S. 2890 — GREEN Streets Act

This section amends performance management requirements for the Federal-aid highway program (23 U.S.C. 150) as follows: (1) adds a new national goal (7), redesignated from former (7) as (8), to combat climate change by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and improving transportation system resilience; (2) in subsection (c), requires the Secretary of Transportation to periodically update performance measure regulations, including to implement this section, restructures the initial rulemaking provision, adds to public transportation performance measures minimum standards for transit accessibility, transit stop distance, and transit mode share (as defined in 49 U.S.C. 5326(a)), and establishes new public roads performance goals under the National Highway Performance Program (section 119(f)(3)) comprising minimum standards for states to decrease per capita vehicle miles traveled (via zoning alignment, active transportation infrastructure, public transit access, and intercity passenger service), improve public road resilience, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions toward net-zero (in consultation with EPA), plus related measurement standards for emissions and pollutants including noise; and (3) requires states to set or update performance targets within one year after each rulemaking update (in addition to the initial rulemaking).

This section amends metropolitan transportation planning requirements under 23 U.S.C. §134(h) and 49 U.S.C. §5303(h)(1), and statewide and nonmetropolitan planning requirements under 23 U.S.C. §135(d), to add two new planning factors—(1) reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and (2) decrease per capita vehicle miles traveled. The section further requires metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and states, prior to approving covered projects (i.e., those using federal-aid highway funds to add travel lanes or receiving $25 million or more in such funds), to conduct and publish analyses of (1) impacts on per capita vehicle miles traveled, mobile source greenhouse gas emissions, and non-single-occupancy-vehicle trips (e.g., bicycle, pedestrian, public transportation, passenger rail) and (2) effects on environmental justice communities (i.e., communities of color, low-income, or Tribal/Indigenous areas at higher risk of adverse health/environmental effects), using tools such as EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool. With input from community-based organizations for MPOs, these analyses further the new planning factors. Additionally, before carrying out projects adding new capacity for single-occupancy passenger vehicles, MPOs and states must submit to the Secretary of Transportation, and publicly post, documentation demonstrating (1) progress toward a state of good repair on the National Highway System per state asset management plans; (2) support for state performance targets under 23 U.S.C. §150; (3) greater cost-effectiveness, via benefit-cost analysis, than operational improvements, public transportation projects under 49 U.S.C. ch. 53, or non-single-occupancy-vehicle freight projects; and (4) a public plan for maintaining and operating the new capacity while advancing good repair. (Thus, these requirements aim to prioritize lower-emission, multimodal alternatives over highway capacity expansion in federally supported planning.)

This section establishes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions obligation requirements under the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) for states that report failure to meet targets for public road GHG performance measures established by the Secretary under 23 U.S.C. §150(c)(7). If a state misses such targets, it must obligate, in the following fiscal year, 33% of its NHPP apportionments under 23 U.S.C. §104(b)(1) and 10% of its non-suballocated Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBG) apportionments under 23 U.S.C. §104(b)(2) for specified projects (i.e., Federal-aid highway projects; transit expansions such as bus rapid transit, rail, and intercity rail; transit service improvements, fare reductions, or priority treatments; active transportation or micromobility infrastructure and services; or land use projects such as density increases, mixed-use development, or transit-oriented development). (Thus, the NHPP set-aside percentage increases by 2% annually for each subsequent year of failure, and both set-asides remain in effect until the state achieves its targets.)

This section revises transit asset management requirements to incorporate transit accessibility by (1) adding definitions for covered entity (i.e., any metropolitan planning area with a population of not fewer than 250,000 individuals or any state containing such an area), first/last mile accessibility (i.e., a traveler's required journey to and from public transportation), transit accessibility (i.e., the share of jobs, health care facilities, grocery stores, schools, and other destinations accessible by public transportation in any 45-minute period), transit mode share (i.e., the percentage of commuting and noncommuting trips taken by public transportation), and transit stop distance (i.e., the average distance by census block to the nearest transit stop, station, or terminal); (2) requiring the Secretary of Transportation, not later than one year after enactment, to establish national transit access standards and performance measures covering those metrics plus accessibility for individuals with disabilities in accordance with Access Board guidance; and (3) requiring covered entities, not later than 180 days after those standards are established, to set performance targets and submit initial reports to the Secretary on performance and, by functional classification of roadways, the share of housing units and roadways with sidewalks, crosswalks, dedicated bike lanes, or other nonmotorized facilities—with the Secretary providing technical assistance including analytical tools. (As background, the transit asset management system requires recipients and subrecipients of Federal Transit Administration funding to develop plans for maintaining public transportation capital assets (i.e., equipment, rolling stock, infrastructure, and facilities) in a state of good repair.)

This section amends the Federal Transit Administration public transportation safety program (49 U.S.C. §5326(c)) to (1) require the Secretary of Transportation, not later than 180 days after receiving an initial report, to establish a schedule for subsequent annual reports from covered entities (i.e., certain recipients of FTA funding) describing progress toward safety performance targets, any target revisions or new targets, and proposals for further revisions; (2) direct the Secretary to provide technical assistance—including analytical tools—to covered entities for reporting and target-setting and to non-covered states, communities, rural areas, and Tribal communities for meeting safety standards and measures (without requiring their compliance or reporting); and (3) make conforming amendments to cross-references in metropolitan and statewide transportation planning processes (49 U.S.C. §§5303, 5304; 23 U.S.C. §§134, 135), grant programs (49 U.S.C. §5309), and other provisions.