IB 

Union Calendar No. 245 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3496 

[Report No. 109–440] 

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 

APRIL 26, 2006 

Additional sponsor: Mr. BLUMENAUER

APRIL 26, 2006 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 28, 2005] 

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 WashVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:36 Apr 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3496.RH H3496

hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
2 

•HR 3496 RH 

ington 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 ‘‘Na5 tional Capital Transportation Amendments Act of 2005’’. 

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

7 (1) Metro, the public transit system of the Wash8 ington metropolitan area, is essential for the contin9 ued and effective performance of the functions of the 

10 Federal Government, and for the orderly movement of 

11 people during major events and times of regional or 

12 national emergency. 

13 (2) On 3 occasions, Congress has authorized ap14 propriations for the construction and capital im15 provement needs of the Metrorail system. 

16 (3) Additional funding is required to protect 

17 these previous Federal investments and ensure the 

18 continued functionality and viability of the original 

19 103-mile Metrorail system. 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
3 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS 

2 FOR WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA 

3 TRANSIT SYSTEM. 

4 The National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 (sec. 

5 9–1111.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION

8 FOR CAPITAL AND PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROJECTS

9 ‘‘SEC. 18. (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to the suc10 ceeding provisions of this section, the Secretary of Trans11 portation is authorized to make grants to the Transit Au12 thority, in addition to the contributions authorized under 

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

14 the capital and preventive maintenance projects included 

15 in the Capital Improvement Program approved by the 

16 Board of Directors of the Transit Authority. 

17 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Federal grants made pur18 suant to the authorization under this section shall be subject 

19 to the following limitations and conditions: 

20 ‘‘(1) The work for which such Federal grants are 

21 authorized shall be subject to the provisions of the 

22 Compact (consistent with the amendments to the 

23 Compact described in subsection (d)). 

24 ‘‘(2) Each such Federal grant shall be for 50 per25 cent of the net project cost of the project involved, and 

26 shall be provided in cash from sources other than FedVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:36 Apr 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3496.RH H3496

hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
4 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 eral funds or revenues from the operation of public 

2 mass transportation systems. Consistent with the 

3 terms of the amendment to the Compact described in 

4 subsection (d)(1), any funds so provided shall be sole5 ly from undistributed cash surpluses, replacement or 

6 depreciation funds or reserves available in cash, or 

7 new capital. 

8 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS FOR MASS

9 TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL PROJECTS RECEIVING FUNDS

10 UNDER FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION LAW.—Except as spe11 cifically provided in this section, the use of any amounts 

12 appropriated pursuant to the authorization under this sec13 tion shall be subject to the requirements applicable to cap14 ital projects for which funds are provided under chapter 

15 53 of title 49, United States Code, except to the extent that 

16 the Secretary of Transportation determines that the require17 ments are inconsistent with the purposes of this section. 

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

19 be provided to the Transit Authority pursuant to the au20 thorization under this section until the Transit Authority 

21 notifies the Secretary of Transportation that each of the fol22 lowing amendments to the Compact (and any further 

23 amendments which may be required to implement such 

24 amendments) have taken effect: 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
5 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 ‘‘(1) An amendment requiring all payments 

2 made by the local signatory governments for the 

3 Transit Authority and for the cost of operating and 

4 maintaining the adopted regional system are made 

5 from amounts derived from dedicated funding sources. 

6 For purposes of this paragraph, a ‘dedicated funding 

7 source’ is any source of funding which is earmarked 

8 and required under State or local law to be used for 

9 payments to the Transit Authority. 

10 ‘‘(2) An amendment establishing the Office of the 

11 Inspector General of the Transit Authority in accord12 ance with section 3 of the National Capital Transpor13 tation Amendments Act of 2005. 

14 ‘‘(3) An amendment expanding the Board of Di15 rectors of the Transit Authority to include 4 addi16 tional Directors appointed by the Administrator of 

17 General Services, of whom 2 shall be nonvoting and 

18 2 shall be voting, and requiring one of the voting 

19 members so appointed to be a regular passenger and 

20 customer of the bus or rail service of the Transit Au21 thority. 

22 ‘‘(e) AMOUNT.—There are authorized to be appro23 priated to the Secretary of Transportation for grants under 

24 this section an aggregate amount not to exceed 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
6 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 $1,500,000,000 to be available in increments over 10 fiscal 

2 years beginning in fiscal year 2007, or until expended. 

3 ‘‘(f) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

4 to the authorization under this section— 

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

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

7 amounts available to the Transit Authority under 

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

9 other provision of law.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AU11 THORITY INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Washington Metropolitan 

14 Area Transit Authority (hereafter referred to as the 

15 ‘‘Transit Authority’’) shall establish in the Transit 

16 Authority the Office of the Inspector General (here17 after in this section referred to as the ‘‘Office’’), head18 ed by the Inspector General of the Transit Authority 

19 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Inspector 

20 General’’). 

21 (2) DEFINITION.—In paragraph (1), the ‘‘Wash22 ington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’’ means 

23 the Authority established under Article III of the 

24 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 

25 Compact (Public Law 89–774). 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
7 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 

2 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Inspector General shall 

3 be appointed by the vote of a majority of the Board 

4 of Directors of the Transit Authority, and shall be ap5 pointed without regard to political affiliation and 

6 solely on the basis of integrity and demonstrated abil7 ity in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, law, 

8 management analysis, public administration, or in9 vestigations, as well as familiarity or experience with 

10 the operation of transit systems. 

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

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

13 serving as Inspector General may be reappointed for 

14 not more than 2 additional terms. 

15 (3) REMOVAL.—The Inspector General may be 

16 removed from office prior to the expiration of his term 

17 only by the unanimous vote of all of the members of 

18 the Board of Directors of the Transit Authority, and 

19 the Board shall communicate the reasons for any such 

20 removal to the Governor of Maryland, the Governor of 

21 Virginia, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, the 

22 chair of the Committee on Government Reform of the 

23 House of Representatives, and the chair of the Com24 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af25 fairs of the Senate. 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
8 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 (c) DUTIES.— 

2 (1) APPLICABILITY OF DUTIES OF INSPECTOR

3 GENERAL OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 The Inspector General shall carry out the same duties 

5 and responsibilities with respect to the Transit Au6 thority as an Inspector General of an establishment 

7 carries out with respect to an establishment under 

8 section 4 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

9 U.S.C. App. 4), under the same terms and conditions 

10 which apply under such section. 

11 (2) CONDUCTING ANNUAL AUDIT OF FINANCIAL

12 STATEMENTS.—The Inspector General shall be respon13 sible for conducting the annual audit of the financial 

14 accounts of the Transit Authority, either directly or 

15 by contract with an independent external auditor se16 lected by the Inspector General. 

17 (3) REPORTS.— 

18 (A) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS TO TRANSIT AU19 THORITY.—The Inspector General shall prepare 

20 and submit semiannual reports summarizing the 

21 activities of the Office in the same manner, and 

22 in accordance with the same deadlines, terms, 

23 and conditions, as an Inspector General of an es24 tablishment under section 5 of the Inspector Gen25 eral Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 5). For purposes 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
9 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 of applying section 5 of such Act to the Inspector 

2 General, the Board of Directors of the Transit 

3 Authority shall be considered the head of the es4 tablishment, except that the Inspector General 

5 shall transmit to the General Manager of the 

6 Transit Authority a copy of any report sub7 mitted to the Board pursuant to this paragraph. 

8 (B) ANNUAL REPORTS TO LOCAL SIGNATORY

9 GOVERNMENTS AND CONGRESS.—Not later than 

10 January 15 of each year, the Inspector General 

11 shall prepare and submit a report summarizing 

12 the activities of the Office during the previous 

13 year, and shall submit such reports to the Gov14 ernor of Maryland, the Governor of Virginia, the 

15 Mayor of the District of Columbia, the chair of 

16 the Committee on Government Reform of the 

17 House of Representatives, and the chair of the 

18 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern19 mental Affairs of the Senate. 

20 (4) INVESTIGATIONS OF COMPLAINTS OF EMPLOY21 EES AND MEMBERS.— 

22 (A) AUTHORITY.—The Inspector General 

23 may receive and investigate complaints or infor24 mation from an employee or member of the 

25 Transit Authority concerning the possible existVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:36 Apr 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3496.RH H3496

hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
10 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 ence of an activity constituting a violation of 

2 law, rules, or regulations, or mismanagement, 

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

4 substantial and specific danger to the public 

5 health and safety. 

6 (B) NONDISCLOSURE.—The Inspector Gen7 eral shall not, after receipt of a complaint or in8 formation from an employee or member, disclose 

9 the identity of the employee or member without 

10 the consent of the employee or member, unless the 

11 Inspector General determines such disclosure is 

12 unavoidable during the course of the investiga13 tion. 

14 (C) PROHIBITING RETALIATION.—An em15 ployee or member of the Transit Authority who 

16 has authority to take, direct others to take, rec17 ommend, or approve any personnel action, shall 

18 not, with respect to such authority, take or 

19 threaten to take any action against any em20 ployee or member as a reprisal for making a 

21 complaint or disclosing information to the In22 spector General, unless the complaint was made 

23 or the information disclosed with the knowledge 

24 that it was false or with willful disregard for its 

25 truth or falsity. 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
11 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 (5) INDEPENDENCE IN CARRYING OUT DUTIES.— 

2 Neither the Board of Directors of the Transit Author3 ity, the General Manager of the Transit Authority, 

4 nor any other member or employee of the Transit Au5 thority may prevent or prohibit the Inspector General 

6 from carrying out any of the duties or responsibilities 

7 assigned to the Inspector General under this section. 

8 (d) POWERS.— 

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

10 exercise the same authorities with respect to the Tran11 sit Authority as an Inspector General of an establish12 ment may exercise with respect to an establishment 

13 under section 6(a) of the Inspector General Act of 

14 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 6(a)), other than paragraphs 

15 (7), (8), and (9) of such section. 

16 (2) STAFF.— 

17 (A) ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERALS AND

18 OTHER STAFF.—The Inspector General shall ap19 point and fix the pay of— 

20 (i) an Assistant Inspector General for 

21 Audits, who shall be responsible for coordi22 nating the activities of the Inspector Gen23 eral relating to audits; 

24 (ii) an Assistant Inspector General for 

25 Investigations, who shall be responsible for 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
12 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 coordinating the activities of the Inspector 

2 General relating to investigations; and 

3 (iii) such other personnel as the In4 spector General considers appropriate. 

5 (B) INDEPENDENCE IN APPOINTING

6 STAFF.—No individual may carry out any of the 

7 duties or responsibilities of the Office unless the 

8 individual is appointed by the Inspector Gen9 eral, or provides services procured by the Inspec10 tor General, pursuant to this paragraph. Noth11 ing in this subparagraph may be construed to 

12 prohibit the Inspector General from entering into 

13 a contract or other arrangement for the provision 

14 of services under this section. 

15 (C) APPLICABILITY OF TRANSIT SYSTEM

16 PERSONNEL RULES.—None of the regulations 

17 governing the appointment and pay of employees 

18 of the Transit System shall apply with respect to 

19 the appointment and compensation of the per20 sonnel of the Office, except to the extent agreed 

21 to by the Inspector General. Nothing in the pre22 vious sentence may be construed to affect sub23 paragraphs (A) through (B). 

24 (3) EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.—The General 

25 Manager of the Transit Authority shall provide the 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
13 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 Office with appropriate and adequate office space, to2 gether with such equipment, supplies, and commu3 nications facilities and services as may be necessary 

4 for the operation of the Office, and shall provide nec5 essary maintenance services for such office space and 

6 the equipment and facilities located therein. 

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

8 office or entity in the Transit Authority prior to the ap9 pointment of the first Inspector General under this section 

10 carried out any of the duties and responsibilities assigned 

11 to the Inspector General under this section, the functions 

12 of such office or entity shall be transferred to the Office upon 

13 the appointment of the first Inspector General under this 

14 section. 

15 SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN PROP16 ERTIES. 

17 (a) PROHIBITION ON DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN PROP18 ERTY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Washington Metropolitan 

20 Area Transit Authority (hereafter in this section re21 ferred to as the ‘‘Transit Authority’’) may not sell, 

22 lease, or otherwise convey or dispose of the property 

23 described in paragraph (2) unless the Transit Author24 ity meets each of the following conditions: 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
14 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 (A) The Transit Authority has held a sepa2 rate, additional public hearing after October 20, 

3 2005, regarding the disposition of the property 

4 at which members of the general public had the 

5 opportunity to comment. 

6 (B) The Transit Authority has submitted a 

7 report to the Committee on Government Reform 

8 of the House of Representatives and the Com9 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

10 Affairs of the Senate on the costs and benefits as11 sociated with the disposition of the property, the 

12 impact of the disposition on parking facilities 

13 available at the Vienna Metrorail station, and 

14 the effect of the disposition on the capacity of the 

15 Vienna Metrorail station and the entire Metro16 rail system. 

17 (2) PROPERTY DESCRIBED.—The property de18 scribed in this subsection consists of approximately 

19 3.75 acres located in Fairfax County, Virginia, and 

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

21 the Fairfax County tax map: 

22 (A) Parcel 48—1((1)), 90 Portion. 

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

24 (C) Parcel 48—1((6)), 7A. 

25 (D) Parcel 48—1((6)), 8B. 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
15 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 (E) Parcel 48—1((24)), 38A. 

2 (b) CONDITIONS FOR DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN PROP3 ERTY.— 

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

5 not sell, lease, or otherwise convey or dispose of the 

6 property described in paragraph (2) unless the Tran7 sit Authority meets each of the following conditions: 

8 (A) The Transit Authority has met with the 

9 Mayor and members of the Council of the City 

10 of Takoma Park, Maryland, and community 

11 representatives to discuss each of the following 

12 issues related to the disposition of such property: 

13 (i) The movement of buses and other 

14 vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles to and 

15 from the Takoma Park Metrorail station. 

16 (ii) The provision of bus bays, based 

17 on recommendations of the Transit Author18 ity and the Maryland Transit Administra19 tion’s Ride-On program. 

20 (iii) The enhancement of public green 

21 space on the property, based on the Central 

22 District Plan for Takoma DC. 

23 (B) The Transit Authority will work with 

24 residents and elected officials of Takoma Park, 

25 Maryland, and the Takoma area of the District 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
16 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 of Columbia throughout the planning phase of 

2 the development of such property. 

3 (C) The Transit Authority has submitted a 

4 statement to the Committee on Government Re5 form of the House of Representatives and the 

6 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern7 mental Affairs of the Senate certifying that the 

8 Transit Authority has met the conditions de9 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

10 (2) PROPERTY DESCRIBED.—The property de11 scribed in this paragraph consists of Lots 820, 821, 

12 822, 823, 829, 831, 832, 833, 839, 840, 841, 845, 846, 

13 847, 848, 849, 850, and 851 in Square 3352 and Lots 

14 811, 812, and 813 in Square 3353 of the District of 

15 Columbia Real Property Assessment Database. 

16 (c) RESTRICTIONS ON DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN

17 PROPERTIES.— 

18 (1) RESTRICTION.—The Transit Authority may 

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

20 property described in paragraph (2) other than in ac21 cordance with a development plan for the property 

22 which meets the following requirements: 

23 (A) The plan shall require that any portion 

24 of the property used for residential purposes 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
17 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 shall be used only for owner-occupied, multi-fam2 ily dwellings. 

3 (B) The plan must provide for the use of a 

4 portion of the property for commercial purposes. 

5 (C) The plan shall be developed in consulta6 tion with appropriate representatives of the local 

7 governments and communities for the area in 

8 which the property is located. 

9 (2) PROPERTY DESCRIBED.—The property de10 scribed in this paragraph is any real property of the 

11 Transit Authority which is located within one mile of 

12 the Largo Town Center Metro Rail Station. 

13 (d) NO EFFECT ON OTHER AUTHORITIES.—Except as 

14 specifically provided, nothing in this section may be con15 strued to affect any law, rule, or regulation governing the 

16 development or disposition of real property of the Transit 

17 Authority. 

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

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

20 study on the use of the funds provided under section 18 

21 of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 (as 

22 added by this Act). 

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

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

25 submit a report to the Committee on Government Reform 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
18 

•HR 3496 RH 

1 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

2 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 

3 on the study conducted under subsection (a). 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS

hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
Union Calendar No. 245 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3496 

[Report No. 109

–440] 

A BILL 

To amend the National Capital Transportation Act 

Transit Authority, and for other purposes. system of the Washington Metropolitan Area tions for maintaining and improving the transit of 1969 to authorize additional Federal contribuAPRIL 26, 2006 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS