Modal parity permitting legislation enters House

Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) introduced the Modal Parity in Permitting Act (H.R. 8315), a bill which aims to equalize the federal permitting process for transit and passenger-rail projects with highway projects. 

The legislation would allow sponsors of transit and passenger-rail projects to acquire property interests necessary for a project before completing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting process. 

Under current law, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) project sponsors can purchase property prior to completing the NEPA process at their own risk when the property is within a planned transit corridor. Buildings that are used for operations or maintenance might fall outside the existing corridor. 

Conversely, highway project sponsors can purchase property interests outside the corridor prior to completing an environmental review, often creating confusion for project sponsors who work across different transportation modes and face different permitting regulations for each mode, Titus said in a press release. 

The Modal Parity in Permitting Act is endorsed by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and others in the passenger-rail industry. 

“For too long, public transit and passenger-rail projects have faced a structural disadvantage in the permitting process — highway projects can acquire land before NEPA is complete, while FTA and FRA projects cannot. This bill levels the playing field and will help move critical public transit and passenger-rail investments forward faster and more efficiently,” said APTA President and CEO Paul Skoutelas. 

Adds Brightline West President Sarah Watterson: “The Modal Parity in Permitting Act will help expand passenger rail across the United States by putting passenger-rail permitting on equal footing with highway construction projects.” 

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.