II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1446 

To amend the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 to authorize 

additional Federal contributions for maintaining and improving the transit system of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2007 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. WEBB) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 

to authorize additional Federal contributions for maintaining and improving the transit system of 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘National Capital Transportation Amendments Act of 

6 2007’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Metro, the public transit system of the 

2 Washington metropolitan area, is essential for the 

3 continued and effective performance of the functions 

4 of the Federal Government, and for the orderly 

5 movement of people during major events and times 

6 of regional or national emergency. 

7 (2) On 3 occasions, Congress has authorized 

8 appropriations for the construction and capital im9 provement needs of the Metrorail system. 

10 (3) Additional funding is required to protect 

11 these previous Federal investments and ensure the 

12 continued functionality and viability of the original 

13 103-mile Metrorail system. 

14 SEC. 2. FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS 

15 FOR WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA 

16 TRANSIT SYSTEM. 

17 The National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 

18 (sec. 9–1111.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) is amended 

19 by adding at the end the following new section: 

20 ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL FEDERAL CONTRIBU21 TION FOR CAPITAL AND PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

22 PROJECTS

23 ‘‘SEC. 18. (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to the suc24 ceeding provisions of this section, the Secretary of Trans25 portation is authorized to make grants to the Transit Au26 thority, in addition to the contributions authorized under 


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1 sections 3, 14, and 17, for the purpose of financing in 

2 part the capital and preventive maintenance projects in3 cluded in the Capital Improvement Program approved by 

4 the Board of Directors of the Transit Authority. 

5 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Federal grants made pur6 suant to the authorization under this section shall be sub7 ject to the following limitations and conditions: 

8 ‘‘(1) The work for which such Federal grants 

9 are authorized shall be subject to the provisions of 

10 the Compact (consistent with the amendments to the 

11 Compact described in subsection (d)). 

12 ‘‘(2) Each such Federal grant shall be for 50 

13 percent of the net project cost of the project in14 volved, and shall be provided in cash from sources 

15 other than Federal funds or revenues from the oper16 ation of public mass transportation systems. Con17 sistent with the terms of the amendment to the 

18 Compact described in subsection (d)(1), any funds 

19 so provided shall be solely from undistributed cash 

20 surpluses, replacement or depreciation funds or re21 serves available in cash, or new capital. 

22 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS FOR MASS

23 TRANSPORTATION CAPITAL PROJECTS RECEIVING FUNDS

24 UNDER FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION LAW.—Except as 

25 specifically provided in this section, the use of any 


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1 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization under 

2 this section shall be subject to the requirements applicable 

3 to capital projects for which funds are provided under 

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

5 extent that the Secretary of Transportation determines 

6 that the requirements are inconsistent with the purposes 

7 of this section. 

8 ‘‘(d) AMENDMENTS TO COMPACT.—No amounts may 

9 be provided to the Transit Authority pursuant to the au10 thorization under this section until the Transit Authority 

11 notifies the Secretary of Transportation that each of the 

12 following amendments to the Compact (and any further 

13 amendments which may be required to implement such 

14 amendments) have taken effect: 

15 ‘‘(1)(A) An amendment requiring that all pay16 ments by the local signatory governments for the 

17 Transit Authority for the purpose of matching any 

18 Federal funds appropriated in any given year au19 thorized under subsection (a) for the cost of oper20 ating and maintaining the adopted regional system 

21 are made from amounts derived from dedicated 

22 funding sources. 

23 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 

24 ‘dedicated funding source’ means any source of 

25 funding which is earmarked or required under State 


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1 or local law to be used to match Federal appropria2 tions authorized under this Act for payments to the 

3 Transit Authority. 

4 ‘‘(2) An amendment establishing the Office of 

5 the Inspector General of the Transit Authority in 

6 accordance with section 3 of the National Capital 

7 Transportation Amendments Act of 2007. 

8 ‘‘(3) An amendment expanding the Board of 

9 Directors of the Transit Authority to include 4 addi10 tional Directors appointed by the Administrator of 

11 General Services, of whom 2 shall be nonvoting and 

12 2 shall be voting, and requiring one of the voting 

13 members so appointed to be a regular passenger and 

14 customer of the bus or rail service of the Transit 

15 Authority. 

16 ‘‘(e) AMOUNT.—There are authorized to be appro17 priated to the Secretary of Transportation for grants 

18 under this section an aggregate amount not to exceed 

19 $1,500,000,000 to be available in increments over 10 fis20 cal years beginning in fiscal year 2009, or until expended. 

21 ‘‘(f) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursu22 ant to the authorization under this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) shall remain available until expended; and 

24 ‘‘(2) shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, 

25 amounts available to the Transit Authority under 


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1 chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, or any 

2 other provision of law.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AU4 THORITY INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Washington Metropoli7 tan Area Transit Authority (hereafter referred to as 

8 the ‘‘Transit Authority’’) shall establish in the Tran9 sit Authority the Office of the Inspector General 

10 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Of11 fice’’), headed by the Inspector General of the Tran12 sit Authority (hereafter in this section referred to as 

13 the ‘‘Inspector General’’). 

14 (2) DEFINITION.—In paragraph (1), the 

15 ‘‘Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’’ 

16 means the Authority established under Article III of 

17 the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Author18 ity Compact (Public Law 89–774). 

19 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 

20 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Inspector General 

21 shall be appointed by the vote of a majority of the 

22 Board of Directors of the Transit Authority, and 

23 shall be appointed without regard to political affili24 ation and solely on the basis of integrity and dem25 onstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial 


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1 analysis, law, management analysis, public adminis2 tration, or investigations, as well as familiarity or 

3 experience with the operation of transit systems. 

4 (2) TERM OF SERVICE.—The Inspector General 

5 shall serve for a term of 5 years, and an individual 

6 serving as Inspector General may be reappointed for 

7 not more than 2 additional terms. 

8 (3) REMOVAL.—The Inspector General may be 

9 removed from office prior to the expiration of his 

10 term only by the unanimous vote of all of the mem11 bers of the Board of Directors of the Transit Au12 thority, and the Board shall communicate the rea13 sons for any such removal to the Governor of Mary14 land, the Governor of Virginia, the Mayor of the 

15 District of Columbia, the chair of the Committee on 

16 Government Reform of the House of Representa17 tives, and the chair of the Committee on Homeland 

18 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

19 (c) DUTIES.— 

20 (1) APPLICABILITY OF DUTIES OF INSPECTOR

21 GENERAL OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH ESTABLISH22 MENT.—The Inspector General shall carry out the 

23 same duties and responsibilities with respect to the 

24 Transit Authority as an Inspector General of an es25 tablishment carries out with respect to an establishVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:07 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1446.IS S1446

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1 ment under section 4 of the Inspector General Act 

2 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 4), under the same terms 

3 and conditions which apply under such section. 

4 (2) CONDUCTING ANNUAL AUDIT OF FINANCIAL

5 STATEMENTS.—The Inspector General shall be re6 sponsible for conducting the annual audit of the fi7 nancial accounts of the Transit Authority, either di8 rectly or by contract with an independent external 

9 auditor selected by the Inspector General. 

10 (3) REPORTS.— 

11 (A) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS TO TRANSIT

12 AUTHORITY.—The Inspector General shall pre13 pare and submit semiannual reports summa14 rizing the activities of the Office in the same 

15 manner, and in accordance with the same dead16 lines, terms, and conditions, as an Inspector 

17 General of an establishment under section 5 of 

18 the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

19 App. 5). For purposes of applying section 5 of 

20 such Act to the Inspector General, the Board of 

21 Directors of the Transit Authority shall be con22 sidered the head of the establishment, except 

23 that the Inspector General shall transmit to the 

24 General Manager of the Transit Authority a 


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1 copy of any report submitted to the Board pur2 suant to this paragraph. 

3 (B) ANNUAL REPORTS TO LOCAL SIGNA4 TORY GOVERNMENTS AND CONGRESS.—Not 

5 later than January 15 of each year, the Inspec6 tor General shall prepare and submit a report 

7 summarizing the activities of the Office during 

8 the previous year, and shall submit such reports 

9 to the Governor of Maryland, the Governor of 

10 Virginia, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, 

11 the chair of the Committee on Government Re12 form of the House of Representatives, and the 

13 chair of the Committee on Homeland Security 

14 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

15 (4) INVESTIGATIONS OF COMPLAINTS OF EM16 PLOYEES AND MEMBERS.— 

17 (A) AUTHORITY.—The Inspector General 

18 may receive and investigate complaints or infor19 mation from an employee or member of the 

20 Transit Authority concerning the possible exist21 ence of an activity constituting a violation of 

22 law, rules, or regulations, or mismanagement, 

23 gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, or a 

24 substantial and specific danger to the public 

25 health and safety. 


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1 (B) NONDISCLOSURE.—The Inspector 

2 General shall not, after receipt of a complaint 

3 or information from an employee or member, 

4 disclose the identity of the employee or member 

5 without the consent of the employee or member, 

6 unless the Inspector General determines such 

7 disclosure is unavoidable during the course of 

8 the investigation. 

9 (C) PROHIBITING RETALIATION.—An em10 ployee or member of the Transit Authority who 

11 has authority to take, direct others to take, rec12 ommend, or approve any personnel action, shall 

13 not, with respect to such authority, take or 

14 threaten to take any action against any em15 ployee or member as a reprisal for making a 

16 complaint or disclosing information to the In17 spector General, unless the complaint was made 

18 or the information disclosed with the knowledge 

19 that it was false or with willful disregard for its 

20 truth or falsity. 

21 (5) INDEPENDENCE IN CARRYING OUT DU22 TIES.—Neither the Board of Directors of the Tran23 sit Authority, the General Manager of the Transit 

24 Authority, nor any other member or employee of the 

25 Transit Authority may prevent or prohibit the InVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:07 May 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1446.IS S1446

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1 spector General from carrying out any of the duties 

2 or responsibilities assigned to the Inspector General 

3 under this section. 

4 (d) POWERS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General may 

6 exercise the same authorities with respect to the 

7 Transit Authority as an Inspector General of an es8 tablishment may exercise with respect to an estab9 lishment under section 6(a) of the Inspector General 

10 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 6(a)), other than para11 graphs (7), (8), and (9) of such section. 

12 (2) STAFF.— 

13 (A) ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERALS AND

14 OTHER STAFF.—The Inspector General shall 

15 appoint and fix the pay of— 

16 (i) an Assistant Inspector General for 

17 Audits, who shall be responsible for coordi18 nating the activities of the Inspector Gen19 eral relating to audits; 

20 (ii) an Assistant Inspector General for 

21 Investigations, who shall be responsible for 

22 coordinating the activities of the Inspector 

23 General relating to investigations; and 

24 (iii) such other personnel as the In25 spector General considers appropriate. 


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1 (B) INDEPENDENCE IN APPOINTING

2 STAFF.—No individual may carry out any of 

3 the duties or responsibilities of the Office unless 

4 the individual is appointed by the Inspector 

5 General, or provides services procured by the 

6 Inspector General, pursuant to this paragraph. 

7 Nothing in this subparagraph may be construed 

8 to prohibit the Inspector General from entering 

9 into a contract or other arrangement for the 

10 provision of services under this section. 

11 (C) APPLICABILITY OF TRANSIT SYSTEM

12 PERSONNEL RULES.—None of the regulations 

13 governing the appointment and pay of employ14 ees of the Transit System shall apply with re15 spect to the appointment and compensation of 

16 the personnel of the Office, except to the extent 

17 agreed to by the Inspector General. Nothing in 

18 the previous sentence may be construed to af19 fect subparagraphs (A) through (B). 

20 (3) EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.—The General 

21 Manager of the Transit Authority shall provide the 

22 Office with appropriate and adequate office space, 

23 together with such equipment, supplies, and commu24 nications facilities and services as may be necessary 

25 for the operation of the Office, and shall provide 


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1 necessary maintenance services for such office space 

2 and the equipment and facilities located therein. 

3 (e) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—To the extent that 

4 any office or entity in the Transit Authority prior to the 

5 appointment of the first Inspector General under this sec6 tion carried out any of the duties and responsibilities as7 signed to the Inspector General under this section, the 

8 functions of such office or entity shall be transferred to 

9 the Office upon the appointment of the first Inspector 

10 General under this section. 

11 SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

12 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall conduct 

13 a study on the use of the funds provided under section 

14 18 of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969 

15 (as added by this Act). 

16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

18 submit a report to the Committee on Government Reform 

19 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

20 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen21 ate on the study conducted under subsection (a). 

Æ 


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