Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6104 To amend title 23, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transpor- tation to set aside certain funds to provide parking for commercial motor vehicles on the Federal-aid highway system, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 5, 2020 Mr. BOST (for himself and Ms. CRAIG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to direct the Sec- retary of Transportation to set aside certain funds to provide parking for commercial motor vehicles on the Federal-aid highway system, 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 ‘‘Truck Parking Safety 4 Improvement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PARKING FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. 6 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 7 gress that it should be a national priority to address the 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6104.IH H6104 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6104 IH shortage of parking for commercial motor vehicles on the 1 Federal-aid Highway System to improve highway safety. 2 (b) PARKING FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES.—Chapter 3 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding 4 at the end the following: 5 ‘‘§ 171. Parking for commercial vehicles 6 ‘‘(a) SET ASIDE.—Before making an apportionment 7 for a fiscal year under paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (5) of 8 section 104(b), the Secretary shall set aside, from 9 amounts made available to carry out the national highway 10 performance program under section 119, the surface 11 transportation block grant program under section 133, the 12 highway safety improvement program under section 148, 13 and the national highway freight program under section 14 167, for such fiscal year, amounts described in subsection 15 (b) of this section for providing parking for commercial 16 motor vehicles on Federal-aid highways. 17 ‘‘(b) AMOUNTS DECRIBED.—The amounts referred to 18 in this subsection are at least— 19 ‘‘(1) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 20 ‘‘(2) $140,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 21 ‘‘(3) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 22 ‘‘(4) $165,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 23 ‘‘(5) $175,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6104.IH H6104 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6104 IH ‘‘(c) DISTRIBUTION AMONG PROGRAMS.—The 1 amounts described in subsection (b) shall be determined 2 by multiplying the set aside amount for a fiscal year by 3 the ratio that— 4 ‘‘(1) the total initial apportionment for each 5 program described in subsection (a) for a fiscal year; 6 bears to 7 ‘‘(2) the total initial apportionment for all pro- 8 grams described in subsection (a) for such fiscal 9 year. 10 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION AMONG STATES.—The amounts 11 described in subsection (c) shall be set-aside from the 12 States as determined by multiplying the set aside amount 13 for each program by the ratio that— 14 ‘‘(1) the initial apportionment for a State for 15 such program described in subsection (c) for a fiscal 16 year; bears to 17 ‘‘(2) the total initial apportionment for all 18 States for such program described in subsection (c) 19 for such fiscal year. 20 ‘‘(e) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall pro- 21 vide grants from funds set aside under subsection (a), on 22 a competitive basis, for projects to provide parking for 23 commercial motor vehicles on Federal-aid highways or on 24 a facility with reasonable access to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6104.IH H6104 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6104 IH ‘‘(1) a Federal-aid highway; or 1 ‘‘(2) a freight facility. 2 ‘‘(f) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 3 this subsection, an entity shall submit to the Secretary an 4 application at such time and in such manner as the Sec- 5 retary may require. 6 ‘‘(g) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—An application 7 under subsection (f) shall contain— 8 ‘‘(1) a description of the proposed project; and 9 ‘‘(2) any other information that the Secretary 10 may require. 11 ‘‘(h) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The following entities 12 shall be eligible to receive amounts under this section: 13 ‘‘(1) A State. 14 ‘‘(2) Any public agency carrying out responsibil- 15 ities relating to commercial motor vehicle parking. 16 ‘‘(3) A metropolitan planning organization. 17 ‘‘(4) A local government. 18 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An entity may use funds 20 provided under this section only for projects de- 21 scribed in paragraph (2) that are located— 22 ‘‘(A) on a Federal-aid highway; or 23 ‘‘(B) on a facility with reasonable access 24 to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6104.IH H6104 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6104 IH ‘‘(i) a Federal-aid highway; or 1 ‘‘(ii) a freight facility. 2 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS DESCRIBED.—A project re- 3 ferred to in paragraph (1) is a project to— 4 ‘‘(A) construct safety rest areas (as such 5 term is defined in section 120(c)) that include 6 parking for commercial motor vehicles; 7 ‘‘(B) construct commercial motor vehicle 8 parking facilities— 9 ‘‘(i) adjacent to private commercial 10 truck stops and travel plazas; 11 ‘‘(ii) within the boundaries of, or adja- 12 cent to, a publicly owned freight facility, 13 including a port terminal operated by a 14 public authority; and 15 ‘‘(iii) at existing facilities, including 16 inspection and weigh stations and park- 17 and-ride locations; and 18 ‘‘(C) convert existing weigh stations and 19 rest areas to facilities for the exclusive use of 20 commercial motor vehicle parking. 21 ‘‘(j) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Entities may use alloca- 23 tions under this subsection for the following activi- 24 ties of an eligible project: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6104.IH H6104 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6104 IH ‘‘(A) Development phase activities, includ- 1 ing planning, feasability analysis, benefit-cost 2 analysis, environmental review, preliminary en- 3 gineering and design work, and other precon- 4 struction activities. 5 ‘‘(B) Construction, reconstruction, rehabili- 6 tation, acquisition of real property, environ- 7 mental mitigation, construction contingencies, 8 acquisition of equipment, and operational im- 9 provements directly related to expanding com- 10 mercial motor vehicle parking. 11 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—An entity may not use more 12 than 25 percent of a grant under this subsection for 13 activities described in paragraph (1)(A). 14 ‘‘(k) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this sub- 15 section, the Secretary shall give priority to entities that— 16 ‘‘(1) demonstrate a safety need for commercial 17 motor vehicle parking capacity in the corridor in 18 which the project described under subsection (d)(1) 19 is proposed to be carried out; 20 ‘‘(2) have consulted with affected State and 21 local governments, trucking organizations, and pri- 22 vate providers of commercial motor vehicle parking; 23 ‘‘(3) demonstrate that the project described 24 under subsection (d)(1) will likely— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6104.IH H6104 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6104 IH ‘‘(A) increase commercial motor vehicle 1 parking capacity; 2 ‘‘(B) facilitate the efficient movement of 3 freight; and 4 ‘‘(C) improve highway safety, traffic con- 5 gestion, and air quality; and 6 ‘‘(4) demonstrate the ability to provide for the 7 maintenance and operation cost necessary to keep 8 the facility available for use after completion of con- 9 struction. 10 ‘‘(l) FEDERAL SHARE.—Notwithstanding any other 11 provision of law, the Federal share for a project carried 12 out under this subsection shall be 100 percent. 13 ‘‘(m) TREATMENT OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding sec- 14 tion 126, funds made available under this subsection shall 15 remain available until expended and shall not be transfer- 16 able. 17 ‘‘(n) PROHIBITION ON CHARGING FEES.—To be eli- 18 gible for a grant under this section, an entity shall agree 19 that no fees will be charged for a commercial motor vehicle 20 to access and park at any part of the facility constructed 21 with funds made available under this subsection. 22 ‘‘(o) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—Not less than 3 23 days before making a grant for a project under this sec- 24 tion, the Secretary shall notify, in writing, the Committee 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6104.IH H6104 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6104 IH on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 1 Representatives and the Committee on the Environment 2 and Public Works of the Senate of the— 3 ‘‘(1) the amount of each proposed grant to be 4 made under this subsection; 5 ‘‘(2) evaluation and justification for the project 6 selection. 7 ‘‘(p) SURVEY AND COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 9 after the date of enactment of this subsection, and 10 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary, in consulta- 11 tion with appropriate State motor carrier safety per- 12 sonnel and State departments of transportation, 13 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation 14 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 15 and the Committee on the Environment and Public 16 Works of the Senate a report that— 17 ‘‘(A) evaluates the capability of the States 18 to provide adequate parking and rest facilities 19 for commercial motor vehicles engaged in inter- 20 state transportation; 21 ‘‘(B) evaluates the effectiveness of the 22 projects funded under this subsection in im- 23 proving access to truck parking; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6104.IH H6104 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6104 IH ‘‘(C) evaluates the ability of entities receiv- 1 ing a grant under this subsection to sustain the 2 operation of parking facilities constructed with 3 funds provided under this subsection; and 4 ‘‘(D) reports on the progress being made 5 to provide adequate commercial motor vehicle 6 parking facilities in the State. 7 ‘‘(2) RESULTS.—The Secretary shall make the 8 report under paragraph (1) available to the public 9 on the website of the Department of Transportation. 10 ‘‘(q) TREATMENT OF PROJECTS.—Notwithstanding 11 any other provision of law, a project carried out under this 12 section shall be treated as if the project is located on a 13 Federal-aid highway under this chapter. 14 ‘‘(r) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE DEFINED.—In 15 this section, the term ‘commercial motor vehicle’ has the 16 meaning given such term in section 31132 of title 49.’’. 17 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap- 18 ter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by add- 19 ing after the item relating to section 171 the following: 20 ‘‘171. Parking for commercial vehicles.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6104.IH H6104 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS