Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that reauthorizes funding for highways, transit, motor vehicle safety, research, hazardous materials, and rail programs of the Department of Transportation (DOT).

Highlights:

• Appropriates $14.74 billion from the Highway Account for the 2021 fiscal year for Federal Highway Administration (Division A, Sec. 102).

• Appropriates $5.8 billion from the Mass Transit Account to the Federal Transit Administration (Division A, Sec. 103).

• Appropriates the following amounts for the National Highway Performance Program federal-aid highway program (Division B, Title I, Sec. 1101):

• $55.02 billion for fiscal year 2022;

• $55.98 billion for fiscal year 2023;

• $57.09 billion for fiscal year 2024; and

• $58.12 billion for fiscal year 2025.

• Appropriates the following amounts for the Amtrak National Network (Division D, Title I, Sec. 9101):

• $3.45 billion for fiscal year 2021; 

• $3.25 billion for fiscal year 2022; 

• $3.05 billion for fiscal year 2023; 

• $2.85 billion for fiscal year 2024; and

• $2.85 billion for fiscal year 2025.

• Appropriates the following amounts to states for the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program (Title I, Subtitle A, Sec. 1101):

• $2.91 billion for fiscal year 2022; 

• $2.96 billion for fiscal year 2023;

• $3.02 billion for fiscal year 2024; and

• $3.07 billion for fiscal year 2025.

• Appropriates $10 billion to the Civil Department of Army Corps of Engineers for the costs of construction, replacement, rehabilitation, and expansion of inland waterway projects (Division F, Title I, Sec. 21004).

• Appropriates $1 billion to carry out the Native American housing block grant program under the Native American and Self-Determination Act (Title II, Division J, Sec. 60008).

• Amends the Buy America program and authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to obligate an amount to be appropriated to a project only if the steel, iron, and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the United States (Title II, Subtitle C, Sec. 2301).

• Authorizes the Secretary to waive the requirement of the previous highlight if they determine that (Title II, Subtitle C, Sec. 2301):

• Applying the requirement would be inconsistent with the public interest; 

• The steel, iron, and goods produced in the US are not produced in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or are not of a satisfactory quality;

• When procuring rolling stock, including train control, communication, traction power equipment, and rolling stock prototypes:

• The cost of components produced in the US is more than 70 percent of the cost of all components of the rolling stock; and

• Final assembly of the rolling stick has occurred in the US; or

• Including domestic material will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25 percent. 

• Requires the Secretary of Transportation to sponsor a study by the National Academies to conduct an assessment of the potential impacts of climate change on the national rail network (Division D, Title I, Sec. 9106).

• Requires the Secretary of Transportation to seek to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study on climate change mitigation efforts with respect to civil aviation and aerospace industries (Division E, Title II, Sec. 10205).

• Requires the Secretary of Energy to publish a report that includes (Subtitle E, Sec. 33502):

• An analysis of:

• The potential vulnerabilities of electric utilities that are located in, or serve electric consumers in the Ohio River Basin, to climate change and extreme weather; and

• The impacts of climate change and extreme weather on such electric utilities; and

• Recommendations and technical assistance to assist such electric utilities in preparing for climate change and extreme weather.

• Specifies that the purpose of the National Highway Performance Program is (Division B, Sec. Subtitle B, Sec. 1201):

• To provide support for the condition and performance of the National Highway System;

• To support progress toward the achievement of state performance targets;

• To increase the resilience of federal-aid highways and bridges; and

• To provide support for the construction of new facilities on the National Highway System.

• Requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish and carry out the Aviation Industry Assistance for Cleaner and Quieter Skies Voucher Program under which the Secretary will issue electronic vouchers to air carriers to offset the purchase or cost of a lease of new aircraft in exchange for commitments from such air carriers to decommission certain currently used aircraft and then sell such aircraft for recycling of parts or disposal (Title I, Subtitle F, Sec. 1633).

• Appropriates $1 billion to carry out the Aviation Industry Assistance for Cleaner and Quieter Skies Voucher Program (Title I, Subtitle F, Sec. 1633).

• Requires the Secretary to establish and implement a program to research and support the development of materials that will reduce or sequester the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated during the production of highway materials and the construction and use of highways (Subtitle D, Title V, Sec. 5102).

• Requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish a pilot program to demonstrate a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee to restore and maintain a state of good repair in the surface transportation system (Title V, Subtitle D, Sec. 5402).

• Requires the Secretary of Transportation to ensure that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration shares with all relevant stakeholders, including state and local governments, all materials and information received, reviewed, or produced related to pipeline leaks, damage, or disruption, as soon as possible (Division C, Title II, Sec. 8204).

• Requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish a rebuild rural grant program to improve the safety, state of good repair, and connectivity of transportation infrastructure in rural communities (Division B, Subtitle C, Sec. 1307).

• Appropriates $250 million the rebuild rural grant program (Title I, Subtitle A, Sec. 1101).

• Requires the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, in coordination with the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, to initiate an evaluation of the safety, security, and environmental risks of transporting liquefied natural gas by rail (Title V, Division C, Title II, Sec. 8202).

• Requires the Administrator to submit to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee a report containing (Title II, Subtitle A, Sec. 22102):

• An assessment of the current and future workforce needs for publicly owned treatment works, including an estimate of the number of future positions needed for such treatment works and the technical skills and educational need for such positions; 

• A summary of actions taken by the Administrator to promote workforce development to address such needs; and 

• Any recommendations of the Administrator to address such needs.

• Requires each state to create a vulnerable road user safety assessment which must include (Title I, Subtitle B, Sec. 1209):

• A description of the location within the state of each vulnerable road user fatality and serious injury, and the design speed of the roadway at any such location; 

• A description of any corridors identified by a state that pose a high risk of a vulnerable road user fatality or serious injury, and the design speeds of such corridors; and

• A program of projects or strategies to reduce safety risks to vulnerable road users in corridors identified that represent high-risk areas.

• Requires the Secretary of Transportation to (Subtitle E, Title VI, Sec. 6010):

• Adopt, for use by the DOT in carrying out response efforts relating to, and operations during, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the categorization of “essential critical infrastructure workers;” and

• Coordinate with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support efforts of state and local governments to provide for: 

• Priority testing of essential critical infrastructure workers; and 

• Priority access to personal protective equipment, sanitizers, non-medical-grade facial coverings, and other health-related or protective supplies necessary to safely perform essential critical infrastructure work.

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text