119-hr3548

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3548 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 3548

 To preclude absolute liability in any action against a property owner 
 or contractor for projects receiving Federal financial assistance for 
 infrastructure and transportation development, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 May 21, 2025

 Mr. Langworthy (for himself, Ms. Tenney, and Ms. Stefanik) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To preclude absolute liability in any action against a property owner 
 or contractor for projects receiving Federal financial assistance for 
 infrastructure and transportation development, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Infrastructure Expansion Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE 
 AND TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) No Absolute Liability on Certain Projects.--For any project 
that receives Federal financial assistance, benefits from Federal tax 
incentives, or is subject to Federal permitting requirements, no action 
on the basis of absolute liability may be instituted by a covered 
person against a property owner or a party to a contract or subcontract 
relating to the property that is the subject of the project for any 
injury associated with an elevation or gravity-related risk occurring 
on that project.

    (b) Comparative Negligence Liability Standard for Certain Claims.--
For any project described in subsection

    (a) --

    (1) a State may not impose absolute liability in any form 
 for elevation or gravity-related risks; and

    (2) a comparative negligence liability standard shall apply 
 to any claim brought by a covered person against a property 
 owner or contractor for an injury associated with an elevation 
 or gravity-related risk in which--
        (A) such negligence is a proximate cause of an 
 injury to a person; and
        (B) State law would otherwise apply absolute 
 liability as the basis for such a claim.
            (c) Federal Preemption.--This Act shall supersede and preempt any 
State law that imposes absolute liability standards for elevation or 
gravity-related risks on projects receiving Federal financial 
assistance. States shall adopt comparative negligence standards 
pursuant to this Act for claims arising under a project described in 
subsection

    (a) .
            (d) Federal Court Jurisdiction.--All claims arising under this Act 
shall be subject to exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal courts of the 
United States, precluding State courts from applying absolute liability 
standards to covered projects.

    (e) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Absolute liability.--The term ``absolute liability'' 
 means liability for a personal injury or death that is imposed 
 without consideration of the responsibility of the injured 
 person, including failure to follow safety instructions or safe 
 work practices in accordance with training provided, failure to 
 utilize provided safety equipment or devices, impairment by the 
 use of drugs or alcohol, or involvement in a criminal act, when 
 such failure, impairment, or act is a proximate cause of an 
 injury to such person.

    (2) Covered person.--The term ``covered person'' means any 
 person who supervises or performs any work on or who is 
 otherwise affiliated with a project.

    (3) Elevation or gravity-related risk.--The term 
 ``elevation or gravity-related risk'' means a hazard related to 
 the effects of gravity either due to the difference between the 
 elevation level of the required work and a lower level or a 
 difference between the elevation level where the worker is 
 positioned and the higher level of the materials or load being 
 hoisted or secured.

    (4) Federal financial assistance.--The term ``Federal 
 financial assistance'' means any direct or indirect funding, 
 including grants, loans, loan guarantees, tax credits, Build 
 America Bonds, bonds, or other incentives provided by the 
 Federal Government to support infrastructure or transportation 
 development.

    (5) Project.--The term ``project'' means--
        (A) the construction, erection, demolition, 
 repairing, altering, painting, cleaning, or pointing of 
 a highway, bridge, tunnel, airport, railway, bus or 
 railroad station, depot, pier, harbor, park, building, 
 support facility, or utilities; and
        (B) any infrastructure associated with an activity 
 described in subparagraph
        (A) , including private 
 developments required to modify public assets as a 
 condition of construction or permitting.

    (6) State.--The term ``State'' includes an authority, 
 agency, metropolitan planning organization, district, 
 commission, corporation, or other political subdivision of, or 
 affiliation with, a State or local government, or bi-State 
 entity or compact.

    (f) Workers' Compensation Laws.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to preempt any law of a State providing for workers' 
compensation.

    (g) Effective Date.--This section applies to claims arising from 
projects in which a State or local government accepts Federal financial 
assistance on or after January 1, 2026.
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