[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5446 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5446
To establish a program to fund electric public transportation in rural
communities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 5, 2024
Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a program to fund electric public transportation in rural
communities.
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 ``Electrifying Rural Transportation
Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. RURAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Electric bus.--The term ``electric bus'' means a
battery-electric or plug-in hybrid bus.
(2) Electric vehicle.--The term ``electric vehicle''--
(A) means a battery-electric or plug-in hybrid
vehicle; and
(B) includes an electric bus.
(3) Eligible recipient.--The term ``eligible recipient''
means a State or Indian tribe that is eligible for a grant
under section 5311 of title 49, United States Code.
(4) Microtransit.--The term ``microtransit''--
(A) means a technology-enabled service that--
(i) uses multi-passenger vehicles to
provide shared-ride on-demand services with
dynamically generated routing; and
(ii) is traditionally provided in a
designated service area; and
(B) includes service models such as--
(i) first mile or last mile connections to
fixed route services;
(ii) hub to hub zone-based services;
(iii) the commingling of ADA complementary
paratransit services with general transit
service; and
(iv) point-to-point service within a
specific zone or geographic area.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Transportation.
(b) Grant Program.--The Secretary shall award grants to eligible
recipients, in accordance with the formula under section 5311(c) of
title 49, United States Code, for the electrification of buses,
microtransit vehicles, and other public transportation fleet vehicles.
(c) Eligible Projects.--An eligible recipient may use a grant
received under subsection (b)--
(1) to purchase--
(A) an electric bus;
(B) an electric vehicle, other than an electric
bus, used for microtransit; or
(C) charging infrastructure;
(2) to renovate a bus facility by upgrading existing
charging infrastructure or adding new charging infrastructure;
or
(3) for operating assistance for electric public
transportation, including electric vehicles.
(d) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary may use not more than 5
percent of the amounts made available to carry out this section for a
fiscal year to provide technical assistance to eligible recipients.
(e) Workforce Development Training.--An eligible recipient may use
not more than 5 percent of the amount of a grant received under
subsection (b) for workforce development training for a transit agency
in a rural area, as defined in section 5302 of title 49, United States
Code, including--
(1) costs associated with obtaining proper operating and
driving licenses for electric vehicles;
(2) the cost of training for operations and maintenance of
electric buses and other electric vehicles; and
(3) the cost of training for operations and maintenance of
charging equipment for electric vehicles.
(f) Applicability of Section 5311 Requirements.--The requirements
under section 5311 of title 49, United States Code, (other than
subsection (f)) shall apply with respect to a grant awarded under this
section in the same manner as if the grant were awarded under such
section 5311.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $500,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.
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