LPOE Modernization Trust Fund Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3135 To establish the Land Port of Entry Modernization Trust Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 9, 2023 Mr. CUELLAR (for himself, Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. VASQUEZ, and Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, Agriculture, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish the Land Port of Entry Modernization Trust Fund, 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 ‘‘LPOE Modernization 4 Trust Fund Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3135 IH SEC. 2. LAND PORT OF ENTRY MODERNIZATION TRUST 1 FUND. 2 (a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab- 3 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 4 to be known as the ‘‘Land Port of Entry Modernization 5 Trust Fund’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Trust 6 Fund’’), consisting of amounts transferred to the Trust 7 Fund under subsection (b) and any amounts that may be 8 credited to the Trust Fund under subsection (c). 9 (b) DEPOSITS INTO TRUST FUND.—There shall be 10 deposited into the Trust Fund as discretionary offsetting 11 collections, for fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year there- 12 after— 13 (1) twenty-five percent of all fees collected pur- 14 suant to section 13031(b)(9)(A)(ii)(I) of the Consoli- 15 dated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 16 (19 U.S.C. 58c(b)(9)(A)(ii)(I)); 17 (2) up to $1,600,000,000 of the Merchandise 18 Processing Fees collected pursuant to section 19 13031(a)(9)(B)(i) of the Consolidated Omnibus 20 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 21 58c(a)(9)(B)(i)); and 22 (3) twenty-five percent of all surcharges col- 23 lected under subsection (h)(3) of this Act related 24 to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3135 IH (A) immigrant user fee established under 1 section 286(m) of the Immigration and Nation- 2 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 22 1356(m)); 3 (B) land border inspection fees established 4 under section 286(q) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 5 1356(q)); and 6 (C) the machine-readable visa fee estab- 7 lished under section 103 of the Enhanced Bor- 8 der Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 9 2002 (8 U.S.C. 1713). 10 (c) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas- 12 ury shall invest such portion of the Trust Fund as 13 is not required to meet current obligations in inter- 14 est-bearing obligations of the United States or in ob- 15 ligations guaranteed as to both principal and inter- 16 est by the United States. 17 (2) INTEREST AND PROCEEDS.—The interest 18 on, and the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, 19 any obligations held in the Trust Fund shall be 20 credited to the Trust Fund as discretionary offset- 21 ting collections, and shall form a part of the Trust 22 Fund. 23 (d) USE OF TRUST FUND.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3135 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Trust Fund, 1 including amounts described in subsection (c)(2), 2 shall be made available to the Secretary for the pur- 3 poses described in paragraph (2) only to the extent 4 and in the amounts provided in advance in appro- 5 priations Acts. 6 (2) PURPOSES.—Subject to paragraph (1), 7 amounts in the Trust Fund shall be made available 8 for the following purposes: 9 (A) The construction of new United States 10 ports of entry. 11 (B) The expansion and improvement of ex- 12 isting United States ports of entry infrastruc- 13 ture to accommodate high volumes of commer- 14 cial, vehicle, and pedestrian traffic. 15 (C) The procurement of technology and 16 supporting infrastructure for United States 17 ports of entry, and related cargo and commer- 18 cial inspection facilities, to facilitate the inspec- 19 tion and processing of commercial, vehicle, and 20 pedestrian traffic. 21 (D) The facilitation of major repairs and 22 alterations of United States land ports of entry. 23 (E) Hiring U.S. Customs and Border Pro- 24 tection officers, agricultural specialists, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3135 IH professional staff to support the trade and rev- 1 enue mission of such agency. 2 (3) CONSULTATION.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The purposes described 4 in paragraph (2) shall be carried out by the 5 Secretary, in consultation with the Adminis- 6 trator of General Services, the Chief of Engi- 7 neers and Commanding General of the United 8 States Army Corps of Engineers, State, local, 9 and Tribal governments, organizations that rep- 10 resent the interests of commerce, and relevant 11 advisory committees under chapter 10 of title 5, 12 United States Code. 13 (B) CONSIDERATION OF TRANSPORTATION 14 PLANS.—The Secretary, in consultation with 15 the Board established pursuant to subsection 16 (g)(1), shall consider regional bi-national trans- 17 portation master plans to carry out the pur- 18 poses described in paragraph (2). 19 (e) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary, in coordination 20 with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of 21 State, shall not seek to increase fees as a measure to offset 22 amounts deposited into the Trust Fund. 23 (f) REPORTS.—Not later than March 10 of each year, 24 the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3135 IH General Services, shall submit to the Committees on Ap- 1 propriations of the House of Representatives and the Sen- 2 ate and the Board a report on the status of the implemen- 3 tation of this section that includes a description of— 4 (1) how, and to which recipients, amounts have 5 been obligated and expended from the Trust Fund 6 in the immediate previous fiscal year; 7 (2) how, and to which recipients, amounts are 8 planned to be obligated or expended from the Trust 9 Fund in the upcoming fiscal year; 10 (3) the amount remaining in the Trust Fund; 11 and 12 (4) the expected dates of completion for pur- 13 poses described in subsection (d). 14 (g) LAND PORT OF ENTRY MODERNIZATION OVER- 15 SIGHT BOARD.— 16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es- 17 tablish an oversight board to be known as the ‘‘Land 18 Port of Entry Modernization Oversight Board’’ (re- 19 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Board’’). 20 (2) DUTIES OF BOARD.—The Board shall— 21 (A) advise the Secretary with respect to 22 the prioritization of purposes described in sub- 23 section (d); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3135 IH (B) review the expenditure of funds from 1 the Trust Fund. 2 (3) MEMBERSHIP.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall be 4 composed of 9 members, as follows: 5 (i) The Secretary of Homeland Secu- 6 rity or the Secretary’s designee. 7 (ii) The Administrator of General 8 Services or the Secretary’s designee. 9 (iii) The Secretary of Commerce or 10 the Secretary’s designee. 11 (iv) The Secretary of State or the 12 Secretary’s designee. 13 (v) The Secretary of Transportation 14 or the Secretary’s designee. 15 (vi) A representative of the United 16 States trucking industry, appointed by the 17 Secretary of Homeland Security. 18 (vii) A representative of the United 19 States land ports of entry or rail sectors 20 located on the southwest land border, ap- 21 pointed by the Secretary of Homeland Se- 22 curity. 23 (viii) A representative of the United 24 States land ports of entry or rail sectors 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3135 IH located on the northern land border, ap- 1 pointed by the Secretary of Homeland Se- 2 curity. 3 (ix) A representative of a State or 4 local transportation authority, appointed 5 by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 6 (B) TIMING OF APPOINTMENTS.—Each 7 member appointed under clauses (vi) and (vii) 8 of subparagraph (A) shall be made not later 9 than 3 months after the date of the enactment 10 of this Act. 11 (C) TERMS.— 12 (i) IN GENERAL.—Each member ap- 13 pointed under clauses (vi), (vii), and (viii) 14 of subparagraph (A) shall serve for a term 15 of 2 years. 16 (ii) VACANCIES.—Each member ap- 17 pointed to fill a vacancy of a member ap- 18 pointed under clauses (vi), (vii), and (viii) 19 of subparagraph (A), occurring before the 20 expiration of the term for which the mem- 21 ber’s predecessor was appointed, shall be 22 appointed only for the remainder of that 23 term. A member may serve after the expi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3135 IH ration of that term until a successor has 1 been appointed. 2 (D) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of 3 the Board shall be the Secretary of Homeland 4 Security. 5 (4) MEETING.— 6 (A) INITIAL MEETING.—The Board shall 7 hold its initial meeting not later than 30 days 8 after the final appointment of members under 9 clauses (vi), (vii), and (viii) of paragraph 10 (3)(A). 11 (B) MEETING.—The Board shall meet not 12 fewer than 1 time each year at the call of the 13 Chairperson. 14 (5) QUORUM.—Four members of the Board 15 shall constitute a quorum. 16 (6) COMPENSATION.— 17 (A) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION.— 18 Except as provided in paragraph (2), members 19 of the Board may not receive additional pay, al- 20 lowances, or benefits by reason of their service 21 on the Board. 22 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member 23 shall receive travel expenses, including per diem 24 in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with appli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3135 IH cable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 1 57 of title 5, United States Code. 2 (7) REPORT.—Not later January 31, 2024, and 3 annually thereafter, the Board shall submit to the 4 Secretary a report containing a detailed statement 5 relating to— 6 (A) the prioritization of activities described 7 in subsection (d); and 8 (B) recommendations with respect to the 9 expenditure of funds from the Trust Fund. 10 (8) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN ADVISORY 11 COMMITTEE RULES.—Notwithstanding section 1013 12 of title 5, United States Code, the Board is author- 13 ized for a period commensurate with the LPOE 14 Modernization Trust Fund authorization. 15 (h) CUSTOMS FEES.— 16 (1) LAND PORT OF ENTRY MAINTENANCE FEES 17 TRANSFER.—Not later than 60 days after the date 18 of enactment of this Act, up to $1,600,000,000 of 19 the amount in the Customs User Fee Account estab- 20 lished pursuant to paragraph (1) of section 13031(f) 21 of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 22 Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(f)(1)) and not otherwise 23 appropriated shall be transferred to the Trust Fund, 24 subject to paragraph (3) of such section 13031(f). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3135 IH Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of such section 1 13031(f), amounts transferred from the Customs 2 User Fee Account to the Trust Fund pursuant to 3 the preceding sentence shall be available only to the 4 extent and in the amounts provided in advance in 5 appropriations Acts to carry out the purposes speci- 6 fied in subsection (d)(2). 7 (2) FEES COLLECTED FOR EXPRESS CONSIGN- 8 MENT OPERATIONS.—Section 13031(b)(9) of the 9 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 10 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(b)(9)) is amended— 11 (A) in subparagraph (B)(iii)(III), to read 12 as follows: 13 ‘‘(III) The remaining 25 percent of the 14 amount of payments received under subpara- 15 graph (A)(ii) and clause (ii) of this subpara- 16 graph shall be deposited into the Land Port of 17 Entry Modernization Trust Fund and shall be 18 available only to the extent and in the amounts 19 provided in advance in appropriations Acts to 20 carry out the purposes specified in section 21 2(d)(2) of the LPOE Modernization Trust 22 Fund Act;’’; and 23 (B) in subparagraph (C), by adding at the 24 end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3135 IH ‘‘(iii) The terms ‘individual air waybill’ and ‘bill 1 of lading’ mean a document or other tracking mech- 2 anism representing an individual shipment, that is 3 not a consolidated or master document— 4 ‘‘(I) having its own unique bill number, 5 unique tracking number, or other unique identi- 6 fier; 7 ‘‘(II) assigned to a single ultimate con- 8 signee; and 9 ‘‘(III) with respect to which no lower 10 tracking unit exists.’’. 11 (3) SURCHARGE OF FEES COLLECTED.—Not- 12 withstanding any other provision of law— 13 (A) the Secretary shall charge a surcharge 14 of— 15 (i) $40 on the immigrant user fee es- 16 tablished under section 286(m) of the Im- 17 migration and Naturalization Act (8 18 U.S.C. 1356(m)); and 19 (ii) $6 on the land border inspection 20 fee established under section 286(q) of 21 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(q)); and 22 (B) the Secretary of State shall charge a 23 surcharge of $20 on the machine-readable visa 24 fee established under section 103 of the En- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3135.IH H3135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3135 IH hanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform 1 Act of 2002 (8 U.S.C. 1713). 2 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 5 mittees’’ means— 6 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security, 7 the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 8 mittee on Transportation and I [Text truncated for display. 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