HR5980-118

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Resilient Transit Act of 2023.

2. Definitions Section 5302 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— by redesignating paragraphs (17) through (25) as paragraphs (18) through (26), respectively; and by inserting after paragraph (16) the following: The term resilience improvement has the meaning given the term in section 176(a) of title 23. (17)Resilience improvementThe term resilience improvement has the meaning given the term in section 176(a) of title 23..

3. State of good repair grants for public transportation resilience improvement Section 5337 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: The Secretary may make grants under this subsection to assist State and local government authorities in financing 1 or more eligible activities described in paragraph (2). A recipient of a grant under this subsection may use grant amounts for public transportation resilience improvements that increase the resilience of public transportation systems from the impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, flooding, wildfires, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters. Activities eligible to be carried out using grant amounts under this subsection include— the installation of mitigation measures that prevent the intrusion of floodwaters; the installation of equipment to detect the occurrence of a flood event; the replacement of equipment or facilities that are currently prone to flood events or will be in the future; the purchase of new equipment to support regular maintenance of drainage and pumping infrastructure; the replacement of equipment stressed during extreme temperature events; the installation of equipment to regulate temperatures and sensors to monitor extreme temperatures; the development of backup systems to provide redundancy during the outage of a primary power source; the assessment of system vulnerabilities to current and future weather events, natural disasters, and climate change, including sea level rise; the planning of system improvements and emergency response strategies to address identified vulnerabilities; and any other activity for resilience improvement, as determined by the Secretary. Grants under this subsection may be used to finance— standalone projects; and components of projects carried out under subsection (b)(1). Of the amounts made available under section 5338(a)(2)(L) to carry out this subsection— 97.15 percent shall be apportioned to recipients in accordance with subsection (c); and 2.85 percent shall be apportioned to recipients in accordance with subsection (d). Not later than 1 year after the enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and publish on the website of the Department of Transportation, a report that describes the implementation of this subsection during the preceding calendar year, including— a detailed description of the activities carried out with grants provided under this subsection; a summary of each project financed in whole or in part by a grant provided under this subsection that benefits or is located in— a neighborhood with poverty and unemployment rates that exceed the average in the United States; an underserved community or a medically underserved community; a location where the EJ Index is above the national average, as determined by EJSCREEN; an environmental justice community, as documented by federally recognized environmental justice mapping and equity screening tools; and a neighborhood where 30 percent or more of households receive benefits under— the supplemental nutrition assistance program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); or a mandatory spending program of the Federal Government for which, as determined by the Secretary, eligibility for the benefits of the program, or the amount of such benefits, is determined on the basis of income or resources of the individual or family seeking the benefit; and recommendations to improve the administration of this subsection. In this subsection: The term environmental justice community means a community with significant representation of communities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal and indigenous communities, that experiences, or is at risk of experiencing higher or more adverse human health or environmental effects. The term EJ Index means the environmental justice indexes in EJSCREEN. The term EJSCREEN means the environmental justice mapping and screening tool created by the Environmental Protection Agency. The term medically underserved community has the meaning given such term in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p). The term underserved community means— a community located within a ZIP Code or census tract that is identified by the Secretary as— a low-income community; a community of color; or a Tribal community; or any other community that the Secretary determines is disproportionately vulnerable to, or bares a disproportionate burden of, any combination of economic, social, environmental, or climate stressors. Section 5337 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking section 5338(a)(2)(K) each place it appears and inserting section 5338(a)(2)(L). (g)Public transportation resilience improvement grants (1)In generalThe Secretary may make grants under this subsection to assist State and local government authorities in financing 1 or more eligible activities described in paragraph (2). (2)Eligible activities (A)In generalA recipient of a grant under this subsection may use grant amounts for public transportation resilience improvements that increase the resilience of public transportation systems from the impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, flooding, wildfires, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters. (B)InclusionsActivities eligible to be carried out using grant amounts under this subsection include— (i)the installation of mitigation measures that prevent the intrusion of floodwaters; (ii)the installation of equipment to detect the occurrence of a flood event; (iii)the replacement of equipment or facilities that are currently prone to flood events or will be in the future; (iv)the purchase of new equipment to support regular maintenance of drainage and pumping infrastructure; (v)the replacement of equipment stressed during extreme temperature events; (vi)the installation of equipment to regulate temperatures and sensors to monitor extreme temperatures; (vii)the development of backup systems to provide redundancy during the outage of a primary power source; (viii)the assessment of system vulnerabilities to current and future weather events, natural disasters, and climate change, including sea level rise; (ix)the planning of system improvements and emergency response strategies to address identified vulnerabilities; and (x)any other activity for resilience improvement, as determined by the Secretary. (3)Types of projectsGrants under this subsection may be used to finance— (A)standalone projects; and (B)components of projects carried out under subsection (b)(1). (4)Public transportation resilience improvement formulaOf the amounts made available under section 5338(a)(2)(L) to carry out this subsection— (A)97.15 percent shall be apportioned to recipients in accordance with subsection (c); and (B)2.85 percent shall be apportioned to recipients in accordance with subsection (d). (5)Annual reportsNot later than 1 year after the enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and publish on the website of the Department of Transportation, a report that describes the implementation of this subsection during the preceding calendar year, including— (A)a detailed description of the activities carried out with grants provided under this subsection; (B)a summary of each project financed in whole or in part by a grant provided under this subsection that benefits or is located in— (i)a neighborhood with poverty and unemployment rates that exceed the average in the United States; (ii)an underserved community or a medically underserved community; (iii)a location where the EJ Index is above the national average, as determined by EJSCREEN; (iv)an environmental justice community, as documented by federally recognized environmental justice mapping and equity screening tools; and (v)a neighborhood where 30 percent or more of households receive benefits under— (I)the supplemental nutrition assistance program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); or (II)a mandatory spending program of the Federal Government for which, as determined by the Secretary, eligibility for the benefits of the program, or the amount of such benefits, is determined on the basis of income or resources of the individual or family seeking the benefit; and (C)recommendations to improve the administration of this subsection. (6)DefinitionsIn this subsection: (A)Environmental justice communityThe term environmental justice community means a community with significant representation of communities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal and indigenous communities, that experiences, or is at risk of experiencing higher or more adverse human health or environmental effects. (B)EJ IndexThe term EJ Index means the environmental justice indexes in EJSCREEN. (C)EJSCREENThe term EJSCREEN means the environmental justice mapping and screening tool created by the Environmental Protection Agency. (D)Medically underserved communityThe term medically underserved community has the meaning given such term in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p). (E)Underserved communityThe term underserved community means— (i)a community located within a ZIP Code or census tract that is identified by the Secretary as— (I)a low-income community; (II)a community of color; or (III)a Tribal community; or (ii)any other community that the Secretary determines is disproportionately vulnerable to, or bares a disproportionate burden of, any combination of economic, social, environmental, or climate stressors..