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

Expand all

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

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

Sec. 10613. Innovative thermal run-away suppression strategies

(a) In general. Section 5118(c)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (F) by striking and at the end;

(2) in subparagraph (G) by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

Text this section adds to the law

(H) thermal runaway of lithium-ion cells or batteries in commercial transport units, including—

(i) the effectiveness of innovative technologies and methods to suppress such thermal runaway of lithium-ion cells or batteries in commercial transport units transported under UN 3536, including technologies and methods that do not use materials listed in table 302.4 of section 302.4 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, and identified by chemical abstracts service registry numbers 1763–23–1 and 335–67–1;

(ii) the impact of the state of charge of a battery or cell on methods to suppress such thermal runaway; and

(iii) methods for emergency responders to verify the state of charge of a battery or cell experiencing thermal runaway as a result of a fire or crash during commercial transport.

(b) Other entities. Notwithstanding section 5118(c)(2) of title 49, United States Code, in addition to the National Academies, the Secretary may enter into agreements with facilities that specialize in fire suppression testing to carry out section 5118(c)(3)(H) of such title (as added by subsection (a)) and shall require from such facilities a report on the findings of any tests conducted pursuant to the agreement.

(c) Recommendations. Not later than 120 days after the receipt of all reports for which an agreement was entered into under subsection (b), the Secretary shall review the findings submitted by entities described in subsection (b) and submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report containing—

(1) the findings detailed in each report, including which fire suppression tools and techniques were found to be most effective at suppressing thermal runaway resulting from a lithium-ion cell or battery fire;

(2) the impact of the state of charge of a battery on the techniques and tools studied under the agreement;

(3) information on the best methods to verify the state of charge of a lithium-ion battery or cell after a nonconsumptive event and how that information can inform decisions about how to safely mitigate thermal runaway; and

(4) recommendations on whether, based on such review, updated guidance or training of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is necessary.

(d) Authorization of appropriations. Of the amounts made available under section 5128(a) of title 49, United States Code, the Secretary shall withhold $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to enter into an agreement to carry out section 5118(c)(3)(H) of title 49, United States Code.