Safe Routes to School Expansion Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 386 To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to funding for certain safety projects, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 21, 2021 Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. TITUS, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. CARSON, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- ture A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to funding for certain safety projects, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Routes to School 4 Expansion Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 6 Section 148 of title 23, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a)— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 386 IH (A) in paragraph (4)(B)— 1 (i) by striking clause (xviii) and in- 2 serting the following: 3 ‘‘(xviii) Safe Routes to School infra- 4 structure related projects described in sec- 5 tion 211(e).’’; 6 (ii) in clause (xxvi) by inserting ‘‘or 7 leading pedestrian intervals’’ after ‘‘bea- 8 cons’’; 9 (iii) by redesignating clause (xxviii) as 10 clause (xxix); 11 (iv) by inserting after clause (xxvii) 12 the following: 13 ‘‘(xxviii) Installation of infrastructure 14 improvements, including sidewalks, cross- 15 walks, signage, and bus stop shelters or 16 protected waiting areas.’’; and 17 (v) in clause (xxix), as redesignated, 18 by striking ‘‘(xxvii)’’ and inserting 19 ‘‘(xxviii)’’; 20 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (10) 21 through (12) as paragraphs (11) through (13), 22 respectively; 23 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 24 following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 386 IH ‘‘(10) SAFETY PROJECT UNDER ANY OTHER 1 SECTION.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘safety 3 project under any other section’ means a 4 project carried out for the purposes of safety 5 under any section of this title other than this 6 section. 7 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘safety 8 project under any other section’ includes a 9 project, consistent with the State strategic high- 10 way safety plan, that— 11 ‘‘(i) promotes public awareness and 12 informs the public regarding highway safe- 13 ty matters (including motorcycle safety 14 and school bus stop safety); 15 ‘‘(ii) facilitates enforcement of traffic 16 safety laws; and 17 ‘‘(iii) supports Safe Routes to School 18 non-infrastructure projects, as described in 19 section 211(e).’’; and 20 (D) in paragraph (12)(A), as so redesig- 21 nated— 22 (i) in clause (ix) by striking ‘‘and’’; 23 (ii) by redesignating clause (x) as 24 clause (xi); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 386 IH (iii) by inserting after clause (ix) the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(x) State or local representatives of 3 educational agencies to address Safe 4 Routes to School and school bus safety; 5 and’’; 6 (2) in subsection (c)(1)(A) by striking ‘‘(11)’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘(12)’’; 8 (3) in subsection (d)(2)(B)(i) by striking 9 ‘‘(11)’’ and inserting ‘‘(12)’’; and 10 (4) in subsection (e) by adding at the end the 11 following: 12 ‘‘(3) FLEXIBLE FUNDING FOR SAFETY 13 PROJECTS UNDER ANY OTHER SECTION.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To advance the imple- 15 mentation of a State strategic highway plan, a 16 State may use not more than 25 percent of the 17 amounts apportioned to the State under section 18 104(b)(3) for a fiscal year to carry out safety 19 projects under any other section. 20 ‘‘(B) OTHER TRANSPORTATION AND SAFE- 21 TY PLANS.—Nothing in this paragraph requires 22 a State to revise any State process, plan, or 23 program in effect on the date of enactment of 24 this paragraph. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 386 IH ‘‘(C) EFFECT OF PARAGRAPH.— 1 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS.—A project 2 funded under this paragraph shall be sub- 3 ject to all requirements under this section 4 that apply to a highway safety improve- 5 ment project. 6 ‘‘(ii) OTHER APPORTIONED PRO- 7 GRAMS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply 8 to amounts that may be obligated for non- 9 infrastructure projects apportioned under 10 any other paragraph of section 104(b).’’. 11 SEC. 3. FEDERAL SHARE PAYABLE. 12 Section 120(c)(1) of title 23, United States Code, is 13 amended by inserting ‘‘an improvement for pedestrian or 14 bicyclist safety or safety of people with disabilities, Safe 15 Routes to School improvements,’’ after ‘‘utility poles,’’. 16 SEC. 4. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROGRAM. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title 23, United 18 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 210 the 19 following: 20 ‘‘§ 211. Safe routes to school program 21 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out a safe 22 routes to school program for the benefit of children in pri- 23 mary, middle, and high schools. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 386 IH ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program shall 1 be— 2 ‘‘(1) to enable and encourage children, includ- 3 ing those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to 4 school; 5 ‘‘(2) to make bicycling and walking to school a 6 safer and more appealing transportation alternative, 7 thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle 8 from an early age; and 9 ‘‘(3) to facilitate the planning, development, 10 and implementation of projects and activities that 11 will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consump- 12 tion, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools. 13 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts apportioned to a 14 State under paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 104(b) may 15 be used to carry out projects, programs, and other activi- 16 ties under this section. 17 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Projects, programs, and 18 activities funded under this section may be carried out by 19 eligible entities described under section 133(h)(4)(B) that 20 demonstrate an ability to meet the requirements of this 21 section. 22 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES.— 23 ‘‘(1) INFRASTRUCTURE-RELATED PROJECTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 386 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State may obligate 1 funds under this section for the planning, de- 2 sign, and construction of infrastructure-related 3 projects that will substantially improve the abil- 4 ity of students to walk and bicycle to school, in- 5 cluding sidewalk improvements, traffic calming 6 and speed reduction improvements, pedestrian 7 and bicycle crossing improvements, on-street bi- 8 cycle facilities, off-street bicycle and pedestrian 9 facilities, secure bicycle parking facilities, and 10 traffic diversion improvements in the vicinity of 11 schools. 12 ‘‘(B) LOCATION OF PROJECTS.—Infra- 13 structure-related projects under subparagraph 14 (A) may be carried out on any public road or 15 any bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail in the 16 vicinity of schools. 17 ‘‘(2) NONINFRASTRUCTURE-RELATED ACTIVI- 18 TIES.—In addition to projects described in para- 19 graph (1), a State may obligate funds under this 20 section for noninfrastructure-related activities to en- 21 courage walking and bicycling to school, including— 22 ‘‘(A) public awareness campaigns and out- 23 reach to press and community leaders; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 386 IH ‘‘(B) traffic education and enforcement in 1 the vicinity of schools; 2 ‘‘(C) student sessions on bicycle and pedes- 3 trian safety, health, and environment; 4 ‘‘(D) programs that address personal safe- 5 ty; and 6 ‘‘(E) funding for training, volunteers, and 7 managers of safe routes to school programs. 8 ‘‘(3) SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL COORDI- 9 NATOR.—Each State receiving an apportionment 10 under paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 104(b) shall 11 use a sufficient amount of the apportionment to 12 fund a full-time position of coordinator of the 13 State’s safe routes to school program. 14 ‘‘(4) RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OUTREACH.—A 15 coordinator described in paragraph (3) shall conduct 16 outreach to ensure that rural school districts in the 17 State are aware of such State’s safe routes to school 18 program and any funds authorized by this section. 19 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 20 cost of a project, program, or activity under this section 21 shall be 100 percent. 22 ‘‘(g) CLEARINGHOUSE.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 386 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall main- 1 tain a national safe routes to school clearinghouse 2 to— 3 ‘‘(A) develop information and educational 4 programs on safe routes to school; and 5 ‘‘(B) provide technical assistance and dis- 6 seminate techniques and strategies used for 7 successful safe routes to school programs. 8 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall carry out 9 this subsection using amounts authorized to be ap- 10 propriated for administrative expenses under section 11 104(a). 12 ‘‘(h) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.—Notwithstanding 13 any other provision of law, projects carried out under this 14 section shall be treated as projects on a Federal-aid high- 15 way under chapter 1 of this title. 16 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 17 definitions apply: 18 ‘‘(1) IN THE VICINITY OF SCHOOLS.—The term 19 ‘in the vicinity of schools’ means, with respect to a 20 school, the area within bicycling and walking dis- 21 tance of the school (approximately 2 miles). 22 ‘‘(2) PRIMARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOLS.— 23 The term ‘primary, middle, and high schools’ means 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 386 IH schools providing education from kindergarten 1 through twelfth grade.’’. 2 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 3 (1) REPEAL.—Section 1404 of SAFETEA–LU 4 (Public Law 109–59; 119 Stat. 1228–1230), and 5 the item relating to such section in the table of con- 6 tents in section 1(b) of such Act, are repealed. 7 (2) ANALYSIS.—The analysis for chapter 2 of 8 title 23, United States Code, is amended by insert- 9 ing after the item relating to section 210 the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘211. Safe routes to school program.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:12 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H386.IH H386 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS