Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act

Updated on Dec 17, 2024

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Nicknames FAST Act		Public law Pub.L. 114–94

Other short titles Federal Public Transportation Act of 2015Transportation for Tomorrow Act of 2015Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2015Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015Track, Railroad, and Infrastructure Network ActRailroad Infrastructure Financing Improvement ActRaechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act of 2015Driver Privacy Act of 2015Safety Through Informed Consumers Act of 2015Tire Efficiency, Safety, and Registration Act of 2015Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower ActExport-Import Bank Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2015State Licensing Efficiency Act of 2015Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act of 2015 Long title An Act to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes Enacted by the 114th United States Congress

The Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act is a funding and authorization bill to govern United States federal surface transportation spending. It was passed by Congress on December 3, 2015, and President Barack Obama signed it on December 4. The vote was 359-65 in the House of Representatives and 83-16 in the United States Senate.

The $305 billion, five-year bill is funded without increasing transportation user fees. (The federal gas tax was last raised in 1993.) Instead, funds were generated through changes to passport rules, Federal Reserve Bank dividends, and privatized tax collection.

Unrelated provisions

This law authorizes the Export-Import Bank of the United States through 2019.

New crop insurance funding is approved.

Emigrant Savings Bank is exempted from certain provisions of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The Act also includes several revisions to federal securities law, including Section 76001 of the Act. This provision creates a new Section 4(a)(7) of the Securities Act of 1933, a new exemption from registration under that act intended to facilitate secondary trading of private company securities among accredited investors. By so doing, Congress and the President hoped to support smaller, nonpublic companies with their capital raising efforts by providing more liquidity for their securities, with reduced regulatory burdens.

References

Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act Wikipedia

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