Division H — Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Transportation may be obligated for the Office of the Secretary of Transportation to approve assessments or reimbursable agreements pertaining to funds appropriated to the modal administrations in this Act, except for activities underway on the date of enactment of this Act, unless such assessments or agreements have completed the normal reprogramming process for Congressional notification.

The Secretary shall post on the Web site of the Department of Transportation a schedule of all meetings of the Council on Credit and Finance, including the agenda for each meeting, and require the Council on Credit and Finance to record the decisions and actions of each meeting.

In addition to authority provided by section 327 of title 49, United States Code, the Department’s Working Capital Fund is hereby authorized to provide partial or full payments in advance and accept subsequent reimbursements from all Federal agencies from available funds for transit benefit distribution services that are necessary to carry out the Federal transit pass transportation fringe benefit program under Executive Order No. 13150 and section 3049 of Public Law 109–59: Provided, That the Department shall maintain a reasonable operating reserve in the Working Capital Fund, to be expended in advance to provide uninterrupted transit benefits to Government employees: Provided further, That such reserve will not exceed one month of benefits payable and may be used only for the purpose of providing for the continuation of transit benefits: Provided further, That the Working Capital Fund will be fully reimbursed by each customer agency from available funds for the actual cost of the transit benefit.

No later than May 1, 2020, the Secretary shall announce the selection of all projects to receive awards for all competitive grants provided in Public Law 116–6 under the headings: “Federal Railroad Administration—Federal–State Partnership for State of Good Repair”, “Federal Railroad Administration—Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements”, “Federal Railroad Administration—Restoration and Enhancement”, “Federal Railroad Administration—Magnetic Levitation Technology Deployment Program”, and “Maritime Administration—Port Infrastructure Development Program”.

None of the funds made available by this Act shall be used to terminate the Intelligent Transportation System Program Advisory Committee established under section 5305(h) of SAFETEA–LU (23 U.S.C. 512 note; Public Law 109–59).

None of the funds in this Act may be used to compensate in excess of 600 technical staff-years under the federally funded research and development center contract between the Federal Aviation Administration and the Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development during fiscal year 2020.

None of the funds in this Act shall be used to pursue or adopt guidelines or regulations requiring airport sponsors to provide to the Federal Aviation Administration without cost building construction, maintenance, utilities and expenses, or space in airport sponsor-owned buildings for services relating to air traffic control, air navigation, or weather reporting: Provided, That the prohibition of funds in this section does not apply to negotiations between the agency and airport sponsors to achieve agreement on “below-market” rates for these items or to grant assurances that require airport sponsors to provide land without cost to the Federal Aviation Administration for air traffic control facilities.

The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration may reimburse amounts made available to satisfy 49 U.S.C. 41742(a)(1) from fees credited under 49 U.S.C. 45303 and any amount remaining in such account at the close of that fiscal year may be made available to satisfy section 41742(a)(1) for the subsequent fiscal year.

Amounts collected under section 40113(e) of title 49, United States Code, shall be credited to the appropriation current at the time of collection, to be merged with and available for the same purposes of such appropriation.

None of the funds in this Act shall be available for paying premium pay under subsection 5546(a) of title 5, United States Code, to any Federal Aviation Administration employee unless such employee actually performed work during the time corresponding to such premium pay.

None of the funds in this Act may be obligated or expended for an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration to purchase a store gift card or gift certificate through use of a Government-issued credit card.

None of the funds in this Act may be obligated or expended for retention bonuses for an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration without the prior written approval of the Assistant Secretary for Administration of the Department of Transportation.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available under this Act or any prior Act may be used to implement or to continue to implement any limitation on the ability of any owner or operator of a private aircraft to obtain, upon a request to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, a blocking of that owner’s or operator’s aircraft registration number from any display of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Situational Display to Industry data that is made available to the public, except data made available to a Government agency, for the noncommercial flights of that owner or operator.

None of the funds in this Act shall be available for salaries and expenses of more than nine political and Presidential appointees in the Federal Aviation Administration.

None of the funds made available under this Act may be used to increase fees pursuant to section 44721 of title 49, United States Code, until the Federal Aviation Administration provides to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations a report that justifies all fees related to aeronautical navigation products and explains how such fees are consistent with Executive Order No. 13642.

None of the funds in this Act may be used to close a regional operations center of the Federal Aviation Administration or reduce its services unless the Administrator notifies the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations not less than 90 full business days in advance.

None of the funds appropriated or limited by this Act may be used to change weight restrictions or prior permission rules at Teterboro airport in Teterboro, New Jersey.

None of the funds provided under this Act may be used by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to withhold from consideration and approval any new application for participation in the Contract Tower Program, or for reevaluation of Cost-share Program participants as long as the Federal Aviation Administration has received an application from the airport, and as long as the Administrator determines such tower is eligible using the factors set forth in Federal Aviation Administration published establishment criteria.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to open, close, redesignate as a lesser office, or reorganize a regional office, the aeronautical center, or technical center unless the Administrator submits a request for the reprogramming of funds under section 405 of this Act.

Notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, funds received by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics from the sale of data products, for necessary expenses incurred pursuant to chapter 63 of title 49, United States Code, may be credited to the Federal-aid highways account for the purpose of reimbursing the Bureau for such expenses: Provided, That such funds shall be subject to the obligation limitation for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs.

Not less than 15 days prior to waiving, under his or her statutory authority, any Buy America requirement for Federal-aid highways projects, the Secretary of Transportation shall make an informal public notice and comment opportunity on the intent to issue such waiver and the reasons therefor: Provided, That the Secretary shall provide an annual report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on any waivers granted under the Buy America requirements.

None of the funds provided in this Act to the Department of Transportation may be used to provide credit assistance unless not less than 3 days before any application approval to provide credit assistance under sections 603 and 604 of title 23, United States Code, the Secretary of Transportation provides notification in writing to the following committees: the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations; the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives: Provided, That such notification shall include, but not be limited to, the name of the project sponsor; a description of the project; whether credit assistance will be provided as a direct loan, loan guarantee, or line of credit; and the amount of credit assistance.

None of the funds provided in this Act may be used to make a grant for a project under section 117 of title 23, United States Code, unless the Secretary, at least 60 days before making a grant under that section, provides written notification to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations of the proposed grant, including an evaluation and justification for the project and the amount of the proposed grant award: Provided, That the written notification required in the previous proviso shall be made no later than 180 days after enactment of this Act.

The following are repealed:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, tolls collected for motor vehicles on any bridge connecting the boroughs of Brooklyn, New York, and Staten Island, New York, shall be collected for any such vehicles exiting from such bridge in both Staten Island and Brooklyn.

Section 125(d) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (4).

Until final guidance is published, the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration shall make determinations on Buy America waivers for those waivers that were submitted before April 17, 2018, as if the notice of proposed rulemaking of that date was not in effect.

Section 1948 of SAFETEA–LU (Public Law 109–59; 119 Stat. 1514) is repealed.

Section 119(e)(5) of title 23, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shall send notice of 49 CFR section 385.308 violations by certified mail, registered mail, or another manner of delivery, which records the receipt of the notice by the persons responsible for the violations.

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Transportation by this Act or any other Act may be obligated or expended to implement, administer, or enforce the requirements of section 31137 of title 49, United States Code, or any regulation issued by the Secretary pursuant to such section, with respect to the use of electronic logging devices by operators of commercial motor vehicles, as defined in section 31132(1) of such title, transporting livestock as defined in section 602 of the Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1988 (7 U.S.C. 1471) or insects.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shall update annual inspection regulations under Appendix G to subchapter B of chapter III of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, as recommended by GAO–19–264.

An additional $130,000 shall be made available to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, out of the amount limited for section 402 of title 23, United States Code, to pay for travel and related expenses for State management reviews and to pay for core competency development training and related expenses for highway safety staff.

The limitations on obligations for the programs of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration set in this Act shall not apply to obligations for which obligation authority was made available in previous public laws but only to the extent that the obligation authority has not lapsed or been used.

In addition to the amounts made available under the heading, “Operations and Research (Liquidation of Contract Authorization) (Limitation on Obligations) (Highway Trust Fund)” for carrying out the provisions of section 403 of title 23, United States Code, $17,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2021, shall be made available to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from the general fund: Provided, That of the sums provided under this provision—

None of the funds in this Act or any other Act shall be used to enforce the requirements of 23 U.S.C. 405(a)(9).

None of the funds provided to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation may be used to fund any overtime costs in excess of $35,000 for any individual employee: Provided, That the President of Amtrak may waive the cap set in the previous proviso for specific employees when the President of Amtrak determines such a cap poses a risk to the safety and operational efficiency of the system: Provided further, That the President of Amtrak shall report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 60 days of enactment of this Act, a summary of all overtime payments incurred by the Corporation for 2019 and the three prior calendar years: Provided further, That such summary shall include the total number of employees that received waivers and the total overtime payments the Corporation paid to those employees receiving waivers for each month for 2019 and for the three prior calendar years.

None of the funds provided to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation under the headings “Northeast Corridor Grants to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation” and “National Network Grants to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation” may be used to reduce the total number of Amtrak Police Department uniformed officers patrolling on board passenger trains or at stations, facilities or rights-of-way below the staffing level on May 1, 2019.

It is the sense of Congress that—

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation in contravention of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.).

The limitations on obligations for the programs of the Federal Transit Administration shall not apply to any authority under 49 U.S.C. 5338, previously made available for obligation, or to any other authority previously made available for obligation.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds appropriated or limited by this Act under the heading “Fixed Guideway Capital Investment” of the Federal Transit Administration for projects specified in this Act or identified in reports accompanying this Act not obligated by September 30, 2023, and other recoveries, shall be directed to projects eligible to use the funds for the purposes for which they were originally provided.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any funds appropriated before October 1, 2019, under any section of chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, that remain available for expenditure, may be transferred to and administered under the most recent appropriation heading for any such section.

No funds in this or any other Act shall be used to adjust apportionments or withhold funds from apportionments pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 9503(e)(4).

An eligible recipient of a grant under section 5339(c) may submit an application in partnership with other entities, including a transit vehicle manufacturer, that intend to participate in the implementation of a project under section 5339(c) of title 49, United States Code, and a project awarded with such partnership shall be treated as satisfying the requirement for a competitive procurement under section 5325(a) of title 49, United States Code, for the named entity.

None of the funds made available in this or any other Act shall be used to impede or hinder project advancement or approval for any project seeking a Federal contribution from the capital investment grant program of greater than 40 percent of project costs as authorized under 49 U.S.C. 5309.

None of the funds made available under this Act may be used for the implementation or furtherance of new policies detailed in the “Dear Colleague” letter distributed by the Federal Transit Administration to capital investment grant program project sponsors on June 29, 2018.

The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation is hereby authorized to make such expenditures, within the limits of funds and borrowing authority available to the Corporation, and in accord with law, and to make such contracts and commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations, as provided by section 104 of the Government Corporation Control Act, as amended, as may be necessary in carrying out the programs set forth in the Corporation’s budget for the current fiscal year.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, in addition to any existing authority, the Maritime Administration is authorized to furnish utilities and services and make necessary repairs in connection with any lease, contract, or occupancy involving Government property under control of the Maritime Administration: Provided, That payments received therefor shall be credited to the appropriation charged with the cost thereof and shall remain available until expended: Provided further, That rental payments under any such lease, contract, or occupancy for items other than such utilities, services, or repairs shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

This title may be cited as the “Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2020”.

For the development, modernization, and enhancement of, modifications to, and infrastructure for Department-wide and program-specific information technology systems, for the continuing operation and maintenance of both Department-wide and program-specific information systems, and for program-related maintenance activities, $280,000,000, of which $260,000,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2021, and of which $20,000,000 shall remain available until September 30, 2022: Provided, That any amounts transferred to this Fund under this Act shall remain available until expended: Provided further, That any amounts transferred to this Fund from amounts appropriated by previously enacted appropriations Acts may be used for the purposes specified under this Fund, in addition to any other information technology purposes for which such amounts were appropriated: Provided further, That not more than 10 percent of the funds made available under this heading for development, modernization and enhancement may be obligated until the Secretary submits to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, for approval, a plan for expenditure that—(A) identifies for each modernization project: (i) the functional and performance capabilities to be delivered and the mission benefits to be realized, (ii) the estimated life-cycle cost, and (iii) key milestones to be met; and (B) demonstrates that each modernization project is: (i) compliant with the Department’s enterprise architecture, (ii) being managed in accordance with applicable life-cycle management policies and guidance, (iii) subject to the Department’s capital planning and investment control requirements, and (iv) supported by an adequately staffed project office.

For necessary salaries and expenses of the Office of Inspector General in carrying out the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, $128,200,000: Provided, That the Inspector General shall have independent authority over all personnel issues within this office: Provided further, That the Office of Inspector General shall procure and rely upon the services of an independent external auditor(s) to audit the fiscal year 2020 and subsequent financial statements of the Department of Housing and Urban Development including the financial statements of the Federal Housing Administration and the Government National Mortgage Association: Provided further, That in addition to amounts under this heading otherwise available for the purposes specified in the previous proviso, $10,000,000 to remain available until September 30, 2021, shall be available only for such specified purposes.

