49 U.S.C. § 311 — Congressional notification requirements

Page 115 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 311 the proposed project absent circumstances that require reconsideration in order to meet an agency of jurisdiction’s obligations under a statute or Executive order; and (3) achieve concurrence or issue resolution in an expedited manner if circumstances arise that require a reconsideration of the purpose and need or range of alternatives considered during any Federal agency’s environmental or permitting review in order to meet an agency of jurisdiction’s obligations under a statute or Executive order. (c) ENVIRONMENTAL CHECKLIST.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- retary of Transportation and Federal agencies of jurisdiction likely to have substantive re- view or approval responsibilities on transpor- tation projects shall jointly develop a check- list to help project sponsors identify potential natural, cultural, and historic resources in the area of a proposed project. (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the checklist shall be to— (A) identify agencies of jurisdiction and cooperating agencies; (B) develop the information needed for the purpose and need and alternatives for anal- ysis; and (C) improve interagency collaboration to help expedite the permitting process for the lead agency and agencies of jurisdiction. (d) INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with Federal en- vironmental statutes, the Secretary of Trans- portation shall facilitate annual interagency collaboration sessions at the appropriate juris- dictional level to coordinate business plans and facilitate coordination of workload plan- ning and workforce management. (2) PURPOSE OF COLLABORATION SESSIONS.— The interagency collaboration sessions shall ensure that agency staff is— (A) fully engaged; (B) utilizing the flexibility of existing reg- ulations, policies, and guidance; and (C) identifying additional actions to facili- tate high quality, efficient, and targeted en- vironmental reviews and permitting deci- sions. (3) FOCUS OF COLLABORATION SESSIONS.—The interagency collaboration sessions, and the interagency collaborations generated by the sessions, shall focus on methods to— (A) work with State and local transpor- tation entities to improve project planning, siting, and application quality; and (B) consult and coordinate with relevant stakeholders and Federal, tribal, State, and local representatives early in permitting processes. (4) CONSULTATION.—The interagency collabo- ration sessions shall include a consultation with groups or individuals representing State, tribal, and local governments that are engaged in the infrastructure permitting process. (e) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Transportation, in co- ordination with relevant Federal agencies, shall establish a program to measure and report on progress toward aligning Federal reviews and re- ducing permitting and project delivery time as outlined in this section. (f) REPORTS.— (1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this sec- tion and biennially thereafter, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit to the Com- mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor- tation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, and make publicly available on the Department of Transpor- tation website, a report that describes— (A) progress in aligning Federal environ- mental reviews under this section; and (B) the impact this section has had on ac- celerating the environmental review and permitting process. (2) INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this section, the Inspector General of the De- partment of Transportation shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report that describes— (A) progress in aligning Federal environ- mental reviews under this section; and (B) the impact this section has had on ac- celerating the environmental review and permitting process. (g) SAVINGS PROVISION.—This section shall not apply to any project subject to section 139 of title 23. (Added Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title I, § 1313(a), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1400; amended Pub. L. 115–420, § 3, Jan. 3, 2019, 132 Stat. 5444.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The date of enactment of this section, referred to in subsecs. (a), (c)(1), (e), and (f)(1), (2), is the date of en- actment of Pub. L. 114–94, which was approved Dec. 4, 2015. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, re- ferred to in subsec. (a), is Pub. L. 91–190, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 852, which is classified generally to chapter 55 (§ 4321 et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Wel- fare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 4321 of Title 42 and Tables. AMENDMENTS 2019—Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 115–420 inserted ‘‘, and make publicly available on the Department of Trans- portation website,’’ after ‘‘House of Representatives’’ in introductory provisions. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Oct. 1, 2015, see section 1003 of Pub. L. 114–94, set out as an Effective Date of 2015 Amend- ment note under section 5313 of Title 5, Government Or- ganization and Employees. § 311. Congressional notification requirements (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub- section (b) or as expressly provided in another Page 116 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 312 1 So in original. The comma probably should not appear. provision of law, the Secretary of Transpor- tation shall provide to the appropriate commit- tees of Congress notice of an announcement con- cerning a covered project at least 3 full business days before the announcement is made by the Department. (b) EMERGENCY PROGRAM.—With respect to an allocation of funds under section 125 of title 23, the Secretary shall provide to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Envi- ronment and Public Works of the Senate notice of the allocation— (1) at least 3 full business days before the issuance of the allocation; or (2) concurrently with the issuance of the al- location, if the allocation is made using the quick release process of the Department (or any successor process). (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following definitions apply: (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- gress’’ means— (A) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa- tives; and (B) the Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Com- mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af- fairs of the Senate. (2) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered project’’ means a project competitively se- lected by the Department to receive a discre- tionary grant award, letter of intent, loan commitment, loan guarantee commitment, or line of credit commitment in an amount equal to or greater than $750,000. (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ means the Department of Transportation, in- cluding the modal administrations of the De- partment. (Added Pub. L. 114–322, title IV, § 5001(a), Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1884.) § 312. Alternative timing system (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary of Transportation shall provide for the establishment, sustainment, and operation of a resilient,1 and reliable alternative timing system— (1) to reduce critical dependencies and pro- vide a complement to and backup for the tim- ing component of the Global Positioning Sys- tem (referred to in this section as ‘‘GPS’’); and (2) to ensure the availability of uncorrupted and non-degraded timing signals for military and civilian users in the event that GPS tim- ing signals are corrupted, degraded, unreli- able, or otherwise unavailable. (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF REQUIREMENTS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the National Timing Resilience and Security Act of 2018, the Secretary of Transportation shall estab- lish requirements for the procurement of the system required by subsection (a) as a com- plement to and backup for the timing compo- nent of GPS in accordance with the timing re- quirements study required by section 1618 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 130 Stat. 2595). (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary of Trans- portation shall ensure, to the maximum ex- tent practicable, that the system established under subsection (a) will— (A) be wireless; (B) be terrestrial; (C) provide wide-area coverage; (D) be synchronized with coordinated uni- versal time; (E) be resilient and extremely difficult to disrupt or degrade; (F) be able to penetrate underground and inside buildings; (G) be capable of deployment to remote lo- cations; (H) be developed, constructed, and oper- ated incorporating applicable private sector expertise; (I) work in concert with and complement any other similar positioning, navigation, and timing systems, including enhanced long-range navigation systems and Nation- wide Differential GPS systems; (J) be available for use by Federal and non-Federal government agencies for public purposes at no net cost to the Federal Gov- ernment within 10 years of initiation of op- eration; (K) be capable of adaptation and expansion to provide position and navigation capabili- ties; (L) incorporate the recommendations from any GPS back-up demonstration program initiated and completed by the Secretary, in coordination with other Federal agencies, before the date specified in subsection (c)(1); and (M) incorporate such other elements as the Secretary considers appropriate. (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— (1) PLAN REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the National Timing Resilience and Security Act of 2018, the Secretary of Transportation shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report set- ting forth the following: (A) A plan to develop, construct, and oper- ate the system required by subsection (a). (B) A description and assessment of the ad- vantages of a system to provide a follow-on complementary and backup positioning and navigation capability to the timing compo- nent of GPS. (2) DEADLINE FOR COMMENCEMENT OF OPER- ATION.—The system required by subsection (a) shall be in operation by not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the National Timing Resilience and Security Act of 2018. (3) MINIMUM DURATION OF OPERATIONAL CAPA- BILITY.—The system required by subsection (a)