II
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1144
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 21, 2009
Mr. Johnson (for himself, Mr. Tester, and Mr. Crapo) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
June 3, 2009
Committee discharged; referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
A BILL
To improve transit services, including in rural States.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Rural Transit Improvement and
Flexibility Act of 2009
.
Formula grants for other than urbanized areas
Section 5311(c)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
in subparagraph (A), by striking 20
percent
and inserting 25 percent
; and
in subparagraph (B), by striking 80
percent
and inserting 75 percent
.
Flexible use of elderly and disabled funding
Section 5310 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by—
in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
Operating costs
A State may use not more than 25 percent of the amounts apportioned to the State under this section for operating costs of equipment and facilities that are or have been funded in whole or part under this section.
; and
in subsection (c)—
by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and
by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
Operating assistance
In general
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a grant made under this section for operating assistance may not exceed 50 percent of the net operating costs of the project, as determined by the Secretary.
Exception
A State described in section 120(b) of title 23 shall receive a Government share of the net operating costs equal to 62.5 percent of the Government share provided for under paragraph (1)(B).
.
Pilot program for transit centers in smaller cities and towns
In general
Chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5311 the following:
Pilot program for transit centers in smaller cities and towns
In general
The Secretary shall establish a program
(referred to in this section as the program
) of grants to
eligible States for the purpose of establishing transit centers in urbanized
areas with a population of less than 200,000 and in areas other than urbanized
areas. Such transit centers may include multimodal transportation centers that
include transit centers.
Purpose
The purpose of the program is to facilitate the development of transit service in areas that, historically, may not have received adequate attention to the development of transit service by providing facilities that have the potential to be transformational with respect to the provision of improved transit service in a community.
Definitions
In this section—
the term eligible State
means a State with a population density of less than 100 persons per square
mile of land area, based on the most recent decennial census at the time an
application is filed; and
the definitions of recipient
and subrecipient
in section 5311(a) shall apply.
Procedures
In general
The Secretary shall develop administrative procedures and requirements for the implementation of this section, including any application procedures, and may pattern such procedures and requirements after requirements applicable to discretionary bus grants under section 5309, but shall streamline such processes and limit requirements to the maximum extent possible, to facilitate prompt implementation of the program and to minimize the regulatory burden on grant recipients and subrecipients.
Development
The Secretary shall develop proposed procedures under this subsection and publish them in the Federal Register for comment within 60 days of the date of enactment of this section. Final procedures shall be adopted within 60 days of the close of said comment period.
Distribution
In distributing funds pursuant to this section—
the Secretary shall, prior to the completion of fiscal year 2012, award grants to establish at least one such center in each eligible State, provided that satisfactory applications have been filed from each eligible State in a timely manner to enable such distribution; and
prior to the completion of fiscal year 2015, shall award grants to establish at least 2 such centers in each eligible State, provided that satisfactory applications have been filed from each eligible State in a timely manner to enable such distribution.
Administration costs
A recipient may use not more than 10 percent of amounts awarded under this section for a project to administer, plan, and provide technical assistance for that project funded under this section. A recipient may allocate to a subrecipient all or part of the amount the recipient may use under this subsection to administer, plan, and provide technical assistance for a project.
Eligible Expenses and Government Share
Except for administrative expenses authorized under subsection (f), grants under this program shall be only for capital expenses, including buildings, facilities for the maintenance and repair of buses and other transit vehicles, off street transit vehicle stop space and transit vehicle parking space, passenger seating areas, and other capital expenditures as the Secretary may determine appropriate. The Government share of capital costs under this section shall be 100 percent.
.
Funding
From the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund there shall be made available to carry out the program established pursuant to section 5311a of title 49, United States Code, $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015. All such amounts are to remain available until expended.