Crossroads of America Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2285 To amend title 23, United States Code, to authorize a pilot program within the nationally significant freight and highway projects program to in- crease State infrastructure investments, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. BRAUN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to authorize a pilot program within the nationally significant freight and highway projects program to increase State infrastruc- ture investments, 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 ‘‘Crossroads of America 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. STATE INCENTIVES PILOT PROGRAM. 6 Section 117 of title 23, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2285.IS S2285 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2285 IS (1) in subsection (d)(1), in the matter pre- 1 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘subsection 2 (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (e) and (o)’’; 3 (2) in subsection (g), in the matter preceding 4 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘subsections (e) and (o)’’; 6 (3) in subsection (j)— 7 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The 8 Federal’’ and inserting ‘‘Except for a grant 9 under subsection (o), the Federal’’; and 10 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Federal 11 assistance other’’ and inserting ‘‘Except for a 12 grant under subsection (o), Federal assistance 13 other’’; and 14 (4) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(o) STATE INCENTIVES PILOT PROGRAM.— 16 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 17 pilot program to award grants to eligible applicants 18 for projects eligible for grants under this section (re- 19 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘pilot program’). 20 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the 21 pilot program, the Secretary shall give priority to an 22 application that offers a greater non-Federal share 23 of the cost of a project relative to other applications 24 under the pilot program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2285.IS S2285 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2285 IS ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 2 other provision of law, the Federal share of the 3 cost of a project assisted with a grant under the 4 pilot program may not exceed 50 percent. 5 ‘‘(B) NO FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT.— 6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For grants award- 7 ed under the pilot program, except as pro- 8 vided in clause (ii), an eligible applicant 9 may not use Federal assistance to satisfy 10 the non-Federal share of the cost under 11 subparagraph (A). 12 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—An eligible appli- 13 cant may use funds from a secured loan 14 (as defined in section 601(a)) to satisfy the 15 non-Federal share of the cost under sub- 16 paragraph (A) if the loan is repayable from 17 non-Federal funds. 18 ‘‘(4) RESERVATION.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made 20 available to provide grants under this section, 21 the Secretary shall reserve for each fiscal year 22 $150,000,000 to provide grants under the pilot 23 program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2285.IS S2285 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2285 IS ‘‘(B) UNUTILIZED AMOUNTS.—In any fis- 1 cal year during which applications under this 2 subsection are insufficient to effect an award or 3 allocation of the entire amount reserved under 4 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use the 5 unutilized amounts to provide other grants 6 under this section. 7 ‘‘(5) SET-ASIDES.— 8 ‘‘(A) SMALL PROJECTS.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts 10 reserved under paragraph (4)(A), the Sec- 11 retary shall reserve for each fiscal year not 12 less than 10 percent for projects eligible 13 for a grant under subsection (e). 14 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—For a grant 15 awarded from the amount reserved under 16 clause (i)— 17 ‘‘(I) the requirements of sub- 18 section (e) shall apply; and 19 ‘‘(II) the requirements of sub- 20 section (g) shall not apply. 21 ‘‘(B) RURAL PROJECTS.— 22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts 23 reserved under paragraph (4)(A), the Sec- 24 retary shall reserve for each fiscal year not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2285.IS S2285 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2285 IS less than 25 percent for projects eligible 1 for a grant under subsection (i). 2 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—For a grant 3 awarded from the amount reserved under 4 clause (i), the requirements of subsection 5 (i) shall apply. 6 ‘‘(6) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 7 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, 8 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on En- 9 vironment and Public Works of the Senate and the 10 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 11 the House of Representatives a report that describes 12 the administration of the pilot program, including— 13 ‘‘(A) the number, types, and locations of 14 eligible applicants that have applied for grants 15 under the pilot program; 16 ‘‘(B) the number, types, and locations of 17 grant recipients under the pilot program; 18 ‘‘(C) an assessment of whether implemen- 19 tation of the pilot program has incentivized eli- 20 gible applicants to offer a greater non-Federal 21 share for grants under the pilot program; and 22 ‘‘(D) any recommendations for modifica- 23 tions to the pilot program.’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:00 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2285.IS S2285 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS