I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2172 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself and Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot toll credit market place 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. TOLL CREDIT MARKETPLACE PILOT PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 

6 and implement a pilot program to develop a toll credit 

7 marketplace for States to buy and sell toll credits. 

8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the pilot program 

9 are— 


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

2 assigned to toll credits; 

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

4 for cash; 

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

6 by States provides the purchasing State budget flexi7 bility to deal with funding issues, including off-sys8 tem needs, transit systems with high operating costs, 

9 or cash flow issues; and 

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

11 credit market to allow all States to participate on a 

12 permanent basis. 

13 (c) ADMINISTRATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—In car14 rying out the pilot program under this Act, the Secretary, 

15 working through the Administrator of the Federal High16 way Administration, shall determine how a toll credit mar17 ketplace will work and— 

18 (1) establish an online platform that allows par19 ticipating States to offer and bid on toll credit pur20 chases; 

21 (2) not later than 90 days after the date of en22 actment of this Act, provide notice to States that the 

23 Federal Highway Administration requests partici24 pants for the toll credit marketplace; 


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1 (3) allow States that maintain a toll credit bal2 ance accumulated before the enactment of this Act 

3 and States that do not maintain infrastructure for 

4 the collection of toll credits or have not accumulated 

5 a toll credit balance to participate in the pilot pro6 gram; and 

7 (4) not allow a State to purchase or sell toll 

8 credits in an amount that is less than 5 percent of 

9 the toll credit’s value if applied as a non-Federal 

10 share requirement under section 120(i)(1) of title 

11 23, United States Code. 

12 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

14 after notice of the pilot program is provided to the 

15 States under subsection (c)(2), the Secretary shall 

16 notify the Committee on Transportation and Infra17 structure of the House of Representatives and the 

18 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

19 Senate on the progress of the toll credit market20 place. 

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

22 after a purchase or sale in the toll credit market23 place, a State selling toll credits shall provide the 

24 Administrator of the Federal Highway Administra25 tion with information on the transaction, the amount 


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1 of cash received and the value of toll credits sold, on 

2 the intended use of the cash, and an update on the 

3 State’s remaining toll credit balance. A State pur4 chasing toll credits shall provide the Administrator 

5 of the Federal Highway Administration with infor6 mation on the value of toll credits purchased, the 

7 anticipated use of the toll credits, and plans for 

8 maintaining maintenance of effort for spending on 

9 Federal-aid highways projects. 

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

11 and after notice is given under subsection (c)(2) and 

12 each year thereafter that the pilot program is in ef13 fect, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Com14 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

15 House of Representatives and the Committee on En16 vironment and Public Works of the Senate and 

17 make such report publicly available on its website 

18 that— 

19 (A) determines whether a toll credit mar20 ketplace is viable; 

21 (B) describes of the buying and selling ac22 tivities of the toll credit marketplace; 

23 (C) determines of the monetary value of 

24 toll credits; 


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1 (D) determines whether the pilot program 

2 could be expanded to more States and or all 

3 States; and 

4 (E) provides updated information on the 

5 toll credit balance accumulated by each State. 

6 (e) DEFINITIONS.— 

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

8 the Secretary of Transportation. 

9 (2) TOLL CREDIT.—The term ‘‘toll credit’’ 

10 means the credit that can be used for non-Federal 

11 share under section 120(i) of title 23, United States 

12 Code. 

13 (3) TOLL CREDIT MARKETPLACE.—The term 

14 ‘‘toll credit marketplace’’ means a market where toll 

15 credits can be purchased and sold by States partici16 pating in the pilot program. 

17 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

18 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 

19 and any territory or possession of the United States, 

20 including the Virgin Islands. 

21 (f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—A State partici22 pating in the toll credit marketplace shall continue to be 

23 subject to requirements of section 120(i)(2) of title 23, 

24 United States Code. 

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


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1 (1) CERTIFICATION.—A State receiving funds 

2 in exchange for a toll credit shall be required to cer3 tify that the proceeds will be used for highway, tran4 sit, and other related projects and must receive ap5 proval from the Federal Highway Administration be6 fore expending such funds. 

7 (2) APPROVAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

8 the receipt of a certification under paragraph (1), 

9 the Federal Highway Administration shall send a 

10 notice of decision approving or rejecting the State’s 

11 submission. A notice of disapproval shall be accom12 panied by an explanation of the grounds for dis13 approval and provide recommendations for resubmit14 ting a certification that will be approved. 

15 (3) APPEAL.—Not later than 30 days after a 

16 State receives a notice of decision to reject its sub17 mission, such State may appeal the decision to the 

18 Secretary of Transportation who, not later than 60 

19 days after receipt, shall review and adjudicate such 

20 appeal. 

21 (h) METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION AND

22 LOCAL GOVERNMENT TOLL CREDIT ALLOCATION.— 

23 (1) PURCHASE OF TOLL CREDITS.—Upon re24 quest of an interested metropolitan planning organi25 zation or local government, a State may purchase 


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1 toll credits on behalf of a metropolitan planning or2 ganization or local government upon request and 

3 timely payment of the amount of such credits by 

4 such organization or government. 

5 (2) ALLOCATION OF TOLL CREDITS.—A State 

6 purchasing toll credits without prior requests from a 

7 metropolitan planning organization or local govern8 ment may allocate those toll credits for use by a 

9 metropolitan planning organization or local govern10 ment upon approval by the board of leadership of 

11 such metropolitan planning organization or local 

12 government. 

13 (i) LIMITATION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR

14 THE PURCHASE OF TOLL CREDITS.— 

15 (1) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL FUNDS.—A 

16 State, metropolitan planning organization, or local 

17 government may not use Federal funds to purchase 

18 toll credits on the toll credit marketplace. 

19 (2) USE OF TOLL CREDITS.—Any recipient of 

20 Federal funding under Title 23 or Title 49 that pur21 chases toll credits under this Act may not use such 

22 toll credits for more than 10 percent of its annual 

23 apportionment in any fiscal year. 


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1 SEC. 2. TOLL CREDIT ELIGIBILITY AS COLLATERAL UNDER 

2 THE RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IM3 PROVEMENT FINANCING PROGRAM. 

4 Section 822(f) of title 45, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding after section 822(f)(2)(A) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(i) collateral that is eligible for use 

8 in an application includes credits earned 

9 under section 120(i) of title 23, United 

10 States Code.’’. 

Æ 


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