[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8262 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8262

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a grant program for 
infrastructure improvement projects at transportation access points to 
    facilitate or increase the use of transportation facilities by 
                   individuals with limited mobility.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 15, 2020

  Ms. Velazquez (for herself and Ms. Moore) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a grant program for 
infrastructure improvement projects at transportation access points to 
    facilitate or increase the use of transportation facilities by 
                   individuals with limited mobility.

    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 ``Accessible Transit For All Act of 
2020'' or the ``ATFA Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) public transportation systems, including those that 
        service the Nation's largest cities, are currently unable to 
        provide individuals with ambulatory disabilities equal access 
        to public transportation infrastructure; and
            (2) in many cases, public transportation infrastructure on 
        subway or rail service is inadequately equipped to enable 
        access for individuals with mobility impairments.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION ACCESS POINTS.

    Subtitle III of chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is 
modified by adding at the end, the following:
``Sec. 5341. Grants for accessible public transportation access
    ``(a) Establishment of Grant Program.--The Secretary of 
Transportation shall establish a program to provide public 
transportation agencies with technical assistance, and funding 
opportunities to provide infrastructure improvements at transportation 
access points to facilitate or increase the use of transportation 
facilities by individuals with limited mobility.
    ``(b) Criteria for Eligible Agencies.--A public transportation 
agency is eligible to participate in the program if the agency--
            ``(1) receives, or is eligible for, funds pursuant to the 
        surface transportation block grant program described in section 
        133 of title 23 during the fiscal year in which the applicant 
        applies;
            ``(2) for each fiscal year beginning with the year that is 
        3 years before the date of application, has received funding 
        for a public transportation project under chapter 53 of title 
        49; and
            ``(3) submits an application as described in subsection 
        (c).
    ``(c) Application.--In accordance with such requirements as the 
Secretary may by rule establish, each application for a grant under 
this section shall--
            ``(1) include a description of the strategy and detailed 
        implementation plan that reflects consultation with community 
        groups and appropriate stakeholders, and shall specify the 
        demographics of the immediate geographic area where the project 
        will serve, including a summary of accessible transportation 
        access points (or lack thereof) within one mile of the project;
            ``(2) identify how the grant will improve the agency's 
        compliance in providing access to public accommodations under 
        the Americans with Disabilities Act;
            ``(3) demonstrate a gap in current accessibility coverage;
            ``(4) describe the modifications that will be undertaken by 
        the public transportation agency to resolve the gap in coverage 
        identified in paragraph (3);
            ``(5) identify related governmental and community 
        initiatives which compliment or will be coordinated with the 
        proposal;
            ``(6) certify that there has been appropriate coordination 
        with all appropriate agencies;
            ``(7) detail for which eligible uses under subsection (d) 
        the applicant is seeking funds; and
            ``(8) additional information as required by the Secretary.
    ``(d) Forms of Assistance.--Funds provided under this section may 
be used for the following:
            ``(1) Construction, rehabilitation or modification of 
        transportation access points to facilitate use for persons with 
        limited mobility. Modifications receiving funding under this 
        paragraph must facilitate entrance, departure, or mobility 
        throughout a transportation access point. Such modifications 
        include--
                    ``(A) wheelchair-accessible ramps in or surrounding 
                a transportation access point, including projects 
                replacing stairs with such ramps;
                    ``(B) elevator infrastructure inside or immediately 
                adjacent to a transportation access point that provide 
                access to such access point; and
                    ``(C) replacement of stairs with escalators within 
                a transportation access point if such access point has 
                multiple levels or platforms.
            ``(2) Repair or maintenance of infrastructure described in 
        subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Technical assistance and information on best 
        practices with respect to modifications described in 
        subparagraph (A) through (C) of paragraph (1).
            ``(4) Provision of new or supplemental public 
        transportation service bus routes, or bus rapid transit 
        systems, in areas where no accessible transportation access 
        point is available within one mile of such bus route or system.
    ``(e) Grant Requirements.--
            ``(1) Amount.--A grant awarded under this section may not 
        exceed $5,000,000,000.
            ``(2) Grant duration.--Grants awarded under this section 
        shall be 5 years in duration.
            ``(3) Renewals of certain grants.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A grant that meets the criteria 
                under subsection (g) may be renewed, and awarded an 
                equivalent funding amount, for an additional 5 years, 
                provided the public transportation agency includes, in 
                the report required under subsection (j), the project's 
                progress on meeting the requirements of subsection 
                (g)(1)(A) and--
                            ``(i) submits to the Secretary an 
                        application for renewal at such time, in such 
                        manner, and containing such information as the 
                        Secretary may require; and
                            ``(ii) demonstrates in such application for 
                        renewal that--
                                    ``(I) all grant funds were used in 
                                the manner required under the most 
                                recently approved application; and
                                    ``(II) the public transportation 
                                agency has made significant progress in 
                                achieving the objectives of the initial 
                                application approved for the public 
                                transportation agency under this 
                                section.
    ``(f) Federal Share.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        Federal share of the costs of a project assisted with a grant 
        under the Program may not exceed 80 percent.
            ``(2) Exception.--The Secretary may waive paragraph (1) if 
        a public transportation agency demonstrates, as determined by 
        the Secretary, financial hardship.
            ``(3) In-kind contributions.--The non-Federal share of the 
        costs of a project assisted with a grant under the Program may 
        be derived in whole or in part from in-kind contributions.
    ``(g) Prioritization of Certain Applications.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall prioritize 
        applications from public transportation agencies that--
                    ``(A) present projects described under subsection 
                (d)(1) that would meet the requirements of title III of 
                the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
                12101 et seq.) if such transportation access point (in 
                its entirety) were a public accommodation under such 
                title;
                    ``(B) are for projects in urbanized areas; and
                    ``(C) are for projects located in areas where there 
                is no accessible transportation access point within one 
                mile of such point.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to carry out this section $40,000,000,000 for each of fiscal 
        years 2020 through 2030.
            ``(2) Availability.--Funds authorized to be appropriated 
        under this section shall remain available until expended.
            ``(3) Minimum allocation amounts for priority 
        applications.--Not less than 75 percent of the total funds 
        appropriated under this subsection shall be designated for 
        projects under subsection (g).
    ``(i) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to limit a project from receiving a grant under this section 
for a project otherwise receiving Federal funds for associated transit 
improvement or capital projects.
    ``(j) Evaluation Report.--A public transportation agency that 
receives funds under this section during a fiscal year shall submit to 
the Secretary a description and an evaluation report on a date 
specified by the Secretary regarding the progress such projects have 
made to make transportation access points accessible to persons with 
limited mobility.
    ``(k) Definition of Transportation Access Point.--In this section, 
the term `transportation access point' means a public transportation 
facility, including--
            ``(1) a ferry terminal;
            ``(2) a bus terminal;
            ``(3) a train, subway, or rail station; and
            ``(4) any other similar fixed rail infrastructure used by 
        passengers to embark and disembark mass-transit service.''.
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