Rebuilding Stronger Infrastructure Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1236 To require the Secretary of Transportation to develop best practices for incorporating resilience into emergency relief projects, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 20, 2021 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to develop best practices for incorporating resilience into emergency re- lief projects, 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 ‘‘Rebuilding Stronger 4 Infrastructure Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 7 (1) EMERGENCY RELIEF PROJECT.—The term 8 ‘‘emergency relief project’’ means a project carried 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1236.IS S1236 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1236 IS out under the emergency relief program under sec- 1 tion 125 of title 23, United States Code. 2 (2) RESILIENCE.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘resilience’’ 4 means, with respect to a facility, the ability— 5 (i) to anticipate, prepare for, or adapt 6 to conditions; or 7 (ii) to withstand, respond to, or re- 8 cover rapidly from disruptions. 9 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘resilience’’ 10 includes, with respect to a facility, the ability— 11 (i) to resist hazards or withstand im- 12 pacts from disruptions; 13 (ii) to reduce the magnitude, duration, 14 or impact of a disruption; or 15 (iii) to have the absorptive capacity, 16 adaptive capacity, and recoverability to de- 17 crease vulnerability to a disruption. 18 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19 the Secretary of Transportation. 20 (b) IMPROVING THE EMERGENCY RELIEF PRO- 21 GRAM.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enact- 22 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 23 (1) revise the emergency relief manual of the 24 Federal Highway Administration— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1236.IS S1236 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1236 IS (A) to include and reflect the definition of 1 the term ‘‘resilience’’; 2 (B) to identify procedures that States may 3 use to incorporate resilience into emergency re- 4 lief projects; and 5 (C) to encourage the use of Complete 6 Streets design principles and consideration of 7 access for moderate- and low-income families 8 impacted by a declared disaster; 9 (2) develop best practices for improving the use 10 of resilience in— 11 (A) the emergency relief program under 12 section 125 of title 23, United States Code; and 13 (B) emergency relief efforts; 14 (3) provide to division offices of the Federal 15 Highway Administration and State departments of 16 transportation information on the best practices de- 17 veloped under paragraph (2); and 18 (4) develop and implement a process to track— 19 (A) the consideration of resilience as part 20 of the emergency relief program under section 21 125 of title 23, United States Code; and 22 (B) the costs of emergency relief projects. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1236.IS S1236 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1236 IS (c) COST LIMITATION.—Section 125(d) of title 23, 1 United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (2) 2 and inserting the following: 3 ‘‘(2) COST LIMITATION.—The total cost of a 4 project funded under this section may not exceed the 5 cost of repair or reconstruction of a comparable fa- 6 cility unless the Secretary determines that the 7 project incorporates economically justified better- 8 ments, including protective features to increase the 9 resilience of the facility.’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1236.IS S1236 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS