I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5417 

To amend title 23, United States Code, relating to high occupancy vehicle 

lanes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2004 

Mr. SHERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, relating to high 

occupancy vehicle lanes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. HOV FACILITIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 1 of title 

5 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 167. HOV facilities 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF STATE AGENCIES.—A 

10 State agency that has jurisdiction over the operation 
2 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 of a HOV facility shall establish the occupancy re2 quirements of vehicles operating on the facility. 

3 ‘‘(2) OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENT.—Except as 

4 otherwise provided by this section, no fewer than 2 

5 occupants per vehicle may be required for use of a 

6 HOV facility. 

7 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding the occupancy 

8 requirements of subsection (a)(2), the following exceptions 

9 shall apply with respect to a State agency operating a 

10 HOV facility: 

11 ‘‘(1) MOTORCYCLES AND BICYCLES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara13 graph (B), the State agency shall allow motor14 cycles and bicycles to use the HOV facility. 

15 ‘‘(B) SAFETY EXCEPTION.—A State agen16 cy may restrict use of the HOV facility by mo17 torcycles or bicycles (or both) if the agency cer18 tifies to the Secretary that such use would cre19 ate a safety hazard and the Secretary accepts 

20 the certification. The Secretary may accept a 

21 certification under this subparagraph only after 

22 the Secretary publishes notice of the certifi23 cation in the Federal Register and provides an 

24 opportunity for public comment. 
3 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION VEHICLES.— 

2 The State agency may allow public transportation 

3 vehicles to use the HOV facility if the agency— 

4 ‘‘(A) establishes requirements for clearly 

5 identifying the vehicles; and 

6 ‘‘(B) establishes procedures for enforcing 

7 the restrictions on the use of the facility by 

8 such vehicles. 

9 ‘‘(3) HIGH OCCUPANCY TOLL VEHICLES.—The 

10 State agency may allow vehicles not otherwise ex11 empt pursuant to this subsection to use the HOV fa12 cility if the operators of such vehicles pay a toll 

13 charged by the agency for use of the facility and the 

14 agency— 

15 ‘‘(A) establishes a program that addresses 

16 how motorists can enroll and participate in the 

17 toll program; 

18 ‘‘(B) develops, manages, and maintains a 

19 system that will automatically collect the toll; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(C) establishes policies and procedures 

22 to— 

23 ‘‘(i) manage the demand to use the fa24 cility by varying the toll amount that is 

25 charged; 
4 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 ‘‘(ii) enforce violations of use of the 

2 facility; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) permit low-income individuals to 

4 pay reduced tolls. 

5 ‘‘(4) LOW EMISSION AND ENERGY-EFFICIENT

6 VEHICLES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) INHERENTLY LOW-EMISSION VEHI8 CLE.—Before September 30, 2009, the State 

9 agency may allow vehicles that are certified as 

10 inherently low-emission vehicles pursuant to 

11 section 88.311–93 of title 40, Code of Federal 

12 Regulations, and are labeled in accordance with 

13 section 88.312–93 of such title, to use the HOV 

14 facility if the agency establishes procedures for 

15 enforcing the restrictions on the use of the fa16 cility by such vehicles. 

17 ‘‘(B) OTHER LOW EMISSION AND ENERGY18 EFFICIENT VEHICLES.—Before September 30, 

19 2009, the State agency may allow vehicles cer20 tified as low emission and energy-efficient vehi21 cles under subsection (e), and labeled in accord22 ance with subsection (e), to use the HOV facil23 ity if the agency— 

24 ‘‘(i) establishes a program that ad25 dresses how those qualifying low emission 
5 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 and energy-efficient vehicles are selected 

2 and certified; 

3 ‘‘(ii) establishes requirements for la4 beling qualifying low emission and energy5 efficient vehicles (including procedures for 

6 enforcing those requirements); 

7 ‘‘(iii) continuously monitors, evalu8 ates, and reports to the Secretary on per9 formance; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) imposes such restrictions on the 

11 use on high occupancy vehicle lanes by ve12 hicles that do not satisfy established occu13 pancy requirements as are necessary to en14 sure that the performance of individual 

15 high occupancy vehicle lanes, and the en16 tire high occupancy vehicle lane system, 

17 will not become seriously degraded. 

18 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO TOLLS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Tolls may be charged 

20 under subsections (b)(3) and (b)(4) notwithstanding 

21 section 301 and, except as provided in paragraphs 

22 (2) and (3), subject to the requirements of section 

23 129. 

24 ‘‘(2) HOV FACILITIES ON THE INTERSTATE

25 SYSTEM.—Notwithstanding section 129, tolls may be 
6 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 charged under subsections (b)(3) and (b)(4) on a 

2 HOV facility on the Interstate System. 

3 ‘‘(3) EXCESS TOLL REVENUES.—If a State 

4 agency makes a certification under the last sentence 

5 of section 129(a)(3) with respect to toll revenues col6 lected under subsections (b)(3) and (b)(4), the 

7 State, in the use of tolls revenues under that sen8 tence, shall give priority consideration to projects for 

9 developing alternatives to single occupancy vehicle 

10 travel and projects for improving highway safety. 

11 ‘‘(d) HOV FACILITY MANAGEMENT, OPERATION, 

12 MONITORING, AND ENFORCEMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State agency that allows 

14 vehicles to use a HOV facility under subsection 

15 (b)(3) or (b)(4) in a fiscal year shall certify to the 

16 Secretary that the agency will carry out the fol17 lowing responsibilities with respect to the facility in 

18 the fiscal year: 

19 ‘‘(A) Establishing, managing, and sup20 porting a performance monitoring, evaluation, 

21 and reporting program for the facility that pro22 vides for continuous monitoring, assessment, 

23 and reporting on the impacts that such vehicles 

24 may have on the operation of the facility and 

25 adjacent highways. 
7 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) Establishing, managing, and sup2 porting an enforcement program that ensures 

3 that the facility is being operated in accordance 

4 with the requirements of this section. 

5 ‘‘(C) Limiting or discontinuing the use of 

6 the facility by such vehicles if the presence of 

7 such vehicles has degraded the operation of the 

8 facility. 

9 ‘‘(2) DEGRADED FACILITY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para11 graph (1), the operation of a HOV facility shall 

12 be considered to be degraded if vehicles oper13 ating on the facility are failing to maintain a 

14 minimum average operating speed 90 percent of 

15 the time over a consecutive 6-month period dur16 ing morning or evening weekday peak hour pe17 riods (or both). 

18 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM AVERAGE OPERATING

19 SPEED DEFINED.—In subparagraph (A), the 

20 term ‘minimum average operating speed’ 

21 means— 

22 ‘‘(i) 45 miles per hour, in the case of 

23 a HOV facility with a speed limit of 50 

24 miles per hour or greater; and 
8 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 ‘‘(ii) not more than 10 miles per hour 

2 below the speed limit, in the case of a 

3 HOV facility with a speed limit of less 

4 than 50 miles per hour. 

5 ‘‘(e) CERTIFICATION OF LOW EMISSION AND EN6 ERGY-EFFICIENT VEHICLES.—Not later than 6 months 

7 after the date of enactment of this section, the Adminis8 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall issue 

9 a final rule establishing requirements for certification of 

10 vehicles as low emission and energy-efficient vehicles for 

11 purposes of this section and requirements for the labeling 

12 of such vehicles. 

13 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

14 definitions apply: 

15 ‘‘(1) ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLE.—The term 

16 ‘alternative fuel vehicle’ means a vehicle that oper17 ates on— 

18 ‘‘(A) methanol, denatured ethanol, or other 

19 alcohols; 

20 ‘‘(B) a mixture containing at least 85 per21 cent of methanol, denatured ethanol, and other 

22 alcohols by volume with gasoline or other fuels; 

23 ‘‘(C) natural gas; 

24 ‘‘(D) liquefied petroleum gas; 

25 ‘‘(E) hydrogen; 
9 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 ‘‘(F) coal derived liquid fuels; 

2 ‘‘(G) fuels (except alcohol) derived from bi3 ological materials; 

4 ‘‘(H) electricity (including electricity from 

5 solar energy); or 

6 ‘‘(I) any other fuel that the Secretary pre7 scribes by regulation that is not substantially 

8 petroleum and that would yield substantial en9 ergy security and environmental benefits. 

10 ‘‘(2) HOV FACILITY.—The term ‘HOV facility’ 

11 means a high occupancy vehicle facility. 

12 ‘‘(3) LOW EMISSION AND ENERGY EFFICIENT

13 VEHICLE.—The term ‘low emission and energy-effi14 cient vehicle’ means a vehicle that— 

15 ‘‘(A) has been certified by the Adminis16 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

17 as meeting the Tier II emission level established 

18 in regulations prescribed by the Administrator 

19 under section 202(i) of the Clean Air Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 7521(i)) or as meeting a California Air 

21 Resources Board emission standard that is at 

22 least as stringent for that make and model year 

23 vehicle and meets any additional Environmental 

24 Protection Agency or California Air Resources 

25 Board emissions category or other requirements 
10 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 identified by the Agency or the Board, as the 

2 case may be; and 

3 ‘‘(B)(i) has been certified by the Adminis4 trator to have a 45-mile-per-gallon or greater 

5 fuel economy highway rating; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) is an alternative fuel vehicle. 

7 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION VEHICLE.—The 

8 term ‘public transportation vehicle’ means a vehicle 

9 that provides public transportation (as defined in 

10 section 5302(a) of title 49). 

11 ‘‘(5) STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘State agency’, 

12 as used with respect to a HOV facility, means an 

13 agency of a State or local government having juris14 diction over the operation of the facility and includes 

15 a State transportation department.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

17 (1) PROGRAM EFFICIENCIES.—Section 102 of 

18 title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking 

19 subsection (a) and redesignating subsections (b) and 

20 (c) as subsections (a) and (b), respectively. 

21 (2) CHAPTER ANALYSIS.—The analysis for sub22 chapter I of chapter 1 of such title is amended by 

23 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘167. HOV facilities.’’. 

24 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 102(c) of 

25 title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘10 
11 

•HR 5417 IH 

1 years’’ and all that follows through ‘‘after’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘10 years (or such longer period as the State requests and 

3 the Secretary determines to be reasonable) after’’. 

Æ