[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1144 Reference Change Senate (RCS)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1144
To improve transit services, including in rural States.
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Transit Improvement and
Flexibility Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. FORMULA GRANTS FOR OTHER THAN URBANIZED AREAS.
Section 5311(c)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``20 percent'' and
inserting ``25 percent''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``80 percent'' and
inserting ``75 percent''.
SEC. 3. FLEXIBLE USE OF ELDERLY AND DISABLED FUNDING.
Section 5310 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by--
(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
``(5) 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
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as
paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Operating assistance.--
``(A) 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.
``(B) 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).''.
SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR TRANSIT CENTERS IN SMALLER CITIES AND TOWNS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 5311 the following:
``Sec. 5311a. Pilot program for transit centers in smaller cities and
towns
``(a) 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.
``(b) 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.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) 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
``(2) the definitions of `recipient' and `subrecipient' in
section 5311(a) shall apply.
``(d) Procedures.--
``(1) 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.
``(2) 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.
``(e) Distribution.--In distributing funds pursuant to this
section--
``(1) 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
``(2) 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.
``(f) 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.
``(g) 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.''.
(b) 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.
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