SAFE Bridges Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1612 To require the Secretary of Transportation to assist States to rehabilitate or replace certain bridges, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 13, 2021 Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. KING, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to assist States to rehabilitate or replace certain bridges, 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 ‘‘Strengthen And For- 4 tify Existing Bridges Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Bridges 5 Act of 2021’’. 6 SEC. 2. STRENGTHEN AND FORTIFY EXISTING BRIDGES. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1612.IS S1612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1612 IS (1) BRIDGE.—The term ‘‘bridge’’ means a 1 highway bridge on a public road, whether on or off 2 a Federal-aid highway. 3 (2) ELIGIBLE BRIDGE.—The term ‘‘eligible 4 bridge’’ means a bridge that is classified as in poor 5 condition. 6 (3) FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY.—The term ‘‘Fed- 7 eral-aid highway’’ has the meaning given the term in 8 section 101(a) of title 23, United States Code. 9 (4) PUBLIC ROAD.—The term ‘‘public road’’ 10 has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of 11 title 23, United States Code. 12 (5) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘‘rehabilita- 13 tion’’ means, with respect to a bridge, the carrying 14 out of major work necessary, as determined by the 15 Secretary— 16 (A) to restore or increase the structural ca- 17 pacity of the bridge; or 18 (B) to correct a major safety defect of the 19 bridge. 20 (6) REPLACEMENT.—The term ‘‘replacement’’ 21 means, with respect to a bridge, the construction of 22 a new facility that, as determined by the Secretary, 23 is in the same general traffic corridor as the re- 24 placed bridge. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1612.IS S1612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1612 IS (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Transportation. 2 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 3 (A) a State; 4 (B) the District of Columbia; and 5 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 6 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es- 8 tablish a program to assist States to rehabilitate or re- 9 place eligible bridges. 10 (c) APPORTIONMENT OF FUNDS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts made available to 12 carry out the program established under subsection 13 (b) for a fiscal year shall be apportioned to each 14 State according to the ratio that— 15 (A) the total cost to rehabilitate or replace 16 eligible bridges in that State; bears to 17 (B) the total cost to rehabilitate or replace 18 eligible bridges in all States. 19 (2) CALCULATION OF TOTAL COST.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the 21 calculation under paragraph (1), the Secretary 22 shall multiply the deck area of eligible bridges 23 by the unit price on a State-by-State basis, as 24 determined by the Secretary, to determine the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1612.IS S1612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1612 IS total cost to rehabilitate or replace eligible 1 bridges in each State. 2 (B) DATA USED IN MAKING DETERMINA- 3 TIONS.—The Secretary shall make determina- 4 tions under this subsection based on the latest 5 available data, which shall be updated not less 6 than annually. 7 (C) USE OF EXISTING INVENTORIES.—To 8 the extent practicable, the Secretary shall make 9 determinations under this subsection using in- 10 ventories prepared under section 144 of title 11 23, United States Code. 12 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds apportioned to a State 13 under the program established under subsection (b) 14 shall— 15 (1) be used by that State— 16 (A) for the rehabilitation and replacement 17 of 1 or more eligible bridges; or 18 (B) to maintain the surface coating and 19 corrosion protection system of 1 or more eligible 20 bridges; 21 (2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, 22 be administered as if apportioned under chapter 1 of 23 title 23, United States Code, except that the funds 24 shall not be transferable; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1612.IS S1612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1612 IS (3) be subject to the requirements described in 1 section 1101(b) of the FAST Act (23 U.S.C. 101 2 note; 129 Stat. 1323) in the same manner as 3 amounts made available for programs under titles I, 4 II, and III of that Act; and 5 (4) not be subject to any limitation on obliga- 6 tions for Federal-aid highways or highway safety 7 construction programs set forth in any Act. 8 (e) CONDITION AT PROJECT COMPLETION.—On com- 9 pletion of the rehabilitation or replacement, a bridge that 10 is rehabilitated or replaced under the program established 11 under subsection (b) may not be classified as in poor con- 12 dition. 13 (f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 14 of a project carried out with funds apportioned to a State 15 under the program established under subsection (b) shall 16 be 100 percent. 17 (g) REAPPORTIONMENT OF UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.— 18 Any funds apportioned to a State under the program es- 19 tablished under subsection (b) and not obligated by the 20 State at the end of the third fiscal year beginning after 21 the fiscal year during which the funds were apportioned 22 shall be withdrawn from the State and reapportioned by 23 the Secretary to States that have not had funds withdrawn 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1612.IS S1612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1612 IS under this subsection in accordance with the formula 1 under subsection (c). 2 (h) NONSUBSTITUTION.—In carrying out the pro- 3 gram established under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 4 ensure that funding made available to a State under the 5 program supplements, and does not supplant— 6 (1) other Federal funding made available for 7 the rehabilitation or replacement of eligible bridges; 8 and 9 (2) the planned obligations of that State with 10 respect to eligible bridges. 11 (i) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 12 of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter if 13 States obligated funds apportioned under the program es- 14 tablished under subsection (b) during that year, the Sec- 15 retary shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 16 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and 17 the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 18 Senate a report that describes the amounts obligated by 19 each State for projects under the program. 20 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 21 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 22 out this section $2,750,000,000 for each of fiscal years 23 2022 through 2027, to remain available until expended. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1612.IS S1612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1612 IS (k) NATIONAL BRIDGE AND TUNNEL INVEN- 1 TORIES.—Section 144(b)(5) of title 23, United States 2 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘structurally deficient bridge 3 identified under this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘bridge 4 classified as in poor condition’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1612.IS S1612 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS