Support for Community Bridges Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3908 To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for funding for off- system bridges, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2021 Mr. LAMB (for himself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for funding for off-system 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 ‘‘Support for Commu- 4 nity Bridges Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. OFF-SYSTEM BRIDGE PROGRAM. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101(a) of title 23, United 7 States Code, is amended— 8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (17) through 9 (34) as paragraphs (18) through (35); and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3908 IH (2) by inserting after paragraph (16) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(17) OFF-SYSTEM BRIDGE.—The term ‘off- 3 system bridge’ means a highway bridge located on a 4 public road, other than a bridge on a Federal-aid 5 highway.’’. 6 (b) APPORTIONMENT.—Section 104 of title 23, 7 United States Code, is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (b)— 9 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 10 by striking ‘‘and to carry out section 134’’ and 11 inserting ‘‘to carry out section 134, and for the 12 off-system bridge program under section 171’’; 13 (B) in each of paragraphs (1), (2), and 14 (3), by striking ‘‘and (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘(6), 15 and (7)’’; 16 (C) in paragraph (4), in the matter pre- 17 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘set aside 18 in accordance with paragraph (5)’’ and insert- 19 ing ‘‘set asides in accordance with paragraphs 20 (5) and (7)’’; 21 (D) in paragraph (5)(A), by inserting 22 ‘‘after making the set aside in accordance with 23 paragraph (7),’’ after ‘‘section 167,’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3908 IH (E) in paragraph (6), in the matter pre- 1 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘set aside 2 in accordance with paragraph (5)’’ and insert- 3 ing ‘‘set asides in accordance with paragraphs 4 (5) and (7)’’; and 5 (F) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(7) OFF-SYSTEM BRIDGE PROGRAM.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the off-system 8 bridge program under section 171, the Sec- 9 retary shall set aside from the base apportion- 10 ment determined for a State under subsection 11 (c) an amount determined for the State under 12 subparagraphs (B) and (C). 13 ‘‘(B) TOTAL AMOUNT.—The total amount 14 set aside for the off-system bridge program for 15 all States shall be 2.5 percent of the total 16 amount made available to carry out the pro- 17 grams described in this subsection for the fiscal 18 year. 19 ‘‘(C) STATE SHARE.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal 21 year, the Secretary shall distribute among 22 States the total amount set aside under 23 subparagraph (B) so that each State re- 24 ceives an amount equal to the sum of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3908 IH amounts calculated for the State under 1 each of subclauses (I) and (II) of clause 2 (ii), subject to any adjustment under 3 clause (iii). 4 ‘‘(ii) INITIAL AMOUNTS.— 5 ‘‘(I) BRIDGES IN POOR CONDI- 6 TION.—75 percent of the amount re- 7 served under subparagraph (B) shall 8 be apportioned so that each State re- 9 ceives an amount equal to the propor- 10 tion that— 11 ‘‘(aa) the total deck space of 12 off-system bridges in the State 13 that are in poor condition, as de- 14 termined by the Secretary; bears 15 to 16 ‘‘(bb) the total deck space of 17 off-system bridges in all States 18 that are in poor condition, as de- 19 termined by the Secretary. 20 ‘‘(II) BRIDGES IN OTHER THAN 21 POOR CONDITION.—25 percent of the 22 amount reserved under subparagraph 23 (B) shall be apportioned so that each 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3908 IH State receives an amount equal to the 1 proportion that— 2 ‘‘(aa) the total deck space of 3 off-system bridges in the State 4 that are not in poor condition, as 5 determined by the Secretary; 6 bears to 7 ‘‘(bb) the total deck space of 8 off-system bridges in all States 9 that are not in poor condition, as 10 determined by the Secretary. 11 ‘‘(iii) ADJUSTMENTS TO AMOUNTS.— 12 ‘‘(I) DEFINITIONS.—In this 13 clause: 14 ‘‘(aa) ADJUSTMENT 15 AMOUNT.—The term ‘adjustment 16 amount’ means the total amount 17 needed for all States that do not 18 meet the requirement under sub- 19 clause (II), based on the initial 20 calculation under clause (ii), to 21 meet that requirement. 22 ‘‘(bb) INCREASE IN 23 FUNDS.—The term ‘increase in 24 funds’, with respect to a State, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3908 IH means the amount, expressed as 1 a percentage, that— 2 ‘‘(AA) the State would 3 receive under clause (ii); 4 compared to 5 ‘‘(BB) the amount re- 6 quired to be obligated by the 7 State for fiscal year 2021 8 for off-system bridges under 9 section 133(f)(2) (as in ef- 10 fect on the day before the 11 date of enactment of the 12 Support for Community 13 Bridges Act). 14 ‘‘(II) ADJUSTMENTS.—The Sec- 15 retary shall adjust the initial amount 16 calculated for a State under clause (ii) 17 to ensure that each State receives an 18 amount that is not less than the 19 amount required to be obligated by 20 the State for fiscal year 2021 for off- 21 system bridges under section 22 133(f)(2) (as in effect on the day be- 23 fore the date of enactment of the Sup- 24 port for Community Bridges Act). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3908 IH ‘‘(III) METHOD.— 1 ‘‘(aa) RANKING.—Before 2 making adjustments under sub- 3 clause (II), the Secretary shall 4 rank each State in descending 5 order based on the increase in 6 funds for each State. 7 ‘‘(bb) REDUCTIONS.—The 8 Secretary shall adjust amounts 9 under subclause (II) as follows: 10 ‘‘(AA) By reducing the 11 adjustment amount from the 12 highest ranked State under 13 item (aa), until the increase 14 in funds of that State is 15 equal to the increase in 16 funds of the next-highest 17 ranked State. 18 ‘‘(BB) If the amount 19 reduced under subitem (AA) 20 is less than the full adjust- 21 ment amount, by reducing 22 the remainder of the adjust- 23 ment amount from the next- 24 highest ranked State, until 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3908 IH the increase in funds of that 1 State is equal to the in- 2 crease in funds of the next- 3 highest ranked State. 4 ‘‘(CC) By repeating the 5 process described in subitem 6 (BB) for States in descend- 7 ing order based on the rank- 8 ing under item (aa) until the 9 full adjustment amount is 10 achieved. 11 ‘‘(DD) By reallocating 12 the adjustment amount to 13 the States that do not meet 14 the requirement under sub- 15 clause (II), based on the ini- 16 tial calculation under clause 17 (ii), in order to meet that re- 18 quirement.’’; 19 (2) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘and to 20 carry out section 134’’ and inserting ‘‘to carry out 21 section 134, and for the off-system bridge program 22 under section 171’’; and 23 (3) in subsection (i)(1), by striking ‘‘and to 24 carry out section 134’’ and inserting ‘‘to carry out 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3908 IH section 134, and for the off-system bridge program 1 under section 171’’. 2 (c) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BLOCK GRANT PRO- 3 GRAM.—Section 133(f) of title 23, United States Code, is 4 amended— 5 (1) by striking the subsection designation and 6 heading and all that follows through the period at 7 the end of paragraph (2)(B); 8 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as sub- 9 section (f) and indenting appropriately; and 10 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 11 (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, and in- 12 denting appropriately. 13 (d) OFF-SYSTEM BRIDGE PROGRAM.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 23, United 15 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 16 following: 17 ‘‘§ 171. Off-system bridge program 18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), each 19 State shall use the amount apportioned to the State under 20 section 104(b)(7) for each fiscal year for the purpose of 21 repairing and maintaining off-system bridges. 22 ‘‘(b) WAIVER.—The Secretary, after consultation 23 with State and local officials, may waive the requirement 24 under subsection (a) with respect to a State if the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3908 IH retary determines that the State has inadequate needs to 1 justify the expenditure. 2 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.—Notwithstanding 3 any other provision of law, a project carried out under this 4 section shall be treated as if the project were on a Federal- 5 aid highway.’’. 6 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 7 chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amend- 8 ed by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘171. Off-system bridge program.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3908.IH H3908 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS