I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5508 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish additional requirements 

for certain transportation projects with estimated costs of 

$2,500,000,000 or more, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish additional requirements for certain transportation projects 

with estimated costs of $2,500,000,000 or more, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Mega5 projects Accountability and Oversight Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN TRANS2 PORTATION PROJECTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of title 23, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(k) MEGAPROJECTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) MEGAPROJECT DEFINED.—In this sub8 section, the term ‘megaproject’ means a project that 

9 has an estimated total cost of $2,500,000,000 or 

10 more, and such other projects as may be identified 

11 by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(2) COMPREHENSIVE RISK MANAGEMENT

13 PLAN.—A recipient of Federal financial assistance 

14 under this title for a megaproject shall, in order to 

15 be authorized for construction, submit to the Sec16 retary a comprehensive risk management plan that 

17 contains— 

18 ‘‘(A) a description of the process by which 

19 the recipient will identify, quantify, and monitor 

20 the risks that might result in cost overruns, 

21 project delays, reduced construction quality, or 

22 reductions in benefits with respect to the 

23 megaproject; 

24 ‘‘(B) examples of mechanisms the recipient 

25 will use to track risks identified pursuant to 

26 subparagraph (A); 


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1 ‘‘(C) a plan to control such risks; and 

2 ‘‘(D) such assurances as the Secretary con3 siders appropriate that the recipient will, with 

4 respect to the megaproject— 

5 ‘‘(i) regularly submit to the Secretary 

6 updated cost estimates; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) maintain and regularly reassess 

8 financial reserves for addressing known 

9 and unknown risks. 

10 ‘‘(3) PEER REVIEW GROUP.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of Federal 

12 financial assistance under this title for a 

13 megaproject shall, not later than 90 days after 

14 the date when such megaproject is authorized 

15 for construction, establish a peer review group 

16 for such megaproject that consists of at least 5 

17 individuals (including at least 1 individual with 

18 project management experience) to give expert 

19 advice on the scientific, technical, and project 

20 management aspects of the megaproject. 

21 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

23 180 days after the date of the enactment 

24 of this subsection, the Secretary shall esVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Dec 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5508.IH H5508

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1 tablish guidelines describing how a recipi2 ent described in subparagraph (A) shall— 

3 ‘‘(I) recruit and select members 

4 for a peer review group established 

5 under such subparagraph; and 

6 ‘‘(II) make publicly available the 

7 criteria for such selection and the 

8 identity of members so selected. 

9 ‘‘(ii) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—No 

10 member of a peer review group for a 

11 megaproject may have a direct or indirect 

12 financial interest in such megaproject. 

13 ‘‘(C) TASKS.—A peer review group estab14 lished under subparagraph (A) by a recipient of 

15 Federal financial assistance for a megaproject 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) meet annually until completion of 

18 the megaproject; 

19 ‘‘(ii) not later than 90 days after the 

20 date of the establishment of the peer re21 view group and not later than 90 days 

22 after the date of any significant change, as 

23 determined by the Secretary, to the scope, 

24 schedule, or budget of the megaproject, re25 view the scope, schedule, and budget of the 


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1 megaproject, including planning, engineer2 ing, financing, and any other elements de3 termined appropriate by the Secretary; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) submit a report on the findings 

5 of each review under clause (ii) to the Sec6 retary, Congress, and the recipient. 

7 ‘‘(4) TRANSPARENCY.—A recipient of Federal 

8 financial assistance under this title for a megaproj9 ect shall publish on the internet website of such re10 cipient— 

11 ‘‘(A) the name, license number, and license 

12 type of each engineer supervising an aspect of 

13 the megaproject; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the report submitted under para15 graph (3)(C)(iii), not later than 90 days after 

16 such submission. 

17 ‘‘(5) COMMITTEE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

19 days after the date of enactment of this sub20 section, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

21 make appropriate arrangements with the 

22 Transportation Research Board (hereinafter re23 ferred to as the ‘Board’) of the National Acad24 emies under which the Board shall convene a 

25 transportation megaprojects committee. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The transportation mega2 projects committee convened pursuant to sub3 paragraph (A) shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) perform a literature search and 

5 assessment of existing megaproject studies; 

6 ‘‘(ii) review any relevant foreign expe7 rience and actions taken, with a particular 

8 focus on the United Kingdom and France; 

9 ‘‘(iii) identify recurring or typical 

10 problems with megaprojects; 

11 ‘‘(iv) outline possible approaches to 

12 dealing with the problems in the Federal 

13 and State context; and 

14 ‘‘(v) recommend any changes in the 

15 Department of Transportation’s approach 

16 to megaproject funding and oversight, such 

17 as a recommendation that each project be 

18 required to identify a peer group to work 

19 with project management and report to the 

20 Inspector General and Congress. 

21 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 

22 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

23 the committee convened pursuant to subpara24 graph (A) shall submit to the Secretary, the 

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1 ture of the House of Representatives, and the 

2 Committee on Environment and Public Works 

3 of the Senate a report containing any results, 

4 findings, and recommendations made by the 

5 committee under subparagraph (B).’’. 

6 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub7 section (a) applies with respect to projects that are author8 ized for construction on or after the date that is 1 year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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