National Transit Frontline Workforce Training Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2129 To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a National Transit Frontline Workforce Training Center, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2021 Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. TRONE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. BACON, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Mr. BOST) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Trans- portation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a Na- tional Transit Frontline Workforce Training Center, 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 ‘‘National Transit 4 Frontline Workforce Training Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRANSIT FRONTLINE WORKFORCE 6 TRAINING CENTER. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5314(b) of title 49, 8 United States Code, is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2129 IH (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL TRANSIT FRONTLINE WORK- 3 FORCE TRAINING CENTER.— 4 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 5 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Ad- 6 ministrator’ means the Administrator of 7 the Federal Transit Administration. 8 ‘‘(ii) CENTER.—The term ‘Center’ 9 means the National Transit Frontline 10 Workforce Training Center established 11 under subparagraph (B). 12 ‘‘(iii) HUMAN CAPITAL.—The term 13 ‘human capital’ means any knowledge, tal- 14 ent, skill, ability, experience, intelligence, 15 training, judgment, or wisdom possessed, 16 individually or collectively, by the transit 17 frontline workforce (including operations, 18 maintenance, and administrative per- 19 sonnel). 20 ‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 21 shall— 22 ‘‘(i) establish a center, to be known as 23 the ‘National Transit Frontline Workforce 24 Training Center’, to meet the needs of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2129 IH rural and urban transit system frontline 1 workforce through standards-based train- 2 ing relating to relevant maintenance and 3 operations occupations; and 4 ‘‘(ii) evaluate, and provide a grant to, 5 a nonprofit organization with demonstrated 6 capacity to develop and provide transit ca- 7 reer ladder programs through labor-man- 8 agement partnerships and apprenticeships, 9 on a nationwide basis, to carry out the du- 10 ties of the Center described in subpara- 11 graph (C). 12 ‘‘(C) DUTIES.— 13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Center, in co- 14 operation with the Administrator, transit 15 authorities, and other appropriate individ- 16 uals and entities, shall develop and carry 17 out training and educational programs for 18 public transportation employees serving in 19 the frontline workforce. 20 ‘‘(ii) TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL 21 PROGRAM INCLUSIONS.—The training and 22 educational programs developed under 23 clause (i) may include courses in recent de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2129 IH velopments, techniques, and procedures re- 1 lating to— 2 ‘‘(I) developing consensus na- 3 tional training standards, in partner- 4 ship with industry stakeholders, for 5 key frontline occupations with dem- 6 onstrated skill gaps; 7 ‘‘(II) developing national systems 8 of qualification and apprenticeship for 9 transit maintenance and operations 10 occupations; 11 ‘‘(III) establishing local, regional, 12 and statewide transit training part- 13 nerships— 14 ‘‘(aa) to identify and ad- 15 dress workforce skill gaps; and 16 ‘‘(bb) to develop skills need- 17 ed for— 18 ‘‘(AA) delivering quality 19 transit service; and 20 ‘‘(BB) supporting em- 21 ployee career advancement; 22 ‘‘(IV) developing programs for 23 the training of the frontline work- 24 force, instructors, mentors, and labor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2129 IH management partnership representa- 1 tives, in the form of classroom, hands- 2 on, on-the-job, and internet web-based 3 training, to be delivered— 4 ‘‘(aa) at a national center; 5 ‘‘(bb) regionally; or 6 ‘‘(cc) at an individual transit 7 agency; 8 ‘‘(V) developing training pro- 9 grams for skills relating to existing 10 and emerging transit technologies, 11 such as zero-emission buses; 12 ‘‘(VI) developing improved capac- 13 ity for safety, security, and emergency 14 preparedness in local transit systems 15 and the industry as a whole 16 through— 17 ‘‘(aa) developing the role of 18 the frontline workforce in estab- 19 lishing and sustaining safety cul- 20 ture and safety systems in— 21 ‘‘(AA) the industry; and 22 ‘‘(BB) individual public 23 transportation systems; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2129 IH ‘‘(bb) training to address 1 frontline workforce roles in pro- 2 moting health and safety for 3 transit workers and the riding 4 public; 5 ‘‘(VII) developing local transit 6 capacity for career pathway partner- 7 ships with schools and other commu- 8 nity organizations for recruiting and 9 training underrepresented populations 10 as successful transit employees who 11 can develop careers in the transit in- 12 dustry; and 13 ‘‘(VIII) in collaboration with the 14 Administrator, conducting and dis- 15 seminating research— 16 ‘‘(aa) to provide transit 17 workforce job projections and 18 identify training needs and gaps; 19 ‘‘(bb) to determine the most 20 cost-effective methods for transit 21 workforce training and develop- 22 ment, including return-on-invest- 23 ment analysis; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2129 IH ‘‘(cc) to identify the most ef- 1 fective methods for implementing 2 successful safety systems and a 3 positive safety culture; 4 ‘‘(dd) to promote transit 5 workforce best practices for 6 achieving cost-effective, quality, 7 safe, and reliable public transpor- 8 tation services; and 9 ‘‘(ee) to provide culturally 10 competent training and education 11 programs to all participants, re- 12 gardless of gender, sexual ori- 13 entation, or gender identity, in- 14 cluding participants with limited 15 English proficiency, diverse cul- 16 tural and ethnic backgrounds, 17 and disabilities. 18 ‘‘(D) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall 19 coordinate the activities of the Center under 20 this paragraph, to the maximum extent prac- 21 ticable, with— 22 ‘‘(i) the Office of Career, Technical, 23 and Adult Education of the Department of 24 Education; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2129 IH ‘‘(ii) the Office of Apprenticeship of 1 the Department of Labor. 2 ‘‘(E) NATIONAL TRANSIT DATABASE.—For 3 the purposes of carrying out this section, the 4 Secretary shall require the collection, through 5 the National Transit Database, on an annual 6 basis, of additional data relating to human cap- 7 ital, in accordance with such requirements re- 8 lating to the collection and definition of those 9 data as the Secretary may establish, in coordi- 10 nation with relevant transportation sector indi- 11 viduals and entities. 12 ‘‘(F) USE OF OTHER GRANT AMOUNTS FOR 13 CENTER-RELATED ACTIVITIES.— 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts 15 made available to the recipient of a grant 16 under section 5307, 5337, or 5339, the re- 17 cipient may use not more than 0.5 percent, 18 with the approval of the Secretary, to pay 19 an amount equal to not more than 80 per- 20 cent of the cost of an activity described in 21 subparagraph (C). 22 ‘‘(ii) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—A recipi- 23 ent referred to in clause (i) may use the 24 amounts described in that clause to carry 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2129 IH out an existing local education or training 1 program for public transportation employ- 2 ees supported by— 3 ‘‘(I) the Secretary; 4 ‘‘(II) the Department of Labor; 5 or 6 ‘‘(III) the Department of Edu- 7 cation.’’; 8 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or (2)’’; and 9 (3) by striking paragraph (4). 10 (b) DATA REQUIRED TO BE REPORTED IN NA- 11 TIONAL TRANSIT DATABASE.—Section 5335(c) of title 49, 12 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘relating to 13 human capital (as defined in section 5314(b)(2)(A)) or 14 physical capital’’ before the period at the end. 15 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 16 5338(c) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 17 (1) by striking ‘‘There are’’ and inserting the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is’’; and 20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL TRANSIT FRONTLINE WORK- 22 FORCE TRAINING CENTER.—There is authorized to 23 be appropriated to carry out section 5314(b)(2) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2129 IH $12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 1 2026.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2129.IH H2129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS