ROUTES Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1985 To establish a Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success Initiative, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 9, 2021 Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish a Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success Initiative, 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 ‘‘Rural Opportunities 4 to Use Transportation for Economic Success Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘ROUTES Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. RURAL OPPORTUNITIES TO USE TRANSPORTATION 7 FOR ECONOMIC SUCCESS INITIATIVE. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1985.IS S1985 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1985 IS (1) ROUTES COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘ROUTES 1 Council’’ means the Rural Opportunities to Use 2 Transportation for Economic Success Council estab- 3 lished by subsection (c)(1). 4 (2) ROUTES OFFICE.—The term ‘‘ROUTES 5 Office’’ means the Rural Opportunities to Use 6 Transportation for Economic Success Office estab- 7 lished by subsection (b)(1). 8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of Transportation. 10 (b) ROUTES OFFICE.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 12 within the Department of Transportation the Rural 13 Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic 14 Success Office— 15 (A) to improve analysis of projects from 16 rural areas, Tribal areas, and underserved com- 17 munities in rural or Tribal areas applying for 18 Department of Transportation discretionary 19 grants, including ensuring that project costs, 20 local resources, and the larger benefits to the 21 people and the economy of the United States 22 are appropriately considered; and 23 (B) to provide rural communities, Tribal 24 communities, and underserved communities in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1985.IS S1985 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1985 IS rural or Tribal areas with technical assistance 1 for meeting the transportation infrastructure 2 investment needs of the United States in a fi- 3 nancially sustainable manner. 4 (2) OBJECTIVES.—The ROUTES Office shall— 5 (A) collect input from knowledgeable enti- 6 ties and the public on— 7 (i) the benefits of rural and Tribal 8 transportation projects; 9 (ii) the technical and financial assist- 10 ance required for constructing and oper- 11 ating rural and Tribal transportation in- 12 frastructure and services; 13 (iii) barriers and opportunities to 14 funding rural and Tribal transportation 15 projects; and 16 (iv) unique transportation barriers 17 and challenges facing underserved commu- 18 nities in rural and Tribal areas and ways 19 to address those challenges; 20 (B) evaluate data on rural and Tribal 21 transportation challenges and determining 22 methods to align the discretionary funding and 23 financing opportunities of the Department of 24 Transportation with the needs of those commu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1985.IS S1985 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1985 IS nities for meeting national transportation goals; 1 and 2 (C) educate rural communities and Tribal 3 communities about applicable Department of 4 Transportation discretionary grants, develop ef- 5 fective methods to evaluate projects in those 6 communities in discretionary grant programs, 7 and communicate those methods through pro- 8 gram guidance. 9 (c) ROUTES COUNCIL.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 11 a Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for 12 Economic Success Council— 13 (A) to organize, guide, and lead the 14 ROUTES Office; and 15 (B) to coordinate rural-related and Tribal- 16 related funding programs and assistance among 17 the modal administrations. 18 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The ROUTES Council 20 shall be composed of the following officers of 21 the Department of Transportation, or their des- 22 ignees: 23 (i) The Under Secretary of Transpor- 24 tation for Policy. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1985.IS S1985 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1985 IS (ii) The General Counsel. 1 (iii) The Chief Financial Officer and 2 Assistant Secretary for Budget and Pro- 3 grams. 4 (iv) The Assistant Secretary for Re- 5 search and Technology. 6 (v) The Administrators of— 7 (I) the Federal Aviation Adminis- 8 tration; 9 (II) the Federal Highway Admin- 10 istration; 11 (III) the Federal Railroad Ad- 12 ministration; and 13 (IV) the Federal Transit Admin- 14 istration. 15 (vi) The Executive Director of the Na- 16 tional Surface Transportation and Innova- 17 tive Finance Bureau established under sec- 18 tion 116 of title 49, United States Code. 19 (vii) The Assistant Secretary of Gov- 20 ernment Affairs. 21 (viii) Such other individuals as the 22 Secretary may designate. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1985.IS S1985 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1985 IS (B) CHAIR.—The Under Secretary of 1 Transportation for Policy shall be the Chair of 2 the ROUTES Council. 3 (C) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—The Sec- 4 retary or the Chair of the ROUTES Council 5 may designate additional members to serve on 6 the ROUTES Council. 7 (3) ADDITIONAL MODAL INPUT.—To address 8 issues related to safety and transport of rural and 9 Tribal commodities, the ROUTES Council shall con- 10 sult with the Administrators (or their designees) 11 of— 12 (A) the Maritime Administration; 13 (B) the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway 14 Development Corporation; and 15 (C) the National Highway Traffic Safety 16 Administration. 17 (4) DUTIES.—Members of the ROUTES Coun- 18 cil shall— 19 (A) participate in all meetings and relevant 20 ROUTES Council activities and be prepared to 21 share information relevant to rural and Tribal 22 transportation infrastructure projects and 23 issues; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1985.IS S1985 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1985 IS (B) provide guidance and leadership on 1 rural and Tribal transportation infrastructure 2 issues and represent the work of the ROUTES 3 Council and Department of Transportation on 4 those issues to external stakeholders; and 5 (C) recommend initiatives to the Chair of 6 the ROUTES Council to consider, establish, 7 and staff any resulting activities or working 8 groups. 9 (5) MEETINGS.—The ROUTES Council shall 10 meet bimonthly. 11 (6) WORK PRODUCTS AND DELIVERABLES.— 12 The ROUTES Council may develop work products 13 or deliverables to meet the goals of the ROUTES 14 Council, including— 15 (A) an annual report to Congress describ- 16 ing ROUTES Council activities for the past 17 year and expected activities for the coming 18 year; 19 (B) any recommendations to enhance the 20 effectiveness of Department of Transportation 21 discretionary grant programs regarding rural 22 and Tribal infrastructure issues; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1985.IS S1985 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1985 IS (C) other guides and reports for relevant 1 groups and the public. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1985.IS S1985 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS