Restoring Communities Left Behind Act This bill directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish a grant program for local partnerships to carry out neighborhood revitalization support activities in economically distressed areas. Eligible activities include weatherization and energy efficiency improvements; housing accessibility improvements for seniors and persons with disabilities; purchasing delinquent mortgages; purchasing and developing vacant or distressed properties to create affordable rental housing and for other purposes; and improving parks, sidewalks, and street lighting.
United States Commission on an Open Society with Security Act of 2021 This bill establishes the United States Commission on an Open Society with Security to study how the government may provide for both security in, and public access to, federal buildings and other federal property and sites. The commission shall examine (1) government and private security practices and proposals, building design, public space management, counterterrorism needs, and refurbishment of existing federal facilities; (2) the effect of access to public facilities and spaces on constitutional rights and civil liberties, economies of affected jurisdictions, architectural aesthetics, traffic and congestion, and employee job performance; (3) technology to augment or replace traditional modes of security; and (4) methods of assessing the risks posed by terrorism, balanced against the needs and values of open access.
Climate Resilient Transportation Infrastructure Study Act This bill requires the Department of Transportation to enter into an agreement with the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies to conduct a study of the actions needed to ensure that federal agencies are taking into account current and future climate conditions in planning, designing, building, operating, maintaining, investing in, and upgrading any federally funded transportation infrastructure investments.
States Afforded Funding Extensions To Oppose Driving Recklessly In Vehicular Engagements Act or the SAFE TO DRIVE Act This bill requires the Department of Transportation to use up to 25% of the amounts available for national priority safety program grants to award grants to any state that certifies it has enacted a distracted driving statute that (1) is applicable to drivers of all ages, (2) makes a violation of the statute a primary offense, and (3) prohibits texting or all non-navigational viewing of a personal wireless communications device.
Secure Data and Privacy for Contact Tracing Act of 2021 This bill establishes grants for state, tribal, and territorial health departments to incorporate digital contact tracing technology in COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) contact tracing programs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must award the grants. Any technology developed or procured with these grants must meet privacy, security, and other conditions. Grantees that acquire technology that does not meet these conditions lose eligibility for this, and future, funding for COVID-19 contact tracing technology. In addition, federal privacy standards for personal health information expressly apply to information transmitted or maintained by grant-funded programs. Current law restricts the use and disclosure of personal health information by health care providers, health plans, health clearinghouses, and their business associates. However, there is an exception to these standards for information used by, or disclosed to, a public health authority. The bill also prohibits the use of data derived from the contact tracing technology in legal proceedings or for immigration enforcement. The Government Accountability Office must evaluate this program.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Act This bill establishes targets and standards for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from airplane flights and provides incentives for the production and use of sustainable aviation fuel. Specifically, this bill establishes a national goal to achieve a net 35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from flights by 2035 and net zero emissions by 2050. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must establish a low carbon fuel standard for aviation fuels. Under the standard, the EPA must set annual targets in order to reduce certain greenhouse gas emissions associated with aviation fuel by at least (1) 20% by 2030, and (2) 50% by 2050. Beginning in FY2023, the Department of Defense must make a bulk purchase of an amount of sustainable aviation fuel that is not less than 10% of the total amount of aviation fuel procured for operational purposes. Additionally, the Department of Transportation must implement a program that offers grants and cost-sharing agreements for projects to produce, transport, blend, or store sustainable aviation fuel. The projects must be located in the United States. Finally, the bill provides tax credits for the production of sustainable aviation fuel.
Rural Maternal and Obstetric Modernization of Services Act or the Rural MOMS Act This bill expands initiatives to address maternal health in rural areas. The bill provides funding through FY2026 for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to establish rural obstetric networks. These networks must foster collaboration to improve birth outcomes and reduce maternal morbidity in rural areas. HRSA also must award demonstration grants to medical schools and other health professional training programs to support education and training on maternal health in rural areas. In addition, the bill incorporates maternal health services in certain telehealth grant programs. It also revises various research and other activities of the Department of Health and Human Services that pertain to maternal health. Furthermore, the Government Accountability Office must report on maternal health topics, including health inequities and data issues.
Sending Outside Support Act of 2021 or the SOS Act of 2021 This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to distribute funds to allow states to establish strike teams that may be deployed to skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities with cases of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) to help with clinical care, infection control, or staffing.
FEMA Climate Change Preparedness Act This bill requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to (1) revise its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan to ensure that the plan explicitly mentions climate change and addresses the implications of climate change on homeland security and near- and long-term national disaster risk, and (2) ensure that future strategic plans do likewise. The Department of Homeland Security must establish, as a subcommittee of the National Advisory Council, the Climate Change Subcommittee, which shall advise FEMA on how to best incorporate climate change, including risk assessments and strategies for adaptation and mitigation, into and throughout FEMA's policies, plans, programs, and operations. FEMA must publish as a report, submit to specified congressional committees, and make available to Congress and the public, a comprehensive assessment of climate change risks and preparedness.
Air Traffic Noise and Pollution Expert Consensus Act of 20 21 This bill requires the Federal Aviation Administration to enter into an arrangement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to examine and report on the various health impacts of air traffic noise and pollution.
Support Local Transportation Act This bill revises requirements for the surface transportation block grant program to increase the percentages of program funds required to be allocated to states for each of FY2022-FY2026 for surface transportation projects in urbanized areas with a population of over 200,000, non-urban areas with a population greater than 5,000, and other areas of the state.
Coast Guard Safety and Accountability Act This bill requires the U.S. Coast Guard to formally respond in writing to each recommendation about transportation safety from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The response must indicate whether the Coast Guard intends to (1) adopt the complete recommendation, (2) adopt a part of the recommendation, or (3) refuse to adopt the recommendation. The NTSB must make a copy of each recommendation and response available to the public at a reasonable cost.
