Port Optimization for Responsible Transportation Act

Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish that the Maritime Administrator shall approve any action qualifying as a categorical exclusion established by the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, or the Federal Railroad Administration, as outlined in part 771 of title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, when the applicable requirements of that categorical exclusion have been met.

Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to propose new Maritime Administration categorical exclusions for port authority projects that require the approval of the Secretary under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

The Maritime Administration's list of categorical exclusions shall be expanded with the goal of having a list that allows the Maritime Administration to issue categorical exclusions that maritime port authorities would typically use, independently of the lists of other Department of Transportation modal agencies, including categorical exclusions—

(i) corresponding to project types that have typically been granted a Finding of No Significant Impact in past Maritime Administration-granted projects and could feasibly be categorical exclusions; and

(ii) that the Secretary determines would be useful to maritime port authorities in the course of Federal grant-funded projects.

The Secretary shall include in the rule required by paragraph (2) a process by which the Maritime Administration will update the list of categorical exclusions every 4 years to reflect lessons learned in grant administration and project construction that lead to new efficiencies in the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Section 54301(a)(5) of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

If an amendment is made to a published solicitation for grant applications such that an applicant would need the information contained in the amendment to draft an application, other than an amendment of the amount of grant funding available, the Secretary shall extend the application deadline by the number of days between the initial solicitation and the amendment.

Section 54301(a)(9) of title 46, United States Code, is amended—

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

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

(3) by adding at the end the following:

(D) grant contracts are approved efficiently by the Secretary, minimizing delays for minor adjustments to project scopes and budgets due to inflationary effects on projects.

Section 54301(a)(11) of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

Not later than 365 days after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the average length of grant obligation timelines and the nature of any staffing shortages relevant to administering this program.

Section 54301(a)(11) of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

If the Secretary denies an application for a waiver under the procedures outlined in section 8301 of title 41, the Secretary shall provide to the applicant a written certification that—

(i) the steel, iron, or manufactured goods, as applicable (referred to in this subparagraph as the item), is produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount;

(ii) the item produced in the United States is of a satisfactory quality; and

(iii) includes a list of known manufacturers in the United States from which the item can be obtained.

It is the sense of Congress that, to build the necessary domestic manufacturing capabilities, port authorities should be permitted to make group or pooled purchases of equipment, also known as piggybacking, in which the post-award use of a contractual document allows multiple port authorities to purchase the same supplies or equipment through the original contractual document.