RAPID Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 941 To amend title 23, United States Code, to improve the transportation infra- structure finance and innovation (TIFIA) program, and for other pur- poses. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 24, 2021 Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. KAINE) 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 improve the transportation infrastructure finance and innovation (TIFIA) program, 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 ‘‘Revitalizing American 4 Priorities for Infrastructure Development Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘RAPID Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S941.IS S941 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 941 IS SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE AND 1 INNOVATION PROGRAM. 2 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 602(a)(2) of title 23, 3 United States Code, is amended— 4 (1) in subparagraph (A)(iv)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘a rating’’ and inserting 6 ‘‘an investment-grade rating’’; and 7 (B) by striking ‘‘$75,000,000’’ and insert- 8 ing ‘‘$150,000,000’’; and 9 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 10 (A) by striking ‘‘the senior debt’’ and in- 11 serting ‘‘senior debt’’; and 12 (B) by striking ‘‘credit instrument is for 13 an amount less than $75,000,000’’ and insert- 14 ing ‘‘total amount of other senior debt and the 15 Federal credit instrument is less than 16 $150,000,000’’. 17 (b) STREAMLINED APPLICATION PROCESS.—Section 18 603(f) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add- 19 ing at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL TERMS FOR EXPEDITED DE- 21 CISIONS.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 23 days after the date of enactment of this para- 24 graph, the Secretary shall implement an expe- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S941.IS S941 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 941 IS dited decision timeline for public agency bor- 1 rowers seeking secured loans that meet— 2 ‘‘(i) the terms under paragraph (2); 3 and 4 ‘‘(ii) the additional criteria described 5 in subparagraph (B). 6 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The addi- 7 tional criteria referred to in subparagraph 8 (A)(ii) are the following: 9 ‘‘(i) The secured loan is made on 10 terms and conditions that substantially 11 conform to the conventional terms and 12 conditions established by the National Sur- 13 face Transportation Innovative Finance 14 Bureau. 15 ‘‘(ii) The secured loan is rated in the 16 A category or higher. 17 ‘‘(iii) The TIFIA program share of el- 18 igible project costs is 33 percent or less. 19 ‘‘(iv) The applicant demonstrates a 20 reasonable expectation that the contracting 21 process for the project can commence by 22 not later than 90 days after the date on 23 which a Federal credit instrument is obli- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S941.IS S941 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 941 IS gated for the project under the TIFIA pro- 1 gram. 2 ‘‘(v) The project has received a cat- 3 egorical exclusion, a finding of no signifi- 4 cant impact, or a record of decision under 5 the National Environmental Policy Act of 6 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 7 ‘‘(C) WRITTEN NOTICE.—The Secretary 8 shall provide to an applicant seeking a secured 9 loan under the expedited decision process under 10 this paragraph a written notice informing the 11 applicant whether the Secretary has approved 12 or disapproved the application by not later than 13 180 days after the date on which the Secretary 14 submits to the applicant a letter indicating that 15 the National Surface Transportation Innovative 16 Finance Bureau has commenced the credit- 17 worthiness review of the project.’’. 18 (c) STATUS REPORTS.—Section 609 of title 23, 19 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 20 following: 21 ‘‘(c) STATUS REPORTS.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall publish 23 on the website for the TIFIA program— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S941.IS S941 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 941 IS ‘‘(A) on a monthly basis, a current status 1 report on all submitted letters of interest and 2 applications received for assistance under the 3 TIFIA program; and 4 ‘‘(B) on a quarterly basis, a current status 5 report on all approved applications for assist- 6 ance under the TIFIA program. 7 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—Each monthly and quar- 8 terly status report under paragraph (1) shall in- 9 clude, at a minimum, with respect to each project in- 10 cluded in the status report— 11 ‘‘(A) the name of the party submitting the 12 letter of interest or application; 13 ‘‘(B) the name of the project; 14 ‘‘(C) the date on which the letter of inter- 15 est or application was received; 16 ‘‘(D) the estimated project eligible costs; 17 ‘‘(E) the type of credit assistance sought; 18 and 19 ‘‘(F) the anticipated fiscal year and quar- 20 ter for closing of the credit assistance.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:08 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S941.IS S941 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS