National Bridge Replacement and Improvement Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7869 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a national bridge replacement and improvement program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2020 Mr. EMMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a national bridge replacement and improvement program, 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 ‘‘National Bridge Re- 4 placement and Improvement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL BRIDGE REPLACEMENT AND IMPROVE- 6 MENT PROGRAM. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans- 9 portation shall establish a national bridge replacement and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7869.IH H7869 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7869 IH improvement program (in this section referred to as the 1 ‘‘Program’’) to assist safety improvements for high-risk 2 intersections and interchanges. 3 (b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the Pro- 4 gram, the Secretary may make grants on a competitive 5 basis to covered entities. 6 (c) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may 7 only make a grant under the Program to assist a project 8 that— 9 (1) is a bridge on a Federal-aid highway that 10 is eligible for funding under title 23, United States 11 Code; and 12 (2) will— 13 (A) restore or increase the structural ca- 14 pacity of the bridge; 15 (B) correct a major safety defect of the 16 bridge; or 17 (C) replace an existing bridge with a new 18 bridge that— 19 (i) is in the same general traffic cor- 20 ridor as the bridge being replaced, as de- 21 termined by the Secretary; and 22 (ii) meets the requirements of sub- 23 paragraph (A) or (B). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7869.IH H7869 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7869 IH (d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 1 the Program, a covered entity shall submit to the Sec- 2 retary an application in such form, at such time, and con- 3 taining such information as the Secretary determines is 4 appropriate. 5 (e) LIMITATION.—The aggregate amount provided to 6 a covered entity in a fiscal year through grants under the 7 Program may not exceed 5 percent of the amount made 8 available for all grants under the Program in that fiscal 9 year. 10 (f) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—At least 90 days be- 11 fore establishing the Program under subsection (a), the 12 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report detailing the 13 selection process the Secretary shall use in making grants 14 under the Program. 15 (g) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, the 16 term ‘‘covered entity’’ means any of the following: 17 (1) A State government entity. 18 (2) A local government entity. 19 (3) A territory of the United States. 20 (4) A Tribal government. 21 (5) A metropolitan planning organization. 22 (6) Any entity composed of 2 or more entities 23 described in paragraphs (1) through (5). 24 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7869.IH H7869 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7869 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 1 appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other 2 than the Mass Transit Account) to carry out the 3 Program $1,000,000,000 for each fiscal year. 4 (2) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23, UNITED 5 STATES CODE.—Funds authorized to be appro- 6 priated by paragraph (1) shall— 7 (A) be available for obligation in the same 8 manner as if those funds were apportioned 9 under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, 10 except that the Federal share of the cost of a 11 project or activity carried out using such funds 12 shall be 80 percent; and 13 (B) remain available until expended and 14 not be transferable. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7869.IH H7869 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS