1.This Act may be cited as
the Job Access and Reverse Commute
Program Improvements Act of 2009
.
2.Job access and
reverse commute program
(a)Section 5316(b) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
(3)
(A)A State may accept a single combined application for a
project that will use funds provided under not less than two of the programs
described in subparagraph (C).
(B)For
any State that determines to accept combined applications under subparagraph
(A), the Secretary may—
(i)reduce the amount
of the cost share required under a program described in subparagraph
(C);
(ii)increase the
amount of funds the State may use for administrative expenses under a program
described in subparagraph (C); or
(iii)make a grant to
the State for expenses relating to accepting combined applications.
(C)The
programs described in this subparagraph are the program under this section, the
elderly and disabled specialized transit program under section 5310, the new
freedom program under section 5317, and any other program determined
appropriate by the
Secretary.
.
(b)Job access and
reverse commute formula grants
(1)Section 5316 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(A)in subsection
(a)(1)—
(i)in subparagraph
(C), by striking and
at the end;
(ii)in subparagraph
(D), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and
;
and
(iii)by adding at
the end the following:
(E)subsidizing the
costs associated with the transportation of low income high school students and
young adults to career or technical education, job training, or apprenticeship
programs.
;
(B)in subsection
(h)(2)—
(i)by striking
operating assistance may not
and inserting “operating
assistance—
(A)may
not
;
(ii)by striking the
period at the end and inserting ; or
; and
(iii)by adding at
the end the following:
(B)may not exceed 80
percent of the net operating costs of the project, if the State notifies the
Secretary that it is necessary to achieve program
goals.
;
(C)in subsection
(e), by adding at the end the following:
(4)A local governmental authority may transfer to the State
in which the local governmental authority is located any funds apportioned to
the local governmental authority under this section. A State may use funds
transferred under this paragraph for any eligible job access or reverse commute
project under this section.
;
and
(D)by adding at the
end the following:
(j)Reporting and
certification streamlining
(1)The Secretary may waive or streamline reporting and
certification requirements relating to the program under this section at the
request of a State if the Secretary determines that the primary goals of the
program are still being met.
(2)The
Secretary shall conduct a study of the feasibility of the elimination,
revision, or reduced frequency of collection for any reporting or certification
requirements relating to the program under this section, particularly examining
the burden on and needs of nonprofit organizations that receive funding and are
unaccustomed to Federal Transit Administration regulations.
(3)The
Secretary shall encourage flexibility and experimentation by allowing States to
use other assessment and eligibility measures such as outcome based assessment
of the transportation access improvements to targeted populations instead of
documenting individuals either on a State-by-State trial basis or through the
pilot program under subsection (k).
(4)The Secretary shall—
(A)encourage
coordination and review of applications by local workforce boards; and
(B)consider using
workforce board reviews as an alternative to streamline reporting
requirements.
(k)
(1)The Secretary may carry out a pilot program to make
grants to recipients to—
(A)improve education
and employment related transportation for eligible teens and young adults, such
as linking high schools to technical colleges, job centers, and
apprenticeships;
(B)evaluate
streamlined reporting and certification requirements developed under subsection
(j) in order to determine whether the requirements still ensure sufficient
accountability and whether the projects are still primarily addressing the
goals of this section;
(C)support more
comprehensive projects that are integrated with other Federal, State, and local
transportation and human service programs while ensuring the paperwork burden
is minimized, including—
(i)bundling funds
from and allowing combined applications with streamlined reporting requirements
for other programs of the Department of Transportation (such as the elderly and
disabled specialized transit program under section 5310 and the new freedom
program under section 5317) or other Federal departments and agencies (such as
the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the
Department of Education) to address more comprehensive human service
transportation needs;
(ii)developing
programs that cross local government boundaries and involve multiple
localities, particularly programs that serve more than one of the categories of
areas described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (c)(1);
and
(iii)developing
comprehensive projects that integrate workforce development with
transportation needs during the different phases of training and job
placement.
(2)There
shall be available from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to carry out this
subsection.
(l)Continuation
and expansion of JARC technical assistance and clearinghouse
(1)The Secretary shall continue technical assistance and
peer-to-peer network activities being carried out on the date of enactment of
this subsection and expand the assistance and activities as appropriate, so
that the Department supports efforts that—
(A)act as an
information clearinghouse and information network;
(B)provide technical
assistance to potential applicants for a grant under this section;
(C)provide technical
assistance to grant recipients in meeting Federal reporting and certification
requirements, especially entities such as first-time grant recipients and small
nonprofit organizations;
(D)conduct outreach
and education of employers and employees regarding transportation assistance,
including tax benefits for providing fringe benefits and earned income tax
credit benefits for employees; and
(E)as appropriate,
coordinate the combined activities of and support memorandums of understanding
between related Federal programs in the Department of Transportation or another
Federal department or agency, such as the Department of Labor, the Department
of Housing and Urban Development, the Economic Development Agency, or the
Department of Education.
(2)Authorization
of appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated
$2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to carry out expanded
technical assistance and peer-to-peer network activities under this
subsection.
.
(2)Section
5338 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
(h)Job access and
reverse commute formula grants
(1)There shall be available from the Mass Transit Account of
the Highway Trust Fund to carry out section 5316 of this title—
(A)$185,000,000 for
fiscal year 2010;
(B)$205,000,000 for
fiscal year 2011;
(C)$225,000,000 for
fiscal year 2012;
(D)$245,000,000 for
fiscal year 2013; and
(E)$265,000,000 for
fiscal year 2014.
(2)Amounts made available by paragraph (1) shall remain
available until
expended.
.
(c)Subparagraph
(B) of section 5316(h)(2) of title 49, United States Code, as added by
subsection (b) of this section, shall apply to unexpended amounts made
available before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.
(d)Any
amounts authorized to carry out a project under section 1602 of the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (Public Law 105–178; 112 Stat.
256) for which no funds had been obligated as of January 1, 2009, are
rescinded.