I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2724 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish national transportation 

objectives and performance targets for the purpose of assessing progress 

toward meeting national transportation objectives. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2009 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. INSLEE, and Mr. CARNAHAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish national 

transportation objectives and performance targets for the 

purpose of assessing progress toward meeting national 

transportation objectives. 

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 Transpor5 tation Objectives Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION 

2 OBJECTIVES AND PERFORMANCE TARGETS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 49, United 

4 States Code, in amended: 

5 (1) by redesignating sections 304 through 309 

6 as sections 307 through 312; 

7 (2) by redesignating sections 303 and 303a as 

8 sections 305 and 306, respectively; and 

9 (3) by inserting after section 302, the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 303. National transportation objectives and per11 formance targets 

12 ‘‘(a) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—The purpose of this 

13 section is to establish national transportation objectives to 

14 provide a 21st century vision for the national surface 

15 transportation system and national transportation per16 formance targets to ensure that transportation invest17 ments result in a national surface transportation system 

18 that meets the needs of the 21st century. 

19 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION OBJECTIVES.— 

20 The national transportation objectives are established and 

21 prioritized, as follows: 

22 ‘‘(1) Promote energy efficiency and achieve en23 ergy security. 

24 ‘‘(2) Ensure environmental protection, restore 

25 climate stability, and resolve persistent environ26 mental justice issues. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Improve economic competitiveness, system 

2 efficiency, and workplace development opportunities. 

3 ‘‘(4) Ensure safety for all transportation users 

4 and improved public health outcomes. 

5 ‘‘(5) Improve transportation system conditions 

6 and connectivity. 

7 ‘‘(6) Provide equal and equitable access to 

8 transportation options in urban, suburban, and rural 

9 communities. 

10 ‘‘(c) NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION PERFORMANCE

11 TARGETS.—The national transportation performance tar12 gets are established for the purpose of assessing progress 

13 in the 20-year period beginning the day after the date of 

14 enactment of the National Transportation Objectives Act 

15 of 2009 toward meeting the national transportation objec16 tives, as follows: 

17 ‘‘(1) Reduce per capita vehicle miles traveled by 

18 16 percent. 

19 ‘‘(2) Triple walking, biking, and public trans20 portation usage. 

21 ‘‘(3) Reduce transportation-generated carbon 

22 dioxide level by 40 percent. 

23 ‘‘(4) Reduce delay per capita by 10 percent. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Increase proportion of freight transpor2 tation provided by railroad and intermodal services 

3 by 20 percent. 

4 ‘‘(6) Achieve 0 percent population exposure to 

5 at-risk levels of air pollution. 

6 ‘‘(7) Improve public safety and lower congestion 

7 costs by reducing traffic crashes by 50 percent. 

8 ‘‘(8) Increase share of major highways, regional 

9 transit fleets and facilities, and bicycling/pedestrian 

10 infrastructure in good state of repair condition by 

11 20 percent. 

12 ‘‘(9) Reduce average household combined hous13 ing plus transportation costs by 25 percent, using 

14 2000 as a base year. 

15 ‘‘(10) Increase by 50 percent the number of es16 sential destinations (work and non-work) accessible 

17 within 30 minutes by public transportation or 15 

18 minutes by walking, for low-income, senior, and dis19 abled populations. 

20 ‘‘(d) DEVELOPMENT OF BASELINE LEVELS.—Not 

21 later than one year after the date of enactment of the Na22 tional Transportation Objectives Act of 2009, the Sec23 retary of Transportation shall develop baseline levels for 

24 the national transportation performance targets estab25 lished by this section and determine appropriate methods 


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1 of data collection to assess success in meeting such per2 formance targets. 

3 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary, consistent 

4 with the plan developed under section 304 and notwith5 standing any other provision of law in effect as of the date 

6 of enactment of the National Transportation Objectives 

7 Act of 2009, shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) develop appropriate data collections sys9 tems for each Federal surface transportation pro10 gram in order to evaluate: 

11 ‘‘(A) whether such programs are consistent 

12 with the policy, objectives, and performance tar13 gets established by this section; and 

14 ‘‘(B) how effective such programs are in 

15 contributing to the achievement of the policy, 

16 objectives, and performance targets established 

17 by this section; 

18 ‘‘(2) using the criteria developed under para19 graph (1), annually evaluate each such program and 

20 provide the results to the public; 

21 ‘‘(3) based on the evaluation performed under 

22 paragraph (2), make any necessary changes or im23 provements to such programs to ensure such consist24 ency and effectiveness; 


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1 ‘‘(4) align the availability and award of Federal 

2 surface transportation funding to meet the policy, 

3 objectives, and performance targets established by 

4 this section, consistent with the evaluation per5 formed under paragraph (2); 

6 ‘‘(5) carry out this section in a manner that is 

7 consistent with sections 302, 5503, 10101, and 

8 13101 of this title and section 101 of title 23 to the 

9 extent that such sections do not conflict with the 

10 policy, objectives, and performance targets estab11 lished by this section; 

