Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for other purposes.

IB Union Calendar No. 363 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7616 [Report No. 116–452] Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 16, 2020 Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, from the Committee on Appropriations, re- ported the following bill; which was committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed A BILL Making appropriations for the Departments of Transpor- tation, and Housing and Urban Development, and re- lated agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H7616.RH H7616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7616 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 That the following sums are appropriated, out of any 3 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the 4 Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban 5 Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year end- 6 ing September 30, 2021, and for other purposes, namely: 7 TITLE I 8 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 9 OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 10 SALARIES AND EXPENSES 11 For necessary expenses of the Office of the Secretary, 12 $126,174,000, of which not to exceed $3,360,000 shall be 13 available for the immediate Office of the Secretary; not 14 to exceed $1,200,000 shall be available for the immediate 15 Office of the Deputy Secretary; not to exceed $22,210,000 16 shall be available for the Office of the General Counsel; 17 not to exceed $11,797,000 shall be available for the Office 18 of the Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy; not 19 to exceed $16,394,000 shall be available for the Office of 20 the Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs; not to 21 exceed $3,010,000 shall be available for the Office of the 22 Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs; not to ex- 23 ceed $32,239,000 shall be available for the Office of the 24 Assistant Secretary for Administration; not to exceed 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7616.RH H7616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7616 RH $2,610,000 shall be available for the Office of Public Af- 1 fairs; not to exceed $2,018,000 shall be available for the 2 Office of the Executive Secretariat; not to exceed 3 $13,576,000 shall be available for the Office of Intel- 4 ligence, Security, and Emergency Response; and not to ex- 5 ceed $17,760,000 shall be available for the Office of the 6 Chief Information Officer: Provided, That the Secretary 7 of Transportation is authorized to transfer funds appro- 8 priated for any office of the Office of the Secretary to any 9 other office of the Office of the Secretary: Provided fur- 10 ther, That no appropriation for any office shall be in- 11 creased or decreased by more than 7 percent by all such 12 transfers: Provided further, That notice of any change in 13 funding greater than 7 percent shall be submitted for ap- 14 proval to the House and Senate Committees on Appropria- 15 tions: Provided further, That not to exceed $60,000 shall 16 be for allocation within the Department for official recep- 17 tion and representation expenses as the Secretary may de- 18 termine: Provided further, That notwithstanding any other 19 provision of law, there may be credited to this appropria- 20 tion up to $2,500,000 in funds received in user fees: Pro- 21 vided further, That none of the funds made available by 22 this Act shall be available for the position of Assistant Sec- 23 retary for Public Affairs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7616.RH H7616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7616 RH RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY 1 For necessary expenses related to the Office of the 2 Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, 3 $19,800,000, of which $12,718,000 shall remain available 4 until expended: Provided, That of the amounts made avail- 5 able under this heading, $3,000,000, to remain available 6 until expended, shall be for the Highly Automated Sys- 7 tems Safety Center of Excellence established by section 8 105 of title I of division H of the Further Consolidated 9 Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94): Provided 10 further, That there may be credited to this appropriation, 11 to be available until expended, funds received from States, 12 counties, municipalities, other public authorities, and pri- 13 vate sources for expenses incurred for training: Provided 14 further, That any reference in law, regulation, judicial pro- 15 ceedings, or elsewhere to the Research and Innovative 16 Technology Administration shall continue to be deemed to 17 be a reference to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for 18 Research and Technology of the Department of Transpor- 19 tation. 20 NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS 21 (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS) 22 For capital investments in surface transportation in- 23 frastructure, $1,000,000,000, to remain available until 24 September 30, 2026: Provided, That the Secretary of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7616.RH H7616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7616 RH Transportation shall distribute amounts made available 1 under this heading as discretionary grants to be awarded 2 to a State, local, or Tribal government, U.S. territory, 3 transit agency, port authority, metropolitan planning or- 4 ganization, political subdivision of a State or local govern- 5 ment, or a collaboration among such entities on a competi- 6 tive basis for projects that will have a significant local or 7 regional impact: Provided further, That projects eligible 8 for amounts made available under this heading shall in- 9 clude highway or bridge projects eligible under title 23, 10 United States Code; public transportation projects eligible 11 under chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code; pas- 12 senger and freight rail transportation projects; port infra- 13 structure investments (including inland port infrastruc- 14 ture and land ports of entry); and projects investing in 15 surface transportation facilities that are located on Tribal 16 land and for which title or maintenance responsibility is 17 vested in the Federal Government: Provided further, That 18 of the amounts made available under this heading, the 19 Secretary shall use an amount not less than $20,000,000 20 for the planning, preparation, or design of projects eligible 21 for amounts made available under this heading, with an 22 emphasis on transit, transit oriented development, and 23 multimodal projects: Provided further, That of the 24 amounts made available under this heading, the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7616.RH H7616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7616 RH shall use an amount not less than $20,000,000 for the 1 planning, preparation, or design of projects eligible for 2 amounts made available under this heading located in or 3 to directly benefit areas of persistent poverty: Provided 4 further, That the term ‘‘areas of persistent poverty’’ 5 means any county that has consistently had 20 percent 6 or more of the population living in poverty during the 30- 7 year period preceding the date of enactment of this Act, 8 as measured by the 1990 and 2000 decennial census and 9 the most recent annual Small Area Income and Poverty 10 Estimates as estimated by the Bureau of the Census; any 11 census tract with a poverty rate of at least 20 percent 12 as measured by the 2014-2018 5-year data series available 13 from the American Community Survey of the Bureau of 14 the Census; or any territory or possession of the United 15 States: Provided further, That grants awarded under the 16 preceding 3 provisos shall not be subject to a minimum 17 grant size: Provided further, That the Secretary may use 18 up to 20 percent of the amounts made available under this 19 heading for the purpose of paying the subsidy and admin- 20 istrative costs of projects eligible for Federal credit assist- 21 ance under chapter 6 of title 23, United States Code, or 22 sections 501 through 504 of the Railroad Revitalization 23 and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–210), 24 if the Secretary finds that such use of funds would ad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7616.RH H7616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7616 RH vance the purposes of this heading: Provided further, That 1 in distributing amounts made available under this head- 2 ing, the Secretary shall take such measures so as to ensure 3 an equitable geographic distribution of funds, an equitable 4 distribution of funds between urban and rural areas, and 5 the investment in a variety of transportation modes, in- 6 cluding public transit, passenger rail, and pedestrian im- 7 provements: Provided further, That a grant award under 8 this heading shall be not less than $5,000,000 and not 9 greater than $25,000,000: Provided further, That not 10 more than 10 percent of the amounts made available 11 under this heading may be awarded to projects in a single 12 State that are not port infrastructure investments (includ- 13 ing inland port infrastructure and land ports of entry): 14 Provided further, That the Federal share of the costs for 15 which an amount is provided under this heading shall be, 16 at the option of the recipient, up to 80 percent: Provided 17 further, That the Secretary shall give priority to projects 18 that require a contribution of Federal funds in order to 19 complete an overall financing package: Provided further, 20 That an award under this heading is an urban award if 21 it is to a project located within or on the boundary of an 22 urbanized area, as designated by the Bureau of the Cen- 23 sus, that had a population greater than 250,000 in the 24 2010 decennial census: Provided further, That for the pur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7616.RH H7616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7616 RH pose of determining if an award for planning, preparation, 1 or design is an urban award, the project location is the 2 location of the project being planned, prepared, or de- 3 signed: Provided further, That each award under this 4 heading that is not an urban award is a rural award: Pro- 5 vided further, That of the amounts awarded under this 6 heading, 60 percent shall be awarded as urban awards and 7 40 percent shall be awarded as rural awards: Provided fur- 8 ther, That for rural awards, the minimum grant size shall 9 be $1,000,000 and the Secretary may increase the Federal 10 share of costs above 80 percent: Provided further, That 11 projects conducted using amounts made available under 12 this heading shall comply with the requirements of sub- 13 chapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code: 14 Provided further, That the Secretary shall conduct a new 15 competition to select the grants and credit assistance 16 awarded under this heading: Provided further, That the 17 Secretary may retain up to $25,000,000 of the amounts 18 made available under this heading, and may transfer por- 19 tions of such amounts to the Administrators of the Fed- 20 eral Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Admin- 21 istration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the 22 Maritime Administration to fund the award and oversight 23 of grants and credit assistance made under the national 24 infrastructure investments program: Provided further, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7616.RH H7616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7616 RH That the Secretary shall consider and award projects 1 based solely on the selection criteria from the fiscal year 2 2017 Notice of Funding Opportunity: Provided further, 3 That, notwithstanding the preceding proviso, the Sec- 4 retary shall not use the Federal share or an applicant’s 5 ability to generate non-Federal revenue as a selection cri- 6 teria in awarding projects: Provided further, That the Sec- 7 retary shall issue the Notice of Funding Opportunity not 8 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act: 9 Provided further, That such Notice of Funding Oppor- 10 tunity shall require application submissions 90 days after 11 the publishing of such Notice: Provided further, That of 12 the applications submitted under the preceding 2 provisos, 13 the Secretary shall make grants not later than 270 days 14 after the date of enactment of this Act in such amounts 15 that the Secretary determines. 16 NATIONAL SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND INNOVATIVE 17 FINANCE BUREAU 18 For necessary expenses of the National Surface 19 Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau as author- 20 ized by section 116 of title 49, United States Code, 21 $15,500,000, to remain available until expended: Pro- 22 vided, That of the amounts made available under this 23 heading, $10,000,000 shall be for planning grants to as- 24 sist areas of persistent poverty: Provided further, That the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Jul 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7616.RH H7616 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7616 RH term ‘‘areas of persistent poverty’’ means any county that 1 has consistently had 20 percent or more of the population 2 living in poverty during the 30-year period preceding the 3 date of enactment of this Act, as measured by the 1990 4 and 2000 decennial census and the most recent annual 5 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates as estimated 6 by the Bureau of the Census; any census tract with a pov- 7 erty rate of at least 20 percent as measured by the 2014– 8 2018 5-year data series available from the American Com- 9 munity Survey of the Bureau of the Census; or any terri- 10 tory or possession of the United States: Provided further, 11 That planning grants under this heading shall be in the 12 form of competitive grants to eligible entities to support 13 pre-construction activities including planning, engineering, 14 design, environmental analysis, feasibility studies, and fi- 15 nance plans for eligible projects: Provided further, That 16 eligible entities for planning grants under this heading 17 shall include a State, local, or Tribal government, a U.S. 18 territory, a transit agency, a port authority or commission, 19 a metropol [Text truncated for display. 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