Transit to Trails Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4273 To establish a program to award grants to entities that provide transportation connectors from critically underserved urban communities and rural com- munities to green spaces. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 Mr. GOMEZ (for himself and Mr. STIVERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To establish a program to award grants to entities that provide transportation connectors from critically under- served urban communities and rural communities to green spaces. 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 ‘‘Transit to Trails Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. TRANSIT TO TRAILS GRANT PROGRAM. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4273 IH (1) CRITICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.— 1 The term ‘‘critically underserved community’’ 2 means— 3 (A) a community that can demonstrate to 4 the Secretary that the community has inad- 5 equate, insufficient, or no park space or recre- 6 ation facilities, including by demonstrating— 7 (i) quality concerns relating to the 8 available park space or recreation facilities; 9 (ii) the presence of recreational facili- 10 ties that do not serve the needs of the com- 11 munity; or 12 (iii) the inequitable distribution of 13 park space for high-need populations, 14 based on income, age, or other measures of 15 vulnerability and need; 16 (B) a community in which at least 50 per- 17 cent of the population is not located within 1⁄2 18 mile of park space; 19 (C) a community that is designated as a 20 qualified opportunity zone under section 21 1400Z–1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 22 or 23 (D) any other community that the Sec- 24 retary determines to be appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4273 IH (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 1 ty’’ means— 2 (A) a State; 3 (B) a political subdivision of a State (in- 4 cluding a city or a county) that represents or 5 otherwise serves an urban area or a rural area; 6 (C) a special purpose district (including a 7 park district); 8 (D) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 9 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 10 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) that 11 represents or otherwise serves an urban area or 12 a rural area; or 13 (E) a metropolitan planning organization 14 (as defined in section 134(b) of title 23, United 15 States Code). 16 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 17 the Transit to Trails Grant Program established 18 under subsection (b)(1). 19 (4) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 20 means a community that is not an urban area. 21 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 22 the Secretary of Transportation. 23 (6) TRANSPORTATION CONNECTOR.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4273 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘transpor- 1 tation connector’’ means a system that— 2 (i) connects 2 zip codes or commu- 3 nities within a 175-mile radius of a des- 4 ignated service area; and 5 (ii) offers rides available to the public. 6 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘transpor- 7 tation connector’’ includes microtransits, bus 8 lines, bus rails, light rail, rapid transits, or per- 9 sonal rapid transits. 10 (7) URBAN AREA.—The term ‘‘urban area’’ 11 means a community that— 12 (A) is densely developed; 13 (B) has residential, commercial, and other 14 nonresidential areas; and 15 (C)(i) is an urbanized area with a popu- 16 lation of 50,000 or more; or 17 (ii) is an urban cluster with a population 18 of— 19 (I) not less than 2,500; and 20 (II) not more than 50,000. 21 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 22 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es- 23 tablish a grant program, to be known as the ‘‘Tran- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4273 IH sit to Trails Grant Program’’, under which the Sec- 1 retary shall award grants to eligible entities for— 2 (A) projects that develop transportation 3 connectors or routes in or serving, and related 4 education materials for, critically underserved 5 communities to increase access and mobility to 6 Federal or non-Federal public land, waters, 7 parkland, or monuments; or 8 (B) projects that facilitate transportation 9 improvements to enhance access to Federal or 10 non-Federal public land and recreational oppor- 11 tunities in critically underserved communities. 12 (2) ADMINISTRATION.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ad- 14 minister the program to assist eligible entities 15 in the development of transportation connectors 16 or routes in or serving, and related education 17 materials for, critically underserved commu- 18 nities and Federal or non-Federal public land, 19 waters, parkland, and monuments. 20 (B) JOINT PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary 21 shall encourage joint partnership projects under 22 the program, if available, among multiple agen- 23 cies, including school districts, nonprofit organi- 24 zations, metropolitan planning organizations, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4273 IH regional transportation authorities, transit 1 agencies, and State and local governmental 2 agencies (including park and recreation agen- 3 cies and authorities) to enhance investment of 4 public sources. 5 (C) ANNUAL GRANT PROJECT PROPOSAL 6 SOLICITATION, REVIEW, AND APPROVAL.— 7 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 8 shall— 9 (I) annually solicit the submis- 10 sion of project proposals for grants 11 from eligible entities under the pro- 12 gram; and 13 (II) review each project proposal 14 submitted under subclause (I) on a 15 timeline established by the Secretary. 16 (ii) REQUIRED ELEMENTS FOR 17 PROJECT PROPOSAL.—A project proposal 18 submitted under clause (i)(I) shall in- 19 clude— 20 (I) a statement of the purposes 21 of the project; 22 (II) the name of the entity or in- 23 dividual with overall responsibility for 24 the project; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4273 IH (III) a description of the quali- 1 fications of the entity or individuals 2 identified under subclause (II); 3 (IV) a description of— 4 (aa) staffing and stake- 5 holder engagement for the 6 project; 7 (bb) the logistics of the 8 project; and 9 (cc) anticipated outcomes of 10 the project; 11 (V) a proposed budget for the 12 funds and time required to complete 13 the project; 14 (VI) information regarding the 15 source and amount of matching fund- 16 ing available for the project; 17 (VII) information that dem- 18 onstrates the clear potential of the 19 project to contribute to increased ac- 20 cess to parkland for critically under- 21 served communities; and 22 (VIII) any other information that 23 the Secretary considers to be nec- 24 essary for evaluating the eligibility of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4273 IH the project for funding under the pro- 1 gram. 2 (iii) CONSULTATION; APPROVAL OR 3 DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary shall, with 4 respect to each project proposal submitted 5 under this subparagraph, as appropriate— 6 (I) consult with the government 7 of each State in which the proposed 8 project is to be conducted; 9 (II) after taking into consider- 10 ation any comments resulting from 11 the consultation under subclause (I), 12 approve or disapprove the proposal; 13 and 14 (III) provide written notification 15 of the approval or disapproval to— 16 (aa) the individual or entity 17 that submitted the proposal; and 18 (bb) each State consulted 19 under subclause (I). 20 (D) PRIORITY.—To the extent practicable, 21 in determining whether to approve project pro- 22 posals under the program, the Secretary shall 23 prioritize projects that are designed to increase 24 access and mobility to local or neighborhood 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4273 IH Federal or non-Federal public land, waters, 1 parkland, monuments, or recreational opportu- 2 nities. 3 (3) TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCE- 4 DURES.— 5 (A) PROCEDURES.—In consultation with 6 the head of each appropriate Federal land man- 7 agement agency, the Secretary shall develop, by 8 rule, transportation planning procedures for 9 projects conducted under the program that are 10 consistent with metropolitan and statewide 11 planning processes. 12 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—All projects carried 13 out under the program shall be developed in co- 14 operation with States and metropolitan plan- 15 ning organizations. 16 (4) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of re- 18 ceiving a grant under the program, an eligible 19 entity shall provide funds in the form of cash 20 or an in-kind contribution in an amount equal 21 to not less than 100 percent of the amount of 22 the grant. 23 (B) SOURCES.—The non-Federal contribu- 24 tion required under subparagraph (A) may in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4273 IH clude amounts made available from State, local, 1 nongovernmental, or private sources. 2 (5) ELIGIBLE USES.—Grant funds provided 3 under the program may be used— 4 (A) to develop transportation connectors or 5 routes in or serving, and related education ma- 6 terials for, critically underserved communities 7 to increase access and mobility to Federal and 8 non-Federal public land, waters, parkland, and 9 monuments; and 10 (B) to create or significantly enhance ac- 11 cess to Federal or non-Federal public land and 12 recreational opportunities in an urban area or 13 a rural area. 14 (6) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant provided under 15 the program shall be— 16 (A) not less than $25,000; and 17 (B) not more than $500,000. 18 (7) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—It is the intent 19 of Congress that grants provided under the program 20 deliver project funds to areas of greatest need while 21 offering technical assistance to all applicants and po- 22 tential applicants for grant preparation to encourage 23 full participation in the program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4273 IH (8) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—The Secretary 1 shall ensure that current schedules and routes for 2 transportation systems developed after the receipt of 3 a grant under the program are available to the pub- 4 lic, including on a website maintained by the recipi- 5 ent of a grant. 6 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 7 (1) REPORTS BY GRANT RECIPIENTS.—The 8 Secretary shall require a recipient of a grant under 9 the program to submit to the Secretary at least 1 10 performance and financial report that— 11 (A) includes— 12 (i) demographic data on communities 13 served by the project; and 14 (ii) a summary of project activities 15 conducted after receiving the grant; and 16 (B) describes the status of each project 17 funded by the grant as of the date of the re- 18 port. 19 (2) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—In addition to the 20 report required under paragraph (1), the Secretary 21 may require additional reports from a recipient, as 22 the Secretary determines to be appropriate, includ- 23 ing a final report. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4273 IH (3) DEADLINES.—The Secretary shall establish 1 deadlines for the submission of each report required 2 under paragraph (1) or (2). 3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 4 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 5 $10,000,000 for each fiscal year. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4273.IH H4273 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS