I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2520 

To authorize additional funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 

Authority, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 3, 2019 

Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. 

BEYER, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. WEXTON, and Mr. 

TRONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To authorize additional funding for the Washington 

Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 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 ‘‘Metro Accountability 

5 and Investment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS. 

7 Section 601(f) of the Passenger Rail Investment and 

8 Improvement Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–432; 122 

9 Stat. 4970) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(f) AMOUNT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

3 ‘‘(A) ORIGINAL FUNDING.—There are au4 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

5 Transportation for grants under this section an 

6 aggregate amount not to exceed $1,500,000,000 

7 to be available in increments over 10 fiscal 

8 years beginning in fiscal year 2009, or until ex9 pended. 

10 ‘‘(B) CONTINUATION OF FUNDING.—Sub11 ject to paragraphs (2) and (3), there are au12 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

13 Transportation for grants under this section 

14 $2,000,000,000 to be available in increments 

15 over 10 fiscal years beginning in fiscal year 

16 2020, or until expended. 

17 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTION ON USE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) OPERATING EXPENSES.— 

19 $500,000,000 of the amount described in para20 graph (1)(B) may only be used for operating 

21 expenses of the Transit Authority. 

22 ‘‘(B) INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 

23 $100,000,000 of the amount described in sub24 paragraph (A) may only be used for the Office 

25 of Inspector General of the Transit Authority. 


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1 ‘‘(3) REQUIRED MODIFICATIONS.—The Sec2 retary may not provide grants pursuant to para3 graph (1)(B) unless the Secretary certifies that the 

4 Board of Directors of the Transit Authority has 

5 passed a resolution, and is making progress imple6 menting such a resolution, that— 

7 ‘‘(A) establishes an independent budget au8 thority for the Office of Inspector General of 

9 the Transit Authority; 

10 ‘‘(B) establishes an independent procure11 ment authority for the Office of Inspector Gen12 eral of the Transit Authority; 

13 ‘‘(C) establishes an independent hiring au14 thority for the Office of Inspector General of 

15 the Transit Authority; 

16 ‘‘(D) ensures the inspector general of the 

17 Transit Authority can obtain legal advice from 

18 a counsel reporting directly to the director of 

19 such office; 

20 ‘‘(E) requires the inspector general of the 

21 Transit Authority to submit recommendations 

22 for corrective action to the General Manager, 

23 the Board of Directors of the Transit Author24 ity, and the appropriate congressional commit25 tees; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) requires the inspector general of the 

2 Transit Authority to publish any recommenda3 tion described in subparagraph (E) on the 

4 website of the Office of Inspector General of the 

5 Transit Authority, except that the Inspector 

6 General may redact personally identifiable in7 formation and information that, in the deter8 mination of the Inspector General, would pose 

9 a security risk to the systems of the Transit 

10 Authority. 

11 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN FUNDS.— 

12 The amounts described in paragraph (2) are not 

13 subject to the requirements of paragraphs (2) and 

14 (3) of subsection (b). 

15 ‘‘(5) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

16 ‘appropriate congressional committees’ means the 

17 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 

18 the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the 

19 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep20 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Hous21 ing, and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Ap22 propriations of the Senate.’’. 

23 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL GRANTS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to other funding pro25 vided to the Transit Authority pursuant to any other proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 May 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2520.IH H2520

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1 vision of law, the Secretary of Transportation may make 

2 grants to the Transit Authority for the purpose of funding 

3 the capital and preventive maintenance projects included 

4 in the Capital Improvement Program approved by the 

5 Board of Directors of the Transit Authority. 

6 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant made pursuant to this 

7 section shall be subject to the following limitations and 

8 conditions: 

9 (1) The work for which such grant is author10 ized shall be subject to the provisions of the Com11 pact, including any future amendments to the Com12 pact. 

13 (2) Each such grant shall be for 50 percent of 

14 the net project cost of the project involved, and shall 

15 be provided in cash from sources other than Federal 

16 funds or revenues from the operation of public mass 

17 transportation systems. Consistent with the terms of 

18 the amendment to the Compact, or any future 

19 amendments to such Compact, any funds so pro20 vided shall be solely from undistributed cash sur21 pluses, replacement or depreciation funds of reserves 

22 available in cash, or new capital. 

23 (c) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS FOR MASS

24 TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL PROJECTS RECEIVING FUNDS

25 UNDER FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION LAW.—Except as 


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1 specifically provided in this section, the use of any 

2 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization under 

3 this section shall be subject to the requirements applicable 

4 to capital projects for which funds are provided under 

5 chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, except to the 

6 extent the Secretary determines that the requirements are 

7 inconsistent with this Act, its purposes, or any subsequent 

8 rules of guidance issued pursuant to this Act. 

9 (d) AMOUNT AND REQUIREMENT.— 

10 (1) AMOUNT.—There is authorized to be appro11 priated to the Secretary of Transportation for grants 

12 under this section $2,000,000,000 to be available in 

13 increments over 20 fiscal years beginning in fiscal 

14 year 2020, or until expended. 

15 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may not 

16 award a grant authorized under this subsection un17 less the Secretary certifies, on an annual basis, 

18 that— 

19 (A) the Transit Authority is making 

20 progress toward goals and metrics for system 

21 performance established by the Secretary in col22 laboration with the signatories to the Compact 

23 on safety, reliability, and operation costs as 

24 measured by vehicle revenue hours; and 


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1 (B) the signatories to the Compact have 

2 established a dedicated funding source for cap3 ital projects for the Transit Authority that is 

4 expected to raise, in total, at least 

5 $300,000,000 annually. 

6 (e) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

7 to the authorization under this section shall remain avail8 able until expended. 

9 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

10 (1) the term ‘‘Transit Authority’’ means the 

11 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority es12 tablished under Article III of the Compact; and 

13 (2) the term ‘‘Compact’’ means the Washington 

14 Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact (Pub15 lic Law 89–774; 80 Stat. 1324). 

Æ 


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