GREEN Streets Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 431 To amend title 23, United States Code, to require transportation planners to consider projects and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 24, 2021 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. CARPER, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to require transpor- tation planners to consider projects and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 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 ‘‘Generating Resilient, 4 Environmentally Exceptional National Streets Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘GREEN Streets Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 431 IS SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF PROJECTS AND STRATEGIES 1 TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS. 2 (a) NATIONAL GOALS AND PERFORMANCE MANAGE- 3 MENT MEASURES.—Section 150 of title 23, United States 4 Code, is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (b)— 6 (A) by redesignating paragraph (7) as 7 paragraph (8); and 8 (B) by inserting after paragraph (6) the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(7) COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE.—To re- 11 duce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emis- 12 sions and improve the resilience of the transpor- 13 tation system.’’; 14 (2) in subsection (c)— 15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 16 (i) by striking the paragraph designa- 17 tion and all that follows through ‘‘Not 18 later’’ and inserting the following: 19 ‘‘(1) RULEMAKING.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later’’; and 21 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(B) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall peri- 24 odically update the rulemaking promulgated 25 under subparagraph (A) as necessary, including 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 431 IS to implement the amendments made to this sec- 1 tion by the GREEN Streets Act.’’; 2 (B) in paragraph (5)— 3 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 5 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 6 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 7 and’’; and 8 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(C) transit accessibility (as defined in sec- 11 tion 5326(a) of title 49); 12 ‘‘(D) transit stop distance (as defined in 13 section 5326(a) of title 49); and 14 ‘‘(E) transit mode share (as defined in sec- 15 tion 5326(a) of title 49).’’; and 16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(7) GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ON PUBLIC 18 ROADS.—For the purpose of carrying out section 19 119(f)(3), the Secretary shall establish— 20 ‘‘(A) minimum standards for States to use 21 in decreasing per capita vehicle miles traveled 22 on public roads, including through— 23 ‘‘(i) alignment of zoning and land use 24 policy and planning; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 431 IS ‘‘(ii) investment in active and safe 1 transportation infrastructure, such as side- 2 walks, trails, and bike lanes; and 3 ‘‘(iii) public transit; 4 ‘‘(B) minimum standards for States to use 5 in improving the resilience of public roads; 6 ‘‘(C) in consultation with the Adminis- 7 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 8 minimum standards for the reduction of green- 9 house gas emissions on public roads, with the 10 goal of achieving net-zero emissions; and 11 ‘‘(D) measures for States to use to as- 12 sess— 13 ‘‘(i) carbon dioxide emissions on pub- 14 lic roads; and 15 ‘‘(ii) any other greenhouse gas emis- 16 sions on public roads, as determined to be 17 appropriate by the Secretary.’’; and 18 (3) in subsection (d)(1)— 19 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (c), each State 20 shall set’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)(A), 21 and not later than 1 year after each update of 22 that rulemaking under subsection (c)(1)(B), 23 each State shall set or update, as applicable,’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 431 IS (B) by striking ‘‘and (6)’’ and inserting 1 ‘‘(6), and (7)’’. 2 (b) METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.— 3 (1) FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS.—Section 134(h) 4 of title 23, United States Code, is amended— 5 (A) in paragraph (1)— 6 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 7 (F) through (J) as subparagraphs (H) 8 through (L), respectively; and 9 (ii) by inserting after subparagraph 10 (E) the following: 11 ‘‘(F) reduce carbon dioxide and other 12 greenhouse gas emissions; 13 ‘‘(G) decrease per capita vehicle miles trav- 14 eled;’’; and 15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(4) ANALYSIS OF PROJECTS THAT INCREASE 17 TRAFFIC CAPACITY.—In furtherance of the planning 18 goals described in subparagraphs (F) and (G) of 19 paragraph (1), a metropolitan planning organization 20 shall conduct and publish an analysis of the impact 21 on per capita vehicle miles traveled, mobile source 22 greenhouse gas emissions, and non-single-occupancy- 23 vehicle trips, including trips by bicycle, pedestrian 24 travel, public transportation, and passenger rail, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 431 IS prior to approval of each project within the metro- 1 politan planning area that— 2 ‘‘(A) uses funds made available under this 3 title to increase traffic capacity, including— 4 ‘‘(i) by adding new travel lanes, in- 5 cluding on an existing road; or 6 ‘‘(ii) by converting shoulder lanes into 7 new travel lanes; and 8 ‘‘(B) is projected to receive not less than 9 $25,000,000 of Federal funds made available 10 under this title.’’. 11 (2) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.—Section 12 5303(h)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is 13 amended— 14 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 15 through (I) as subparagraphs (H) through (K), 16 respectively; and 17 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 18 the following: 19 ‘‘(F) reduce carbon dioxide and other 20 greenhouse gas emissions; 21 ‘‘(G) decrease per capita vehicle miles trav- 22 eled;’’. 23 (c) STATEWIDE AND NONMETROPOLITAN TRANSPOR- 24 TATION PLANNING.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 431 IS (1) FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS.—Section 135(d) 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended— 2 (A) in paragraph (1)— 3 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 4 (F) through (J) as subparagraphs (H) 5 through (L), respectively; and 6 (ii) by inserting after subparagraph 7 (E) the following: 8 ‘‘(F) reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse 9 gas emissions; 10 ‘‘(G) decrease per capita vehicle miles trav- 11 eled;’’; and 12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(4) ANALYSIS OF PROJECTS THAT INCREASE 14 TRAFFIC CAPACITY.—In furtherance of the planning 15 goals described in subparagraphs (F) and (G) of 16 paragraph (1), a State shall conduct and publish an 17 analysis of the impact on per capita vehicle miles 18 traveled, mobile source greenhouse gas emissions, 19 and non-single-occupancy-vehicle trips, including 20 trips by bicycle, pedestrian travel, public transpor- 21 tation, and passenger rail, prior to approval of each 22 project within the State that— 23 ‘‘(A) uses funds made available under this 24 title to increase traffic capacity, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 431 IS ‘‘(i) by adding new travel lanes, in- 1 cluding on an existing road; or 2 ‘‘(ii) by converting shoulder lanes into 3 new travel lanes; and 4 ‘‘(B) is projected to receive not less than 5 $25,000,000 of Federal funds made available 6 under this title.’’. 7 (2) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.—Section 8 5304(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is 9 amended— 10 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 11 through (I) as subparagraphs (H) through (K), 12 respectively; and 13 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 14 the following: 15 ‘‘(F) reduce carbon dioxide and other 16 greenhouse gas emissions; 17 ‘‘(G) decrease per capita vehicle miles trav- 18 eled;’’. 19 (d) NATIONAL HIGHWAY PERFORMANCE PRO- 20 GRAM.—Section 119(f) of title 23, United States Code, is 21 amended— 22 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 23 ‘‘CONDITIONS’’ and inserting ‘‘CONDITIONS; GREEN- 24 HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ON PUBLIC ROADS’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 431 IS (2) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘(3) GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ON PUBLIC 2 ROADS.— 3 ‘‘(A) PENALTY.— 4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 5 (ii), if a State reports, in a performance 6 target report under section 150(e), that 7 the State has not achieved the targets of 8 the State for performance measures de- 9 scribed in section 150(d) pertaining to the 10 minimum standards for public roads estab- 11 lished by the Secretary under section 12 150(c)(7), the State shall be required, dur- 13 ing the following fiscal year— 14 ‘‘(I) to obligate, from the 15 amounts apportioned to the State 16 under section 104(b)(1), an amount 17 that is not less than the amount of 18 funds apportioned to the State for fis- 19 cal year 2009 under the Interstate 20 maintenance program for the purpose 21 of achieving the targets through 22 projects on Federal-aid highways; and 23 ‘‘(II) to obligate, from the 24 amounts apportioned to the State 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 431 IS under section 104(b)(2) (other than 1 amounts suballocated to metropolitan 2 areas and other areas of the State 3 under section 133(d)), an amount 4 equal to 10 percent of the amount of 5 funds apportioned to the State for fis- 6 cal year 2009 under the Interstate 7 maintenance program for the purpose 8 of achieving the targets through 9 projects on Federal-aid highways. 