H. J. Res. 194
One Hundred Fourth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six
Joint Resolution
Granting the consent of the Congress to amendments made by Maryland, Virginia,
and the District of Columbia to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regula-
tion Compact.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONSENT OF CONGRESS TO AMENDMENTS TO COMPACT.
The Congress consents to the amendments of the State of
Maryland (chapter 252, 1995 Acts of the Maryland General Assem-
bly and chapter 489, 1996 Laws of Maryland), the amendments
of the Commonwealth of Virginia (chapter 150, 1995 Acts of Assem-
bly of Virginia), and the amendments of the District of Columbia
(D.C. Law 11–138) of title III of the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Regulation Compact. Such amendments are substan-
tially as follows:
(1) Section 3 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Zone
‘‘3. There is hereby created the Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Zone which shall embrace the District of Columbia, the
cities of Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax and the counties
of Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun and political subdivisions of
the Commonwealth of Virginia located within those counties, and
the counties of Montgomery and Prince George’s in the State of
Maryland and political subdivisions of the State of Maryland located
in said counties.’’.
(2) Subsection (a) of section 5 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(a) The Authority shall be governed by a Board of six Directors
consisting of two Directors for each signatory. For Virginia, the
Directors shall be appointed by the Northern Virginia Transpor-
tation Commission; for the District of Columbia, by the Council
of the District of Columbia; and for Maryland, by the Washington
Suburban Transit Commission. For Virginia and Maryland, the
Directors shall be appointed from among the members of the
appointing body, except as otherwise provided herein, and shall
serve for a term coincident with their term on the appointing
body. A Director may be removed or suspended from office only
as provided by the law of the signatory from which he was
appointed. The appointing authorities shall also appoint an alter-
nate for each Director, who may act only in the absence of the
Director for whom he has been appointed an alternate, except
that, in the case of the District of Columbia where only one Director
and his alternate are present, such alternate may act on behalf
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of the absent Director. Each alternate shall serve at the
pleasure of the appointing authority. In the event of a vacancy
in the Office of Director or alternate, it shall be filled in the
same manner as an original appointment.’’.
(3) Subsection (a) of section 8 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(a) Four Directors or alternates consisting of at least one
Director or alternate appointed from each Signatory, shall constitute
a quorum and no action by the Board shall be effective unless
a majority of the Board present and voting, which majority shall
include at least one Director or alternate from each Signatory,
concur therein; provided, however, that a plan of financing may
be adopted or a mass transit plan adopted, altered, revised or
amended by the unanimous vote of the Directors representing any
two Signatories.’’.
(4) Subsection (b) of section 14 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(b) It shall be the duty and responsibility of each member
of the Board to serve as liaison between the Board and the body
which appointed him to the Board. To provide a framework for
regional participation in the planning process, the Board shall
create technical committees concerned with planning and collection
and analyses of data relative to decision-making in the transpor-
tation planning process and the Mayor and Council of the District
of Columbia, the component governments of the Northern Virginia
Transportation District and the Washington Suburban Transit
District shall appoint representatives to such technical committees
and otherwise cooperate with the Board in the formulation of a
mass transit plan, or in revisions, alterations or amendments
thereof.’’.
(5)(A) Paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of section 15 is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(1) The Mayor and Council of the District of Columbia,
the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the
Washington Suburban Transit Commission;’’.
(B) Paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of section 15 is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(3) the transportation agencies of the signatories;’’.
(C) The last paragraph of section 15 is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘(b) A copy of the proposed mass transit plan, amendment
or revision, shall be kept at the office of the Board and shall
be available for public inspection. Information with respect thereto
shall be released to the public. After thirty days’ notice published
once a week for two successive weeks in one or more newspapers
of general circulation within the zone, a public hearing shall be
held with respect to the proposed plan, alteration, revision or
amendment. The thirty days’ notice shall begin to run on the
first day the notice appears in any such newspaper. The Board
shall consider the evidence submitted and statements and comments
made at such meeting and may make any changes in the proposed
plan, amendment or revision which it deems appropriate and such
changes may be made without further hearing.’’.
(6) Subsection (a) of section 70 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(a) As soon as practical after the closing of the fiscal year,
an audit shall be made of the financial accounts of the Authority.
The audit shall be made by qualified certified public accountants
selected by the Board, who shall have no personal interest direct
or indirect in the financial affairs of the Authority or any of its
H. J. Res. 194—3
officers or employees. The report of audit shall be prepared in
accordance with generally accepted auditing principles and shall
be filed with the Chairman and other officers as the Board shall
direct. Copies of the report shall be distributed to each Director,
to the Congress, to the Mayor and Council of the District of
Columbia, to the Governors of Virginia and Maryland, to the
Washington Suburban Transit Commission, to the Northern Vir-
ginia Transportation Commission and to the governing bodies of
the political subdivisions located within the Zone which are parties
to commitments for participation in the financing of the Authority
and shall be made available for public distribution.’’.
