S. 3978

119 S3978 IS: Investments in Rural Transit Act
 U.S. Senate
 2026-03-03
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 EN
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 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 3978  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.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Investments in Rural Transit Act  .
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.
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.
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.
 .
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.
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.