12 ‘‘(6) review, update, and reissue all relevant 

13 surface transportation planning requirements to en14 sure that such requirements require that regional, 

15 State, and local surface transportation planning ef16 forts funded with Federal funds are consistent with 

17 the policy, objectives, and performance targets estab18 lished by this section; and 

19 ‘‘(7) require recipients of Federal surface trans20 portation funds to annually report on the use of 

21 such funds, including a description of— 

22 ‘‘(A) which projects and priorities were 

23 funded with such funds; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the rationale and method employed 

2 for apportioning such funds to the projects and 

3 priorities; and 

4 ‘‘(C) how the obligation of such funds is 

5 consistent with or advances the policy, objec6 tives, and performance targets established by 

7 this section. 

8 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

10 provision of law in effect as of the date of enactment 

11 of the National Transportation Objectives Act of 

12 2009, the Secretary may, through a process of pub13 lic notice and comment and with reasonable prior 

14 notice to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

15 Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep16 resentatives Committee on Transportation and In17 frastructure preceding any significant change, con18 sistent with the public interest, amend the perform19 ance targets under subsection (c) or develop addi20 tional performance targets to effectively meet the 

21 policy and objectives set forth in this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary may 

23 also make recommendations to those Committees for 

24 reorganizing the Department of Transportation, as 

25 necessary and consistent with the requirements of 


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1 section 304(b)(6), in order to achieve the policy, ob2 jectives, and performance targets established by this 

3 section. 

4 ‘‘§ 304. National surface transportation performance 

5 plan 

6 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 2 years after 

7 the date of enactment of the National Transportation Ob8 jectives Act of 2009, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

9 develop and implement a National Surface Transportation 

10 Performance Plan to achieve the policy, objectives, and 

11 performance targets set forth in section 303. 

12 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The plan shall include— 

13 ‘‘(1) an assessment of the current performance 

14 of the national surface transportation system and an 

15 analysis of the system’s ability to achieve the policy, 

16 objectives, and performance targets set forth in sec17 tion 303; 

18 ‘‘(2) an analysis of emerging and long-term pro19 jected trends that will impact the performance, 

20 needs, and uses of the national surface transpor21 tation system; 

22 ‘‘(3) a description of the major impediments to 

23 effectively meeting the policy, objectives, and per24 formance targets set forth in section 303 and rec25 ommended actions to address such impediments; 


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1 ‘‘(4) a comprehensive strategy and investment 

2 plan to meet the policy, objectives, and performance 

3 targets set forth in section 303; 

4 ‘‘(5) initiatives to improve transportation mod5 eling, research, data collection, and analysis; and 

6 ‘‘(6) a plan for any reorganization of the De7 partment of Transportation or its agencies necessary 

8 to meet the policy, objectives, and performance tar9 gets set forth in section 303. 

10 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the plan re11 quired by subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) consult with local, State, and tribal gov13 ernments, public and private transportation pro14 viders and carriers, non-profit organizations rep15 resenting transportation employees, appropriate for16 eign governments, and other interested parties; and 

17 ‘‘(2) provide public notice and hearings and so18 licit public comments on the plan. 

19 ‘‘(d) SUBMITTAL.—The Secretary shall submit the 

20 completed plan to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

21 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent22 atives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 

23 ‘‘(e) PROGRESS REPORTS.—The Secretary shall sub24 mit biennial progress reports on the implementation of the 

25 plan beginning 2 years after the date of submittal of the 


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1 plan under subsection (d) to the Committees. The progress 

2 report shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) describe progress made toward fully imple4 menting the plan and achieving the policies, objec5 tives, and performance targets established under sec6 tion 303; 

7 ‘‘(2) describe challenges and obstacles to full 

8 implementation; 

9 ‘‘(3) describe updates to the plan necessary to 

10 reflect changed circumstances or new developments; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(4) make policy and legislative recommenda13 tions the Secretary believes are necessary and appro14 priate to fully implement the plan. 

15 ‘‘(f) DATA.—The Secretary shall have the authority 

16 to conduct studies, gather information, and require the 

17 production of data necessary to develop or update this 

18 plan, consistent with Federal privacy standards. 

19 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—The Secretary may use such sums 

20 as may be necessary from any funds provided to the De21 partment of Transportation for surface transportation 

22 programs for the purpose of completing and updating the 

23 plan and developing and issuing the progress reports pur24 suant to this section.’’. 

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) Section 302(a) of title 49, United States 

2 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘10101 and 13101’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘303, 10101, and 13101’’. 

4 (2) Section 308, as redesignated, of title 49, 

5 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec6 tions 301–09304’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 301 

7 through 307’’. 

8 (3) The table of contents for chapter 3 of title 

9 49, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (A) by redesignating the items relating to 

11 sections 303 through 309 as relating to sections 

12 305 through 312; and 

13 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

14 section 302 the following: 

‘‘303. National surface transportation policy. 

‘‘304. National surface transportation performance plan.’’. 

Æ 


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