I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5641 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide grants and develop value 

capture policy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2020 

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

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide grants 

and develop value capture policy. 

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 ‘‘Incentivizing Value 

5 Capture for Greener Transportation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In 2018, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) 

9 rose sharply by 3.4 percent, the second-largest an10 nual gain in more than 20 years, and GHG emisVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641
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1 sions have grown by approximately 1.5 percent every 

2 year over the last decade. 

3 (2) Greenhouse gas emissions from the trans4 portation sector, including cars and trucks, are the 

5 largest source of GHG emissions in the United 

6 States with the transportation sector emitting 

7 1,900,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annu8 ally. 

9 (3) Annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the 

10 United States have nearly tripled since 1971, rising 

11 to 3,210,000,000,000 in 2018. 

12 (4) Consequently, in 2018, Americans lost an 

13 average of 97 hours a year due to congestion, cost14 ing them nearly $87,000,000,000. 

15 (5) Residents in communities located near high16 capacity transit are twice as likely not to own a car 

17 as residents who live elsewhere, and they own half 

18 as many cars per household. 

19 (6) Increasing transit ridership and improving 

20 our transit systems in urban, suburban, and exurban 

21 areas, using innovative solutions such as land value 

22 capture, will help reduce VMT, congestion, GHG 

23 emissions, and reliance on fossil fuels and vehicles. 

24 By reducing such factors, the United States can help 

25 curb the effects of climate change. 

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1 SEC. 3. VALUE CAPTURE POLICY AND PLANNING PRO2 GRAM. 

3 Chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amend4 ed by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 5341. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND VALUE CAPTURE 

6 POLICY. 

7 ‘‘(a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND POLICY DEVEL8 OPMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.—The 

10 Secretary may make a grant available to a State or 

11 local government if the Secretary determines that 

12 such grant will assist recipients under this section 

13 to— 

14 ‘‘(A) develop more State and local value 

15 capture mechanisms for long-term funding that 

16 promote mobility, public transportation, and af17 fordable transit-oriented development; 

18 ‘‘(B) improve public transportation and 

19 mobility; and 

20 ‘‘(C) develop strategic partnerships that 

21 create greater self-help capacity that leads to 

22 greater long term and robust investments in 

23 public transportation, mobility, inclusive eco24 nomic development, and affordable transit-ori25 ented development. 

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1 ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS AND MAIN2 TENANCE OF EFFORT.— 

3 ‘‘(A) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—To 

4 be eligible for a grant under this section, the 

5 grantee shall include in its application an expla6 nation of how the grant funds will demonstrably 

7 increase transit capacity and ridership and re8 duce carbon dioxide emissions, vehicle miles 

9 traveled, and congestion. 

10 ‘‘(B) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL AND POSSIBLE RE12 DUCTION.—In addition to the eligibility re13 quirements of subparagraph (A), a grantee 

14 also needs to include in its application a 

15 certification to maintain the same funding 

16 level as the aggregate expenditures at or 

17 above the average level of expenditures in 

18 the 2 fiscal years prior to the date of en19 actment of this section. If a State or local 

20 government that receives a grant under 

21 this section reduces its combined fiscal ef22 fort for value capture initiatives and pro23 grams or the aggregate expenditures with24 in the State or local government to support 

25 value capture, public transportation, or afVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641
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1 fordable transit-oriented development pro2 grams for any fiscal year that a State or 

3 local government receives a grant author4 ized under this section relative to the pre5 vious fiscal year, the Secretary, except as 

6 provided in clause (ii), shall reduce support 

7 for such State or local government under 

8 this section by the same amount as the de9 cline in State or local effort for such fiscal 

10 year. 

11 ‘‘(ii) WAIVER.—The Secretary may 

12 waive the requirements of this subpara13 graph if— 

14 ‘‘(I) the Secretary determines 

15 that a waiver would be appropriate 

16 due to a precipitous decline in the fi17 nancial resources of a State or local 

18 government as a result of unforeseen 

19 economic hardship or a natural dis20 aster that has necessitated across-the21 board reductions in State or local 

22 services, including value capture, pub23 lic transportation, and affordable 

24 transit-oriented development pro25 grams; or 

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1 ‘‘(II) due to the circumstances of 

2 a State or local government requiring 

3 reductions in specific programs, if the 

4 State or local government presents to 

5 the Secretary a justification and dem6 onstration why other programs could 

7 not be reduced and how value capture, 

8 public transportation, and affordable 

9 transit-oriented development programs 

10 in the State will not be disproportion11 ately harmed by such State or local 

12 action. 

13 ‘‘(3) DAVIS-BACON.—The Secretary shall en14 sure that laborers and mechanics employed by con15 tractors and subcontractors in construction work fi16 nanced by a grant made under this section will be 

17 paid wages not less than those prevailing on similar 

18 construction in the locality, as determined by the 

19 Secretary of Labor under subchapter IV of chapter 

20 31 of title 40 (commonly known as the ‘Davis-Bacon 

21 Act’). 

22 ‘‘(4) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary may re23 voke grant funds provided under this section if a 

24 grantee fails to implement the maintenance of effort 

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1 under paragraph (2)(B) and Davis-Bacon provisions 

2 referred to paragraph (3). 

3 ‘‘(5) EVALUATION.—Not later than 3 years 

4 after receiving a grant under this section, the grant5 ee shall assess the effectiveness of the use of the 

6 funds by evaluating whether the funds created a de7 monstrable increase in transit capacity and ridership 

8 and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, vehicle 

9 miles traveled, and congestion. 

10 ‘‘(6) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, 

11 through a competitive bid process, may enter into 

12 contracts, cooperative agreements, and other agree13 ments with national nonprofit organizations and uni14 versities that have the appropriate demonstrated ca15 pacity to provide value capture-related technical as16 sistance under this subsection, including guidance on 

17 implementing foreign value capture models within 

18 the United States. 

19 ‘‘(7) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant 

20 funds received under this section shall be used to 

21 supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, 

22 and local public funds expended on public value cap23 ture and affordable transit-oriented development 

24 programs in the State or local government. 

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1 ‘‘(8) VALUE CAPTURE POLICY REQUIRE2 MENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) VALUE CAPTURE POLICY.—Not later 

4 than October 1 of the fiscal year that begins 2 

5 years after the date of enactment of this sec6 tion, the Secretary, in collaboration with State 

7 departments of transportation, metropolitan 

8 planning organizations, and regional council of 

9 governments, shall establish voluntary and con10 sensus-based value capture standards, policies, 

11 and best practices for State and local value cap12 ture mechanisms that promote greater invest13 ments in public transportation and affordable 

14 transit-oriented development. 

15 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 15 months 

16 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

17 Secretary shall make available to the public a 

18 report cataloging examples of State and local 

19 laws and policies that provide for value capture 

20 and value sharing that promote greater invest21 ment in public transportation and affordable 

22 transit-oriented development. 

23 ‘‘(C) BEST PRACTICES.—Based on the re24 port required under subparagraph (B), the Sec25 retary shall identify and disseminate examples 

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1 of best practices where States and local govern2 ments have adopted value capture and value 

3 sharing mechanisms that have successfully pro4 vided for greater investment in public transpor5 tation and affordable transit-oriented develop6 ment. 

7 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘value capture’ means capturing 

9 a portion of the incremental economic value created 

10 by government investments, activities, and policies 

11 that may generate alternative revenue streams, as12 sets, or other financial value for which could assist 

13 in funding those investments and activities; 

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘transit-oriented development’ 

15 means a mix of commercial, residential, office, and 

16 entertainment centered around or located near a 

17 public transportation station that promotes afford18 able housing and commercial space; 

19 ‘‘(3) the term ‘affordable housing’ means hous20 ing, the cost of which does not exceed 30 percent of 

21 the income of a family; and 

22 ‘‘(4) the term ‘affordable commercial space’ 

23 means commercial space dedicated to either protect 

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1 or promote small and disadvantage businesses pro2 vided below market rent value.’’. 

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