II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 775 

To establish a National Commission on the Infrastructure of the United 

States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 6, 2007 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mr. COLEMAN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish a National Commission on the Infrastructure 

of the United States. 

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 ‘‘National Infrastruc5 ture Improvement Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ACQUISITION.—The term ‘‘acquisition’’ in9 cludes the addition of land, sites, equipment, strucVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:09 Mar 08, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S775.IS S775

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1 tures, facilities, or rolling stock by purchase, lease2 purchase, trade, or donation. 

3 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

4 means the National Commission on the Infrastruc5 ture of the United States established by section 3(a). 

6 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘construction’’ 

7 means— 

8 (A) the design, planning, and erection of 

9 new infrastructure; 

10 (B) the expansion of existing infrastruc11 ture; 

12 (C) the reconstruction of an infrastructure 

13 project at an existing site; and 

14 (D) the installation of initial or replace15 ment infrastructure equipment. 

16 (4) INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘infrastruc18 ture’’ means a nonmilitary structure or facility 

19 and equipment associated with that structure or 

20 facility. 

21 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘infrastruc22 ture’’ includes— 

23 (i) a surface transportation facility 

24 (such as a road, bridge, highway, public 

25 transportation facility, and freight and 


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1 passenger rail), as the Commission, in con2 sultation with the National Surface Trans3 portation Policy and Revenue Study Com4 mission established by section 1909(b)(1) 

5 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Effi6 cient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 

7 for Users (Public Law 109–59; 119 Stat. 

8 1471), determines to be appropriate; 

9 (ii) a mass transit facility; 

10 (iii) an airport or airway facility; 

11 (iv) a resource recovery facility; 

12 (v) a water supply and distribution 

13 system; 

14 (vi) a wastewater collection, treat15 ment, and related facility; 

16 (vii) waterways, locks, and dams; 

17 (viii) a levee and any related flood18 control facility; 

19 (ix) a dock or port; and 

20 (x) a solid waste disposal facility. 

21 (5) MAINTENANCE.—The term ‘‘maintenance’’ 

22 means any regularly scheduled activity, such as a 

23 routine repair, intended to ensure that infrastruc24 ture continues to operate efficiently. 


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1 (6) REHABILITATION.—The term ‘‘rehabilita2 tion’’ means— 

3 (A) the correction of a deficiency in exist4 ing infrastructure so as to extend the useful life 

5 or improve the effectiveness of the infrastruc6 ture; 

7 (B) the modernization or replacement of 

8 equipment of existing infrastructure; and 

9 (C) the modernization of, or replacement 

10 of parts for, rolling stock relating to infrastruc11 ture. 

12 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com14 mission to be known as the ‘‘National Commission on the 

15 Infrastructure of the United States’’ to ensure that the 

16 infrastructure of the United States— 

17 (1) meets current and future demand; and 

18 (2) facilitates economic growth. 

19 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

20 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 

21 composed of 8 members, of whom— 

22 (A) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

23 President; 

24 (B) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

25 Speaker of the House of Representatives; 


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1 (C) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

2 minority leader of the House of Representa3 tives; 

4 (D) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

5 majority leader of the Senate; and 

6 (E) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

7 minority leader of the Senate. 

8 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member of the 

9 Commission shall have experience in 1 or more of 

10 the fields of economics, public administration, civil 

11 engineering, public works, construction, and related 

12 design professions, planning, or public investment fi13 nancing. 

14 (3) DATE OF APPOINTMENTS.—The members 

15 of the Commission shall be appointed under para16 graph (1) not later than 90 days after the enact17 ment of this Act. 

18 (c) TERM; VACANCIES.— 

19 (1) TERM.—A member shall be appointed for 

20 the life of the Commission. 

21 (2) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commis22 sion— 

23 (A) shall not affect the powers of the Com24 mission; and 


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1 (B) shall be filled, not later than 30 days 

2 after the date on which the vacancy occurs, in 

3 the same manner as the original appointment 

4 was made. 

5 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days after 

6 the date on which all members of the Commission have 

7 been appointed, the Commission shall hold the initial 

8 meeting of the Commission. 

9 (e) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the 

10 call of the Chairperson or the majority of the Commission 

11 members. 

12 (f) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

13 Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser num14 ber of members may hold hearings. 

15 (g) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 

16 Commission shall select a Chairperson and Vice Chair17 person from among the members of the Commission. 

18 SEC. 4. DUTIES. 

19 (a) STUDY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 15, 

21 2009, the Commission, in consultation with the advi22 sory group established by paragraph (3)(A), shall 

23 complete a study of all matters relating to the state 

24 of the infrastructure of the United States. 


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1 (2) MATTERS TO BE STUDIED.—In carrying out 

2 paragraph (1), the Commission shall study matters 

3 such as— 

4 (A) the capacity of infrastructure improve5 ments to sustain current and anticipated eco6 nomic development and competitiveness, includ7 ing long-term economic growth, including the 

8 potential return to the United States economy 

9 on investments in new infrastructure as op10 posed to investments in existing infrastructure; 

11 (B) the age and condition of public infra12 structure (including congestion and changes in 

13 the condition of that infrastructure as com14 pared with preceding years); 

15 (C) the methods used to finance the con16 struction, acquisition, rehabilitation, and main17 tenance of public works improvements (includ18 ing general obligation bonds, tax-credit bonds, 

19 revenue bonds, user fees, excise taxes, direct 

20 governmental assistance, and private invest21 ment), including the effect of different finance 

22 structures on the efficiency of infrastructure; 

23 (D) any trends or innovations in methods 

24 used to finance that construction, acquisition, 

25 rehabilitation, and maintenance; 


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1 (E) investment requirements, by type of 

2 facility, that are necessary to maintain the cur3 rent condition and performance of those facili4 ties and the investment needed (as adjusted for 

5 inflation and expressed in real dollars) to im6 prove those facilities in the future; 

7 (F)(i) the projected share of Federal, 

8 State, local, and other government levels of in9 vestment requirements as identified in subpara10 graph (E); and 

11 (ii) the projected expenditure on infra12 structure facility improvements described in 

13 subparagraph (E) by each level of government; 

14 (G) estimates of the return to the economy 

15 from public works investment; 

16 (H) any trends or innovations in infra17 structure procurement methods; 

18 (I) any trends or innovations in construc19 tion methods or materials; and 

20 (J) the impact of various land use and eco21 nomic development strategies on infrastructure 

22 needs and investment decisions, including the 

23 effect of metropolitan growth patterns on infra24 structure costs and deferred maintenance. 


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1 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission shall de2 velop recommendations— 

3 (1) on a Federal infrastructure plan that will 

4 detail national infrastructure program priorities, in5 cluding alternative methods of meeting national in6 frastructure investment needs to effectuate balanced 

7 growth and economic development; 

8 (2) on public works improvements and methods 

9 of delivering and providing for public work facilities; 

10 (3) for analysis or criteria and procedures that 

11 may be used by Federal agencies and State and local 

12 governments in— 

13 (A) inventorying existing and needed pub14 lic works improvements; 

15 (B) assessing the condition of public works 

16 improvements; and 

17 (C) developing uniform criteria and proce18 dures for use in conducting those inventories 

19 and assessments; and 

20 (4) for proposed guidelines for the uniform re21 porting, by Federal agencies, of construction, acqui22 sition, rehabilitation, and maintenance data with re23 spect to infrastructure improvements. 


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1 (c) STATEMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not 

2 later than February 15, 2010, the Commission shall sub3 mit to Congress— 

4 (1) a detailed statement of the findings and 

5 conclusions of the Commission; and 

6 (2) the recommendations of the Commission 

7 under subsection (b), including recommendations for 

8 such legislation and administrative actions for 5-, 

9 15-, 30-, and 50-year time periods as the Commis10 sion considers to be appropriate. 

11 SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

12 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission shall hold such 

13 hearings, meet and act at such times and places, take such 

14 testimony, administer such oaths, and receive such evi15 dence as the Commission considers advisable to carry out 

16 this Act. 

17 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may secure 

19 directly from a Federal agency such information as 

20 the Commission considers necessary to carry out this 

21 Act. 

22 (2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—On request 

23 of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head of 

24 the Federal agency shall provide the information to 

25 the Commission. 


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1 (c) GIFTS.—The Commission may accept, use, and 

2 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 

3 (d) CONTRACTS.—The Commission may enter into 

4 contracts with other entities, including contracts under 

5 which 1 or more entities, with the guidance of the Com6 mission, conduct the study required under section 4(a). 

7 (e) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

8 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

9 the same conditions as other agencies of the Federal Gov10 ernment. 

11 SEC. 6. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

12 (a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—A member of the 

13 Commission shall serve without pay, but shall be allowed 

14 a per diem allowance for travel expenses, at rates author15 ized for an employee of an agency under subchapter I of 

16 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from 

17 the home or regular place of business of the member in 

18 the performance of the duties of the Commission. 

19 (b) STAFF.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 

21 Commission may, without regard to the civil service 

22 laws, including regulations, appoint and terminate 

23 an executive director and such other additional per24 sonnel as are necessary to enable the Commission to 

25 perform the duties of the Commission. 


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1 (2) CONFIRMATION OF EXECUTIVE DIREC2 TOR.—The employment of an executive director shall 

3 be subject to confirmation by a majority of the mem4 bers of the Commission. 

5 (3) COMPENSATION.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

7 subparagraph (B), the Chairperson of the Com8 mission may fix the compensation of the execu9 tive director and other personnel without regard 

10 to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter 

11 III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, 

12 relating to classification of positions and Gen13 eral Schedule pay rates. 

14 (B) MAXIMUM RATE OF PAY.—In no event 

15 shall any employee of the Commission (other 

16 than the executive director) receive as com17 pensation an amount in excess of the maximum 

18 rate of pay for Executive Level IV under sec19 tion 5315 of title 5, United States Code. 

20 (c) DETAIL OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOY21 EES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employee of the Federal 

23 Government may be detailed to the Commission 

24 without reimbursement. 


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1 (2) CIVIL SERVICE STATUS.—The detail of a 

2 Federal employee shall be without interruption or 

3 loss of civil service status or privilege. 

4 (d) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT5 TENT SERVICES.—On request of the Commission, the Sec6 retary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, 

7 shall provide, on a reimbursable basis, such office space, 

8 supplies, equipment, and other support services to the 

9 Commission and staff of the Commission as are necessary 

10 for the Commission to carry out the duties of the Commis11 sion under this Act. 

12 SEC. 7. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE REVIEW. 

13 Not later than 90 days after the date on which the 

14 report under section 4(c) is submitted to Congress by the 

15 Commission, the Congressional Budget Office shall review 

16 the report and submit a report on the results of the review 

17 to the Committee on Environment and Public Works and 

18 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

19 of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and 

20 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. 

21 SEC. 8. FUNDING. 

22 For each of fiscal years 2008 through 2010, on re23 quest of the Commission— 


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1 (1) the Secretary of Transportation shall trans2 fer to the Commission $750,000 to carry out this 

3 Act; and 

4 (2) each of the Secretary of the Army, acting 

5 through the Chief of Engineers, and the Adminis6 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall 

7 transfer to the Commission $375,000 to carry out 

8 this Act. 

9 SEC. 9. TERMINATION OF COMMISSION. 

10 The Commission shall terminate on September 30, 

11 2010. 

Æ 


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