State of good repair grants for public transportation resilience improvement

(a)

In general

Section 5337 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

(g)

Public transportation resilience improvement grants

(1)

Definitions

In this section:(A)

Environmental justice community

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.(B)

EJSCREEN

The term EJSCREEN means the environmental justice mapping and screening tool created by the Environmental Protection Agency.(C)

EJ Index

The term EJ Index means the Environmental Justice Indexes in EJSCREEN.(D)

Medically underserved community

The term medically underserved community has the meaning given the term in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p).(E)

Underserved community

The 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.(2)

Grants

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 (3).(3)

Eligible activities

(A)

In general

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.(B)

Inclusions

Activities 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.(4)

Types of projects

Grants under this subsection may be used to finance—(A)standalone projects; and(B)components of projects carried out under subsection (b)(1).(5)

Public transportation resilience improvement formula

Of 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).(6)

Annual reports to Congress

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Appropriations 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 under the 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)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. 7011 et seq.); or(II)a mandatory spending program of the Federal Government for which, as determined by the Secretary, eligibility for the program’s benefits, or the amount of such benefits, is determined on the basis of income or resources of the individual or family seeking the benefit;(iii)an underserved community or a medically underserved community;(iv)an EPA region where the EJ Index is above the national average, as determined by EJSCREEN; or(v)an environmental justice community, as documented by federally recognized environmental justice mapping and equity screening tools; and(C)recommendations to improve the administration of this subsection.

(b)

Conforming amendments

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).