REPAIR Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2334 To establish an innovative mobility and technology deployment grants program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 1, 2021 Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia (for herself, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, and Mr. VAN DREW) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To establish an innovative mobility and technology deployment grants 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 ‘‘Reinvesting in Essen- 4 tial Partnerships And Infrastructure for Rural America 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘REPAIR Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FIXED GUIDEWAY CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANTS. 7 Section 5309 of title 49, United States Code, is 8 amended— 9 (1) in subsection (a)— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2334 IH (A) in paragraph (7)— 1 (i) in subparagraph (A) by striking 2 ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and inserting 3 ‘‘$200,000,000’’; and 4 (ii) in subparagraph (B) by striking 5 ‘‘$300,000,000’’ and inserting 6 ‘‘$400,000,000’’; and 7 (B) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(8) RURAL START PROJECT.—The term ‘rural 9 start project’ means a new transit capital project 10 that is not in an urbanized area for which— 11 ‘‘(A) the Federal assistance provided or to 12 be provided under this section is less than 13 $80,000,000; and 14 ‘‘(B) the total estimated net capital cost is 15 less than $150,000,000.’’; 16 (2) in subsection (b)(1) by striking ‘‘or small 17 start projects’’ and inserting ‘‘, small start projects, 18 or rural start projects’’; 19 (3) in subsection (c)(1) by striking ‘‘small start 20 projects’’ and inserting ‘‘, small start projects, rural 21 start projects’’; and 22 (4) in subsection (h)— 23 (A) in the heading by striking ‘‘SMALL 24 START PROJECTS’’ and inserting ‘‘SMALL 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2334 IH START PROJECTS AND RURAL START 1 PROJECTS’’; 2 (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘small 3 start project’’ and inserting ‘‘small start project 4 or rural start project’’; 5 (C) in paragraph (2)(A) by striking ‘‘small 6 starts project’’ and inserting ‘‘small start 7 project or rural start project’’; 8 (D) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘small 9 start project’’ and inserting ‘‘small start project 10 or rural start project’’; and 11 (E) in paragraph (6)(A) by striking ‘‘small 12 start project’’ and inserting ‘‘small start project 13 or rural start project’’. 14 SEC. 3. ENHANCED MOBILITY OF SENIORS AND INDIVID- 15 UALS WITH DISABILITIES. 16 Section 5310 of title 49, United States Code, is 17 amended— 18 (1) in subsection (b)(2) by striking ‘‘(A) 19 AMOUNT AVAILABLE’’ and all that follows through 20 ‘‘A recipient of a grant under’’ and inserting ‘‘A re- 21 cipient of a grant under’’; 22 (2) in subsection (c)(2) by adding at the end 23 the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2334 IH ‘‘(E) REALLOCATION.—Amounts appor- 1 tioned under section 5310(c)(1)(A) may be re- 2 allocated to projects in areas other than urban- 3 ized areas.’’; 4 (3) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub- 5 section (d) and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(1) CAPITAL PROJECTS.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 8 subparagraph (B), a grant awarded under this 9 section for a capital project shall be 80 percent 10 of the net costs of the project, as determined by 11 the Secretary. 12 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—A State described in 13 section 120(b) of title 23 shall receive a Gov- 14 ernment share of the net costs in accordance 15 with the formula under such section. 16 ‘‘(2) OPERATING ASSISTANCE.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 18 subparagraph (B), a grant awarded under this 19 section for a operating assistance may not ex- 20 ceed an amount equal to 50 percent of the net 21 operating costs of the project, as determined by 22 the Secretary. 23 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—A State described in 24 section 120(b) of title 23 shall receive a Gov- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2334 IH ernment share of the net costs that is equal to 1 62.5 percent of the Government share provided 2 for under paragraph (1)(B).’’; and 3 (4) by striking subsection (e)(1) and inserting 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent the Secretary 6 determines appropriate, the requirements of— 7 ‘‘(A) section 5307 shall apply to recipients 8 of grants made in urbanized areas under this 9 subsection; and 10 ‘‘(B) section 5311 shall apply to recipients 11 of grants made in rural areas under this sub- 12 section.’’. 13 SEC. 4. FORMULA GRANTS FOR RURAL AREAS. 14 Section 5311(g) of title 49, United States Code, is 15 amended— 16 (1) in paragraph (1) by adding at the end the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(C) PROJECTS IN QUALIFIED OPPOR- 19 TUNITY ZONES, MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED 20 AREAS, OR AREAS WITH A MEDICALLY UNDER- 21 SERVED POPULATION.—A grant awarded under 22 this section for a capital project in a qualified 23 opportunity zone, a medically underserved area, 24 or areas with a medically underserved popu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2334 IH lation shall be for 90 percent of the net costs 1 of the project, as determined by the Sec- 2 retary.’’; 3 (2) in paragraph (2) by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(C) PROJECTS IN QUALIFIED OPPOR- 6 TUNITY ZONES, MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED 7 AREAS, OR AREAS WITH A MEDICALLY UNDER- 8 SERVED POPULATION.—A grant awarded under 9 this section for a capital project in a qualified 10 opportunity zone, a medically underserved area, 11 or an area with a medically underserved popu- 12 lation shall be for 62.5 percent of the Govern- 13 ment share provided for under paragraph 14 (1)(B).’’; and 15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 17 ‘‘(A) QUALIFIED OPPORTUNITY ZONE.— 18 The term ‘qualified opportunity zone’ has the 19 meaning given such term section 1400Z–1 of 20 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 21 ‘‘(B) MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS; 22 AN AREA WITH A MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED 23 POPULATION.—The term ‘medically under- 24 served areas’ or ‘an area with a medically un- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2334 IH derserved population’ means an area or popu- 1 lations that are designated as medically under- 2 served by the Secretary of Health and Human 3 Services pursuant to section 330(b)(3) of the 4 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 5 254b(b)(3)).’’. 6 SEC. 5. NON-EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION. 7 (a) RESEARCH PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—Section 8 5312(c)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 9 (1) in subparagraph (M), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 10 the end; 11 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (N) as sub- 12 paragraph (O); and 13 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (M) the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(N) access to hospitals and healthcare 16 providers in areas underserved by transit or 17 with limited public transportation options, as 18 determined by the Secretary; or’’. 19 (b) INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT ELI- 20 GIBILITY.—Section 5312(d)(2) of title 49, United States 21 Code, is amended— 22 (1) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 23 the end; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2334 IH (2) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as sub- 1 paragraph (I); and 2 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (G) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(H) public transportation projects that 5 improve health care access and outcomes; or’’. 6 (c) DEMONSTRATION, DEPLOYMENT, AND EVALUA- 7 TION PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—Section 5312(e)(3) of title 8 49, United States Code, is amended— 9 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 10 the end; 11 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 12 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(D) the deployment of public transpor- 15 tation projects or practices that— 16 ‘‘(i) achieve measurable improvements 17 in transportation access to health care for 18 medically underserved areas or popu- 19 lations, as designated by the Health Re- 20 sources and Services Administration pursu- 21 ant to section 330(b)(3) of the Public 22 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 23 254b(b)(3)); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2334 IH ‘‘(ii) implement transportation strate- 1 gies for addressing significant health needs 2 as identified by a community health needs 3 assessment pursuant to the requirements 4 of section 501(r)(3)(A) of the Internal 5 Revenue Code of 1986; or 6 ‘‘(iii) eliminate or reduce transpor- 7 tation barriers to accessing health care 8 that are identified and prioritized in the 9 coordinated public transit-human services 10 transportation plan described in section 11 5310(e)(2)(A).’’. 12 SEC. 6. INNOVATIVE MOBILITY AND TECHNOLOGY DEPLOY- 13 MENT GRANTS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 49, United 15 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5312 16 the following: 17 ‘‘§ 5313. Innovative mobility and technology deploy- 18 ment grants 19 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall establish an 20 innovative mobility and technology deployment grants pro- 21 gram to award grants to entities described in subsection 22 (b) to assist in financing of public transportation projects 23 that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2334 IH ‘‘(1) allow for the integration of mobility serv- 1 ices or technologies in public transportation services, 2 including traveler information, trip planning infor- 3 mation, new or expanded reservation capabilities, in- 4 tegrated payment solutions, fare automation, or de- 5 livery designs to improve options in public transpor- 6 tation; 7 ‘‘(2) advance first-mile, last-mile, late night, or 8 low density services that connect riders to public 9 transportation, including— 10 ‘‘(A) microtransit; 11 ‘‘(B) commuter busing; or 12 ‘‘(C) commuter highway vehicles; 13 ‘‘(3) advance on demand complementary para- 14 transit services; 15 ‘‘(4) provide accessibility and connectivity for 16 rural areas not being adequately served by public 17 transportation, as determined by the Secretary; 18 ‘‘(5) expand high-performing public transpor- 19 tation business models that increase access to public 20 transportation; or 21 ‘‘(6) provide any other transit service that the 22 Secretary determines appropriate to meet the pur- 23 poses of this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2334 IH ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible for a grant 1 under this section, an entity shall be— 2 ‘‘(1) a State or local government; or 3 ‘‘(2) a publicly owned operator of public trans- 4 portation. 5 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 6 under this section, an entity described in subsection (b) 7 shall submit to the Secretary an application in such form 8 and contain such information as the Secretary may re- 9 quire. 10 ‘‘(d) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary shall— 11 ‘‘(1) issue such regulations as are necessary to 12 carry out this section, and publish such regulations 13 in the Federal Register, not later than 270 days 14 after the date of enactment of this section; and 15 ‘‘(2) in issuing such regulations, solicit and re- 16 ceive comments from stakeholders not later than 17 180 days after the date of enactment of this section. 18 ‘‘(e) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may 19 approve modified grant requirements for projects carried 20 out using a grant under this section. 21 ‘‘(f) LIMITATIONS.— 22 ‘‘(1) PERIOD OF GRANT.—A grant under this 23 section shall be for a 3-year period beginning on the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2334 IH date on which the first payment of any amount 1 under the grant is provided to an eligible entity. 2 ‘‘(2) RURAL GRANT MINIMUM.—The Secretary 3 shall award not less than 20 percent of the total 4 amounts made available to carry out this section to 5 support activities described under subsection (a) in 6 rural areas. 7 ‘‘(3) GOVERNMENT SHARE OF COSTS.—The 8 Federal share of the total project cost of a project 9 carried out under this section may not exceed 80 10 percent. 11 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts authorized 12 to be appropriated to carry out this section for each 13 fiscal year, not more than 20 percent may be award- 14 ed under subsection (a) to a single entity. 15 ‘‘(g) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary shall annu- 16 ally collect from, review, and disseminate to public trans- 17 portation agencies findings or best practices from projects 18 funded under this section. 19 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 ‘‘(1) COMMUTER HIGHWAY VEHICLE.—The 21 term ‘commuter highway vehicle’ has the meaning 22 given such term in section 132(f)(5)(B) of the Inter- 23 nal Revenue Code of 1986. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2334.IH H2334 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2334 IH ‘‘(2) HIGH-PERFORMING PUBLIC TRANSPOR- 1 TATION.—The term ‘high-performing public trans- 2 portation’ means a public transportation service, 3 whether provided by a public agency, private non- 4 profit, or for-profit organization, that is able to col- 5 lect all operating costs through fare-box revenue or 6 other dedicated sources for an activity and increases 7 access to public transportation. 8 ‘‘(3) MICRO-TRANSIT.—The term ‘micro-transit’ 9 means internet-enabled, public transportation serv- 10 ices that use dynamically generated routes calculated 11 by algorithms developed to increase the occupancy of 1 [Text truncated for display. 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