I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2340 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a toll credit exchange 

pilot program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 1, 2021 

Mr. PAPPAS (for himself, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, and Mr. 

MALINOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 

toll credit exchange pilot program, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Toll Credit Market5 place Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSFER AND SALE OF TOLL CREDITS. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) ORIGINATING STATE.—The term ‘‘origi9 nating State’’ means a State that— 


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1 (A) is eligible to use a credit under section 

2 120(i) of title 23, United States Code; and 

3 (B) has been selected by the Secretary 

4 under subsection (d)(2). 

5 (2) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro6 gram’’ means the pilot program established under 

7 subsection (b). 

8 (3) RECIPIENT STATE.—The term ‘‘recipient 

9 State’’ means a State that receives a credit by trans10 fer or by sale under this section from an originating 

11 State. 

12 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean13 ing given the term in section 101(a) of title 23, 

14 United States Code. 

15 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.—The Sec16 retary of Transportation shall establish and implement a 

17 toll credit exchange pilot program in accordance with this 

18 section. 

19 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the pilot program 

20 are— 

21 (1) to identify the extent of the demand to pur22 chase toll credits; 

23 (2) to identify the cash price of toll credits 

24 through bilateral transactions between States; 


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1 (3) to analyze the impact of the purchase or 

2 sale of toll credits on transportation expenditures; 

3 (4) to test the feasibility of expanding the pilot 

4 program to allow all States to participate on a per5 manent basis; and 

6 (5) to identify any other repercussions of the 

7 toll credit exchange. 

8 (d) SELECTION OF ORIGINATING STATES.— 

9 (1) APPLICATION.—In order to participate in 

10 the pilot program as an originating State, a State 

11 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 

12 time, in such manner, and containing such informa13 tion as the Secretary may require, including, at a 

14 minimum, such information as is required for the 

15 Secretary to verify— 

16 (A) the amount of unused toll credits for 

17 which the State has submitted certification to 

18 the Secretary that are available to be sold or 

19 transferred under the pilot program, includ20 ing— 

21 (i) toll revenue generated and the 

22 sources of that revenue; 

23 (ii) toll revenue used by public, quasi24 public, and private agencies to build, im25 prove, or maintain highways, bridges, or 


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1 tunnels that serve the public purpose of 

2 interstate commerce; and 

3 (iii) an accounting of any Federal 

4 funds used by the public, quasi-public, or 

5 private agency to build, improve, or main6 tain the toll facility, to validate that the 

7 credit has been reduced by a percentage 

8 equal to the percentage of the total cost of 

9 building, improving, or maintaining the fa10 cility that was derived from Federal funds; 

11 (B) the documentation of maintenance of 

12 effort for toll credits earned by the originating 

13 State; and 

14 (C) the accuracy of the accounting system 

15 of the State to earn and track toll credits. 

16 (2) SELECTION.—Of the States that submit an 

17 application under paragraph (1), the Secretary may 

18 select not more than 10 States to be designated as 

19 an originating State. 

20 (3) LIMITATION ON SALES.—At any time, the 

21 Secretary may limit the amount of unused toll cred22 its that may be offered for sale under the pilot pro23 gram. 

24 (e) TRANSFER OR SALE OF CREDITS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot 

2 program, the Secretary shall provide that an origi3 nating State may transfer or sell to a recipient State 

4 a credit not previously used by the originating State 

5 under section 120(i) of title 23, United States Code. 

6 (2) WEBSITE SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall 

7 make available a publicly accessible website on which 

8 originating States shall post the amount of toll cred9 its, verified under subsection (d)(1)(A), that are 

10 available for sale or transfer to a recipient State. 

11 (3) BILATERAL TRANSACTIONS.—An origi12 nating State and a recipient State may enter into a 

13 bilateral transaction to sell or transfer verified toll 

14 credits. 

15 (4) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

16 after the date on which a credit is transferred or 

17 sold, the originating State and the recipient State 

18 shall jointly submit to the Secretary a written notifi19 cation of the transfer or sale, including details on— 

20 (A) the amount of toll credits that have 

21 been sold or transferred; 

22 (B) the price paid or other value trans23 ferred in exchange for the toll credits; 

24 (C) the intended use by the recipient State 

25 of the toll credits, if known; 


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1 (D) the intended use by the originating 

2 State of the cash or other value transferred; 

3 (E) an update on the toll credit balance of 

4 the originating State and the recipient State; 

5 and 

6 (F) any other information about the trans7 action that the Secretary may require. 

8 (5) USE OF CREDITS BY TRANSFEREE OR PUR9 CHASER.—A recipient State may use a credit re10 ceived under paragraph (1) toward the non-Federal 

11 share requirement for any funds made available to 

12 carry out title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49, United 

13 States Code, in accordance with section 120(i) of 

14 title 23, United States Code. 

15 (6) USE OF PROCEEDS FROM SALE OF CRED16 ITS.—An originating State shall use the proceeds 

17 from the sale of a credit under paragraph (1) for the 

18 construction costs of any project in the originating 

19 State that is eligible under title 23, United States 

20 Code. 

21 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

23 after the date on which the pilot program is estab24 lished, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

25 on Environment and Public Works of the Senate 


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1 and the Committee on Transportation and Infra2 structure of the House of Representatives a report 

3 on the progress of the pilot program. 

4 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 

5 after the date on which the pilot program is estab6 lished, the Secretary shall— 

7 (A) submit to the Committee on Environ8 ment and Public Works of the Senate and the 

9 Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc10 ture of the House of Representatives a report 

11 that— 

12 (i) determines whether a toll credit 

13 marketplace is viable and cost-effective; 

14 (ii) describes the buying and selling 

15 activities under the pilot program; 

16 (iii) describes the average sale price of 

17 toll credits; 

18 (iv) determines whether the pilot pro19 gram could be expanded to more States or 

20 all States or to non-State operators of toll 

21 facilities; 

22 (v) provides updated information on 

23 the toll credit balance accumulated by each 

24 State; and 


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1 (vi) describes the list of projects that 

2 were assisted by the pilot program; and 

3 (B) make the report under subparagraph 

4 (A) publicly available on the website of the De5 partment. 

6 (g) TERMINATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may termi8 nate the pilot program or the participation of any 

9 State in the pilot program if the Secretary deter10 mines that— 

11 (A) the pilot program is not serving a pub12 lic benefit; or 

13 (B) it is not cost effective to carry out the 

14 pilot program. 

15 (2) PROCEDURES.—The termination of the pilot 

16 program or the participation of a State in the pilot 

17 program shall be carried out consistent with Federal 

18 requirements for project closeout, adjustment, and 

19 continuing responsibilities. 

Æ 


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