I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7962 

To amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to improve public understanding of how transportation investments are made by public agencies 

through establishing greater transparency and accountability processes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 7, 2020 

Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to improve 

public understanding of how transportation investments 

are made by public agencies through establishing greater 

transparency and accountability processes. 

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 Planning 

5 Enhancement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING. 

2 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PLAN.— 

3 Section 134(i) of title 23, United States Code, is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as 

6 paragraphs (8) and (9); and 

7 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(7) PROJECT SELECTION TRANSPARENCY AND

10 ACCOUNTABILITY.—Projects included in the adopted 

11 transportation plan shall be selected through a pub12 licly available transparent process that includes use 

13 of criteria that directly support factors in subsection 

14 (h), the national transportation goals under section 

15 150(b), and applicable State transportation goals. 

16 The criteria shall be used to publicly categorize the 

17 highest performing projects.’’. 

18 (b) METROPOLITAN TIP.—Section 134(j)(2)(A) of 

19 title 23, United States Code is amended by adding after 

20 the period at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘Projects included in the priority list shall come from 

22 the highest performing category of projects identified in 

23 the transportation plan under subsection (i)(7). If a lower24 categorized project is included in the priority project list, 

25 a public description shall be included to explain why the 

26 lower-categorized project is included before a higher-catVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:48 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7962.IH H7962

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1 egorized project, including geographic balance and 

2 projects in economically distressed areas.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. STATEWIDE AND NONMETROPOLITAN TRANSPOR4 TATION PLANNING. 

5 (a) LONG-RANGE STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION

6 PLAN.—Section 135(f) of title 23, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para9 graph (10); and 

10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(9) PROJECT SELECTION TRANSPARENCY AND

13 ACCOUNTABILITY.—Projects included in the adopted 

14 long-range statewide transportation plan shall be se15 lected through a publicly available transparent proc16 ess that includes use of criteria that directly support 

17 factors in subsection (d), the national transportation 

18 goals under section 150(b), and applicable State 

19 transportation goals. The criteria shall be used to 

20 publicly categorize the highest performing projects.’’. 

21 (b) STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT

22 PLAN.—Section 135(g)(5)(A) of title 23, United States 

23 Code is amended by adding after the period at the end 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘Projects included in the transportation improvement 

2 program shall come from the highest performing category 

3 of projects identified in the transportation plan under sub4 section (f)(9). If a lower-categorized project is included in 

5 the priority project list, a public description shall be in6 cluded to explain why the lower-categorized project is in7 cluded before a higher-categorized project, including geo8 graphic balance and projects in economically distressed 

9 areas.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING. 

11 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PLAN.— 

12 Section 5303(i) of chapter 53 of title 49, United States 

13 Code, is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as 

15 paragraphs (8) and (9); and 

16 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(7) PROJECT SELECTION TRANSPARENCY AND

19 ACCOUNTABILITY.—Projects included in the adopted 

20 transportation plan shall be selected through a pub21 licly available transparent process that includes use 

22 of criteria that directly support factors in subsection 

23 (h), the national transportation goals under section 

24 150(b), and applicable State transportation goals. 


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1 The criteria shall be used to publicly categorize the 

2 highest performing projects.’’. 

3 (b) METROPOLITAN TIP.—Section 5303(j)(2)(A) of 

4 chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code is amended by 

5 adding after the period at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘Projects included in the priority list shall come from 

7 the highest performing category of projects identified in 

8 the transportation plan under subsection (i)(7). If a lower9 categorized project is included in the priority project list, 

10 a public description shall be included to explain why the 

11 lower-categorized project is included before a higher-cat12 egorized project, including geographic balance and 

13 projects in economically distressed areas.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. STATEWIDE AND NONMETROPOLITAN TRANSPOR15 TATION PLANNING. 

16 (a) LONG-RANGE STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION

17 PLAN.—Section 5304(f) of chapter 53 of title 49, United 

18 States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para20 graph (10); and 

21 (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(9) PROJECT SELECTION TRANSPARENCY AND

24 ACCOUNTABILITY.—Projects included in the adopted 

25 long-range statewide transportation plan shall be seVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:48 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7962.IH H7962

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1 lected through a publicly available transparent proc2 ess that includes use of criteria that directly support 

3 factors in subsection (d), the national transportation 

4 goals under section 150(b), and applicable State 

5 transportation goals. The criteria shall be used to 

6 publicly categorize the highest performing projects.’’. 

7 (b) STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT

8 PLAN.—Section 5304(g)(5)(A) of chapter 53 of title 49, 

9 United States Code, is amended by adding after the period 

10 at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘Projects included in the statewide transportation 

12 improvement program shall come from the highest per13 forming category of projects identified in the transpor14 tation plan under subsection (f)(9). If a lower-categorized 

15 project is included in the priority project list, a public de16 scription shall be included to explain why the lower-cat17 egorized project is included before a higher-categorized 

18 project, including geographic balance and projects in eco19 nomically distresses areas.’’. 

Æ 


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