[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1648 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1648

 To terminate the Transportation Enhancement Program and transfer the 
   funding dedicated to such program to carry out the most critical 
   emergency transportation projects identified by the Secretary of 
Transportation, after consultation with State and local transportation 
                               officials.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 4, 2011

  Mr. Paul (for himself, Mr. McConnell, and Mr. Coats) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To terminate the Transportation Enhancement Program and transfer the 
   funding dedicated to such program to carry out the most critical 
   emergency transportation projects identified by the Secretary of 
Transportation, after consultation with State and local transportation 
                               officials.

    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 ``Emergency Transportation Safety Fund 
Act''.

             TITLE I--EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION SAFETY FUND

SEC. 101. ELIMINATION OF TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) Definition.--Section 101(a)(35) of title 23, United States 
Code, is repealed.
    (b) Transportation Enhancement Set Aside.--Section 133 of title 23, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (8);
            (2) in subsection (d), by striking paragraphs (2) and (5); 
        and
            (3) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
            ``(3) Payments.--The Secretary shall make payments to a 
        State of costs incurred by the State for the surface 
        transportation program in accordance with procedures to be 
        established by the Secretary.''; and
                    (B) by striking paragraph (5).
    (c) State Assumption of Responsibilities.--Section 325(a)(2) of 
title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking ``the following 
projects:'' and all that follows and inserting ``projects funded under 
section 104(h).''.
    (d) Statewide Transportation Planning Priorities.--Section 
5304(g)(4)(H) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking 
``, including transportation enhancement activities,''.
    (e) STP Set-Aside Program Rescissions.--Section 10212(f) of 
SAFETEA-LU (Public Law 109-59) is amended by striking ``, 
transportation enhancement activities,''.

SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION SAFETY FUND.

    (a) In General.--There is established in the Treasury of the United 
States a trust fund to be known as the ``Emergency Transportation 
Safety Fund''.
    (b) Emergency Relief Expenditures.--Section 125(c) of title 23, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs 
        (2) and (3), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redesignated, the 
        following:
            ``(1) Amounts deposited into the Emergency Transportation 
        Safety Fund are authorized to be obligated to carry out, in 
        priority order, the projects on the current list compiled by 
        the Secretary under section 201(b)(1) of the Emergency 
        Transportation Safety Fund Act that meet the eligibility 
        requirements set forth in subsection (a).''.
    (c) Funding.--Section 133(d) of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting before paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(1) Emergency transportation safety fund.--In each fiscal 
        year, there shall be deposited into the Emergency 
        Transportation Safety Fund, established under section 102(a) of 
        the Emergency Transportation Safety Fund Act, an amount equal 
        to 10 percent of the funds apportioned to a State under section 
        104(b)(3) for such fiscal year. At the end of each fiscal year, 
        any unobligated amounts in the Fund in excess of $500,000,000 
        shall be made available for the Highway Bridge Program, in 
        accordance with section 144.''.

        TITLE II--EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION SAFETY PRIORITY LIST

SEC. 201. EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION PRIORITIES.

    (a) List.--The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with a 
representative sample of State and local government transportation 
officials, shall compile a prioritized list of emergency transportation 
projects, which will guide the allocation of funding to the States from 
the Emergency Transportation Safety Fund.
    (b) Criteria.--In compiling the list under subsection (a), the 
Secretary of Transportation, in addition to other criteria established 
by the Secretary, shall rank priorities in descending order, beginning 
with--
            (1) whether the project is part of the interstate highway 
        system;
            (2) whether the project is a road or bridge that is closed 
        for safety reasons;
            (3) the impact of the project on interstate commerce;
            (4) the volume of traffic affected by the project; and
            (5) the overall value of the project or entity.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit a 
report to Congress that includes--
            (1) a prioritized list of emergency transportation projects 
        to be funded through the Emergency Transportation Safety Fund; 
        and
            (2) a description of the criteria used to establish the 
        list referred to in paragraph (1).
    (d) Quarterly Updates.--Not less frequently than 4 times per year, 
the Secretary of Transportation shall--
            (1) update the report submitted pursuant to subsection (c);
            (2) send a copy of the report to Congress; and
            (3) make a copy of the report available to the public 
        through the Department of Transportation's website.
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