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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7587 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7587
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue a notice of proposed
rulemaking with respect to categorical exclusions of the Maritime
Administration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 7, 2024
Mrs. Peltola (for herself and Mr. Rouzer) 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 direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue a notice of proposed
rulemaking with respect to categorical exclusions of the Maritime
Administration, 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 ``Port Optimization for Responsible
Transportation Act''.
SEC. 2. MARITIME ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Categorical Exclusions.--
(1) Reciprocal use of categorical exclusions.--Not later
than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Transportation shall issue a notice of proposed
rulemaking to establish that the Maritime Administrator shall
approve any action qualifying as a categorical exclusion
established by the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal
Transit Administration, or the Federal Railroad Administration,
as outlined in part 771 of title 23, Code of Federal
Regulations, when the applicable requirements of that
categorical exclusion have been met.
(2) New categorical exclusions.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to propose new
Maritime Administration categorical exclusions for port
authority projects that require the approval of the
Secretary under the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(B) Expanding list.--The Maritime Administration's
list of categorical exclusions shall be expanded with
the goal of having a list that allows the Maritime
Administration to issue categorical exclusions that
maritime port authorities would typically use,
independently of the lists of other Department of
Transportation modal agencies, including categorical
exclusions--
(i) corresponding to project types that
have typically been granted a Finding of No
Significant Impact in past Maritime
Administration-granted projects and could
feasibly be categorical exclusions; and
(ii) that the Secretary determines would be
useful to maritime port authorities in the
course of Federal grant-funded projects.
(3) Process for regular updates.--The Secretary shall
include in the rule required by paragraph (2) a process by
which the Maritime Administration will update the list of
categorical exclusions every 4 years to reflect lessons learned
in grant administration and project construction that lead to
new efficiencies in the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(b) Application Timelines.--Section 54301(a)(5) of title 46, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(C) Delayed notice of funding opportunity.--If an
amendment is made to a published solicitation for grant
applications such that an applicant would need the
information contained in the amendment to draft an
application, other than an amendment of the amount of
grant funding available, the Secretary shall extend the
application deadline by the number of days between the
initial solicitation and the amendment.''.
(c) Project Budget Reviews.--Section 54301(a)(9) of title 46,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B) by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) grant contracts are approved efficiently by
the Secretary, minimizing delays for minor adjustments
to project scopes and budgets due to inflationary
effects on projects.''.
(d) Staffing and Grant Timelines.--Section 54301(a)(11) of title
46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(C) Administrative and oversight report.--Not
later than 365 days after the date of the enactment of
this subparagraph, and each year thereafter, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the
average length of grant obligation timelines and the
nature of any staffing shortages relevant to
administering this program.''.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT STEERING COUNCIL.
Section 41001(6)(A)(i)(II) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C.
4370m(6)(A)(i)(II)) is amended by inserting ``, except for projects
sponsored by a port authority'' after ``$200,000,000''.
SEC. 4. BUILD AMERICA BUY AMERICA.
(a) Limited Waivers.--Section 54301(a)(11) of title 46, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(C) Certification of domestic supply.--If the
Secretary denies an application for a waiver under the
procedures outlined in section 8301 of title 41, the
Secretary shall provide to the applicant a written
certification that--
``(i) the steel, iron, or manufactured
goods, as applicable (referred to in this
subparagraph as the `item'), is produced in the
United States in a sufficient and reasonably
available amount;
``(ii) the item produced in the United
States is of a satisfactory quality; and
``(iii) includes a list of known
manufacturers in the United States from which
the item can be obtained.''.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, to build
the necessary domestic manufacturing capabilities, port authorities
should be permitted to make group or pooled purchases of equipment,
also known as ``piggybacking'', in which the post-award use of a
contractual document allows multiple port authorities to purchase the
same supplies or equipment through the original contractual document.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
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.
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.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
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