RTP Funding Transparency Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1527 To require the Secretary of Transportation to conduct, and submit to Con- gress a report describing the results of, an assessment of the total amount of nonhighway recreational fuel taxes received by the Secretary of the Treasury and transferred to the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 16, 2019 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. RISCH, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BURR, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) 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 conduct, and submit to Congress a report describing the results of, an assessment of the total amount of nonhighway rec- reational fuel taxes received by the Secretary of the Treasury and transferred to the Highway Trust Fund, 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 ‘‘RTP Funding Trans- 4 parency Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1527 IS SEC. 2. NONHIGHWAY RECREATIONAL FUEL STUDY. 1 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 2 (1) HIGHWAY TRUST FUND.—The term ‘‘High- 3 way Trust Fund’’ means the Highway Trust Fund 4 established by section 9503(a) of the Internal Rev- 5 enue Code of 1986. 6 (2) NONHIGHWAY RECREATIONAL FUEL 7 TAXES.—The term ‘‘nonhighway recreational fuel 8 taxes’’ means taxes under sections 4041 and 4081 9 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect 10 to fuel used in vehicles on recreational trails or back 11 country terrain (including vehicles registered for 12 highway use when used on recreational trails, trail 13 access roads not eligible for funding under title 23, 14 United States Code, or back country terrain). 15 (3) RECREATIONAL TRAILS PROGRAM.—The 16 term ‘‘recreational trails program’’ means the rec- 17 reational trails program under section 206 of title 18 23, United States Code. 19 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 20 the Secretary of Transportation. 21 (b) ASSESSMENT; REPORT.— 22 (1) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 23 the date of enactment of this Act and not less fre- 24 quently than once every 5 years thereafter, as deter- 25 mined by the Secretary, the Secretary shall carry 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1527 IS out an assessment of the best available estimate of 1 the total amount of nonhighway recreational fuel 2 taxes received by the Secretary of the Treasury and 3 transferred to the Highway Trust Fund for the pe- 4 riod covered by the assessment. 5 (2) REPORT.—After carrying out each assess- 6 ment under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall sub- 7 mit to the Committees on Finance and Environment 8 and Public Works of the Senate and the Committees 9 on Ways and Means and Transportation and Infra- 10 structure of the House of Representatives a report 11 that includes— 12 (A) a description of the results of the as- 13 sessment and an evaluation of whether the cur- 14 rent recreational trails program funding level 15 reflects the amount of nonhighway recreational 16 fuel taxes collected and transferred to the gen- 17 eral fund of the Treasury and transferred to 18 the Highway Trust Fund, to assist Congress in 19 decisionmaking with respect to appropriate 20 funding levels for the recreational trails pro- 21 gram; 22 (B) an evaluation of whether the current 23 recreational trails program funding level of each 24 participating State accurately reflects the ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1527 IS portionment criteria described in section 1 133(h)(5) of title 23, United States Code; and 2 (C) in the case of the first report sub- 3 mitted under this paragraph, an estimate of the 4 frequency with which the Secretary anticipates 5 carrying out the assessment under paragraph 6 (1), subject to the condition that such an as- 7 sessment shall be carried out not less frequently 8 than once every 5 years. 9 (c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out an assessment 10 under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary may consult with, 11 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate— 12 (1) the heads of— 13 (A) State agencies designated by Gov- 14 ernors pursuant to section 206(c)(1) of title 23, 15 United States Code, to administer the rec- 16 reational trails program; and 17 (B) division offices of the Department of 18 Transportation; 19 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury; 20 (3) the Administrator of the Federal Highway 21 Administration; and 22 (4) groups representing recreational activities 23 and interests, including hiking, biking and mountain 24 biking, horseback riding, water trails, snowshoeing, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1527 IS cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, off-highway 1 motorcycling, all-terrain vehicles and other offroad 2 motorized vehicle activities, and recreational trail ad- 3 vocates. 4 (d) MAINTENANCE IN EFFECT OF RECREATIONAL 5 TRAILS PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding any other provision 6 of law, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 7 of the Treasury, shall ensure that— 8 (1) for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year 9 thereafter, the amount made available to carry out 10 the recreational trails program is equal to not less 11 than the amount made available to carry out the 12 recreational trails program during fiscal year 2019; 13 and 14 (2) the recreational trails program shall be car- 15 ried out as a distinct program of the Department of 16 Transportation, in accordance with section 206 of 17 title 23, United States Code. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS