S. 1275 — Impact Aid Infrastructure Partnership Act

This section states congressional findings concerning the deficient facilities of federally impacted local educational agencies, including that 65 percent of surveyed agencies report facilities in fair to poor condition, 26 percent have buildings over 80 years old, 53 percent lack practical bond-issuing capacity, and 82 percent cite lack of funds for delaying projects. It declares the Act's purposes to establish a federal-local partnership providing (1) formula grants to agencies unable to issue bonds due to nontaxable federal property; (2) matching grants to agencies with limited capacity, with the local match based on the learning opportunity threshold percentage under section 7003(b)(3)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; and (3) grants under section 7007(a) of such Act for modernization and basic building improvements.

This section authorizes appropriations of $250,000,000 for the first fiscal year following enactment and each of the three succeeding fiscal years for Impact Aid construction grants, with the Secretary of Education designating 75% for competitive grants under section 4 and 25% for formula grants under section 5. These amounts are supplemental to existing funding for construction grants under section 7007 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7707), which assist local educational agencies serving federally connected children (e.g., those on military installations or Indian lands) with facilities needs due to lost local tax revenue; appropriated funds remain available until expended, grant authority sunsets at the end of the four-year period beginning when funds are first available for award, and the Secretary may reserve up to 0.5% for technical assistance, management, and oversight.

This section directs the Secretary of Education to establish a facility condition priority listing for competitive grant awards to local educational agencies eligible for Impact Aid payments under sections 7002 or 7003 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (i.e., payments compensating for lost local tax revenue due to nontaxable federal property or high concentrations of federally connected children). (1) Emergency grants priority one requires first identifying agencies with facilities certified by specified officials as health hazards violating building codes; failing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards for ventilation, space, structural integrity, or other health/safety conditions; exceeding state student capacity or accessibility standards; or lacking technology infrastructure, or—for section 7003(a)(1)(C) agencies—with teacher housing needing repair or new construction. (2) Emergency grants priority two requires next identifying agencies with facilities in poor condition per American Society of Civil Engineers standards (e.g., poor air quality, hazardous substances, unsafe water, energy inefficiency, noise, or structural issues); exceeding state capacity or accessibility standards; or lacking technology services, or—for section 7003(a)(1)(C) agencies—with needs for safe teacher housing, repairs, or new construction.

This section directs the Secretary of Education to make formula grant payments to heavily impacted local educational agencies under section 7007(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) (20 U.S.C. 7707(a))—which provides additional Impact Aid payments to LEAs serving large numbers of federally connected children (i.e., those living on federal property or with parents in federal/military employment)—using funds designated under section 3(a)(1)(B)(ii), except that the calculation of total weighted student units must include: (1) weighted student units for children described in ESEA section 7003(a)(1)(B) (residing on federal property with uniformed services parent) and (D)(i) (uniformed services parent but not residing on federal property), for the preceding year, for all LEAs not meeting ESEA section 7007(a)(2)(B) requirements but meeting criteria under section 572(a)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (20 U.S.C. 7703b(a)(2)); and (2) children determined under ESEA section 7003(a)(1)(C) (residing on Indian lands) for the preceding school year who constituted at least 20% of the agency's total student enrollment.

This section requires a local educational agency eligible to apply for a grant under section 4 to submit an application at such time and containing such information as the Secretary of Education determines appropriate.

This section directs the Secretary of Education, when awarding grants under section 4 after applying the facility condition priority listing, to prioritize local educational agencies (LEAs) or their fiscal agents in three tiers: (1) first, those with limited or no capacity to issue bonds or total assessed value of taxable real property below $50 million; (2) next, other LEAs with total assessed value below $100 million or assessed value per student below the state average; and (3) finally, based on the number and percentage of certain children eligible under ESEA §7003(a)(1) (20 U.S.C. 7703(a)(1)), the learning opportunity threshold percentage under ESEA §7003(b)(3)(B)(i), for Impact Aid-eligible LEAs (i.e., under 20 U.S.C. 7702) the percentage of federal property, potential community use of the facility, project feasibility within 24 months of award, and availability of other resources including in-kind contributions.

This section directs the Secretary of Education, when making payments for grants awarded under this Act, to (1) make full payments to local educational agencies (LEAs) described in section 4(1) with no capacity to issue bonds; (2) require other LEAs to provide a non-Federal matching share of the total project cost, which is (A) 10% for LEAs with a learning opportunity threshold total percentage (as described in section 7003(b)(3)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) of 80% or greater, 20% for such percentage between 50% and less than 80%, or 25% for such percentage below 50%, and (B) 25% for LEAs eligible for payments under section 7002 of such Act that are not described in section 4(1); (3) make full payments to LEAs described in section 4(1) or (2) receiving $5 million or less in the grant year; and (4) for such LEAs receiving more than $5 million, make payments after approval of final drawings and specifications and execution of the construction contract, in reasonable installments. This section further requires redistribution of any unexpended funds to payments under section 7007(a) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7707(a)).

This section establishes general provisions for grants under the Act. Specifically, it (1) authorizes use of funds for construction, renovation, or repair of school facilities; permits in-kind contributions to meet the non-Federal share; prohibits use for projects lacking full title, a long-term Tribal lease, or another sufficient property interest or for acquiring real property; and requires funds to supplement, not supplant, non-Federal funds; (2) requires the Secretary of Education to submit annual reports on grant projects to congressional committees and publicly by September 30 each year after the first awards; (3) allows carryover consideration of unfunded applications for up to four years, subject to eligibility priorities, with the Secretary maintaining and updating separate priority listings; and (4) defines "local educational agency" as in the Impact Aid program (20 U.S.C. 7713).