{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cramer-alsobrooks-introduce-the-modal-parity-in-permitting-act", "Cramer, Alsobrooks Introduce the Modal Parity in Permitting Act", "2026-07-22", "2026", "2026-07", "Republican", "Senate", "ND", "Kevin Cramer", "C001096", "www.cramer.senate.gov", "cramer", "https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 As North Dakotans know, the summer construction season means infrastructure projects are well underway across the state. Many of these projects are federally funded, but the permitting requirements differ depending on the transportation mode. One notable example is highway projects, which are allowed to use formula funding to purchase offsite buildings, such as maintenance yards or operations facilities, prior to completing a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review. The same type of project for passenger rail and transit projects must complete the entire NEPA review before acquiring those same facilities. These disparate rules add to the duration and cost of these projects.\n\nAs Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) introduced the Modal Parity in Permitting Act to ensure transit and passenger rail projects follow the same federal permitting process as highway projects.\n\n\u201cEvery time we cut red tape and get the federal government out of the way, infrastructure projects move faster and more efficiently,\u201d said Cramer. \u201cThe Modal Parity in Permitting Act removes unnecessary permitting hurdles, allowing local agencies to spend less time navigating bureaucracy and more time delivering transportation improvements for their communities. It\u2019s a simple change with a significant impact.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am proud to partner with Senator Cramer in introducing the Modal Parity in Permitting Act,\u201d said Alsobrooks. This bipartisan bill will allow transit and passenger rail projects to have the same flexibility as highway projects when it comes to securing the property they need while their environmental reviews move forward. It just makes sense, let\u2019s get this done.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Dakota Transit Association has always supported and will continue to support actions beneficial to the public transportation industry,\u201d said Terry Hoffman, President of the Dakota Transit Association. \u201cThe changes defined in the bill are considered a benefit to providers and users of public transit across the Dakota\u2019s and beyond. Thank you Senator Cramer for leading this effort.\u201d", 1, "2026-07-23T07:31:02Z", "2026-07-23T07:32:26Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cramer.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cramer-alsobrooks-introduce-the-modal-parity-in-permitting-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.771118026226759, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}