II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2403 To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to provide loans for the acquisition of electric buses and related infrastructure. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 31, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. SMITH, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. HEIN- RICH, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Hous- ing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to provide loans for the acquisition of electric buses and related infra- structure. 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 ‘‘Community Health 4 and Clean Transit Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2403.IS S2403 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2403 IS (1) the term ‘‘covered loan’’ means a direct loan 1 made by the Secretary under section 4; 2 (2) the term ‘‘electric bus’’ means a bus that is 3 a zero emission vehicle (as defined in section 4 5339(c)(1) of title 49, United States Code) that is 5 fully battery-powered; 6 (3) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means an eligible 7 recipient, as described in section 5339(a)(4) of title 8 49, United States Code; 9 (4) the term ‘‘eligible project’’ has the meaning 10 given the term in section 5339(c)(1) of title 49, 11 United States Code, except that that definition shall 12 be applied by substituting ‘‘electric buses’’ for ‘‘low 13 or no emission vehicles’’; 14 (5) the term ‘‘eligible project cost’’— 15 (A) means the cost of an eligible project; 16 and 17 (B) includes (and in the case of an eligible 18 project described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of 19 section 5339(c)(1)(B), means only)— 20 (i) the incremental cost of acquiring 21 an electric bus necessary to meet the needs 22 of the eligible entity, as compared to the 23 average cost of a diesel bus; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2403.IS S2403 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2403 IS (ii) the cost of technical assistance for 1 the acquisition, financing, and operation of 2 an electric bus and related infrastructure, 3 including technical assistance for route 4 electrification, technology selection, and ve- 5 hicle-to-grid interfacing; 6 (6) the term ‘‘Secretary’’, except as otherwise 7 provided, means the Secretary of Transportation; 8 and 9 (7) the term ‘‘subsidy amount’’ means the 10 amount of budget authority sufficient to cover the 11 estimated long-term cost to the Federal Government 12 of a covered loan— 13 (A) calculated on a net present value basis; 14 and 15 (B) excluding administrative costs and any 16 incidental effects on governmental receipts or 17 outlays in accordance with the Federal Credit 18 Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). 19 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 20 The purpose of this Act is to help entities that pro- 21 vide or finance public transportation to choose and be able 22 to afford the best vehicles for their needs, and to achieve 23 fuel and maintenance cost savings, by providing loans to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2403.IS S2403 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2403 IS eligible entities to acquire electric buses and related infra- 1 structure. 2 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE. 3 The Secretary may make a direct loan to an eligible 4 entity for eligible project costs. 5 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 7 (b), an eligible entity desiring a covered loan shall submit 8 to the Secretary an application that— 9 (1) includes an implementation plan for use of 10 the covered loan; 11 (2) estimates the amounts the eligible entity 12 will save on fuel and maintenance costs due to the 13 covered loan; and 14 (3) provides reasonable assurance that the eligi- 15 ble entity will make all payments on the covered 16 loan. 17 (b) LINK TO LOW OR NO EMISSION BUS AND BUS 18 FACILITIES GRANT APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall 19 establish a procedure under which an eligible entity that 20 submits an application under section 5339(c) of title 49, 21 United States Code, for a grant relating to a low or no 22 emission bus or bus facility may amend the application 23 to also be considered for a covered loan under this Act 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2403.IS S2403 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2403 IS without having to submit a separate application under this 1 section. 2 (c) GUIDANCE AND BEST PRACTICES.—Not later 3 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 4 Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary 5 of Transportation, shall develop and publish on the 6 website of the Department of Energy guidance on best 7 practices for transit districts to enter into innovative rela- 8 tionships with public utilities and bus manufacturers to 9 incorporate into operations and financing of electric buses 10 and infrastructure— 11 (1) secondary use of the battery; 12 (2) vehicle-to-grid integration; 13 (3) charging infrastructure cost shares; or 14 (4) battery performance guarantees. 15 SEC. 6. TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—A covered loan— 17 (1) shall not accrue interest; and 18 (2) shall be on such terms and conditions and 19 contain such covenants, representations, warranties, 20 and requirements (including requirements for au- 21 dits) as the Secretary may prescribe. 22 (b) TERM OF LOAN.—The Secretary may provide a 23 covered loan only if the final maturity date of the covered 24 loan is not later than the date on which the electric bus 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2403.IS S2403 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2403 IS acquired using the covered loan is expected to exceed its 1 useful life, based on the average life expectancy of the elec- 2 tric bus. 3 (c) BUY AMERICA.—Section 5323(j) of title 49, 4 United States Code, shall apply with respect to a project 5 funded using a covered loan in the same manner as to 6 a project funded using amounts appropriated to carry out 7 chapter 53 of such title 49. 8 (d) NON-FEDERAL SHARE FOR LOW-NO GRANTS.— 9 The proceeds of a covered loan may be used for any non- 10 Federal share of project costs required under section 11 5339(c) of title 49, United States Code, if the covered loan 12 is repayable from non-Federal funds. 13 SEC. 7. REPAYMENT. 14 (a) COMMENCEMENT.—Scheduled repayments of 15 principal on a covered loan provided to an eligible entity 16 shall commence not later than 180 days after the date on 17 which the eligible entity places in revenue service the elec- 18 tric bus and necessary infrastructure that were acquired 19 using the covered loan. 20 (b) PREPAYMENT.—An eligible entity may make re- 21 payments on a covered loan in advance of the scheduled 22 repayment date with no penalty. 23 (c) DELINQUENCY.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 24 vision of law, if an eligible entity fails to make a scheduled 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2403.IS S2403 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2403 IS repayment on a covered loan, the Secretary may withhold 1 from the eligible entity an equivalent amount of any assist- 2 ance that would otherwise be provided to the eligible entity 3 under a formula grant program under chapter 53 of title 4 49, United States Code. 5 SEC. 8. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS. 6 Subject to the availability of funds and except as oth- 7 erwise provided in this Act, amounts provided by the Sec- 8 retary under this Act shall be available until expended. 9 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 11 priated $15,000,000 for each of the first 5 fiscal years 12 beginning after the date of enactment of this Act for the 13 subsidy amount of covered loans. 14 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—There is authorized to 15 be appropriated such sums as are necessary for the admin- 16 istrative cost of providing covered loans. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2403.IS S2403 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS