Fair Transportation Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2177 To review equity best practices in relation to transportation funding and to reinstitute the transportation equity research program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2021 Mrs. TORRES of California (for herself, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mrs. NAPOLI- TANO, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. JACK- SON LEE, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. BUSH, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. BOWMAN, and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To review equity best practices in relation to transportation funding and to reinstitute the transportation equity re- search program. 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 ‘‘Fair Transportation 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF COVERED POPULATIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2177 IH (1) AFFORDABILITY.—The term ‘‘affordability’’ 1 means the cost-burden threshold on households by 2 income, including housing and transportation costs, 3 which may be determined by the Federal agency car- 4 rying out a specific task such as a report or guid- 5 ance. 6 (2) COVERED POPULATIONS.—The term ‘‘cov- 7 ered populations’’ means, as determined by the Fed- 8 eral agency applying such term— 9 (A) communities of color; 10 (B) low-income communities; 11 (C) individuals with disabilities; 12 (D) LGBTQ people; 13 (E) people experiencing homelessness; 14 (F) youth and elderly populations; 15 (G) formerly incarcerated individuals; 16 (H) women; and 17 (I) individuals who are members of Indian 18 tribes. 19 SEC. 3. GAO REVIEW OF EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS AT 20 STATE DEPARTMENTS OF TRANSPORTATION. 21 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 24 General of the United States shall undertake a re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2177 IH view, to the extent practicable, of the extent to which 1 State departments of transportation consider equity 2 and improve equity outcomes in the use of Federal 3 surface transportation funds at all phases of project 4 delivery, including— 5 (A) the transportation planning, project se- 6 lection, and project delivery; and 7 (B) considerations of the diverse transpor- 8 tation needs of covered populations. 9 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out the re- 10 view under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General 11 shall— 12 (A) consider relevant State department of 13 transportation practices and transportation eq- 14 uity measures and the impacts of such meas- 15 ures and practices on covered populations expe- 16 riencing differential impacts in the surface 17 transportation sector; 18 (B) evaluate, to the extent possible, wheth- 19 er any such equity measures and practices con- 20 sider the access, affordability, safety, conven- 21 ience, resilience, and reliability of transpor- 22 tation in covered populations; and 23 (C) evaluate, to the extent possible, wheth- 24 er such measures and practices consider the im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2177 IH pact of surface transportation funding on the 1 distribution of economic benefits such as from 2 job creation and receipts of Federal funding by 3 the community, of transportation in covered 4 populations. 5 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 6 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 7 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and In- 8 frastructure and the Committee on Appropriations of the 9 House of Representatives and the Committee on Environ- 10 ment and Public Works, the Committee on Commerce, 11 Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Banking, 12 Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on Ap- 13 propriations of the Senate, and make available on a pub- 14 licly accessible website, a report detailing— 15 (1) the findings based on the review in sub- 16 section (a); 17 (2) any recommendations for State departments 18 of transportation to improve equity considerations 19 and incorporate equity considerations into all phases 20 of project delivery, including the planning, bidding, 21 project design, and project selection process as well 22 as how bids are advertised and awarded, which may 23 be in the form of model legislation, best practices, or 24 guidance; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2177 IH (3) recommended actions the Secretary of 1 Transportation could take, if any, to effectively ad- 2 dress the recommendations provided under para- 3 graph (2) to improve equity considerations in the 4 surface transportation sector. 5 SEC. 4. TRANSPORTATION EQUITY RESEARCH PROGRAM. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 7 shall carry out a transportation equity research program 8 for research and demonstration activities that focus on the 9 impacts that surface transportation planning, investment, 10 and operations have on covered populations. 11 (b) ACTIVITIES.—Demonstration activities referred 12 to in subsection (a) shall include research on surface 13 transportation equity issues such as infrastructure bar- 14 riers that cut off individuals and communities from essen- 15 tial jobs and services, (including inadequate services ren- 16 dered during natural and man-made disasters), access to 17 publicly-owned and public benefit data, data gathering and 18 analyzing particularly to support the development of eq- 19 uity measures, as well as the development of strategies to 20 advance economic and community development in public 21 transportation-dependent populations. 22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 23 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 24 $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2025. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2177 IH (d) INFORMATION COLLECTION.— 1 (1) DATASETS AND DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS.—In 2 carrying out this section, the Secretary shall collect, 3 develop, use, and maintain datasets and data anal- 4 ysis tools as necessary for the development of evi- 5 dence for evaluation purposes, in support of the 6 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act 7 of 2018 (Public Law 115–435). 8 (2) APPLICATION OF CHAPTER 35 OF TITLE 9 44.—Any survey, questionnaire, or interview that the 10 Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out re- 11 porting requirements relating to this subsection, in- 12 cluding customer satisfaction assessments, shall not 13 be subject to chapter 35 of title 44, United States 14 Code. 15 SEC. 5. GAO REVIEW OF DISCRETIONARY GRANT PRO- 16 GRAMS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 18 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 19 of the United States shall submit to the Secretary of 20 Transportation, the Committee on Appropriations and 21 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 22 House of Representatives and the Committee on Environ- 23 ment and Public Works, the Committee on Appropria- 24 tions, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2177 IH Affairs, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 1 Transportation of the Senate a review of covered discre- 2 tionary grant programs, as selected by the Comptroller 3 General, to determine the extent to which the Secretary 4 is considering the needs of and awarding funding through 5 such programs to projects that serve any group or popu- 6 lation experiencing differential impacts in the transpor- 7 tation sector. 8 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Comptroller General 9 shall include as part of the review under subsection (a) 10 recommendations to the Secretary on possible means to 11 consider equity and improve equity outcomes. 12 (c) DEFINITION OF COVERED DISCRETIONARY 13 GRANT PROGRAM.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered dis- 14 cretionary grant programs’’ means discretionary grant 15 programs under title 23, United States Code, and chapter 16 53 of title 49, United States Code. 17 SEC. 6. GUIDANCE ON EQUITY IN DISBURSING FUNDING. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 20 tation shall issue guidance on how to consider equity in 21 disbursing funding, including the equity measures and 22 best practices the Secretary shall use to consider equity. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2177 IH (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In issuing guidance under 1 subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure transportation 2 equity measures, if applicable, consider— 3 (1) the impact of transportation planning, in- 4 vestment, and operations on covered populations; 5 and 6 (2) the access, affordability, safety, convenience, 7 and reliability of transportation in underserved com- 8 munities. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2177.IH H2177 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS