H.R. 8870

BUILD America 250 Act

Sponsor: Sam Graves

5 cosponsors
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act or the BUILD America 250 Act

This bill authorizes federal surface transportation (highway, public transportation, and rail) programs and activities through FY2031. The bill also establishes or modifies Department of Transportation (DOT) programs and policies that are a part of the federal-aid highway, transit, highway safety, motor carrier, research, hazardous materials, and rail programs. 

For example, the bill authorizes appropriations through FY2031 out of the Highway Trust Fund for the federal-aid highway program, the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program, highway safety programs, and bridge programs. The bill also authorizes funding through FY2031 for Amtrak. Current authorization for these programs expires on September 30, 2026.

Among other provisions, the bill

  • establishes a Surface Transportation Accelerator Grant (STAG) discretionary program to fund surface transportation projects in rural, urban, local, and regional communities;
  • requires the Federal Highway Administration to impose a new annual electric vehicle (EV) registration fee, starting at $130 for a covered EV and $35 for a covered plug-in hybrid vehicle;
  • exempts automated driving system technology and equipment from vehicle width requirements;
  • establishes a consolidated state block grant program that allows DOT to allocate a lump sum to participating states to fund public transportation services in rural and urbanized areas;
  • allows state rail safety inspectors to conduct railroad bridge inspections; and
  • establishes a system for state, local, and tribal governments to report safety concerns about the condition of railroad bridges.

Text of the bill

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I Federal-Aid Highways

A Authorizations and Programs

B Improved Project Delivery and Environmental Streamlining

C Miscellaneous

II Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation

III Public Transportation

A Reforms

B Miscellaneous

C Reorganization and Consolidation of Chapter 53

IV Highway Safety

V Motor Carriers

A General Provisions

B Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators

Sec. 5101. Predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase agreement programs oversight

(a) In general. Section 14102 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

Text this section adds to the law

(c) Disclosure form

(1) In general. The Secretary shall require a motor carrier providing transportation subject to jurisdiction under subchapter I of chapter 135 that uses motor vehicles not owned by such carrier to transport property under an arrangement with another party to provide a disclosure form to each party entering into such arrangement.

(2) Contents. The disclosure form under paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum, information on—

(A) weekly compensation for drivers;

(B) average weekly mileage and the schedule for drivers;

(C) the number of drivers who enter into the arrangement each year;

(D) the number of drivers who complete the lease term;

(E) the number of drivers who buy out a truck; and

(F) the average for each deduction category in settlements, including fuel, insurance, registration, maintenance, and escrow.

(3) Template. The Secretary shall publish and periodically update a disclosure form template on a website of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

(d) Public awareness campaign

(1) In general. The Secretary may carry out a public awareness campaign to increase awareness of how standard lease-purchase programs work, including distributing information related to—

(A) data on driver pay and experiences; and

(B) the prevalence of predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase agreement programs.

(2) Predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase agreement program defined. In this subsection, the term predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase agreement program means the framework of the motor carrier-driver relationship, including the lease-purchase agreement, the contract for the driver’s work for the motor carrier, and the practices of the motor carrier in implementing the contracts that are not provided in the contract, including the motor carrier’s recruitment practices, operational practices, and tax and finance practices, whereby the motor carrier controls the work, compensation, and debts of the driver, and the driver accrues no equity or is forced to give up equity accrued in the contracted truck.

(e) Prohibition on predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase agreement programs. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall issue regulations to prohibit the use of predatory commercial motor vehicle lease-purchase programs by motor carriers providing transportation subject to jurisdiction under subchapter I of chapter 135.

(b) Regulations. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as are necessary to require motor carriers offering lease-purchase programs to maintain detailed records on the outcomes of such programs, including information described in section 14102(c) of title 49, United States Code (as added by this section).

C Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety

D Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Reform

E Safe Integration of Autonomous Commercial Motor Vehicles

VI Innovation

VII Freight and Multimodal Transportation Programs

A Freight Policy

B Multimodal Policy and Programs

VIII Miscellaneous

IX Sport Fishing and Recreational Boating Safety

X Railroads and Hazardous Materials

A Authorization of Appropriations and Grant Reforms

B Amtrak Reforms

C Passenger Rail Policy

D Rail Safety and Innovation

E Project Delivery

F Hazardous Materials Transportation