(7) Section 73 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘Contracting and Purchasing
‘‘73. (a)(1) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (f)
of this section, and except in the case of procurement procedures
otherwise expressly authorized by statute, the Authority in conduct-
ing a procurement of property, services, or construction shall:
‘‘(A) obtain full and open competition through the use of
competitive procedures in accordance with the requirements
of this Section; and
‘‘(B) use the competitive procedure or combination of
competitive procedures that is best suited under the cir-
cumstances of the procurement.
‘‘(2) In determining the competitive procedure appropriate
under the circumstances, the Authority shall:
‘‘(A) solicit sealed bids if:
‘‘(i) time permits the solicitation, submission, and
evaluation of sealed bids;
‘‘(ii) the award will be made on the basis of price
and other price-related factors;
‘‘(iii) it is not necessary to conduct discussions with
the responding sources about their bids; and
‘‘(iv) there is a reasonable expectation of receiving more
than one sealed bid; or
‘‘(B) request competitive proposals if sealed bids are not
appropriate under clause (A) of this paragraph.
‘‘(b) The Authority may provide for the procurement of property,
services, or construction covered by this Section using competitive
procedures but excluding a particular source in order to establish
or maintain an alternative source or sources of supply for that
property, service, or construction if the Authority determines that
excluding the source would increase or maintain competition and
would likely result in reduced overall costs for procurement of
property, services, or construction.
‘‘(c) The Authority may use procedures other than competitive
procedures if:
‘‘(1) the property, services, or construction needed by the
Authority is available from only one responsible source and
no other type of property, services, or construction will satisfy
the needs of the Authority; or
‘‘(2) the Authority’s need for the property, services, or
construction is of such an unusual and compelling urgency
that the Authority would be seriously injured unless the
Authority limits the number of sources from which it solicits
bids or proposals; or
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‘‘(3) the Authority determines that it is necessary in the
public interest to use procedures other than competitive proce-
dures in the particular procurement; or
‘‘(4) the property or services can be obtained through federal
or other governmental sources at reasonable prices.
‘‘(d) For the purpose of applying subsection (c)(1) of this section:
‘‘(1) in the case of a contract for property, services, or
construction to be awarded on the basis of acceptance of an
unsolicited proposal, the property, services, or construction shall
be deemed to be available from only one responsible source
if the source has submitted an unsolicited proposal that dem-
onstrates a concept:
‘‘(A) that is unique and innovative or, in the case
of a service, for which the source demonstrates a unique
capability to provide the service; and
‘‘(B) the substance of which is not otherwise available
to the Authority and does not resemble the substance of
a pending competitive procurement.
‘‘(2) in the case of a follow-on contract for the continued
development or production of a major system or highly special-
ized equipment or the continued provision of highly specialized
services, the property, services, or construction may be deemed
to be available from only the original source and may be pro-
cured through procedures other than competitive procedures
if it is likely that award to a source other than the original
source would result in:
‘‘(A) substantial duplication of cost to the Authority
that is not expected to be recovered through competition;
or
‘‘(B) unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Authority’s
needs.
‘‘(e) If the Authority uses procedures other than competitive
procedures to procure property, services, or construction under sub-
section (c)(2) of this section, the Authority shall request offers
from as many potential sources as is practicable under the cir-
cumstances.
‘‘(f)(1) To promote efficiency and economy in contracting, the
Authority may use simplified acquisition procedures for purchases
of property, services and construction.
‘‘(2) For the purposes of this subsection, simplified acquisition
procedures may be used for purchases for an amount that does
not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold adopted by the Fed-
eral Government.
‘‘(3) A proposed purchase or contract for an amount above
the simplified acquisition threshold may not be divided into several
purchases or contracts for lesser amounts in order to use the proce-
dures under paragraph (1) of this subsection.
‘‘(4) In using simplified acquisition procedures, the Authority
shall promote competition to the maximum extent practicable.
‘‘(g) The Board shall adopt policies and procedures to implement
this Section. The policies and procedures shall provide for publica-
tion of notice of procurements and other actions designed to secure
competition where competitive procedures are used.
‘‘(h) The Authority in its discretion may reject any and all
bids or proposals received in response to a solicitation.’’.
(8) Section 81 is amended to read as follows:
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‘‘Jurisdiction of Courts
‘‘81. The United States District Courts shall have original
jurisdiction, concurrent with the Courts of Maryland, Virginia and
the District of Columbia, of all actions brought by or against the
Authority and to enforce subpoenas issued under this Title. Any
such action initiated in a State or District of Columbia Court
shall be removable to the appropriate United States District Court
in the manner provided by Act of June 25, 1948, as amended
(28 U.S.C. 1446).’’.
(9) Section 84 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘Amendments and Supplements
‘‘84. Amendments and supplements to this Title to implement
the purposes thereof may be adopted by legislative action of any
of the signatory parties concurred in by all of the others. When
one signatory adopts an amendment or supplement to an existing
section of the Compact. that amendment shall not be immediately
effective, and the previously enacted provision(s) shall remain in
effect in each jurisdiction until the amendment or supplement is
approved by the other signatories and is consented to by Congress.’’.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.