I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1329 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to support efforts by States and 

eligible local and regional entities to develop and implement plans to 

reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2009 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mrs. TAUSCHER, and Mr. LATOURETTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to support efforts 

by States and eligible local and regional entities to develop and implement plans to reduce greenhouse gas 

emissions from the transportation sector, 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 ‘‘Clean, Low-Emission, 

5 Affordable, New Transportation Efficiency Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle III of title 49, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘CHAPTER 63—TRANSPORTATION 

6 ALTERNATIVES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘6301. Definitions. 

‘‘6302. Low Greenhouse Gas Transportation Fund. 

‘‘6303. Auctioning. 

‘‘6304. Plans. 

‘‘6305. Recommendations. 

‘‘6306. Technical standards. 

‘‘6307. Report. 

‘‘6308. Funding. 

7 ‘‘§ 6301. Definitions 

8 ‘‘In this chapter: 

9 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis10 trator’ means the Administrator of the Environ11 mental Protection Agency. 

12 ‘‘(2) CHARRETTE.—The term ‘charrette’ means 

13 an open, collaborative, multi-day design session 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(A) includes a comprehensive description 

16 and discussion of proposed plans and projects; 

17 ‘‘(B) involves participation and input by 

18 stakeholders and the public; 

19 ‘‘(C) involves a collaborative process with a 

20 series of feedback loops and responses to stake21 holder and public comments; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) is designed to produce 2 or more fea2 sible transportation greenhouse gas reduction 

3 plans to be reviewed and evaluated through the 

4 stakeholder process to find the most effective 

5 option. 

6 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE REGIONAL OR LOCAL ENTITY.— 

7 The term ‘eligible regional or local entity’ means a 

8 metropolitan planning organization designated under 

9 section 134(b) of title 23, or other governmental en10 tity, multi-jurisdictional entity, or tribal agency that 

11 is responsible for transportation. 

12 ‘‘(4) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Low 

13 Greenhouse Gas Transportation Fund established 

14 under section 6302(a). 

15 ‘‘(5) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘greenhouse 

16 gas’ means carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, 

17 hydrofluorocarbons, and any other greenhouse gas or 

18 nongaseous emission that the Administrator deter19 mines should be addressed in mobile source green20 house gas reduction plans. 

21 ‘‘(6) INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL PROJECT.— 

22 The term ‘intercity passenger rail project’ has the 

23 meaning given the term ‘capital project’ in section 

24 24401. 


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1 ‘‘(7) SCENARIO ANALYSIS.—The term ‘scenario 

2 analysis’ means an analysis that is conducted by 

3 identifying different trends and making projections 

4 based on those trends to develop a range of sce5 narios and estimates of how each scenario could— 

6 ‘‘(A) improve access to goods and services, 

7 including employment, education, and 

8 healthcare (especially for the elderly and eco9 nomically disadvantaged communities); and 

10 ‘‘(B) affect rates of— 

11 ‘‘(i) motor vehicle miles traveled; 

12 ‘‘(ii) motor vehicle hours of operation; 

13 ‘‘(iii) use of petroleum-derived trans14 portation fuel; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) greenhouse gas emissions from 

16 the transportation sector. 

17 ‘‘(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

18 the Secretary of Transportation. 

19 ‘‘(9) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) any of the several States; 

21 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia; and 

22 ‘‘(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

23 ‘‘(10) TRANSPORTATION.—The term ‘transpor24 tation’ means the design, construction, operation, 

25 and maintenance of transportation infrastructure, 


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1 including highway facilities, public transit, rail, bicy2 cle, and pedestrian facilities, and other modes of 

3 transporting people, goods, and services. 

4 ‘‘§ 6302. Low Greenhouse Gas Transportation Fund 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

6 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 

7 ‘Low Greenhouse Gas Transportation Fund’, consisting of 

8 such amounts as are deposited into the Fund under sec9 tion 6303(c). Amounts deposited into the Fund may be 

10 used by the Secretary, without further appropriation, to 

11 carry out this chapter. 

12 ‘‘(b) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability 

14 of funds deposited under section 6303(c), upon the 

15 request of the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treas16 ury shall transfer from the Fund to the Secretary 

17 such amounts as the Secretary determines are nec18 essary to provide assistance for use in implementing 

19 projects under plans developed pursuant to section 

20 6308(b). 

21 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more 

22 than 5 percent of the amounts deposited in the 

23 Fund may be used to pay the administrative ex24 penses necessary to carry out this chapter. 


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1 ‘‘§ 6303. Auctioning 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For each of calendar years 2012 

3 through 2050, the Administrator shall auction 10 percent 

4 of the emission allowances established for each of those 

5 calendar years under any program in effect providing for 

6 the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and the auc7 tioning of emission allowances that is administered by the 

8 Administrator. 

9 ‘‘(b) TIMING.—The auctions required for each cal10 endar year specified in subsection (a) shall be conducted 

11 over the course of at least 4 sessions, spaced evenly over 

12 a period beginning 330 days before, and ending 60 days 

13 after, the beginning of each such calendar year. 

14 ‘‘(c) DEPOSIT OF PROCEEDS.—The Administrator 

15 shall deposit into the Fund the proceeds from each auction 

16 conducted under this section. 

17 ‘‘§ 6304. Plans 

18 ‘‘(a) GOAL.—Each State and eligible regional or local 

19 entity shall establish the goal of reducing greenhouse gas 

20 emissions from the transportation sector during the 10- 

21 year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 

22 chapter by— 

23 ‘‘(1) increasing mobility options; 

24 ‘‘(2) reducing the number of miles traveled by 

25 motor vehicle; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) reducing the use of petroleum-derived 

2 transportation fuel. 

3 ‘‘(b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of the enactment of this chapter, the Secretary, in 

5 consultation with the Administrator, shall promulgate reg6 ulations for the development of— 

7 ‘‘(1) transportation greenhouse gas reduction 

8 plans and emission reduction targets for relevant ju9 risdictions; and 

10 ‘‘(2) prioritized lists of greenhouse gas reduc11 tion projects described under this chapter. 

12 ‘‘(c) DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORTATION GREEN13 HOUSE GAS REDUCTION PLANS.—Each State and eligible 

14 regional or local entity, which represents a population, as 

15 of the most recent decennial census, of more than 200,000 

16 individuals, shall develop a transportation greenhouse gas 

17 reduction plan, and a prioritized list of projects to support 

18 the plan, that are integrated into the long-range transpor19 tation plans and transportation improvement programs re20 quired under sections 134 and 135 of title 23, of the State 

21 or eligible regional or local entity. Such plan and projects 

22 shall support the goal established by the State or eligible 

23 regional or local entity under subsection (a) by investing 

24 in— 


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1 ‘‘(1) new transit projects eligible for assistance 

2 under chapter 53 (or the expansion of operations or 

3 frequency of existing transit service); 

4 ‘‘(2) an intercity passenger rail project; 

5 ‘‘(3) sidewalks, crosswalks, bicycle paths, green6 ways, pedestrian signals, pavement marking, traffic 

7 calming techniques, modification of public sidewalks 

8 (including projects to achieve compliance with the 

9 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

10 12101 et seq.)), and other strategies to encourage 

11 pedestrian and bike travel; 

12 ‘‘(4) additional freight rail capacity; 

13 ‘‘(5) travel or demand management programs, 

14 including— 

15 ‘‘(A) carpool, vanpool, or car-share 

16 projects; 

17 ‘‘(B) congestion pricing measures; 

18 ‘‘(C) programs to promote telecommuting, 

19 flexible work schedules, or satellite work cen20 ters; and 

21 ‘‘(D) intelligent transportation systems or 

22 other operational improvements that are cer23 tified by the Administrator to reduce green24 house gas emissions; 


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1 ‘‘(6) updates to zoning and other land use regu2 lations and plans— 

3 ‘‘(A) to coordinate with local, regional, and 

4 State plans; or 

5 ‘‘(B) to support infill, transit-oriented de6 velopment, or mixed-use development; 

7 ‘‘(7) improvements in— 

8 ‘‘(A) travel and land-use data collection; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) travel models to better measure 

11 greenhouse gas emissions and emission reduc12 tions; 

13 ‘‘(8) new, local street construction that en14 hances connectivity, increases the efficiency of net15 work performance, and encourages the use of public 

16 transportation, pedestrian walkways, or bicycle 

17 lanes; or 

18 ‘‘(9) programs to reduce the greenhouse gas 

19 emissions from materials or equipment associated 

20 with the construction of transportation projects. 

21 ‘‘(d) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—Any eligible re22 gional or local entity, which represents a population, as 

23 of the most recent decennial census, of 200,000 or fewer 

24 individuals, may— 


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1 ‘‘(1) develop a transportation greenhouse gas 

2 reduction plan and a prioritized list of projects in 

3 accordance with subsection (c); and 

4 ‘‘(2) if the entity submits such plan in accord5 ance with subsection (f), receive financial assistance 

6 under section 6308. 

7 ‘‘(e) REDUCING SINGLE-OCCUPANT MOTOR VEHICLE

8 TRAVEL.—Notwithstanding subsection (c), the transpor9 tation greenhouse gas reduction plan and prioritized list 

10 of projects shall not include projects that add new general 

11 purpose vehicle lanes or otherwise add capacity for single 

12 occupant motor vehicles on the transportation network. 

13 ‘‘(f) SUBMISSION AND UPDATING.—Each transpor14 tation greenhouse gas reduction plan required under this 

15 section shall be— 

16 ‘‘(1) submitted to the Secretary not later than 

17 2 years after the date of the enactment of this chap18 ter; and 

19 ‘‘(2) updated in coordination with updates to 

20 long-range transportation plans and transportation 

21 improvement programs required under sections 134 

22 and 135 of title 23, to include an analysis regarding 

23 the achievement of the goals of the plan by the State 

24 or eligible regional or local entity, as applicable. 

25 ‘‘(g) APPROVAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 6306(b), 

2 not later than 180 days after the date of submission 

3 of a transportation greenhouse gas reduction plan 

4 under subsection (f)(1), the Administrator, with the 

5 concurrence of the Secretary, shall approve the plan 

6 if the Administrator determines that— 

7 ‘‘(A) the plan is likely to achieve the goal 

8 established by the State or eligible regional or 

9 local entity, as the case may be, under sub10 section (a); and 

11 ‘‘(B) the development of the plan targets 

12 and list of projects complies with subsection 

13 (h). 

14 ‘‘(2) PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED PLANS.—If a 

15 State or eligible regional or local entity developed a 

16 plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the 

17 transportation sector before the date of the enact18 ment of this chapter, the State or eligible regional 

19 or local entity shall be eligible to receive Federal fi20 nancial assistance under section 6308 if the Sec21 retary, in consultation with the Administrator, deter22 mines and certifies that the plan meets the require23 ments under this chapter. 

24 ‘‘(h) ANALYSIS, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT, COORDINA25 TION, CONSULTATION, AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Transportation greenhouse 

2 gas reduction plans and project lists shall be devel3 oped with— 

4 ‘‘(A) public involvement, including public 

5 comment periods and public charrettes; 

6 ‘‘(B) regional coordination, including co7 ordination between each State and— 

8 ‘‘(i) eligible regional or local entities; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the entities that develop trans10 portation greenhouse gas reduction plans; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(iii) other transportation and air 

13 quality agencies within the region in which 

14 the State is located; and 

15 ‘‘(C) consultation with representatives of— 

16 ‘‘(i) the Environmental Protection 

17 Agency; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the Department of Transpor19 tation; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) State and local housing, eco21 nomic development, and land use agencies. 

22 ‘‘(2) TRANSPORTATION EMISSION REDUCTION

23 TARGETS.—Transportation emission reduction tar24 gets, at a minimum— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall be established for the 10-year 

2 period beginning on the date of the enactment 

3 of this chapter; and 

4 ‘‘(B) shall be reestablished for every subse5 quent 10-year period until the final year for 

6 which Federal financial assistance is available 

7 under this chapter. 

8 ‘‘(3) USE OF MOST RECENT DATA.—Transpor9 tation greenhouse gas reduction plans and emission 

10 reduction targets shall be based on the most recent 

11 data and models that is available. 

12 ‘‘(4) ANALYSIS.—Transportation greenhouse 

13 gas reduction plans shall include transportation, eco14 nomic development, and scenario analysis, including 

15 an assessment of the plan’s impact on access to jobs, 

16 health care, and education, especially for elderly and 

17 economically-disadvantaged communities. 

18 ‘‘§ 6305. Recommendations 

19 ‘‘To effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 

20 the transportation sector, the Secretary and the Adminis21 trator shall contract with the Transportation Research 

22 Board of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a 

23 study and submit a report to the Administrator and the 

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1 actment of this chapter, which contains recommenda2 tions— 

3 ‘‘(1) for improving research and tools to assess 

4 the effect of State and local transportation, land 

5 use, and environmental planning on motor vehicle 

6 usage rates and transportation sector greenhouse 

7 gas emissions; 

8 ‘‘(2) for improving Federal Government data 

9 sources that are necessary to assess greenhouse gas 

10 emission data from the transportation sector for use 

11 in developing transportation greenhouse gas reduc12 tion plans under this chapter; and 

13 ‘‘(3) regarding policies and projects to effec14 tively reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the 

15 transportation sector. 

16 ‘‘§ 6306. Technical standards 

17 ‘‘(a) INITIAL STANDARDS.—Not later than 2 years 

18 after the date of the enactment of this chapter, the Sec19 retary, in consultation with the Administrator and taking 

20 into consideration any recommendations contained in the 

21 reports submitted under section 6305, shall establish 

22 standards for transportation data collection, monitoring, 

23 planning, and modeling. 

24 ‘‘(b) UPDATES.—Not later than 5 years after the es25 tablishment of standards under subsection (a), and every 


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1 5 years thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation with the 

2 Administrator, shall update such standards, as appro3 priate. 

4 ‘‘(c) EFFECT ON APPROVALS.—After standards are 

5 established under this section, the Secretary shall approve 

6 any transportation greenhouse gas reduction plan sub7 mitted under section 6304(g) that meets such standards. 

8 ‘‘§ 6307. Report 

9 ‘‘Not later than 5 years after the date of the enact10 ment of this chapter, and every 5 years thereafter, the 

11 Administrator shall submit a report to the committees of 

12 the Senate and of the House of Representatives with juris13 diction over transportation and climate change that de14 scribes— 

15 ‘‘(1) the aggregate reduction in greenhouse gas 

16 emissions from the transportation sector expected as 

17 a result of the development and implementation of 

18 the transportation greenhouse gas reduction plans; 

19 ‘‘(2) the impact of other Federal policies and 

20 programs on this chapter; 

21 ‘‘(3) changes to Federal law that could improve 

22 the performance of the transportation greenhouse 

23 gas reduction plans; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) regulatory changes planned to improve the 

2 performance of the transportation greenhouse gas 

3 reduction plans. 

4 ‘‘§ 6308. Funding, implementation, and limitations 

5 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT AND UPDATING OF PLANS AND

6 TARGETS.—The Secretary may allocate amounts depos7 ited into the Fund for a fiscal year for States, eligible re8 gional and local entities, and, if the Secretary or the Ad9 ministrator determines necessary, State or local coordi10 nating agencies. Amounts allocated under this subsection 

11 shall be used to develop and update transportation green12 house gas reduction plans and emission reduction targets 

13 under section 6304. 

14 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLANS AND TARGETS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use at 

16 least 80 percent of the amounts deposited into the 

17 Fund for each fiscal year— 

18 ‘‘(A) to support the implementation of 

19 transportation greenhouse gas reduction plans; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) to provide financial assistance to 

22 projects described in the transportation green23 house gas reduction plans as being necessary to 

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1 gible regional or local entities submitting the 

2 plans. 

3 ‘‘(2) FORMULA.—The Secretary, in coordina4 tion with the Administrator, shall establish and reg5 ularly update a formula for the allocation of 

6 amounts in accordance with paragraph (1) that— 

7 ‘‘(A) reflects the expected per capita reduc8 tion in greenhouse gas emissions expected as a 

9 result of the implementation of each transpor10 tation greenhouse gas reduction plan approved 

11 under section 6304(g); 

12 ‘‘(B) ensures that at least 60 percent of 

13 the amounts are used to implement transpor14 tation greenhouse gas reduction plans approved 

15 under section 6304(g) that are developed by eli16 gible regional or local entities; 

17 ‘‘(C) emphasizes transportation greenhouse 

18 gas reduction plans and project lists that in19 crease transportation options and mobility, par20 ticularly for low-income individuals, cost-bur21 dened households, minorities, the elderly, house22 holds without motor vehicles, and the disabled; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(D) during the 5-year period beginning 

25 on the date of the enactment of this chapter, 


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1 takes into consideration reductions in green2 house gas emissions previously achieved by 

3 States and eligible regional or local entities 

4 under transportation greenhouse gas reduction 

5 plans approved under section 6304(g). 

6 ‘‘(3) COST-BURDENED HOUSEHOLD DE7 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘cost-burdened 

8 household’ means a household that pays more than 

9 30 percent of the household’s income for housing 

10 and earns up to 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

11 threshold (as defined by the Office of Management 

12 and Budget and annually revised by the Secretary of 

13 Health and Human Services) applicable to the num14 ber of inhabitants in such household. 

15 ‘‘(4) COST SHARING.—The Federal share of the 

16 cost of a project receiving Federal financial assist17 ance under this section shall be 80 percent. 

18 ‘‘(c) WITHHOLDING FUNDS.—The Secretary may 

19 withhold any portion of the amounts allocated for a State 

20 or eligible regional or local entity for a fiscal year under 

21 this chapter if the Secretary or the Administrator deter22 mines that the State or eligible regional or local entity has 

23 not complied with the requirements under this chapter. 

24 ‘‘(d) LAND USE AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this chap25 ter may be construed to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) infringe upon the existing authority of 

2 local governments to plan or control land use; or 

3 ‘‘(2) provide or transfer authority over land use 

4 to any other entity. 

5 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary may not approve 

6 any transportation greenhouse gas reduction plan that 

7 proposes to use amounts from the Fund for a project that 

8 would be inconsistent with existing design, procurement, 

9 and construction guidelines established by the Department 

10 of Transportation. 

11 ‘‘(f) CONGESTION PRICING MEASURES.—All projects 

12 listed under section 6304(c) shall be eligible to receive 

13 amounts collected through congestion pricing measures 

14 funded under this chapter.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

16 subtitle III of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

17 by inserting after the item relating to chapter 61 the fol18 lowing: 

‘‘CHAPTER 63—TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘6301. Definitions. 

‘‘6302. Low Greenhouse Gas Transportation Fund. 

‘‘6303. Auctioning. 

‘‘6304. Plans. 

‘‘6305. Recommendations. 

‘‘6306. Technical standards. 

‘‘6307. Report. 

‘‘6308. Funding.’’. 

Æ 


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