I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1140 
To provide additional funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 
Authority and improve upon the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 
Authority Compact, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2017 
Mr. DELANEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide additional funding for the Washington Metropoli-
tan Area Transit Authority and improve upon the Wash-
ington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘WMATA Improvement 
Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements of 
section 3, the Secretary of Transportation may provide 
grants to the Transit Authority, in addition to any grant 
amounts provided pursuant to section 601 of the Pas-
senger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 
(Public Law 110–432; 126 Stat. 4968), in an amount not 
to exceed $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 
through 2028 for the purpose of financing capital and pre-
ventive maintenance projects approved by the Board of Di-
rectors of the Transit Authority. 
(b) MATCHING FUNDS REQUIRED.—The Federal 
share of the cost of a project carried out using grant 
amounts provided under subsection (a) shall not exceed 
50 percent of the cost of such project. The non-Federal 
share of the cost of such project shall be borne equally 
by the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia, and the State of Maryland. 
(c) LIMITATIONS.— 
(1) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Any grant pro-
vided under this section shall be subject to the re-
quirements of subsections (b) and (c) of section 601 
of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement 
Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–432; 126 Stat. 4968). 
(2) 
COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING
AGREEMENT 
AMENDMENTS.— 
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(A) IN GENERAL.—No grants may be pro-
vided under this section until the Board of Di-
rectors of the Transit Authority, as such Board 
is composed pursuant to the amendments under 
section 3, certifies that amendments have been 
made to any existing collective bargaining 
agreement between the Transit Authority and a 
collective bargaining unit to allow the Transit 
Authority to implement all necessary oper-
ational changes required both to provide a high 
level of service, reliability, and safety as well as 
lower costs by selectively using competitive bid-
ding for certain capital improvement projects. 
(B) APPLICATION OF LAWS.—Any agree-
ment described under subparagraph (A) shall 
comply with the requirements of— 
(i) section 5333(b) of title 49, United 
States Code; and 
(ii) subchapter IV of chapter 31 of 
title 40, United States Code. 
(C) AMENDED AGREEMENTS.—A collective 
bargaining agreement entered into after Janu-
ary 1, 2017, may be considered an amended 
collective bargaining agreement for purposes of 
this section. 
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SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO WMATA COMPACT. 
No grant amounts may be provided under section 2 
until the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 
Compact includes the following amendments: 
(1) An amendment requiring that each member 
of the Board of Directors of the Transit Authority 
have a primary fiduciary obligation to the Transit 
Authority. 
(2)(A) An amendment requiring that beginning 
after the date of implementation of the amended 
compact and thereafter, that the members of the 
Board of Directors of the Transit Authority ap-
pointed as described in paragraph (3)(A) shall have 
at least 1 expert qualification, as described in sub-
paragraph (B). 
(B) The expert qualifications referred to in sub-
paragraph (A) are the following: 
(i) A certified transit expert who has 
served in a senior executive capacity, or the 
equivalent, of a transit authority in the United 
States. 
(ii) A certified management expert who is 
currently or has previously served for five or 
more years and has in his or her capacity man-
aged, directly or indirectly, more than 1,000 
full-time employees— 
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(I) as a president, chief operating offi-
cer, chief executive officer, chairman, or 
managing partner or an equivalent position 
of a qualifying business; or 
(II) as the president or most senior 
manager of a division of a qualifying busi-
ness. 
(iii) A certified financial expert who meets 
the standards of an audit committee financial 
expert under New York Stock Exchange rules, 
as in effect on the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(iv) A certified safety expert who has a 
minimum of 5 years of experience as a chair-
man, director, senior investigator or equivalent 
position of a transportation or transit safety 
board in the United States. 
(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term 
‘‘qualifying business’’ means a corporation, partner-
ship, or limited liability entity that is engaged pri-
marily in operating activities and not investing ac-
tivities. 
(3) An amendment requiring that the Board of 
Directors of the Transit Authority be composed of 9 
voting members as follows: 
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(A) Two members appointed by each of the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Vir-
ginia, and the State of Maryland. 
(B) Two members appointed by the Sec-
retary of Transportation. 
(C) The CEO of the Transit Authority. 
SEC. 4. FAILURE TO ENACT AMENDMENTS. 
(a) WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT.—Except as provided 
for under subsection (b), if the signatories of the Compact 
have not enacted the amendments described in section 3 
before the date that is 18 months after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, congressional consent for the Compact 
is hereby withdrawn. 
(b) EXTENSION.—The signatories may apply to the 
Secretary of Transportation for a single 3-month exten-
sion of the deadline under subsection (a). Such extension 
shall be granted by the Secretary so long as the signatories 
have shown progress toward instituting the amendments. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COMPACT.—The term ‘‘Compact’’ means 
the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Author-
ity Compact (consented to by Congress under Public 
Law 89–774, 80 Stat. 1324) as title III of the 
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation 
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Compact (consented to by Congress under Public 
Law 86–794, 74 Stat. 1031). 
(2) TRANSIT AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Transit 
Authority’’ means the Washington Metropolitan 
Area Transit Authority established under Article III 
of the Compact. 
Æ 
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