[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3434 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3434

To authorize a replacement for the lift bridge in Stillwater, Minnesota 
     with necessary taxpayer protection measures to promote fiscal 
                            responsibility.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 2011

  Ms. McCollum (for herself and Mr. Ellison) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize a replacement for the lift bridge in Stillwater, Minnesota 
     with necessary taxpayer protection measures to promote fiscal 
                            responsibility.

    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 ``Fiscally Responsible St. Croix River 
Crossing Authorization Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The proposed St. Croix River Crossing Project between 
        Minnesota and Wisconsin uses an ``extradosed'' bridge design 
        that could cost nearly $700,000,000 and expose taxpayers to the 
        risk of cost overruns and delays.
            (2) The Federal Highway Administration in its St. Croix 
        River Crossing Cost Estimate Review stated: ``The river bridge 
        extradosed type, aesthetics, configuration and constructability 
        are major contributors to the risk associated with the project 
        costs.''
            (3) The most expensive bridge built in Minnesota to date is 
        the Interstate 35W Bridge in downtown Minneapolis, which was 
        constructed in 2008 at a cost of $260 million and serves 
        approximately 140,000 vehicles per day, compared to the 
        proposed St. Croix Crossing Project that will serve an 
        estimated 18,000 cars per day if opened on schedule in 2016.
            (4) Federal and state funding for bridge repair and 
        replacement is severely limited and must be utilized as 
        efficiently as possible to meet growing needs: the State of 
        Minnesota has 1,149 bridges listed as structurally deficient, 
        while the State of Wisconsin has 1,142 structurally deficient 
        bridges.
            (5) It is the responsibility of Congress to uphold the Wild 
        and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271), which protects 12,598 
        miles of 203 rivers in 38 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF PROJECT WITH MITIGATION MEASURES.

    Notwithstanding section 7(a) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 
U.S.C. 1278(a)) and subject to section 4 of this Act, the head of an 
appropriate Federal agency or department may authorize and assist in 
the construction of a new bridge crossing for the St. Croix River, 
which is to be located not more than 7 miles north of the Interstate 94 
bridge crossing, if mitigation measures determined by the Secretary of 
Interior are implemented to offset the environmental impacts identified 
in the September 2010 evaluation and determination report prepared by 
the National Park Service pursuant to such section.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON FEDERAL FUNDING.

    After the date of enactment of this Act, no Federal funds, 
including Federal highway formula funding, shall be provided for any 
St. Croix River bridge crossing between Minnesota and Wisconsin within 
7 miles of the existing Interstate 94 Bridge with a total project cost 
in excess of $574,000,000.

SEC. 5. STRATEGIES FOR ACCELERATING PROJECT TIMELINE.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit or discourage 
the use of ``design-build'' construction methodology, which some States 
utilize as a successful strategy for reducing construction timelines 
and containing project costs.
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