Norton Statement Ahead of Surface Transportation Reauthorization Markup

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ahead of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee (T&I) markup of the surface transportation reauthorization bill, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said she was pleased with the victories she was able to secure for D.C. in the bill. The surface transportation bill is reauthorized every five years and sets the funding, policies, and priorities for the nation's highways, public transit and rail programs. The last reauthorization was included in the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA), passed in 2021.

"At a time when polarization and partisanship are causing legislative gridlock, I'm pleased that this bipartisan bill includes many victories for the nation and its capital," Norton said. "The bill enables critical investments in passenger rail, including making the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation eligible for five significant federal grant programs. It equips the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration with the tools needed to protect consumers from predatory household moving company fraud and it makes 'blue envelope' programs, which improve interactions between police officers and drivers with difficulty communicating through speech during traffic stops, eligible for federal transportation grants for the first time. Significantly - and unusually, for the current Congress - the bill contains no riders targeting D.C.

"The bill delivers broad investments in our nation's roads, bridges, transit and bike infrastructure, which will boost our economy by increasing the country's capacity to safely transport goods and people. I'm proud of the scope of critical issues this legislation addresses and look forward to voting for its passage out of Committee."

Norton secured the following victories in the bill:

• Provides $1.596 billion for D.C. in federal-aid highway funding over the five-year life of the bill, compared to $1.342 billion over the five-year life of IIJA. The amounts for all core transit formulas go up, and D.C. is added to several new transit formulas it was excluded from in the IIJA.
• Includes the full text of the Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act, a Norton bill to equip the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) with the necessary tools to protect consumers from a growing type of fraud perpetrated by scammers in the interstate transportation of household goods and also establishes a household goods consumer protection working group (Sec. 5301-5305).
• Extends section 601(f) of the Passenger Rail Improvement Act of 2008 to provide federal funding for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority capital projects and preventive maintenance through 2031 (Sec. 3109).
• Treats D.C. the same as the states within the Bus and Bus Facilities formula program (Sec. 3024).
• Treats D.C. the same as the states within the Growing States and High-Density formula program (Sec. 3025).
• Makes D.C. eligible for grants under the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program (Sec. 1119).
• Makes D.C. eligible for grants under the National Culvert Removal, Replacement and Restoration Grant Program (Sec. 7107).
• Makes the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation eligible for grants under the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program, Mega, Consolidated Rail Infrastructure Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program, and National Intercity Passenger Rail Partnership program (NIPRP, formerly Federal-State Partnership), as well as the new Surface Transportation Accelerator Grant program (BUILD-Sec. 7506; Mega-Section 7505; CRISI-Sec. 10104; NIPRP-Sec. 10106; STAG-Sec. 1124).
• Makes blue envelope programs eligible for funds under NHTSA's 402 grant program (Sec. 4002).
• Clarifies the Secretary has the power to remove a commercial driver training provider from the official Training Provider Registry for failure to maintain and enforce policies against sexual assault (Sec. 5204).
• Codifies the Transit Workforce Center to train frontline transit workers and funds the Center at the same levels as the National Transit Institute with dedicated Highway Trust Fund dollars (Sec. 3010).
• Does not include any riders targeting the District of Columbia.

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