I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3496 

To amend the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 to authorize 

additional Federal contributions for maintaining and improving the transit system of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2005 

Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. HOYER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. WYNN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. 

CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 

to authorize additional Federal contributions for maintaining and improving the transit system of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘National Capital Transportation Amendments Act of 

6 2005’’. 
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1 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows: 

2 (1) Metro, the public transit system of the 

3 Washington metropolitan area, is essential for the 

4 continued and effective performance of the functions 

5 of the Federal Government, and for the orderly 

6 movement of people during major events and times 

7 of regional or national emergency. 

8 (2) On 3 occasions, Congress has authorized 

9 appropriations for the construction and capital im10 provement needs of the Metrorail system. 

11 (3) Additional funding is required to protect 

12 these previous Federal investments and ensure the 

13 continued functionality and viability of the original 

14 103-mile Metrorail system. 

15 SEC. 2. FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS 

16 FOR WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA 

17 TRANSIT SYSTEM. 

18 The National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 

19 (sec. 9–1111.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new section: 

21 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL FEDERAL CONTRIBU22 TION FOR CAPITAL AND PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

23 PROJECTS

24 ‘‘SEC. 18. (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to the suc25 ceeding provisions of this section, the Secretary of Trans26 portation is authorized to make grants to the Transit Au-
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1 thority, in addition to the contributions authorized under 

2 sections 3, 14, and 17, for the purpose of financing in 

3 part the capital and preventive maintenance projects in4 cluded in the Capital Improvement Program approved by 

5 the Board of Directors of the Transit Authority. 

6 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Federal grants made pur7 suant to the authorization under this section shall be sub8 ject to the following limitations and conditions: 

9 ‘‘(1) The work for which such Federal grants 

10 are authorized shall be subject to the provisions of 

11 the Compact (consistent with the amendments to the 

12 Compact described in subsection (d)). 

13 ‘‘(2) Each such Federal grant shall be for 50 

14 percent of the net project cost of the project in15 volved, and shall be provided in cash from sources 

16 other than Federal funds or revenues from the oper17 ation of public mass transportation systems. Con18 sistent with the terms of the amendment to the 

19 Compact described in subsection (d)(1), any funds 

20 so provided shall be solely from undistributed cash 

21 surpluses, replacement or depreciation funds or re22 serves available in cash, or new capital. 

23 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS FOR MASS

24 TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL PROJECTS RECEIVING FUNDS

25 UNDER FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION LAW.—Except as 
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1 specifically provided in this section, the use of any 

2 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization under 

3 this section shall be subject to the requirements applicable 

4 to capital projects for which funds are provided under 

5 chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, except to the 

6 extent that the Secretary of Transportation determines 

7 that the requirements are inconsistent with the purposes 

8 of this section. 

9 ‘‘(d) AMENDMENTS TO COMPACT.—No amounts may 

10 be provided to the Transit Authority pursuant to the au11 thorization under this section until the Transit Authority 

12 notifies the Secretary of Transportation that each of the 

13 following amendments to the Compact (and any further 

14 amendments which may be required to implement such 

15 amendments) have taken effect: 

16 ‘‘(1) An amendment requiring all payments 

17 made by the local signatory governments for the 

18 Transit Authority and for the cost of operating and 

19 maintaining the adopted regional system are made 

20 from amounts derived from dedicated funding 

21 sources. For purposes of this paragraph, a ‘dedi22 cated funding source’ is any source of funding which 

23 is earmarked and required under State or local law 

24 to be used for payments to the Transit Authority. 
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1 ‘‘(2) An amendment establishing the Office of 

2 the Inspector General of the Transit Authority in 

3 accordance with section 3 of the National Capital 

4 Transportation Amendments Act of 2005. 

5 ‘‘(3) An amendment expanding the Board of 

6 Directors of the Transit Authority to include two ad7 ditional Directors appointed by the Administrator of 

8 General Services, one of whom shall be nonvoting. 

9 ‘‘(e) AMOUNT.—There are authorized to be appro10 priated to the Secretary of Transportation for grants 

11 under this section an aggregate amount not to exceed 

12 $1,500,000,000 to be available in increments over 10 fis13 cal years beginning in fiscal year 2007, or until expended. 

14 ‘‘(f) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursu15 ant to the authorization under this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) shall remain available until expended; and 

17 ‘‘(2) shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, 

18 amounts available to the Transit Authority under 

19 chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, or any 

20 other provision of law.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AU22 THORITY INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Washington Metropoli25 tan Area Transit Authority (hereafter referred to as 
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1 the ‘‘Transit Authority’’) shall establish in the Tran2 sit Authority the Office of the Inspector General 

3 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Of4 fice’’), headed by the Inspector General of the Tran5 sit Authority (hereafter in this section referred to as 

6 the ‘‘Inspector General’’). 

7 (2) DEFINITION.—In paragraph (1), the 

8 ‘‘Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’’ 

9 means the Authority established under Article III of 

10 the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Author11 ity Compact (Public Law 89–774). 

12 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 

13 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Inspector General 

14 shall be appointed by the vote of a majority of the 

15 Board of Directors of the Transit Authority, and 

16 shall be appointed without regard to political affili17 ation and solely on the basis of integrity and dem18 onstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial 

19 analysis, law, management analysis, public adminis20 tration, or investigations, as well as familiarity or 

21 experience with the operation of transit systems. 

22 (2) TERM OF SERVICE.—The Inspector General 

23 shall serve for a term of 5 years, and an individual 

24 serving as Inspector General may be reappointed for 

25 not more than 2 additional terms. 
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1 (3) REMOVAL.—The Inspector General may be 

2 removed from office prior to the expiration of his 

3 term only by the unanimous vote of all of the mem4 bers of the Board of Directors of the Transit Au5 thority, and the Board shall communicate the rea6 sons for any such removal to the Governor of Mary7 land, the Governor of Virginia, the Mayor of the 

8 District of Columbia, the chair of the Committee on 

9 Government Reform of the House of Representa10 tives, and the chair of the Committee on Homeland 

11 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

12 (c) DUTIES.— 

13 (1) APPLICABILITY OF DUTIES OF INSPECTOR

14 GENERAL OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH ESTABLISH15 MENT.—The Inspector General shall carry out the 

16 same duties and responsibilities with respect to the 

17 Transit Authority as an Inspector General of an es18 tablishment carries out with respect to an establish19 ment under section 4 of the Inspector General Act 

20 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 4), under the same terms 

21 and conditions which apply under such section. 

22 (2) CONDUCTING ANNUAL AUDIT OF FINANCIAL

23 STATEMENTS.—The Inspector General shall be re24 sponsible for conducting the annual audit of the fi25 nancial accounts of the Transit Authority, either di-
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1 rectly or by contract with an independent external 

2 auditor selected by the Inspector General. 

3 (3) REPORTS.— 

4 (A) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS TO TRANSIT

5 AUTHORITY.—The Inspector General shall pre6 pare and submit semiannual reports summa7 rizing the activities of the Office in the same 

8 manner, and in accordance with the same dead9 lines, terms, and conditions, as an Inspector 

10 General of an establishment under section 5 of 

11 the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

12 App. 5). For purposes of applying section 5 of 

13 such Act to the Inspector General, the Board of 

14 Directors of the Transit Authority shall be con15 sidered the head of the establishment, except 

16 that the Inspector General shall transmit to the 

17 General Manager of the Transit Authority a 

18 copy of any report submitted to the Board pur19 suant to this paragraph. 

20 (B) ANNUAL REPORTS TO LOCAL SIGNA21 TORY GOVERNMENTS AND CONGRESS.—Not 

22 later than March 31 of each year, the Inspector 

23 General shall prepare and submit a report sum24 marizing the activities of the Office during the 

25 previous year, and shall submit such reports to 
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1 the Governor of Maryland, the Governor of Vir2 ginia, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, 

3 the chair of the Committee on Government Re4 form of the House of Representatives, and the 

5 chair of the Committee on Homeland Security 

6 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

7 (4) INVESTIGATIONS OF COMPLAINTS OF EM8 PLOYEES AND MEMBERS.— 

9 (A) AUTHORITY.—The Inspector General 

10 may receive and investigate complaints or infor11 mation from an employee or member of the 

12 Transit Authority concerning the possible exist13 ence of an activity constituting a violation of 

14 law, rules, or regulations, or mismanagement, 

15 gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, or a 

16 substantial and specific danger to the public 

17 health and safety. 

18 (B) NONDISCLOSURE.—The Inspector 

19 General shall not, after receipt of a complaint 

20 or information from an employee or member, 

21 disclose the identity of the employee or member 

22 without the consent of the employee or member, 

23 unless the Inspector General determines such 

24 disclosure is unavoidable during the course of 

25 the investigation. 
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1 (C) PROHIBITING RETALIATION.—An em2 ployee or member of the Transit Authority who 

3 has authority to take, direct others to take, rec4 ommend, or approve any personnel action, shall 

5 not, with respect to such authority, take or 

6 threaten to take any action against any em7 ployee or member as a reprisal for making a 

8 complaint or disclosing information to the In9 spector General, unless the complaint was made 

10 or the information disclosed with the knowledge 

11 that it was false or with willful disregard for its 

12 truth or falsity. 

13 (5) INDEPENDENCE IN CARRYING OUT DU14 TIES.—Neither the Board of Directors of the Tran15 sit Authority, the General Manager of the Transit 

16 Authority, nor any other member or employee of the 

17 Transit Authority may prevent or prohibit the In18 spector General from carrying out any of the duties 

19 or responsibilities assigned to the Inspector General 

20 under this section. 

21 (d) POWERS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General may 

23 exercise the same authorities with respect to the 

24 Transit Authority as an Inspector General of an es25 tablishment may exercise with respect to an estab-
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1 lishment under section 6(a) of the Inspector General 

2 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 6(a)), other than para3 graphs (7), (8), and (9) of such section. 

4 (2) STAFF.— 

5 (A) ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERALS AND

6 OTHER STAFF.—The Inspector General shall 

7 appoint and fix the pay of— 

8 (i) an Assistant Inspector General for 

9 Audits, who shall be responsible for coordi10 nating the activities of the Inspector Gen11 eral relating to audits; 

12 (ii) an Assistant Inspector General for 

13 Investigations, who shall be responsible for 

14 coordinating the activities of the Inspector 

15 General relating to investigations; and 

16 (iii) such other personnel as the In17 spector General considers appropriate. 

18 (B) INDEPENDENCE IN APPOINTING

19 STAFF.—No individual may carry out any of 

20 the duties or responsibilities of the Office unless 

21 the individual is appointed by the Inspector 

22 General, or provides services procured by the 

23 Inspector General, pursuant to this paragraph. 

24 Nothing in this subparagraph may be construed 

25 to prohibit the Inspector General from entering 
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1 into a contract or other arrangement for the 

2 provision of services under this section. 

3 (C) APPLICABILITY OF TRANSIT SYSTEM

4 PERSONNEL RULES.—None of the regulations 

5 governing the appointment and pay of employ6 ees of the Transit System shall apply with re7 spect to the appointment and compensation of 

8 the personnel of the Office, except to the extent 

9 agreed to by the Inspector General. Nothing in 

10 the previous sentence may be construed to af11 fect subparagraphs (A) through (B). 

12 (3) EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.—The General 

13 Manager of the Transit Authority shall provide the 

14 Office with appropriate and adequate office space, 

15 together with such equipment, supplies, and commu16 nications facilities and services as may be necessary 

17 for the operation of the Office, and shall provide 

18 necessary maintenance services for such office space 

19 and the equipment and facilities located therein. 

20 (e) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—To the extent that 

21 any office or entity in the Transit Authority prior to the 

22 appointment of the first Inspector General under this sec23 tion carried out any of the duties and responsibilities as24 signed to the Inspector General under this section, the 

25 functions of such office or entity shall be transferred to 
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1 the Office upon the appointment of the first Inspector 

2 General under this section. 

3 SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN PROP4 ERTIES. 

5 (a) PROHIBITION ON DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN

6 PROPERTY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Washington Metropoli8 tan Area Transit Authority (hereafter in this section 

9 referred to as the ‘‘Transit Authority’’) may not sell, 

10 lease, or otherwise convey or dispose of the property 

11 described in paragraph (2). 

12 (2) PROPERTY DESCRIBED.—The property de13 scribed in this subsection consists of approximately 

14 3.75 acres located in Fairfax County, Virginia, and 

15 is contained in all or part of the following parcels on 

16 the Fairfax County tax map: 

17 (A) Parcel 48—1((1)), 90 Portion. 

18 (B) Parcel 48—1((1)), 91B Portion. 

19 (C) Parcel 48—1((6)), 7A. 

20 (D) Parcel 48—1((6)), 8B. 

21 (E) Parcel 48—1((24)), 38A. 

22 (b) CONDITIONS FOR DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN

23 PROPERTY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Transit Authority may 

25 not sell, lease, or otherwise convey or dispose of the 
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1 property described in paragraph (2) unless the 

2 Transit Authority meets each of the following condi3 tions: 

4 (A) The Transit Authority has met with 

5 the Mayor and members of the Council of the 

6 City of Takoma Park, Maryland, and commu7 nity representatives designated by the Mayor to 

8 discuss concerns related to the disposition of 

9 such property. 

10 (B) The Transit Authority has presented a 

11 development plan for the property which— 

12 (i) facilitates the movement of buses 

13 and other vehicular traffic, pedestrians, 

14 and bicycles to and from the Takoma Met15 rorail station, and provides sufficient bus 

16 bays so that the development of the prop17 erty will not cause a direct increase in traf18 fic, congestion, or pollution in neighbor19 hoods surrounding the station; and 

20 (ii) preserves and enhances public 

21 green space on the property. 

22 (C) The Transit Authority has submitted a 

23 statement to the Committee on Government Re24 form of the House of Representatives and the 

25 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern-
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1 mental Affairs of the Senate certifying that the 

2 Transit Authority has met the conditions de3 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

4 (2) PROPERTY DESCRIBED.—The property de5 scribed in this paragraph consists of Lots 820, 821, 

6 822, 823, 829, 831, 832, 833, 839, 840, 841, 845, 

7 846, 847, 848, 849, 850, and 851 in Square 3352 

8 and Lots 811, 812, and 813 in Square 3353 of the 

9 District of Columbia Real Property Assessment 

10 Database. 

11 (c) RESTRICTIONS ON DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN

12 PROPERTIES.— 

13 (1) RESTRICTION.—The Transit Authority may 

14 not sell, lease, or otherwise convey any of the real 

15 property described in paragraph (2) other than in 

16 accordance with a development plan for the property 

17 which meets the following requirements: 

18 (A) The plan shall require that any portion 

19 of the property used for residential purposes 

20 shall be used only for owner-occupied, multi21 family dwellings. 

22 (B) The plan must provide for the use of 

23 a portion of the property for commercial pur24 poses. 
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1 (C) The plan shall be developed in con2 sultation with appropriate representatives of the 

3 local governments and communities for the area 

4 in which the property is located. 

5 (2) PROPERTY DESCRIBED.—The property de6 scribed in this paragraph is any real property of the 

7 Transit Authority which is located within one mile 

8 of the Largo Town Center Metro Rail Station. 

9 (d) NO EFFECT ON OTHER AUTHORITIES.—Except 

10 as specifically provided, nothing in this section may be 

11 construed to affect any law, rule, or regulation governing 

12 the development or disposition of real property of the 

13 Transit Authority. 

14 SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

15 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall conduct 

16 a study on the use of the funds provided under section 

17 18 of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 

18 (as added by this Act). 

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

21 submit a report to the Committee on Government Reform 

22 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

23 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen24 ate on the study conducted under subsection (a). 

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