10 ‘‘(ii) INCREASE.—Each fiscal year 11 after the date of enactment of this para- 12 graph, the amount required to be obligated 13 under clause (i)(I) shall be increased by 2 14 percent over the amount required to be ob- 15 ligated in the previous fiscal year. 16 ‘‘(B) RESTORATION.—The obligation re- 17 quirement in subparagraph (A)(i)(I) for a fiscal 18 year shall remain in effect for each subsequent 19 fiscal year until the date on which the Secretary 20 determines that the State has achieved the tar- 21 gets of the State for performance measures de- 22 scribed in section 150(d) pertaining to the min- 23 imum standards for public roads established by 24 the Secretary under section 150(c)(7).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 431 IS (e) TRANSIT ACCESSIBILITY.— 1 (1) TRANSIT ACCESS.—Section 5326 of title 49, 2 United States Code, is amended— 3 (A) in the section heading, by inserting 4 ‘‘and accessibility’’ after ‘‘manage- 5 ment’’; 6 (B) in subsection (a)— 7 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 8 and (3) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respec- 9 tively; and 10 (ii) by inserting after paragraph (1) 11 the following: 12 ‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en- 13 tity’ means— 14 ‘‘(A) any metropolitan planning area with 15 a population of not fewer than 250,000 individ- 16 uals on the date of enactment of the GREEN 17 Streets Act; and 18 ‘‘(B) any State in which there exists a 19 metropolitan planning area with a population of 20 not fewer than 250,000 individuals on the date 21 of enactment of the GREEN Streets Act. 22 ‘‘(3) TRANSIT ACCESSIBILITY.—The term ‘tran- 23 sit accessibility’ means the share of jobs, health care 24 facilities, grocery stores and other food suppliers, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 431 IS schools, and other destinations accessible by public 1 transportation in any 45-minute period.’’; 2 (C) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(6) TRANSIT MODE SHARE.—The term ‘transit 4 mode share’ means the percentage of trips taken by 5 public transportation for both commuting and non- 6 commuting trips. 7 ‘‘(7) TRANSIT STOP DISTANCE.—The term 8 ‘transit stop distance’ means the average distance by 9 census block to the nearest transit stop, passenger 10 station, or terminal providing regularly scheduled 11 service.’’; 12 (D) by redesignating subsections (c) and 13 (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 14 (E) by inserting after subsection (b) the 15 following: 16 ‘‘(c) TRANSIT ACCESS.— 17 ‘‘(1) STANDARDS AND PERFORMANCE MEAS- 18 URES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of en- 19 actment of the GREEN Streets Act, the Secretary 20 shall establish national transit access standards and 21 performance measures for— 22 ‘‘(A) transit accessibility; 23 ‘‘(B) transit stop distance; and 24 ‘‘(C) transit mode share. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S431.IS S431 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 431 IS ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE TARGETS AND INITIAL RE- 1 PORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date on 2 which the Secretary establishes the standards and 3 performance measures under paragraph (1), the Sec- 4 retary shall— 5 ‘‘(A) require each covered entity to— 6 ‘‘(i) establish targets for the covered 7 entity relating to each of the standards 8 and performance measures described in 9 paragraph (1); and 10 ‘‘(ii) submit to the Secretary a report 11 describing— 12 ‘‘(I) the performance of the cov- 13 ered entity with respect to each of the 14 standards and performance measures 15 described in paragraph (1); and 16 ‘‘(II) by functional classification, 17 the share of housing units and road- 18 ways in the covered entity that have— 19 ‘‘(aa) sidewalks; 20 ‘‘(bb) crosswalks; 21 ‘‘(cc) dedicated bike lanes; 22 or 23 ‘‘(dd) other forms of dedi- 24 cated nonmotorized facilities; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 S [Text truncated for display. 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