the terms `commuter rail 
                                passenger transportation' and 
                                `intercity rail passenger 
                                transportation' have the meanings given 
                                those terms in section 24102; and
                                    ``(II) the term `small urbanized 
                                area' means an urbanized area with a 
                                population of less than 350,000 people.
                            ``(ii) Consideration of interoperability.--
                        A new fixed guideway capital project that 
                        receives a medium-low rating for the project 
                        justification criteria under subsection 
                        (d)(2)(A)(iii) shall nonetheless be eligible 
                        for an overall rating of medium under 
                        subparagraph (A) of this paragraph if the 
                        Secretary determines that the project would 
                        connect a small urbanized area to, and be 
                        interoperable with, an existing (as of the date 
                        of the grant application) intercity rail 
                        passenger transportation network, commuter rail 
                        passenger transportation network, or rail fixed 
                        guideway public transportation system located 
                        within a 100-mile radius of a terminus of the 
                        project.''.
    (c) Report on Small-Scale Fixed Guideway Projects.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
                    (A) the term ``rural area'' has the meaning given 
                the term in section 5302 of title 49, United States 
                Code; and
                    (B) the term ``small urbanized area'' has the 
                meaning given the term in section 5309(r) of title 49, 
                United States Code, as added by subsection (b).
            (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 
        issue a report on financing and technical barriers to the 
        construction and operation of fixed guideway transportation 
        projects with a total estimated capital cost of not more than 
        $500,000 in small urbanized areas and rural areas.
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