TRAIN Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7192 To amend chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, to establish a program to provide public transportation agencies with grants to be used during a disaster declaration. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2020 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, to establish a program to provide public transportation agencies with grants to be used during a disaster dec- laration. 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 Reliability, Ac- 4 knowledgment, Investment and Need Act of 2020’’ or the 5 ‘‘TRAIN Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7192 IH SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR EMERGENCY OPERATIONS 1 FUNDING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION DURING 2 MAJOR DISASTERS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 49, United 4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘§ 5341. Emergency and continuity of operations dur- 7 ing disaster declarations 8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.—The 9 Secretary of Transportation shall establish a program to 10 provide public transportation agencies with grants to be 11 used during a State disaster declaration. 12 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBLE AGENCIES.—A public 13 transportation agency is eligible to participate in the pro- 14 gram if the agency— 15 ‘‘(1) at the time of application, receives funds 16 (or eligible for such funds) under the surface trans- 17 portation block grant program under section 133 of 18 title 23; 19 ‘‘(2) for each of the 3 years before the date of 20 application, has received funding (or eligible for such 21 funds) for a public transportation project under this 22 chapter; and 23 ‘‘(3) submits an application as described in sub- 24 section (c). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7192 IH ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—In accordance with such re- 1 quirements as the Secretary may by rule establish, each 2 application for a grant under this section shall— 3 ‘‘(1) include a strategy and detailed implemen- 4 tation plan that reflects consultation with commu- 5 nity groups and appropriate stakeholders, and shall 6 specify how the transit agency will continue oper- 7 ations during a disaster declaration; 8 ‘‘(2) assess the public transportation agency’s 9 ability to operate during a disaster declaration; 10 ‘‘(3) identify how the grant will ensure con- 11 tinuity of public transportation services and meet 12 applicable safety and health standards requirements 13 under subsection (i) during such disaster declara- 14 tion; 15 ‘‘(4) demonstrate the agency’s plan to provide 16 no-cost transportation for general transportation 17 service, premium transportation service, and para- 18 transit services during the time period under which 19 such disaster declaration; 20 ‘‘(5) include the total of revenue losses as of the 21 date of application caused by the disaster declara- 22 tion and a projection of such future losses antici- 23 pated during the course of such disaster declaration 24 and shall include an analysis and description of such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7192 IH revenue losses following the 6-month period fol- 1 lowing the expected termination of such disaster dec- 2 laration; 3 ‘‘(6) describe the mechanisms to be employed 4 by the public transportation agency to protect em- 5 ployees from exposure to the conditions generating 6 the disaster declaration; 7 ‘‘(7) provide a list of protocol and supplies that 8 will be used to clean and disinfect surfaces impacted 9 by the events generating the disaster declaration; 10 ‘‘(8) include a list of protective gear to be used 11 by public transit employees that will reduce em- 12 ployee exposure to the conditions generating the dis- 13 aster declaration; 14 ‘‘(9) identify related governmental and commu- 15 nity initiatives which compliment or will be coordi- 16 nated with the proposal; 17 ‘‘(10) certify that there has been appropriate 18 coordination with all appropriate agencies; and 19 ‘‘(11) additional information as required by the 20 Secretary. 21 ‘‘(d) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE.—Funds provided under 22 this section may be expended for— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7192 IH ‘‘(1) providing continued services during the 1 pandemic or disaster declaration, consistent with the 2 requirements under subsection (i); 3 ‘‘(2) stabilization of fare prices for passengers 4 during the period of such disaster declaration; 5 ‘‘(3) no-cost public transportation services dur- 6 ing such disaster declaration; 7 ‘‘(4) provision of new or supplemental public 8 transportation service bus routes, or bus rapid sys- 9 tems; and 10 ‘‘(5) procurement of personal protective gear 11 and equipment needed to protect employees from 12 hazards generated or originating from the disaster 13 declaration. 14 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULE ON EXPENDITURES AND MIN- 15 IMUM REQUIREMENT FOR ELIGIBILITY OF FUNDS.—A 16 public transportation agency receiving grant funds under 17 this section shall provide assistance to the general public 18 under subsection (d)(3) and (d)(4) during the disaster 19 declaration period and, subsequently, for a period of 6 20 months after the termination of such disaster declaration. 21 ‘‘(f) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.— 22 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under this 23 section may not exceed $5,000,000,000. 24 ‘‘(2) RENEWALS OF CERTAIN GRANTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7192 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A grant may be re- 1 newed during the disaster declaration period, 2 provided the public transportation agency— 3 ‘‘(i) submits to the Secretary an appli- 4 cation for renewal at such time, in such 5 manner, and containing such information 6 as the Secretary may require; and 7 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates in such application 8 for renewal that— 9 ‘‘(I) the initial grant was used in 10 a manner required under the most re- 11 cently approved application; and 12 ‘‘(II) the public transportation 13 agency has made progress in achiev- 14 ing the objectives of the initial appli- 15 cation approved for the public trans- 16 portation agency under this section. 17 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 19 appropriated to carry out this section 20 $50,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 and 21 2021. 22 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Funds authorized to be 23 appropriated under this section shall remain avail- 24 able until expended. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7192 IH ‘‘(h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 1 tion shall be construed to limit a project from receiving 2 a grant under this section while simultaneously receiving 3 funds for associated transit improvement or capital 4 projects. 5 ‘‘(i) REQUIRED CERTIFICATION OF SAFETY AND 6 HEALTH PROTOCOL.—A public transportation agency 7 shall certify with the Secretary every 7 days that any use 8 of funds under subsection (d) meet applicable health and 9 safety standards and guidance by the Centers for Disease 10 Control issued during the disaster declaration for pas- 11 sengers and employees of the public transportation agency 12 that includes a description of the compliance mechanisms 13 employed by such agency. 14 ‘‘(j) ANNUAL REPORTS.—A public transportation 15 agency that receives funds under this section during a fis- 16 cal year shall submit to the Secretary a description and 17 an evaluation report on a date specified by the Secretary 18 regarding the progress such projects have made to make 19 transportation access points accessible to persons with 20 limited mobility. 21 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) DISASTER DECLARATION.—The term ‘dis- 23 aster declaration’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7192 IH ‘‘(A) an emergency involving Federal pri- 1 mary responsibility determined to exist by the 2 President under section 501(b) of the Robert T. 3 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist- 4 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191(b)); 5 ‘‘(B) a national emergency declared by the 6 President under the National Emergencies Act 7 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); 8 ‘‘(C) an emergency declared by a Federal 9 official with respect to coronavirus (as defined 10 in section 506 of the Coronavirus Preparedness 11 and Response Supplemental Appropriations 12 Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–123)); or 13 ‘‘(D) a public health emergency declared 14 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 15 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 16 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247(d)) with respect to 17 COVID–19 or any other coronavirus with pan- 18 demic potential. 19 ‘‘(2) GENERAL TRANSPORTATION SERVICE.— 20 The term ‘general transportation service’ means a 21 transportation service that is subject to the same 22 base fare established by the transportation agency 23 for local or general service. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7192 IH ‘‘(3) PREMIUM TRANSPORTATION SERVICE.— 1 The term ‘premium transportation service’ means a 2 transportation service that is not a general transpor- 3 tation service. 4 ‘‘(4) PARATRANSIT SERVICES.—The term ‘para- 5 transit services’ means service to individuals with 6 disabilities that is comparable to the level of service 7 provided to individuals without disabilities who use 8 routes operated by the public transportation agen- 9 cy.’’. 10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 11 for chapter 53 of subtitle III of title 49, United States 12 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec- 13 tion 5340 the following new item: 14 ‘‘5341. Emergency and continuity of operations during disaster declarations.’’. SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 15 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact- 16 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in the Fed- 17 eral Register interim final rules implementing this title, 18 which shall allow eligible public transportation agencies to 19 immediately apply for funds under section 5341 of title 20 49, United States Code (as added by section 2). Notwith- 21 standing section 553 of title 5, United States Code, the 22 regulation shall be effective, on an interim basis, imme- 23 diately upon publication, but may be subject to change and 24 revision after public notice and opportunity for a period 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7192 IH of public comment. The Secretary shall finalize such rules 1 not later than 90 days after the date of publication. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7192.IH H7192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS