The second amendment addresses how public transportation systems across New Jersey and the country can be safely re-opened. Rep. Sherrill and Rep. Peter King of New York established the bipartisan Regional Recovery Task Force, consisting of members from the Northeast region, to address key issues relating to the region’s recovery from COVID-19. In May, the task force spoke with Pat Foye of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) about ensuring the safety of passengers and crew. Building off his recommendations, this amendment creates a new Government Accountability Office study to research and recommend specific safety measures for each mode of transportation that would ensure that all agencies have specific guidelines that will help keep passengers and crew safe, as well as information on the different technologies that may support these efforts.

Also included in the Moving Forward Act is Rep. Sherrill’s Mitigate Methane Now Act(H.R. 5542), which would help mitigate climate change immediately by encouraging the replacement of old distribution pipelines, which are a major source of methane leakage, particularly in the Northeast where we have the oldest infrastructure.

The Moving Forward Act includes several provisions Representative Sherrill advocated for to advance the Gateway Project and improve commuting and passenger rail in New Jersey and along the Northeast Corridor:

• Authorizes $29.3 billion over five years for Amtrak, including $13.1 billion for the Northeast Corridor – more than three times the FAST Act level of investment.
• Clarifies that federal loans under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) that are repaid with state funds are counted as part of the state government share of the project. This provision was originally included in the Transportation Funding Fairness Act, sponsored by Rep. Malinowski and co-sponsored by Rep. Sherrill.
• Creates the Passenger Rail Improvement, Modernization, and Expansion (PRIME) Grant Program, which is authorized at $19 billion over five years and is devoted entirely to funding passenger rail improvements and expansion. Rep Sherrill testified in front of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in May 2019 about the need for dedicated funding sources for passenger rail projects.
• Specifies that PRIME grants are available to projects in the project planning, development, and environmental analysis phase. Rep. Sherrill has strongly advocated for the inclusion of this language after the Administration held up Gateway funding because the project wasn’t in the construction phase.
• Creates the Projects of National and Regional Significance grant program, a broad funding pool for passenger rail/transit projects such as Gateway that is authorized at $9 billion over the life of the bill.
• Expands funding for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program from $1.2 billion over five years to $7 billion over five years, and expands eligibility for the program to commuter authorities such as NJ Transit.
• Requires increased oversight and transparency in the Department of Transportation’s transit project authorization process, including requiring regular reports to Congress by the Secretary of Transportation about transit funding decision-making.

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Source: https://sherrill.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-sherrill-praises-inclusion-gateway-priorities-infrastructure-bill-will-move