[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3978 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3978

  To increase the Federal operating share for rural transit, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 3, 2026

  Ms. Smith (for herself, Mr. Rounds, and Ms. Baldwin) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To increase the Federal operating share for rural transit, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Investments in Rural Transit Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the 
        Federal Transit Administration.
            (2) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Administration.
            (3) Rural area.--The term ``rural area'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 5302 of title 49, United States Code.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Transportation.

SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT STREAMLINING.

    (a) Expansion.--Section 3019(b) of the FAST Act (49 U.S.C. 5325 
note) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(A)--
                    (A) in clause (i)(I), by inserting ``or local'' 
                after ``State'';
                    (B) in clause (ii), by striking subclauses (I) and 
                (II) and inserting the following:
                                    ``(I) a nonprofit cooperative 
                                purchasing organization that is not a 
                                grantee;
                                    ``(II) a consortium of grantees; or
                                    ``(III) a consortium of entities 
                                described in subclause (I);'';
                    (C) in clause (iii), by inserting ``or local'' 
                after ``State''; and
                    (D) by amending clause (v) to read as follows:
                            ``(v) the term `participate' means to 
                        purchase or procure under a cooperative 
                        procurement contract, using assistance provided 
                        under chapter 53 of title 49, United States 
                        Code--
                                    ``(I) rolling stock and related 
                                equipment;
                                    ``(II) farebox equipment, software 
                                or technology; or
                                    ``(III) other equipment or 
                                technology eligible for assistance 
                                under that chapter.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting 
                ``government, local government, or eligible nonprofit 
                entity'' after ``State'';
                    (B) by inserting ``, local government, or eligible 
                nonprofit entity'' after ``State government'' each 
                place that term appears; and
                    (C) by inserting ``or other equipment or technology 
                eligible under chapter 53 of title 49, United States 
                Code,'' after ``related equipment'' each place that 
                term appears.
    (b) Recommendations.--The Secretary, acting through the 
Administrator, shall--
            (1) establish a process to solicit feedback from grantees, 
        State departments of transportation, and other relevant parties 
        for improving and streamlining joint procurement and 
        cooperative procurement and other strategies for improving 
        rolling stock procurement and other procurements;
            (2) assess the feedback solicited under paragraph (1) and 
        make advisory recommendations to improve and streamline--
                    (A) joint procurement;
                    (B) cooperative procurement; or
                    (C) other procurement strategies for rolling stock; 
                and
            (3) submit to Congress and make publicly available on the 
        website of the Administration annual reports on advisory 
        recommendations concerning procurement, including recommended 
        statutory, regulatory, and or guidance changes and potential 
        cost savings.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO MASS TRANSIT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in section 5311--
                    (A) in subsection (g)(2)--
                            (i) by striking ``assistance'' and all that 
                        follows through ``subparagraph (B), a'' and 
                        inserting ``assistance.--A'';
                            (ii) by striking ``50'' and inserting 
                        ``80''; and
                            (iii) by striking subparagraph (B); and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Regulatory Relief.--The Secretary, acting through the 
Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, shall establish a 
process to make recommendations to the Administrator regarding 
regulatory relief for recipients of assistance under this section, 
which shall include input from rural transit agencies, Tribal transit 
agencies, State departments of transportation, and other relevant 
parties.''; and
            (2) in section 5339(b), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(12) Tribal projects.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), not 
                less than 5 percent of the amounts made available under 
                this subsection in a fiscal year shall be distributed 
                to Tribal transit agencies.
                    ``(B) Unutilized amounts.--The Secretary may use 
                less than 5 percent of the amounts made available under 
                this subsection in a fiscal year for the projects 
                described in subparagraph (A) if the Secretary cannot 
                meet the requirements of that subparagraph due to 
                insufficient eligible applications.
                    ``(C) Government share of costs.--The Federal share 
                of the cost of an eligible project carried out under 
                this subsection shall be up to 100 percent.''.

SEC. 5. ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND TRIBAL 
              TRANSIT.

    Not later than1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall designate an Associate Administrator for Program 
Management and Tribal Transit within the Administration, who shall, in 
addition to any responsibilities assigned by the Secretary or the 
Administrator, focus on capacity-building, coordination, and technical 
assistance for Tribal transit.

SEC. 6. JOINT REVIEW ON LOW- TO NO-EMISSION PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES 
              IN RURAL AREAS.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary and the Secretary of Energy shall consult with rural transit 
agencies, Tribal transit agencies, and other relevant parties and issue 
a publicly available joint report on opportunities to make the 
procurement of low- and no-emission infrastructure by rural transit 
agencies more efficient, in particular opportunities to collaborate 
with other public entities in the community, including school districts 
and municipalities.
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