[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1274 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1274

 To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to assist 
 units of local government in developing and implementing plans, known 
 as Vision Zero plans, to eliminate transportation-related fatalities 
             and serious injuries, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 4, 2015

Mr. Blumenauer (for himself and Mr. Buchanan) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to assist 
 units of local government in developing and implementing plans, known 
 as Vision Zero plans, to eliminate transportation-related fatalities 
             and serious injuries, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Vision Zero Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. VISION ZERO PLANNING GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Transportation is authorized to 
award grants to eligible entities to develop a plan, known as a Vision 
Zero plan, to eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious 
injuries in the jurisdiction of such entity within 10 years.
    (b) Application.--To be eligible for a grant under this section, an 
eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 
time, in such form, and containing such information and assurances as 
the Secretary may require.
    (c) Plan Contents.--The Vision Zero plan described in subsection 
(a) shall include--
            (1) a description of projects or policies intended to 
        eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious 
        injuries within 10 years using existing transportation and 
        health data and consideration of risk factors;
            (2) plans for implementation of, education of the public 
        about, and enforcement of such projects or policies;
            (3) a description of how such policies, projects, and 
        enforcement will--
                    (A) equitably address the safety needs of low-
                income and minority communities;
                    (B) ensure that such communities are not 
                disproportionately targeted by law enforcement; and
                    (C) protect the rights of members of such 
                communities with respect to title VI of the Civil 
                Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.);
            (4) a description of the required involvement of various 
        subdivisions of a unit of local government in the 
        implementation of the plan, including subdivisions in charge of 
        law enforcement, public health, and public works; and
            (5) a description of a mechanism to evaluate progress of 
        the implementation of the plan, including the gathering and use 
        of transportation safety and demographic data.

SEC. 3. VISION ZERO GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation may award grants to not 
more than 5 eligible entities to support the implementation of a Vision 
Zero plan to eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious 
injuries in the jurisdiction of such entity within 10 years.
    (b) Application.--To be eligible for a grant under this section, an 
eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 
time, in such form, and containing such information and assurances as 
the Secretary may require.
    (c) Vision Zero Plan Required.--To be eligible for a grant under 
this section, an eligible entity shall have in effect a Vision Zero 
plan that meets the requirements of section 2(c).
    (d) Selection Criteria.--In selecting from among eligible entities 
to receive grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider, 
at a minimum, the extent to which an entity--
            (1) provided an opportunity for public input in the 
        development of the plan;
            (2) considered existing plans and planning processes in the 
        drafting of the vision zero plan;
            (3) structured the plan to meet performance measures as 
        described in section 150(c) of title 23, United States Code;
            (4) demonstrates broad community support for the plan, 
        including the commitment of community leaders to successful 
        implementation of the plan; and
            (5) demonstrates the availability of State, local, or 
        Federal funds, in addition to Federal funds made available 
        under this section, for implementation of the plan.
    (e) Funding Limitations.--
            (1) Population limitation.--Not less than 25 percent of the 
        funds made available to carry out this section shall be used to 
        make grants to eligible entities that serve a jurisdiction with 
        a population of fewer than 200,000 individuals.
            (2) Federal share.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided by subparagraph 
                (B), the Federal share of the cost of a project or 
                activity carried out using grant funds made available 
                under this section may not exceed 80 percent.
                    (B) Funds from other federal sources.--Amounts made 
                available to an eligible entity under another Federal 
                program may be credited toward the non-Federal share of 
                the cost of a project or activity described in 
                subparagraph (A), at the option of the eligible entity.

SEC. 4. ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``eligible entity'' means a unit of local 
government including a city, town, township, borough, county, parish, 
district, village, or other political subdivision of a State.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

     Not later than 2 years after the final grant is awarded under this 
Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress, and make available to the 
public, a report on the progress of the projects and activities carried 
out using the grants including--
            (1) a breakdown of infrastructure and noninfrastructure 
        projects;
            (2) demographic data, in the aggregate, with respect to 
        individuals charged with a violation of law referenced in the 
        vision zero plan of an eligible entity that received a grant 
        under this Act; and
            (3) best practices from the eligible entities that received 
        a grant under section 3.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated, for each of fiscal years 
2016 through 2020, $5,000,000 to carry out section 2 and $25,000,000 to 
carry out section 3.
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