To amend title 23, United States Code, to increase the Federal share payable for certain projects in environmental justice communities, and for other purposes.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3734 To amend title 23, United States Code, to increase the Federal share payable for certain projects in environmental justice communities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 4, 2021 Ms. TITUS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to increase the Federal share payable for certain projects in environ- mental justice communities, 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. CONGESTION MITIGATION AND AIR QUALITY 3 IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 4 Section 149(b) of title 23, United States Code, is 5 amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (8)(B) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 7 inserting a semicolon; 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:09 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3734.IH H3734 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3734 IH (2) in paragraph (9) by striking the period and 1 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 2 (3) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(10) other projects that the Secretary deter- 4 mines to be more cost-effective in improving air 5 quality than projects described in paragraphs (1) 6 through (9).’’. 7 SEC. 2. FEDERAL SHARE. 8 Section 120(b) of title 23, United States Code, is 9 amended by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMU- 11 NITIES.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may in- 13 crease the Federal share payable on account of 14 a project or program eligible under section 149 15 by 10 percent, up to 100 percent of the total 16 project cost of any such project, if the Sec- 17 retary determines that the project benefits an 18 environmental justice community through re- 19 ducing adverse environmental exposures that 20 may disproportionately impact such commu- 21 nities. 22 ‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMU- 23 NITY DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term 24 ‘environmental justice community’ means a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:09 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3734.IH H3734 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3734 IH community that is low-income or predominately 1 populated by racial or ethnic minorities.’’. 2 SEC. 3. FORMULA MODERNIZATION STUDY. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 5 tation, in consultation with the Administrator of the Envi- 6 ronmental Protection Agency, shall submit to the Com- 7 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 8 of Representatives and the Committee on Environment 9 and Public Works of the Senate a congestion mitigation 10 and air quality formula modernization report. 11 (b) ASSESSMENT.—The report under subsection (a) 12 shall include an assessment by the Secretary as to whether 13 the current apportionment method under section 14 104(b)(4) of title 23, United States Code, results in a dis- 15 tribution of funds that best achieves the air quality goals 16 of section 149 of title 23, United States Code, taking into 17 account the considerations described in subsection (c). 18 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—To support the assessment 19 under paragraph (3), the Administrator shall provide an 20 analysis of— 21 (1) the factors that contribute to the current 22 apportionment, including population, types of pollut- 23 ants, and severity of pollutants; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:09 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3734.IH H3734 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3734 IH (2) the weighting of the factors listed in para- 1 graph (1); and 2 (3) the recency of the data used in making the 3 apportionment under section 104(b)(4) of title 23, 4 United States Code. 5 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS.—If, under the assessment 6 under subsection (b), the Secretary finds that modifying 7 the current apportionment method under section 8 104(b)(4) of title 23, United States Code, would best 9 achieve the air quality goals of this section, the Secretary 10 shall, in consultation with the Administrator, include in 11 the report under subsection (a) recommendations on a new 12 apportionment method including— 13 (1) the factors recommended to be included in 14 such apportionment method; 15 (2) the weighting recommended to be applied to 16 the factors under subsection (c)(1); and 17 (3) any other recommendations to ensure that 18 the apportionment method best achieves the air 19 quality goals of section 149 of title 23, United 20 States Code. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:09 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3734.IH H3734 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS