109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3496

AN ACT

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 contribu-

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3496

AN ACT

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.
2

•HR 3496 EH 

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 2006’’. 

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

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

9 Washington metropolitan area, is essential for the 

10 continued and effective performance of the functions 

11 of the Federal Government, and for the orderly 

12 movement of people during major events and times 

13 of regional or national emergency. 

14 (2) On 3 occasions, Congress has authorized 

15 appropriations for the construction and capital im16 provement needs of the Metrorail system. 

17 (3) Additional funding is required to protect 

18 these previous Federal investments and ensure the 

19 continued functionality and viability of the original 

20 103-mile Metrorail system. 
3

•HR 3496 EH 

1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS 

2 FOR WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA 

3 TRANSIT SYSTEM. 

4 The National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 

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

6 by adding at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL FEDERAL CONTRIBU8 TION FOR CAPITAL AND PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

9 PROJECTS

10 ‘‘SEC. 18. (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to the suc11 ceeding provisions of this section, the Secretary of Trans12 portation is authorized to make grants to the Transit Au13 thority, in addition to the contributions authorized under 

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

15 part the capital and preventive maintenance projects in16 cluded in the Capital Improvement Program approved by 

17 the Board of Directors of the Transit Authority. 

18 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Federal grants made pur19 suant to the authorization under this section shall be sub20 ject to the following limitations and conditions: 

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

22 are authorized shall be subject to the provisions of 

23 the Compact (consistent with the amendments to the 

24 Compact described in subsection (d)). 

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

26 percent of the net project cost of the project in-
4

•HR 3496 EH 

1 volved, and shall be provided in cash from sources 

2 other than Federal funds or revenues from the oper3 ation of public mass transportation systems. Con4 sistent with the terms of the amendment to the 

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

6 so provided shall be solely from undistributed cash 

7 surpluses, replacement or depreciation funds or re8 serves available in cash, or new capital. 

9 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS FOR MASS

10 TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL PROJECTS RECEIVING FUNDS

11 UNDER FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION LAW.—Except as 

12 specifically provided in this section, the use of any 

13 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization under 

14 this section shall be subject to the requirements applicable 

15 to capital projects for which funds are provided under 

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

17 extent that the Secretary of Transportation determines 

18 that the requirements are inconsistent with the purposes 

19 of this section. 

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

21 be provided to the Transit Authority pursuant to the au22 thorization under this section until the Transit Authority 

23 notifies the Secretary of Transportation that each of the 

24 following amendments to the Compact (and any further 
5

•HR 3496 EH 

1 amendments which may be required to implement such 

2 amendments) have taken effect: 

3 ‘‘(1) An amendment requiring all payments 

4 made by the local signatory governments for the 

5 Transit Authority and for the cost of operating and 

6 maintaining the adopted regional system are made 

7 from amounts derived from dedicated funding 

8 sources. For purposes of this paragraph, a ‘dedi9 cated funding source’ is any source of funding which 

10 is earmarked and required under State or local law 

11 to be used for payments to the Transit Authority. 

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

13 the Inspector General of the Transit Authority in 

14 accordance with section 3 of the National Capital 

15 Transportation Amendments Act of 2006. 

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

17 Directors of the Transit Authority to include 4 addi18 tional Directors appointed by the Administrator of 

19 General Services, of whom 2 shall be nonvoting and 

20 2 shall be voting, and requiring one of the voting 

21 members so appointed to be a regular passenger and 

22 customer of the bus or rail service of the Transit 

23 Authority. 

24 ‘‘(e) AMOUNT.—There are authorized to be appro25 priated for grants under this section such sums as are 
6

•HR 3496 EH 

1 made available to the Secretary of Treasury to make pay2 ments to the Transit Authority pursuant to section 9(k) 

3 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

4 1338). 

5 ‘‘(f) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursu6 ant to the authorization under this section—

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

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

9 amounts available to the Transit Authority under 

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

11 other provision of law.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AU13 THORITY INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Washington Metropoli16 tan Area Transit Authority (hereafter referred to as 

17 the ‘‘Transit Authority’’) shall establish in the Tran18 sit Authority the Office of the Inspector General 

19 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Of20 fice’’), headed by the Inspector General of the Tran21 sit Authority (hereafter in this section referred to as 

22 the ‘‘Inspector General’’). 

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

24 ‘‘Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’’ 

25 means the Authority established under Article III of 
7

•HR 3496 EH 

1 the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Author2 ity Compact (Public Law 89–774). 

3 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—

4 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Inspector General 

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

6 Board of Directors of the Transit Authority, and 

7 shall be appointed without regard to political affili8 ation and solely on the basis of integrity and dem9 onstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial 

10 analysis, law, management analysis, public adminis11 tration, or investigations, as well as familiarity or 

12 experience with the operation of transit systems. 

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

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

15 serving as Inspector General may be reappointed for 

16 not more than 2 additional terms. 

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

18 removed from office prior to the expiration of his 

19 term only by the unanimous vote of all of the mem20 bers of the Board of Directors of the Transit Au21 thority, and the Board shall communicate the rea22 sons for any such removal to the Governor of Mary23 land, the Governor of Virginia, the Mayor of the 

24 District of Columbia, the chair of the Committee on 

25 Government Reform of the House of Representa-
8

•HR 3496 EH 

1 tives, and the chair of the Committee on Homeland 

2 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

3 (c) DUTIES.—

4 (1) APPLICABILITY OF DUTIES OF INSPECTOR

5 GENERAL OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH ESTABLISH6 MENT.—The Inspector General shall carry out the 

7 same duties and responsibilities with respect to the 

8 Transit Authority as an Inspector General of an es9 tablishment carries out with respect to an establish10 ment under section 4 of the Inspector General Act 

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

12 and conditions which apply under such section. 

13 (2) CONDUCTING ANNUAL AUDIT OF FINANCIAL

14 STATEMENTS.—The Inspector General shall be re15 sponsible for conducting the annual audit of the fi16 nancial accounts of the Transit Authority, either di17 rectly or by contract with an independent external 

18 auditor selected by the Inspector General. 

19 (3) REPORTS.—

20 (A) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS TO TRANSIT

21 AUTHORITY.—The Inspector General shall pre22 pare and submit semiannual reports summa23 rizing the activities of the Office in the same 

24 manner, and in accordance with the same dead25 lines, terms, and conditions, as an Inspector 
9

•HR 3496 EH 

1 General of an establishment under section 5 of 

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

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

4 such Act to the Inspector General, the Board of 

5 Directors of the Transit Authority shall be con6 sidered the head of the establishment, except 

7 that the Inspector General shall transmit to the 

8 General Manager of the Transit Authority a 

9 copy of any report submitted to the Board pur10 suant to this paragraph. 

11 (B) ANNUAL REPORTS TO LOCAL SIGNA12 TORY GOVERNMENTS AND CONGRESS.—Not 

13 later than January 15 of each year, the Inspec14 tor General shall prepare and submit a report 

15 summarizing the activities of the Office during 

16 the previous year, and shall submit such reports 

17 to the Governor of Maryland, the Governor of 

18 Virginia, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, 

19 the chair of the Committee on Government Re20 form of the House of Representatives, and the 

21 chair of the Committee on Homeland Security 

22 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

23 (4) INVESTIGATIONS OF COMPLAINTS OF EM24 PLOYEES AND MEMBERS.—
10

•HR 3496 EH 

1 (A) AUTHORITY.—The Inspector General 

2 may receive and investigate complaints or infor3 mation from an employee or member of the 

4 Transit Authority concerning the possible exist5 ence of an activity constituting a violation of 

6 law, rules, or regulations, or mismanagement, 

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

8 substantial and specific danger to the public 

9 health and safety. 

10 (B) NONDISCLOSURE.—The Inspector 

11 General shall not, after receipt of a complaint 

12 or information from an employee or member, 

13 disclose the identity of the employee or member 

14 without the consent of the employee or member, 

15 unless the Inspector General determines such 

16 disclosure is unavoidable during the course of 

17 the investigation. 

18 (C) PROHIBITING RETALIATION.—An em19 ployee or member of the Transit Authority who 

20 has authority to take, direct others to take, rec21 ommend, or approve any personnel action, shall 

22 not, with respect to such authority, take or 

23 threaten to take any action against any em24 ployee or member as a reprisal for making a 

25 complaint or disclosing information to the In-
11

•HR 3496 EH 

1 spector General, unless the complaint was made 

2 or the information disclosed with the knowledge 

3 that it was false or with willful disregard for its 

4 truth or falsity. 

5 (5) INDEPENDENCE IN CARRYING OUT DU6 TIES.—Neither the Board of Directors of the Tran7 sit Authority, the General Manager of the Transit 

8 Authority, nor any other member or employee of the 

9 Transit Authority may prevent or prohibit the In10 spector General from carrying out any of the duties 

11 or responsibilities assigned to the Inspector General 

12 under this section. 

13 (d) POWERS.—

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

15 exercise the same authorities with respect to the 

16 Transit Authority as an Inspector General of an es17 tablishment may exercise with respect to an estab18 lishment under section 6(a) of the Inspector General 

19 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 6(a)), other than para20 graphs (7), (8), and (9) of such section. 

21 (2) STAFF.—

22 (A) ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERALS AND

23 OTHER STAFF.—The Inspector General shall 

24 appoint and fix the pay of—
12

•HR 3496 EH 

1 (i) an Assistant Inspector General for 

2 Audits, who shall be responsible for coordi3 nating the activities of the Inspector Gen4 eral relating to audits; 

5 (ii) an Assistant Inspector General for 

6 Investigations, who shall be responsible for 

7 coordinating the activities of the Inspector 

8 General relating to investigations; and 

9 (iii) such other personnel as the In10 spector General considers appropriate. 

11 (B) INDEPENDENCE IN APPOINTING

12 STAFF.—No individual may carry out any of 

13 the duties or responsibilities of the Office unless 

14 the individual is appointed by the Inspector 

15 General, or provides services procured by the 

16 Inspector General, pursuant to this paragraph. 

17 Nothing in this subparagraph may be construed 

18 to prohibit the Inspector General from entering 

19 into a contract or other arrangement for the 

20 provision of services under this section. 

21 (C) APPLICABILITY OF TRANSIT SYSTEM

22 PERSONNEL RULES.—None of the regulations 

23 governing the appointment and pay of employ24 ees of the Transit System shall apply with re25 spect to the appointment and compensation of 
13

•HR 3496 EH 

1 the personnel of the Office, except to the extent 

2 agreed to by the Inspector General. Nothing in 

3 the previous sentence may be construed to af4 fect subparagraphs (A) through (B). 

5 (3) EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.—The General 

6 Manager of the Transit Authority shall provide the 

7 Office with appropriate and adequate office space, 

8 together with such equipment, supplies, and commu9 nications facilities and services as may be necessary 

10 for the operation of the Office, and shall provide 

11 necessary maintenance services for such office space 

12 and the equipment and facilities located therein. 

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

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

15 appointment of the first Inspector General under this sec16 tion carried out any of the duties and responsibilities as17 signed to the Inspector General under this section, the 

18 functions of such office or entity shall be transferred to 

19 the Office upon the appointment of the first Inspector 

20 General under this section. 

21 SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN PROP22 ERTIES. 

23 (a) PROHIBITION ON DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN

24 PROPERTY.—
14

•HR 3496 EH 

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Washington Metropoli2 tan Area Transit Authority (hereafter in this section 

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

4 lease, or otherwise convey or dispose of the property 

5 described in paragraph (2) unless the Transit Au6 thority meets each of the following conditions: 

7 (A) The Transit Authority has held a sepa8 rate, additional public hearing after October 20, 

9 2005, regarding the disposition of the property 

10 at which members of the general public had the 

11 opportunity to comment. 

12 (B) The Transit Authority has submitted a 

13 report to the Committee on Government Re14 form of the House of Representatives and the 

15 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern16 mental Affairs of the Senate on the costs and 

17 benefits associated with the disposition of the 

18 property, the impact of the disposition on park19 ing facilities available at the Vienna Metrorail 

20 station, and the effect of the disposition on the 

21 capacity of the Vienna Metrorail station and 

22 the entire Metrorail system. 

23 (2) PROPERTY DESCRIBED.—The property de24 scribed in this subsection consists of approximately 

25 3.75 acres located in Fairfax County, Virginia, and 
15

•HR 3496 EH 

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

2 the Fairfax County tax map: 

3 (A) Parcel 48—1((1)), 90 Portion. 

4 (B) Parcel 48—1((1)), 91B Portion. 

5 (C) Parcel 48—1((6)), 7A. 

6 (D) Parcel 48—1((6)), 8B. 

7 (E) Parcel 48—1((24)), 38A. 

8 (b) CONDITIONS FOR DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN

9 PROPERTY.—

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

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

12 property described in paragraph (2) unless the 

13 Transit Authority meets each of the following condi14 tions: 

15 (A) The Transit Authority has met with 

16 the Mayor and members of the Council of the 

17 City of Takoma Park, Maryland, and commu18 nity representatives to discuss each of the fol19 lowing issues related to the disposition of such 

20 property: 

21 (i) The movement of buses and other 

22 vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles to and 

23 from the Takoma Park Metrorail station. 

24 (ii) The provision of bus bays, based 

25 on recommendations of the Transit Au-
16

•HR 3496 EH 

1 thority and the Maryland Transit Adminis2 tration’s Ride-On program. 

3 (iii) The enhancement of public green 

4 space on the property, based on the Cen5 tral District Plan for Takoma DC. 

6 (B) The Transit Authority will work with 

7 residents and elected officials of Takoma Park, 

8 Maryland, and the Takoma area of the District 

9 of Columbia throughout the planning phase of 

10 the development of such property. 

11 (C) The Transit Authority has submitted a 

12 statement to the Committee on Government Re13 form of the House of Representatives and the 

14 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern15 mental Affairs of the Senate certifying that the 

16 Transit Authority has met the conditions de17 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

18 (2) PROPERTY DESCRIBED.—The property de19 scribed in this paragraph consists of Lots 820, 821, 

20 822, 823, 829, 831, 832, 833, 839, 840, 841, 845, 

21 846, 847, 848, 849, 850, and 851 in Square 3352 

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

23 District of Columbia Real Property Assessment 

24 Database. 
17

•HR 3496 EH 

1 (c) RESTRICTIONS ON DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN

2 PROPERTIES.—

3 (1) RESTRICTION.—The Transit Authority may 

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

5 property described in paragraph (2) other than in 

6 accordance with a development plan for the property 

7 which meets the following requirements: 

8 (A) The plan shall require that any portion 

9 of the property used for residential purposes 

10 shall be used only for owner-occupied, multi11 family dwellings. 

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

13 a portion of the property for commercial pur14 poses. 

15 (C) The plan shall be developed in con16 sultation with appropriate representatives of the 

17 local governments and communities for the area 

18 in which the property is located. 

19 (2) PROPERTY DESCRIBED.—The property de20 scribed in this paragraph is any real property of the 

21 Transit Authority which is located within one mile 

22 of the Largo Town Center Metro Rail Station. 

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

24 as specifically provided, nothing in this section may be 

25 construed to affect any law, rule, or regulation governing 
18

•HR 3496 EH 

1 the development or disposition of real property of the 

2 Transit Authority. 

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

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

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

6 18 of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 

7 (as added by this Act). 

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

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

10 submit a report to the Committee on Government Reform 

11 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

12 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen13 ate on the study conducted under subsection (a).

Passed the House of Representatives July 17, 2006. 

Attest:

Clerk.