BUILD America 250 Act

Federal law adds a $130 yearly charge on every electric car. Your state motor vehicle office takes it when you register.

Plug-in hybrid owners pay the same kind of charge, but only $35 a year. Farm vehicles and big trucks are left out.

The pilot's goal changes from testing a per-mile charge to putting one in place. Taking part stays voluntary, and odometer readings may now be used.

Transit gets $400 million a year and Amtrak $100 million to fix old stations. Starting in 2028 the least usable systems must spend more of their own money too.

The Secretary can now fine moving firms and brokers directly. States may enforce the rules and keep the fines they take in.

Every rail car Amtrak buys from now on needs a changing table in a restroom. One must be in an accessible restroom, with a sign showing where.

Drivers may use the restroom at any warehouse, store or plant where they drop off or wait. Ports must provide one and a place to park.

Carriers must give each leased driver a form showing pay, miles, and how many drivers finish or buy the truck. Within two years, deals that leave drivers with no ownership must be banned.

New transit buses 30 feet or longer bought with federal money need a full driver enclosure. The rule starts two years after the law takes effect.

Big freight railroads must run a confidential program for workers to report near misses. A worker who reports cannot be punished or lose their license.

A firm must warn the driver and allow an appeal before acting on safety data. Tickets a driver is fighting get flagged until the appeal ends.

A new grant program pays for truck parking, rest areas and reopened weigh stations. Parking built with the money must be open to all drivers, free.

Livestock trucks are exempt from driving hour limits within 150 air miles of the drop-off. They also skip electronic logging devices.

States must spend part of their safety money on speeding, but not on speed cameras. Cameras in school zones and work zones are still allowed.

The most that can be paid out for one passenger train crash rises to $323 million. A group including crash victims revisits the number every five years.

Safety grants cannot fund motorcycle-only checkpoints. Now they also cannot fund a stop made just because someone rides one.

DOT must guard your personal data when it uses tracking tools. Guidance on stripping out names is due within a year.

Every large freight railroad must put cameras in its locomotive cabs within about two years. One camera points forward and one points at the crew.

State highway safety studies already stay out of damage lawsuits. That shield now covers more local data and state safety plan records.

From 2028 a transit agency loses a tenth of its federal money if its state allows fare skipping. The money comes back if the state changes the law.

Transit security money can now pay for officers, local police contracts and fare checks. Those uses are capped at 1.5% of an agency's formula funds.

A state with a high drunk driving death rate must put 26% of its safety money there. It rises to 30% if the state has no repeat offender law.

DOT has two years to write a safety rule for driverless trucks crossing state lines. Makers must show their work and report every bad crash.

State rules on driverless truck safety now go through the federal review process. The federal government can block a state rule it finds out of step.

Freight cars older than 50 years need extra approval today to stay in service. Within 90 days that requirement must be dropped.

The top fine for breaking hazardous cargo rules doubles to $150,000. Where someone dies or is badly hurt, it doubles to $350,000.

In a year, no DOT money may buy laser sensors from listed foreign firms. Every grant and contract must carry that promise.

Trucking firms and brokers must give a real business address to sign up. They must also name any shared owners or family ties to other firms.

From the end of 2028, most flammable liquids may only ride in tougher DOT-117 tank cars. The date can slip to May 2029 if shops cannot keep up.

The program that builds animal crossings over and under highways covers more of each cost. Planning and research now count, up to 5% of the money.

The fund that helped states cut car and truck emissions is wiped out. Money to storm-proof roads also loses its set share and keeps only grants.

A full impact statement is capped at 150 pages, or 300 for very complex work. Agencies should finish one in two years.

Small projects can skip environmental study. The limits double, to $12 million in federal funds and $70 million in total cost.

Work listed in a 2025 federal notice no longer counts as using a historic site or park. Tribal land is left out unless the tribe agrees in writing.

Money from the new truck parking grants cannot build charging or fueling points. Other funding sources are not affected.

The fund that paid to remove or cap highways splitting neighborhoods is gone. Towns counting on it must look elsewhere.

In any year Amtrak takes a federal grant, its board falls under open-records and open-meetings law. It can still close the door for contract and staff matters.

Amtrak must post the pay and bonus of its chief and every officer on its website. It must also show how each bonus was decided.

Every three months the department must post each rail enforcement case in a searchable list. It must name the railroad, the fine, and why any fine was cut.

A public dashboard must show what each state buys with its safety money. It also shows ten years of safety targets and what states actually hit.

Amtrak must publish any plan to reorganize itself 90 days before the board votes. The public gets at least 60 days to comment.

The new electric vehicle and hybrid fees stop on October 1, 2036. Congress would have to vote again to keep them.

Putting a project back into a regional plan no longer needs public review. That applies when the project is unchanged from the last plan.

Congress used to get 60 days' warning before a large freight grant was awarded. That drops to three days.

The Secretary may set up rule-writing panels that skip the open meetings law. That law asks for public notice and a fair mix of members.

Presidio County, Texas may charge tolls on its bridge to Mexico. It must first buy out the state's share, and spend the money on local roads.

Louisiana may permit 88,000-pound farm trucks and Arkansas 85,000-pound logging trucks. Iowa may permit 108,000-pound loads on part of Interstate 380.

Turning an office block into homes would skip the usual nature review. New stores on land already dug up for roads would skip it too.

A new grant pays for transport work tied to the Olympics or the World Cup. Governments, transit agencies and airports within 100 miles may apply.

A boating title rewrites grants for docks that serve big pleasure boats. It adds a priority for pumps that sell renewable marine fuel.

Two North Carolina roads become high priority corridors. Highway 421 from Wilkesboro to Winston-Salem is named future Interstate 777.

No federal money may go to California's high-speed rail body for about two years. A new panel must first judge if it can meet its 2008 promises.