A bill to establish a community-driven decisionmaking pilot program to demonstrate enhanced community-based decisionmaking in the transportation planning process, and for other purposes.

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1717 To establish a community-driven decision-making pilot program to dem- onstrate enhanced community-based decision making in the transpor- tation planning process, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 19, 2021 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To establish a community-driven decision-making pilot pro- gram to demonstrate enhanced community-based decision making in the transportation planning process, 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. COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING PILOT 3 PROGRAM. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 (1) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 6 term ‘‘community-based organization’’ means a pri- 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1717 IS vate, locally initiated, community-based organization 1 that— 2 (A) is a nonprofit organization described in 3 section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 4 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 5 501(a) of that Code; and 6 (B) has a Board of Directors that rep- 7 resent a majority of residents of the area served 8 by the organization. 9 (2) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi- 10 ble partnership’’ means a partnership between— 11 (A) 1 or more local transportation plan- 12 ning agencies, including at least 1 of— 13 (i) a metropolitan planning organiza- 14 tion (as defined in section 134(b) of title 15 23, United States Code); 16 (ii) a regional transportation planning 17 organization designated under section 18 135(m) of title 23, United States Code; 19 (iii) a municipal corporation; 20 (iv) a county; or 21 (v) any other unit of local govern- 22 ment; and 23 (B) a community-based organization. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1717 IS (3) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro- 1 gram’’ means the community-driven decision-making 2 pilot program established under subsection (b)(1). 3 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4 the Secretary of Transportation. 5 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 7 a community-driven decision-making pilot program 8 to provide grants to eligible partnerships. 9 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the pilot pro- 10 gram shall be to demonstrate enhanced community- 11 based decision making in the transportation plan- 12 ning process by supporting partnerships between 13 local transportation planning agencies and commu- 14 nity-based organizations which will serve as models 15 for other communities to deepen and strengthen 16 community engagement in transportation planning 17 processes. 18 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 19 under the pilot program, an eligible partnership shall sub- 20 mit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such 21 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 22 may require. 23 (d) ELIGIBLE COSTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1717 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership that 1 receives a grant under the pilot program may use 2 the grant funds for— 3 (A) personnel costs, including costs— 4 (i) to support employees of the com- 5 munity-based organization to enable the 6 organization to engage with the community 7 during the transportation planning process; 8 and 9 (ii) to support employees of the local 10 transportation planning agency in con- 11 ducting more robust public engagement; 12 (B) materials and technology to support 13 community engagement, including physical and 14 digital presentation of data and polling; 15 (C) training for personnel to improve the 16 ability of the personnel to pursue and incor- 17 porate public input in the transportation plan- 18 ning process; 19 (D) training for the community-based or- 20 ganization and residents of the community in 21 the basics of transportation planning; 22 (E) facilitation of public meetings, includ- 23 ing publicity, food, and provision of childcare; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1717 IS (F) stipends for community participants 1 for expenses relating to engagement in the 2 transportation planning process; and 3 (G) hiring and training of street teams to 4 engage in public outreach relating to the trans- 5 portation planning process, including the use of 6 questionnaires and the solicitation of ongoing 7 feedback. 8 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—An eligible part- 9 nership may use not more than 5 percent of the 10 funds from a grant under the pilot program for ad- 11 ministrative costs. 12 (3) LIMITATION.—A community-based organi- 13 zation that is part of an eligible partnership that re- 14 ceives a grant under the pilot program shall only 15 carry out activities under the pilot program relating 16 to community engagement and outreach. 17 (e) REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible partnership that re- 18 ceives a grant under the pilot program shall— 19 (1) submit to the Secretary a public engage- 20 ment plan that— 21 (A) provides a direct role for community 22 members in determining the priorities for and 23 outcomes of a transportation planning process 24 that will impact the community; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1717 IS (B) includes— 1 (i) a description of how the eligible 2 partnership will provide an increase in ca- 3 pacity for the community-based organiza- 4 tion for 1 or more employees to engage di- 5 rectly in the transportation planning proc- 6 ess; 7 (ii) a description of how the eligible 8 partnership will provide dedicated per- 9 sonnel within the local transportation plan- 10 ning agency for engagement with the com- 11 munity-based organization partner and for 12 solicitation and incorporation of commu- 13 nity input; and 14 (iii) specific and detailed strategies to 15 ensure broad and equitable community 16 input from traditionally underrepresented 17 members of the community, especially low- 18 income residents and people of color; 19 (2) ensure that— 20 (A) substantial weight is given to commu- 21 nity input throughout the planning process, in- 22 cluding in establishing goals and determining 23 priority projects; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1717 IS (B) there is documentation of the extent to 1 which community input is incorporated or the 2 reasons for not incorporating community input; 3 (3) ensure that all strategies described in para- 4 graph (1)(B)(iii) are broadly accessible to people 5 with disabilities in accordance with the Americans 6 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 7 seq.); and 8 (4) provide, in accessible formats that are easily 9 understandable to the public, access to information 10 including, at a minimum— 11 (A) data about travel patterns and de- 12 mand, including data relating to induced de- 13 mand and multimodal accessibility; 14 (B) any performance targets established 15 pursuant to section 150 of title 23, United 16 States Code, the achievement of which might be 17 impacted by any projects or priorities under 18 consideration; and 19 (C) the impacts of transportation priorities 20 set and projects under consideration on specific 21 neighborhoods and communities, including dis- 22 parate impacts on traditionally disadvantaged 23 communities. 24 (f) REPORTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1717 IS (1) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—After carrying 1 out all activities with a grant under the pilot pro- 2 gram, each eligible partnership shall submit to the 3 Secretary a report that describes— 4 (A) the activities that were carried out 5 with the grant funds; 6 (B) the effect on community engagement 7 on the activities carried out with the grant 8 funds; and 9 (C) the extent of cooperation between the 10 community-based organization and the 1 or 11 more local transportation planning agencies in 12 the eligible partnership. 13 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 14 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 15 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 16 effectiveness of the pilot program, including— 17 (A) lessons learned with respect to commu- 18 nity engagement in transportation planning; 19 and 20 (B) recommendations for future Federal 21 support of community engagement efforts in 22 transportation planning. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1717 IS (g) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make pub- 1 licly available on the website of the Department of Trans- 2 portation— 3 (1) public engagement reports submitted by eli- 4 gible partnerships under subsection (e)(1); 5 (2) reports submitted to the Secretary under 6 subsection (f)(1); and 7 (3) the report submitted to Congress under 8 subsection (f)(2). 9 (h) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A grant under the pilot 10 program shall be not more than $400,000. 11 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 12 authorized to be appropriated out of the Highway Trust 13 Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) to carry out 14 the pilot program $4,200,000 for fiscal year 2022, to re- 15 main available until expended. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS