II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2439 

To establish a pilot toll credit marketplace program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2018 

Mrs. SHAHEEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot toll credit marketplace 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TOLL CREDIT MARKETPLACE PILOT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro9 gram’’ means the toll credit marketplace pilot pro10 gram established under subsection (b). 


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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Transportation. 

3 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean4 ing given the term in section 101 of title 23, United 

5 States Code. 

6 (4) TOLL CREDIT.—The term ‘‘toll credit’’ 

7 means the credit that can be used toward the non8 Federal share requirement under section 120(i) of 

9 title 23, United States Code. 

10 (5) TOLL CREDIT MARKETPLACE.—The term 

11 ‘‘toll credit marketplace’’ means a market in which 

12 toll credits can be purchased and sold by States par13 ticipating in the pilot program. 

14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es16 tablish and implement a pilot program to develop a toll 

17 credit marketplace for States to buy and sell toll credits. 

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

19 are— 

20 (1) to identify whether a monetary value can be 

21 assigned to toll credits; 

22 (2) to identify the discounted rate of toll credits 

23 for cash; 

24 (3) to determine if the purchase of toll credits 

25 by States provides the purchasing State budget flexiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 20, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2439.IS S2439

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1 bility to deal with funding issues, including off-sys2 tem needs, transit systems with high operating costs, 

3 or cash flow issues; and 

4 (4) to test the feasibility of expanding the toll 

5 credit market to allow all States to participate on a 

6 permanent basis. 

7 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out the pilot pro8 gram, the Secretary— 

9 (1) shall establish procedures for a toll credit 

10 marketplace; 

11 (2) shall establish an online platform that al12 lows participating States to offer and bid on toll 

13 credit purchases; 

14 (3) not later than 90 days after the date of en15 actment of this Act, shall provide notice to States 

16 that the Federal Highway Administration is request17 ing participants for the pilot program; 

18 (4) shall allow to participate in the pilot pro19 gram— 

20 (A) a State that maintains a toll credit 

21 balance accumulated before the date of enact22 ment of this Act; 

23 (B) a State that does not maintain infra24 structure for the collection of toll credits; and 


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1 (C) a State that has not accumulated a toll 

2 credit balance; and 

3 (5) shall not allow a State to purchase or sell 

4 toll credits in an amount that is less than 10 percent 

5 of the value of the toll credit value if applied as a 

6 non-Federal share requirement under section 

7 120(i)(1) of title 23, United States Code. 

8 (e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after notice of the pilot program is provided to the 

11 States under subsection (d)(3), the Secretary shall 

12 submit to the Committee on Transportation and In13 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the 

14 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

15 Senate a report on the progress of the toll credit 

16 marketplace. 

17 (2) STATE REPORT.—Not later than 30 days 

18 after a purchase or sale in the toll credit market19 place under the pilot program— 

20 (A) a State selling toll credits shall provide 

21 to the Secretary information on the transaction, 

22 including— 

23 (i) the amount of cash received; 

24 (ii) the value of toll credits sold; 

25 (iii) the intended use of the cash; and 


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1 (iv) the remaining toll credit balance 

2 of the State; and 

3 (B) a State purchasing toll credits shall 

4 provide to the Secretary information on— 

5 (i) the value of toll credits purchased; 

6 (ii) the anticipated use of the toll 

7 credits; and 

8 (iii) plans for maintenance of effort 

9 for spending on Federal-aid highway 

10 projects. 

11 (3) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

12 after notice of the pilot program is provided to the 

13 States under subsection (d)(3) and each year there14 after that the pilot program is in effect, the Sec15 retary shall— 

16 (A) submit to the Committee on Transpor17 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep18 resentatives and the Committee on Environ19 ment and Public Works of the Senate a report 

20 that— 

21 (i) evaluates whether a toll credit 

22 marketplace is viable; 

23 (ii) describes the buying and selling 

24 activities of the toll credit marketplace; 


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1 (iii) determines the monetary value of 

2 toll credits; 

3 (iv) evaluates whether the pilot pro4 gram could be expanded to more States or 

5 all States; and 

6 (v) provides updated information on 

7 the toll credit balance accumulated by each 

8 State; and 

9 (B) makes the report under subparagraph 

10 (A) publicly available on the website of the Sec11 retary. 

12 (f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Except as provided 

13 in subsection (i)(2), a State participating in the toll credit 

14 marketplace shall be subject to section 120(i)(2) of title 

15 23, United States Code. 

16 (g) USE OF FUNDS RECEIVED FOR THE SALE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds 

18 from the sale of a toll credit may use the funds only 

19 for a project eligible for assistance under chapter 1 

20 of title 23, United States Code, or chapter 53 of 

21 title 49, United States Code. 

22 (2) CERTIFICATION.—Before expending any 

23 funds received in exchange for a toll credit, the 

24 State shall— 


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1 (A) provide to the Secretary a certification 

2 that the funds will be used as described in 

3 paragraph (1); and 

4 (B) receive approval from the Secretary 

5 under paragraph (3). 

6 (3) APPROVAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

7 the receipt of a certification under paragraph (2), 

8 the Secretary shall send a notice of decision to the 

9 State that— 

10 (A) approves the certification; or 

11 (B)(i) disapproves the certification; and 

12 (ii) includes an explanation of the grounds 

13 for disapproval and recommendations for ad14 dressing the deficiencies. 

15 (4) APPEAL.—If the Secretary disapproves the 

16 certification under paragraph (3)(B)— 

17 (A) not later than 30 days after a State 

18 receives a notice of decision disapproving the 

19 certification, the State may ask the Secretary to 

20 reconsider the decision; and 

21 (B) not later than 60 days after the Sec22 retary receives a request to reconsider under 

23 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall review 

24 the request and make a determination. 


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1 (h) METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION AND

2 LOCAL GOVERNMENT TOLL CREDIT ALLOCATION.— 

3 (1) PURCHASE OF TOLL CREDITS.—On request 

4 of a metropolitan planning organization or local gov5 ernment in the State, and with a timely payment of 

6 the amount of the toll credits, a State may purchase 

7 toll credits under this section on behalf of the metro8 politan planning organization or local government. 

9 (2) ALLOCATION OF TOLL CREDITS.—On ap10 proval of the relevant metropolitan planning organi11 zation or local government, a State may allocate toll 

12 credits purchased by the State for use by the metro13 politan planning organization or local government. 

14 (i) LIMITATION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR

15 THE PURCHASE OF TOLL CREDITS.— 

16 (1) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL FUNDS.—A 

17 State, metropolitan planning organization, or local 

18 government may not use Federal funds to purchase 

19 toll credits on the toll credit marketplace. 

20 (2) USE OF TOLL CREDITS.—A State may use 

21 toll credits purchased under this section to meet not 

22 more than 10 percent of the non-Federal share re23 quirement for any funds made available to carry out 

24 chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, or chapter 


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1 53 of title 49, United States Code, for each fiscal 

2 year. 

3 (j) GAO REPORT.—After the end of the first year 

4 during which the toll credit marketplace is in operation, 

5 the Comptroller General of the United States shall— 

6 (1) conduct a study on the performance of the 

7 toll credit marketplace; and 

8 (2) submit to Congress a report that includes— 

9 (A) a determination as to whether the pilot 

10 program is successful; and 

11 (B) any recommendations on how to im12 prove the pilot program. 

13 (k) SUNSET.—The pilot program shall terminate on 

14 September 30, 2020. 

Æ 


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