This title may be cited as the “Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2020”.

None of the funds in this Act shall be used for the planning or execution of any program to pay the expenses of, or otherwise compensate, non-Federal parties intervening in regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings funded in this Act.

None of the funds appropriated in this Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the current fiscal year, nor may any be transferred to other appropriations, unless expressly so provided herein.

The expenditure of any appropriation under this Act for any consulting service through a procurement contract pursuant to section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, shall be limited to those contracts where such expenditures are a matter of public record and available for public inspection, except where otherwise provided under existing law, or under existing Executive order issued pursuant to existing law.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, none of the funds provided in this Act, provided by previous appropriations Acts to the agencies or entities funded in this Act that remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year 2020, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury derived by the collection of fees and available to the agencies funded by this Act, shall be available for obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming of funds that—

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, not to exceed 50 percent of unobligated balances remaining available at the end of fiscal year 2020 from appropriations made available for salaries and expenses for fiscal year 2020 in this Act, shall remain available through September 30, 2021, for each such account for the purposes authorized: Provided, That a request shall be submitted to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations for approval prior to the expenditure of such funds: Provided further, That these requests shall be made in compliance with reprogramming guidelines under section 405 of this Act.

No funds in this Act may be used to support any Federal, State, or local projects that seek to use the power of eminent domain, unless eminent domain is employed only for a public use: Provided, That for purposes of this section, public use shall not be construed to include economic development that primarily benefits private entities: Provided further, That any use of funds for mass transit, railroad, airport, seaport or highway projects, as well as utility projects which benefit or serve the general public (including energy-related, communication-related, water-related and wastewater-related infrastructure), other structures designated for use by the general public or which have other common-carrier or public-utility functions that serve the general public and are subject to regulation and oversight by the government, and projects for the removal of an immediate threat to public health and safety or brownfields as defined in the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (Public Law 107–118) shall be considered a public use for purposes of eminent domain.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be transferred to any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, except pursuant to a transfer made by, or transfer authority provided in, this Act or any other appropriations Act.

No part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall be available to pay the salary for any person filling a position, other than a temporary position, formerly held by an employee who has left to enter the Armed Forces of the United States and has satisfactorily completed his or her period of active military or naval service, and has within 90 days after his or her release from such service or from hospitalization continuing after discharge for a period of not more than 1 year, made application for restoration to his or her former position and has been certified by the Office of Personnel Management as still qualified to perform the duties of his or her former position and has not been restored thereto.

No funds appropriated pursuant to this Act may be expended by an entity unless the entity agrees that in expending the assistance the entity will comply with sections 2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 1933 (41 U.S.C. 8301–8305, popularly known as the “Buy American Act”).

No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act shall be made available to any person or entity that has been convicted of violating the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 8301–8305).

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for first-class airline accommodations in contravention of sections 301–10.122 and 301–10.123 of title 41, Code of Federal Regulations.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to send or otherwise pay for the attendance of more than 50 employees of a single agency or department of the United States Government, who are stationed in the United States, at any single international conference unless the relevant Secretary reports to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations at least 5 days in advance that such attendance is important to the national interest: Provided, That for purposes of this section the term “international conference” shall mean a conference occurring outside of the United States attended by representatives of the United States Government and of foreign governments, international organizations, or nongovernmental organizations.

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act may be used by the Surface Transportation Board to charge or collect any filing fee for rate or practice complaints filed with the Board in an amount in excess of the amount authorized for district court civil suit filing fees under section 1914 of title 28, United States Code.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or any other Federal agency to lease or purchase new light duty vehicles for any executive fleet, or for an agency’s fleet inventory, except in accordance with Presidential Memorandum—Federal Fleet Performance, dated May 24, 2011.

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to pay award or incentive fees for contractors whose performance has been judged to be below satisfactory, behind schedule, over budget, or has failed to meet the basic requirements of a contract, unless the Agency determines that any such deviations are due to unforeseeable events, government-driven scope changes, or are not significant within the overall scope of the project and/or program unless such awards or incentive fees are consistent with 16.401(e)(2) of the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference to “this Act” contained in this division shall be treated as referring only to the provisions of this division.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of section 5309(d)(2) of title 49, United States Code.

None of the funds made available by this division may be used to issue rules or guidance in contravention of section 1210 of Public Law 115–254 (132 Stat. 3442) or section 312 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5155).

None of the funds made available by this division may be used in contravention of section 2635.702 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations.

Of the unobligated balances of funds remaining from—