117 HR 8934 IH: Ferry Service Expansion Act
U.S. House of Representatives
2022-09-21
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I
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8934
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 21, 2022
Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. Sires, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Sablan, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Kilmer, Ms. DelBene, and Ms. Brownley) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To increase authorizations for the passenger ferry competitive grant program and the ferry boats and terminal facilities formula grant program, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Ferry Service Expansion Act”.
2.

Construction of ferry boats and ferry terminal facilities
Section 147(h) of title 23, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (2), by striking “$112,000,000” and inserting “$160,000,000”;
(2)
in paragraph (3), by striking “$114,000,000” and inserting “$160,000,000”;
(3)
in paragraph (4), by striking “$116,000,000” and inserting “$160,000,000”; and
(4)
in paragraph (5), by striking “$118,000,000” and inserting “$160,000,000”.
3.

Apportionments
Section 5336(h)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking “$30,000,000” and inserting “$90,000,000”.
4.

Surface transportation block grant program
(a)

In general
Section 133(b)(1)(B)(i) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by inserting “, except that for the purposes of this section, hovercraft and terminal facilities for hovercraft engaging in water transit for passengers or vehicles shall be considered to be ferry boats and ferry terminal facilities under section 129(c)” after “section 129(c)”.
(b)

Rule of construction
Any hovercraft funded using funds made available under section 133(b)(1) of title 23, United States Code, shall be deemed to be a vessel subject to chapters 121 and 551 of title 46, United States Code.
5.

Toll roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferries
(a)

In general
Section 129(c)(5) of title 23, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in the first sentence, by inserting “(including between territories of the United States)” after “adjoining States”; and
(2)
in the second sentence, by inserting “operations between territories of the United States,” after “United States,”.
(b)

Sunset
Section 11117(b) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (23 U.S.C. 147 note; Public Law 117–58) is amended—
(1)
by striking the subsection designation and heading and all that follows through “section 147(b)” in paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
“(b)

Diesel fuel ferry vessels
Notwithstanding section 147(b) of title 23, United States Code”; and
(2)
by striking paragraph (2).
6.

Ferry service for rural communities
Section 71103 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (23 U.S.C. 147 note; Public Law 117–58) is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
in paragraph (2)(B), by striking “located more than 50 sailing miles apart”; and
(B)
by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
“(3)

Rural area
The term rural area means an area that—
(A)
has not been designated by the Secretary of Commerce in the most recent decennial census as an urbanized area; or
(B)
has been designated by the Secretary of Commerce in the most recent decennial census as an urbanized area, but has populations described in subparagraphs (H) and (I) of section 343(a)(13) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13)) that if excluded would result in the area encompassing a population of less than 50,000.”;
(2)
by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and
(3)
by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
“(f)

Grant requirements
The requirements under sections 5323(j) and 5333 of title 49, United States Code, shall apply to grants under this section.”.
7.

Electric or low-emitting ferry pilot program
Section 71102 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (23 U.S.C. 147 note; Public Law 117–58) is amended—
(1)
by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
(2)
by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
“(d)

Grant requirements
The requirements under sections 5323(j) and 5333 of title 49, United States Code, shall apply to grants under this section.”.
8.

Transit infrastructure grants
The matter under the heading “transit infrastructure grants” under the heading “Federal Transit Administration” under the heading “Department of Transportation” in title VIII of division J of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58; 135 Stat. 1437) is amended—
(1)
in the matter preceding paragraph (1)—
(A)
by striking “$10,250,000,000” and inserting “$11,500,000,000”; and
(B)
by striking “$2,050,000,000” each place it appears and inserting “$2,300,000,000”;
(2)
in paragraph (2), by striking “and” at the end;
(3)
in paragraph (3) by striking the colon at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(4)
by adding at the end the following:
“(4)
$1,250,000,000 shall be to carry out passenger ferry grants under section 5307(h) of title 49, United States Code:”.
9.

Qualified vessel
(a)

Eligible vessel
Section 53501(2) of title 46, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking “and” at the end;
(2)
in subparagraph (B)(v), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:
“(C)
a ferry, as such term is defined in section 2101; and
(D)
a passenger vessel or small passenger vessel, as such terms are defined in section 2101.”.
(b)

Qualified vessel
Section 53501(5) of title 46, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking “and” at the end;
(2)
in subparagraph (B)(v), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:
“(C)
a ferry, as such term is defined in section 2101; and
(D)
a passenger vessel or small passenger vessel, as such terms are defined in section 2101.”.
10.

Establishing a capital construction fund
Section 53503(b) of title 46, United States Code, is amended by inserting “(including transportation on a ferry, passenger vessel, or small passenger vessel, as such terms are defined in section 2101)” after “short sea transportation”.
11.

Technical corrections
Section 133 of title 23, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subsection (b)—
(A)
in paragraph (7)—
(i)
by striking “section 206” and inserting “section 206,”; and
(ii)
by striking “trails,,” and inserting “trails,”; and
(B)
by redesignating paragraph (24) as paragraph (4) and moving the paragraph so as to appear after paragraph (3); and
(2)
in subsection (k)(1)(B)(i), by striking “14501” and inserting “section 14501”.