Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “National Freight Network Trust Fund Act of 2015”.
National Freight Network Trust Fund Act of 2015
A BILL
To establish a National Freight Network Trust Fund to improve the performance of the national freight network, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 National Freight Network Trust Fund
In general— Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“9512. National Freight Network Trust Fund
“(a) Creation of Trust Fund—There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the “National Freight Network Trust Fund”, consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited to such Trust Fund as provided in this section and section 9602(b).
“(b) Transfers to Trust Fund—There are hereby appropriated to the National Freight Network Trust Fund amounts equivalent to 5 percent of the import duties imposed under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
“(c) Expenditures—Amounts in the National Freight Network Trust Fund shall be available without further appropriation to the Secretary of Transportation only for making expenditures to fund awards under the National Freight Network Grant Program established under section 3(a) of the National Freight Network Trust Fund Act of 2015.”
Clerical amendment— The table of sections for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
Sec. 3 National Freight Network Grant Program
Establishment— There is hereby established in the Department of Transportation a National Freight Network Grant Program (in this section referred to as the “Program”) to improve the performance of the national freight network.
Grant authority— Under the Program, the Secretary of Transportation, in accordance with the national freight strategic plan developed under section 167 of title 23, United States Code, may make a grant to assist any project that improves the performance of a segment of the national freight network.
Grant recipients— Under the Program, the Secretary may make a grant to the following:
A State.
A regional or local transportation organization.
A port authority.
Applications— To be eligible for a grant under the Program, an entity specified in subsection (c) shall submit to the Secretary an application regarding a proposed project at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the Secretary determines is appropriate.
Selection criteria— In making grants under the Program, the Secretary shall evaluate and select projects on a competitive basis by considering the potential of the projects to—
generate national economic benefits;
improve the performance of key corridors and gateways;
reduce congestion;
improve transportation safety; and
enhance the national freight network.
Transparency— For each application submitted under subsection (d) that does not result in a grant, the Secretary shall provide to the relevant applicant a written explanation describing the reasons a grant was not made.
Federal share— The Federal share of the cost of a project assisted with a grant under the Program shall be 90 percent, except that a grant recipient may determine a lower Federal share than the Federal share otherwise determined under this subsection.
Funding— In carrying out the Program, the Secretary shall utilize amounts available in the National Freight Network Trust Fund established under section 9512 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
National freight network defined— In this section, the term national freight network means—
the national freight network established under section 167 of title 23, United States Code;
roads and rail lines that connect such network to a port;
on-dock rail;
projects that appear in a State freight plan;
projects that appear in a regional transportation plan;
high freight volume roadway or rail corridors that provide connectivity for—
ports;
intermodal connectors;
multimodal freight facilities;
multistate freight corridors;
international borders; or
airports; and
railway-highway grade separations.
Sec. 4 National freight policy
Section 167(c)(1) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by inserting “, and update every 5 years thereafter,” after “shall establish”.