MORE DOT Grants Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1579 To improve the process for awarding grants under certain programs of the Department of Transportation to certain counties in which the majority of land is owned or managed by the Federal Government and to other units of local government and Tribal governments in those counties, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2023 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To improve the process for awarding grants under certain programs of the Department of Transportation to certain counties in which the majority of land is owned or man- aged by the Federal Government and to other units of local government and Tribal governments in those counties, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1579 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘More Opportunities 2 for Rural Economies from DOT Grants Act’’ or the 3 ‘‘MORE DOT Grants Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) HIGH-DENSITY PUBLIC LAND COUNTY.— 7 The term ‘‘High-Density Public Land County’’ 8 means a county (or equivalent jurisdiction) of a 9 State or territory of the United States— 10 (A) that has a population of not more than 11 100,000 people, according to the most recent 12 annual estimates of population by the Bureau 13 of the Census; and 14 (B) in which more than 50 percent of the 15 land is owned or managed by the Federal Gov- 16 ernment. 17 (2) QUALIFYING GRANT PROGRAM.—The term 18 ‘‘qualifying grant program’’ means— 19 (A) the program for national infrastruc- 20 ture investments (commonly known as the ‘‘Re- 21 building American Infrastructure with Sustain- 22 ability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant 23 program’’) authorized under the heading ‘‘NA- 24 TIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS’’ 25 under the heading ‘‘OFFICE OF THE SEC- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1579 IS RETARY’’ in title I of division L of the Consoli- 1 dated Appropriations Act, 2018 (Public Law 2 115–141; 132 Stat. 972) (or a subsequent ap- 3 propriations Act); 4 (B) the national infrastructure project as- 5 sistance program (commonly known as the 6 ‘‘Mega Grant program’’) established by section 7 6701 of title 49, United States Code; 8 (C) the nationally significant multimodal 9 freight and highway projects program (com- 10 monly known as the ‘‘Infrastructure for Re- 11 building America (INFRA) grant program’’) es- 12 tablished by section 117 of title 23, United 13 States Code; 14 (D) the rural surface transportation grant 15 program established under section 173 of title 16 23, United States Code; 17 (E) the Reconnecting Communities Pilot 18 Program established under section 11509 of the 19 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (23 20 U.S.C. 101 note; Public Law 117–58); 21 (F) the Strengthening Mobility and Revo- 22 lutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grant 23 Program established under section 25005 of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1579 IS Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (23 1 U.S.C. 502 note; Public Law 117–58); 2 (G) the Grants for Buses and Bus Facili- 3 ties competitive grant program established 4 under section 5339(b) of title 49, United States 5 Code; 6 (H) the public transportation Low or No 7 Emission Vehicle Program established under 8 section 5339(c) of title 49, United States Code; 9 (I) the public transportation innovation 10 grant program established under section 5312 11 of title 49, United States Code; 12 (J) the public transportation safety pro- 13 gram established under section 5329 of title 49, 14 United States Code; 15 (K) the Federal lands access program 16 under section 204 of title 23, United States 17 Code; 18 (L) the airport improvement program es- 19 tablished under subchapter I of chapter 471 of 20 title 49, United States Code; 21 (M) the consolidated rail infrastructure 22 and safety improvements program under section 23 22907 of title 49, United States Code; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1579 IS (N) any other discretionary grant program 1 of the Department of Transportation under 2 which grants are awarded to— 3 (i) counties; 4 (ii) other units of local government; or 5 (iii) Tribal governments. 6 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7 the Secretary of Transportation. 8 (4) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 9 government’’ means the recognized governing body 10 of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, 11 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com- 12 ponent reservation, individually identified (including 13 parenthetically) in the list published most recently as 14 of the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to sec- 15 tion 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe 16 List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 17 SEC. 3. GRANTS. 18 (a) REDUCTION IN LOCAL MATCHING REQUIRE- 19 MENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 20 with respect to a High-Density Public Land County and 21 any unit of local government or Tribal government within 22 a High-Density Public Land County, any requirement for 23 local matching funds under a qualifying grant program 24 shall be reduced by 50 percent. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1579 IS (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—On request of a High- 1 Density Public Land County or any unit of local govern- 2 ment or Tribal government within a High-Density Public 3 Land County, the Secretary shall provide additional tech- 4 nical assistance to the High-Density Public Land County, 5 unit of local government, or Tribal government before and 6 during the annual application period for each qualifying 7 grant program. 8 (c) PRIORITY.— 9 (1) APPLICATION APPROVAL.—In approving ap- 10 plications for a qualifying grant program, the Sec- 11 retary shall give priority to an application from a 12 High-Density Public Land County, unit of local gov- 13 ernment within a High-Density Public Land County, 14 or Tribal government within a High-Density Public 15 Land County that has not received support under 16 the qualifying grant program during the 10-year pe- 17 riod preceding the date of the application. 18 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER SUP- 19 PORT.—In carrying out subsections (b) and (e), the 20 Secretary may give priority to a Tribal government 21 within a High-Density Public Land County. 22 (d) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In approving appli- 23 cations for a qualifying grant program, the Secretary— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1579 IS (1) shall give special consideration to an appli- 1 cation from a High-Density Public Land County or 2 unit of local government within a High-Density Pub- 3 lic Land County with respect to any rural set-aside 4 designated for the applicable qualifying grant pro- 5 gram by an Act of Congress; and 6 (2) may give special consideration to an appli- 7 cation from a Tribal government within a High-Den- 8 sity Public Land County with respect to a rural set- 9 aside described in paragraph (1). 10 (e) OTHER SUPPORT.—The Secretary may provide 11 additional support, as the Secretary determines to be ap- 12 propriate, for a High-Density Public Land County or a 13 unit of local government or Tribal government within a 14 High-Density Public Land County, including by consid- 15 ering and, if appropriate, offering flexibility with respect 16 to any requirement of, or barrier to applying for or receiv- 17 ing assistance under, a qualifying grant program if the 18 requirement or barrier relates to— 19 (1) scoring criteria relating to numerical size 20 and impact, such as the number of jobs created or 21 the number of people served, which disadvantage 22 small and isolated communities; 23 (2) any requirement that an applicant for a 24 qualifying grant program partner with other institu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1579 IS tions, such as community colleges or foundations, 1 which may not operate in the jurisdiction of the 2 High-Density Public Land County, unit of local gov- 3 ernment, or Tribal government seeking assistance 4 under the qualifying grant program; 5 (3) any financial or cash-on-hand requirement 6 that a High-Density Public Land County or a unit 7 of local government or Tribal government within a 8 High-Density Public Land County cannot meet for 9 reasons other than any financial constraints to 10 which the High-Density Public Land County, unit of 11 local government, or Tribal government is subject; or 12 (4) an overly complicated or overly technical ap- 13 plication for a qualifying grant program that deters 14 High-Density Public Land Counties or units of local 15 government or Tribal governments within High-Den- 16 sity Public Land Counties from applying for the 17 qualifying grant program. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1579.IS S1579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS