I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2882

To reduce traffic congestion, promote economic development, and improve 

the quality of life in the metropolitan Washington region. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2003

Mr. MORAN of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To reduce traffic congestion, promote economic development, 

and improve the quality of life in the metropolitan Washington region.

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 ‘‘Metropolitan Wash5 ington Regional Transportation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) congestion is a serious problem in the met9 ropolitan Washington region, as evidenced by recent 

10 studies that have found that congestion costs each 
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1 man, woman, and child in the region close to $655 

2 per year (or an average of $1,595 per year for each 

3 rush-hour driver) in lost time, wasted fuel, and envi4 ronmental damage; 

5 (2) in the past, regional leaders have success6 fully worked together to address important transpor7 tation needs, through such institutions as the Metro8 politan Washington Airports Authority, the Wash9 ington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and the 

10 National Capital Region Transportation Planning 

11 Board at the Metropolitan Washington Council of 

12 Governments; 

13 (3) even greater regional cooperation is needed 

14 to prevent congestion in the metropolitan Wash15 ington region from worsening, in light of predictions 

16 that there will be a 31 percent increase in popu17 lation, a 41 percent increase in employment, and a 

18 46 percent increase in vehicle miles traveled in the 

19 region over the next 25 years; 

20 (4) while transportation needs will grow signifi21 cantly over the next 25 years, spending is expected 

22 to fall short of transportation needs over the same 

23 period by more than $43.5 billion, even with ex24 pected increases in Federal and State spending; 
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1 (5) none of the existing metropolitan-wide 

2 transportation agencies within the metropolitan 

3 Washington region has the necessary powers, au4 thorities, and resources to meet the current and fu5 ture transportation needs of the region; 

6 (6) the failure to meet the transportation needs 

7 of the metropolitan Washington region will under8 mine the quality of life of the residents of the region, 

9 degrade the natural environment, and adversely af10 fect the ability of Federal agencies and private sec11 tor businesses to operate effectively and efficiently; 

12 (7) the transportation challenges faced by the 

13 metropolitan Washington region are unique and de14 serve the attention of Congress because of the pres15 ence of the Federal Government within the region 

16 and because of the intersection of 3 jurisdictions, 

17 consisting of 2 States and the District of Columbia, 

18 within a single metropolitan area; 

19 (8) the National Capital Region Transportation 

20 Planning Board at the Metropolitan Washington 

21 Council of Governments, the designated metropolitan 

22 planning organization for planning and program23 ming Federal transit and highway funds provided to 

24 the metropolitan Washington region, is updating the 
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1 long-range plan for the region to meet transpor2 tation needs in the coming decades; and 

3 (9) with Federal assistance, the Board can 

4 more effectively promote regional agreement on how 

5 to finance and implement its long-range plan to 

6 meet the transportation needs of the metropolitan 

7 Washington region. 

8 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

9 The purposes of this Act are—

10 (1) to provide a new option to help the metro11 politan Washington region more effectively address 

12 its transportation needs; 

13 (2) to empower the National Capital Region 

14 Transportation Planning Board to consult with the 

15 metropolitan Washington region jurisdictions and 

16 the public to achieve consensus on a list of critical 

17 transportation projects and a funding mechanism 

18 that are needed to address the growing congestion 

19 crisis in the region but cannot be funded within the 

20 current and forecasted Federal, State, and local 

21 funding levels for such projects; 

22 (3) to establish a Corporation with the power to 

23 accept revenue and issue debt, and to accept and 

24 distribute Federal grants, to provide funding for 

25 projects that have been agreed to by the region; 
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1 (4) to grant consent to the metropolitan Wash2 ington region jurisdictions to enter into an interstate 

3 compact or agreement that would help meet the re4 gion’s long-term transportation needs; and 

5 (5) to supplement Federal grants to the region 

6 and promote consensus on a regional funding mech7 anism. 

8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Na11 tional Capital Region Transportation Planning 

12 Board at the Metropolitan Washington Council of 

13 Governments. 

14 (2) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’ 

15 means the Metropolitan Washington Regional 

16 Transportation Corporation established by section 

17 6(a). 

18 (3) METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON REGION; RE19 GION.—The term ‘‘metropolitan Washington region’’ 

20 or ‘‘region’’ means the area that is—

21 (A) located in the area including and sur22 rounding Washington, District of Columbia; 

23 and

24 (B) under the jurisdiction of the members 

25 of the Board. 
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1 (4) METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON REGION JU2 RISDICTION.—The term ‘‘metropolitan Washington 

3 region jurisdiction’’ means a jurisdiction represented 

4 by a member of the Board. 

5 (5) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means any 

6 effort to reduce traffic congestion or improve travel 

7 options in the metropolitan Washington region, in8 cluding—

9 (A) the design, construction, and mainte10 nance of facilities or services; 

11 (B) the operation of such facilities; 

12 (C) the provision of services; 

13 (D) the deployment of demand reduction 

14 and traffic management measures; and 

15 (E) any effort to improve coordination of 

16 transportation planning and land use planning. 

17 (6) SIGNATORY.—The term ‘‘signatory’’ means 

18 a metropolitan Washington region jurisdiction that 

19 enters into an interstate compact or agreement 

20 under section 5(d). 

21 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE BOARD. 

22 (a) DUTIES.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall—

24 (A) allocate Federal funds received by the 

25 Board among projects of regional significance; 
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1 (B)(i) propose a list of priority transpor2 tation projects that—

3 (I) are needed to address the growing 

4 congestion crisis in the metropolitan Wash5 ington region; and 

6 (II) cannot be funded with Federal, 

7 State, and local transportation funds that 

8 are projected to be made available for the 

9 metropolitan Washington region; 

10 (ii) propose a regional funding mechanism 

11 to fund the needed projects; and 

12 (iii) manage the Corporation to provide 

13 funding for regional transportation projects; 

14 (C) provide notice and opportunity for 

15 comment on its efforts under this Act by metro16 politan Washington region jurisdictions and the 

17 public; 

18 (D) conduct outreach and education activi19 ties to promote public participation; 

20 (E) promote cooperative action by metro21 politan Washington region jurisdictions on re22 gional transportation issues; and 

23 (F) if necessary, assist metropolitan Wash24 ington region jurisdictions in developing an 
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1 interstate compact or agreement to better meet 

2 regional transportation needs. 

3 (2) LIMITATIONS.—The Board shall not have 

4 the power to—

5 (A) impose a tax; or 

6 (B) preempt any Federal, State, or local 

7 law (including a regulation). 

8 (b) BOARD SUPPORT.—The Board shall use staff of 

9 the Board and may employ such additional personnel and 

10 agents as are necessary to carry out this Act, including 

11 public outreach staff to meet the public participation re12 quirements of titles 23 and 49, United States Code. 

13 (c) TIMETABLE.—The Board shall—

14 (1) develop and publish a first draft proposal 

15 listing regional projects and regional funding mecha16 nisms not later than 210 days after the date of en17 actment of this Act; 

18 (2) provide an opportunity for public comment 

19 on the first draft proposal during the period begin20 ning on the date of publication of the first draft pro21 posal and ending not earlier than 90 days after that 

22 date; 

23 (3) not later than 2 years after the date of en24 actment of this Act, develop and publish a final pro25 posal; and 
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1 (4) prior to implementation of any regional 

2 project or regional funding mechanism included in 

3 the final proposal, obtain approval of the final pro4 posal from—

5 (A) the Governor of the State of Virginia; 

6 (B) the Governor of the State of Maryland; 

7 and 

8 (C) the Mayor of the District of Columbia. 

9 (d) INTERSTATE COMPACT OR AGREEMENT.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

11 Congress grants consent to 1 or more of the metro12 politan Washington region jurisdictions to enter into 

13 an interstate compact or agreement to finance and 

14 implement 1 or more of the priority projects from 

15 the long-range plan of the Board, if consent is 

16 granted by—

17 (A) the Governor of each State that enters 

18 into the compact or agreement; and 

19 (B) if the District of Columbia enters into 

20 the compact or agreement, the Mayor of the 

21 District of Columbia. 

22 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The interstate compact 

23 or agreement shall—
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1 (A) include a list of regional transportation 

2 projects and a regional funding mechanism to 

3 fund the projects; and

4 (B) include a time limit of not more than 

5 2 years for approval by the metropolitan Wash6 ington region jurisdictions. 

7 (e) PLANNING PROCESS.—In carrying out this Act, 

8 the Board shall—

9 (1) comply with the planning requirements of 

10 titles 23 and 49, United States Code; and 

11 (2)(A) ensure that the public has a full oppor12 tunity to participate in the planning process; and 

13 (B) work with citizen advisory committees rep14 resenting all points of view, including business, envi15 ronmental, transportation, senior citizens, youth, 

16 disabled, and neighborhood associations. 

17 SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF LONG-RANGE PLAN FOR THE 

18 METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON REGION. 

19 (a) METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON REGIONAL TRANS20 PORTATION CORPORATION.—

21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

22 Metropolitan Washington Regional Transportation 

23 Corporation.

24 (2) GENERAL POWERS.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall 

2 be a body corporate and politic, and an instru3 mentality of the Board, having the powers and 

4 jurisdiction described in this Act and such addi5 tional powers as are conferred on the Corpora6 tion by the Board, to the extent that the addi7 tional powers are consistent with this Act. 

8 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—The Corporation 

9 shall be governed in accordance with this Act 

10 and shall be subject to such other provisions as 

11 the Board determines to be appropriate. 

12 (3) GENERAL LIMITATIONS.—The Corporation 

13 shall not have the power to—

14 (A) impose a tax; or 

15 (B) preempt any Federal, State, or local 

16 law (including a regulation). 

17 (4) DUTIES.—The Corporation shall assist in 

18 the management of any initial funding and imple19 mentation plan agreed to by the signatories. 

20 (5) PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY.—

21 (A) PUBLIC NOTICE AND PARTICIPA22 TION.—The Corporation shall be subject to the 

23 requirements of chapter 5 of title 5, United 

24 States Code, concerning public notice of, and 
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1 participation at, all meetings of the Corpora2 tion. 

3 (B) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.—

4 The Corporation shall be considered to be an 

5 agency for the purpose of compliance with re6 quests under section 552 of title 5, United 

7 States Code. 

8 (C) COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS GOVERNING

9 TRANSPORTATION.—Projects funded by the 

10 Corporation shall be considered to be federally 

11 funded projects subject to—

12 (i) the National Historic Preservation 

13 Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.); 

14 (ii) the National Environmental Policy 

15 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

16 (iii) the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 7401 et seq.); and 

18 (iv) section 303 of title 49, United 

19 States Code. 

20 (6) EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS.—In assessing the 

21 impact of projects under consideration for funding, 

22 the Corporation shall use analytical tools consistent 

23 with state-of-the-art practices, in accordance with 

24 applicable Federal regulations and guidance. 
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1 (7) POWERS.—The Corporation shall have the 

2 power—

3 (A) to acquire personal and real property 

4 (including land lying under water and riparian 

5 rights), or any easement or other interest in 

6 real property, by purchase, lease, gift, transfer, 

7 or exchange; 

8 (B) to apply for and accept any property, 

9 material, service, payment, appropriation, 

10 grant, gift, loan, advance, or other fund that is 

11 transferred or made available to the Corpora12 tion by the Federal Government or by any other 

13 public or private entity or individual; 

14 (C) to borrow money on a short-term basis 

15 and issue notes of the Corporation for the bor16 rowing payable on such terms and conditions as 

17 the Corporation considers advisable, and to 

18 issue long-term or short-term tax-exempt bonds 

19 in the discretion of the Corporation for any 

20 purpose consistent with this Act, which notes 

21 and bonds—

22 (i) shall not constitute—

23 (I) a debt of the United States 

24 (or any political subdivision of the 

25 United States); or 
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1 (II) a general obligation of a 

2 metropolitan Washington region juris3 diction (or any political subdivision of 

4 a metropolitan Washington region ju5 risdiction), unless consented to by the 

6 jurisdiction (or political subdivision); 

7 and 

8 (ii) may be secured solely by the gen9 eral revenues of the Corporation or by 

10 other revenues in the discretion of the Cor11 poration; 

12 (D) to permit single-occupancy vehicles to 

13 travel on high-occupancy lanes in the region, 

14 if—

15 (i) the affected signatory or signato16 ries consent to charge tolls to single-occu17 pancy vehicles given access to high-occu18 pancy lanes; 

19 (ii) the toll can be implemented in a 

20 way that does not reduce the level of serv21 ice; and 

22 (iii) the affected signatory or signato23 ries consent to use the toll revenues for re24 gional transportation projects; 
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1 (E) to enter into any contract or agree2 ment appropriate to the performance of the du3 ties of the Corporation; 

4 (F) to enter into partnerships or grant 

5 concessions between the public and private sec6 tors for the purpose of—

7 (i) financing, constructing, maintain8 ing, improving, or operating regional trans9 portation facilities in the metropolitan 

10 Washington region; or 

11 (ii) fostering development of a new 

12 transportation technology; 

13 (G) to obtain any necessary Federal au14 thorization, permit, or approval for the con15 struction, repair, maintenance, or operation of 

16 regional transportation facilities in the metro17 politan Washington region; 

18 (H) to adopt an official seal and alter the 

19 seal, as the Corporation considers to be appro20 priate; 

21 (I) to appoint 1 or more advisory commit22 tees; 

23 (J) to sue and be sued in the name of the 

24 Corporation;
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1 (K) to contract with State or local govern2 ments, or other entities, to carry out such 

3 maintenance of traffic activities during con4 struction of regional transportation facilities in 

5 the metropolitan Washington region as are con6 sidered to be necessary by the Corporation to 

7 properly manage traffic and minimize conges8 tion, such as—

9 (i) public information campaigns; 

10 (ii) improvements designed to encour11 age appropriate use of alternative routes; 

12 (iii) use of high occupancy vehicles 

13 and transit services; and 

14 (iv) deployment and operation of intel15 ligent transportation system technologies; 

16 (L) to carry out any activity appropriate to 

17 the exercise of the powers or performance of the 

18 duties of the Corporation under this Act and 

19 under any interstate compact or agreement re20 lating to the Corporation that is consistent with 

21 this Act, if the activity is coordinated and con22 sistent with the transportation planning process 

23 implemented by the metropolitan planning orga24 nization for the metropolitan Washington re25 gion under section 134 of title 23, United 
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1 States Code, and section 5303 of title 49, 

2 United States Code; and 

3 (M) to work with the metropolitan Wash4 ington region jurisdictions to improve coordina5 tion of transportation planning and land use 

6 planning. 

7 (b) REPORTS.—The Secretary of Transportation 

8 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and In9 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the Com10 mittee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate—

11 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en12 actment of this Act, an interim report on the 

13 progress of the Board in developing cooperative 

14 transportation plans and regional funding mecha15 nisms to meet transportation needs in the metropoli16 tan Washington region; and 

17 (2) not later than 3 years after the date of en18 actment of this Act, a final report on the results of 

19 the actions of the Board in developing cooperative 

20 transportation plans and regional funding mecha21 nisms to meet transportation needs in the metropoli22 tan Washington region. 

23 SEC. 7. MAINTENANCE OF FUNDING AND EFFORT. 

24 The funding provided under any regional transpor25 tation program developed under this Act shall supplement 
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1 (and not supplant) other Federal, State, and local trans2 portation funding for the metropolitan Washington region 

3 jurisdictions. In using funds provided under this Act, a 

4 metropolitan Washington region jurisdiction shall main5 tain the expenditures of the jurisdiction for transportation 

6 in the metropolitan Washington region, at a level that is 

7 not less than the level of the expenditures maintained by 

8 the jurisdiction for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year 

9 for which the funds are received. 

10 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro12 priated to the Secretary of Transportation out of the 

13 Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Ac14 count)—

15 (1) for transportation projects of regional sig16 nificance to be selected by the Board $100,000,000 

17 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2006; and 

18 (2) for non-motorized recreational trails 

19 projects to be selected by the Board $5,000,000 for 

20 each of fiscal years 2004 through 2006. 

21 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES AND OUTREACH.—

22 Of the funds made available under this section, the Board 

23 may set aside—

24 (1) not to exceed $100,000 per fiscal year for 

25 salaries and administrative expenses of experts in fi-
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1 nancing and developing interstate compacts or 

2 agreements; and 

3 (2) not to exceed $200,000 per fiscal year to 

4 support a collaborative planning process, to dissemi5 nate information to the public, and to pay the sala6 ries and administrative expenses of public outreach 

7 staff. 

8 (c) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—Funds authorized to 

9 carry out this section shall be available for obligation in 

10 the same manner as if the funds were apportioned under 

11 chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code; except that the 

12 Federal share of the cost of a project under subsection 

13 (a) shall be 75 percent.

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