I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1767
To amend title 23, United States Code, to empower State and local authorities 
with tools to eliminate congestion on the Interstate System. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 11, 2003
Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota (for himself and Mr. SMITH of Washington) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to empower State 
and local authorities with tools to eliminate congestion 
on the Interstate System.
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 ‘‘Freeing Alternatives 
for Speedy Transportation (FAST) Act’’. 
SEC. 2. INTERSTATE SYSTEM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 1 of title 
23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
‘‘§ 165. Fast fees 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish and implement an Interstate System FAST Lanes 
program under which the Secretary, notwithstanding sec-
tions 129 and 301, shall permit a State, or a public or 
private entity designated by the State, to collect fees to 
finance the expansion of a highway by constructing addi-
tional lanes on the Interstate System for the purpose of 
reducing traffic congestion. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 
the program, a State shall submit to the Secretary an ap-
plication that contains the following: 
‘‘(1) An identification of the additional lanes to 
be constructed on the Interstate System under the 
program. 
‘‘(2) In the case of additional lanes that affect 
a metropolitan area, an assurance that the metro-
politan planning organization established under sec-
tion 134 for the area has been consulted during the 
planning process concerning the placement and 
amount of fees on the additional lanes. 
‘‘(3) A facility management plan that in-
cludes—
‘‘(A) a plan for implementing the imposi-
tion of fees on the additional lanes;
‘‘(B) a schedule and finance plan for con-
struction, operation, and maintenance of the 
additional lanes using revenues from fees; and 
‘‘(C) a description of the public or private 
entities that will be responsible for implementa-
tion and administration of the program. 
‘‘(c) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall ap-
prove the application of a State under subsection (b) only 
if the Secretary determines that the State has met the 
requirements of such subsection. 
‘‘(d) AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS; AUDITS.—Before 
the Secretary may permit a State to participate in the pro-
gram, the State must enter into an agreement with the 
Secretary that provides that—
‘‘(1) fees shall be collected only by using non-
cash electronic technology; 
‘‘(2) all revenues from fees received from oper-
ation of FAST lanes shall be used only for—
‘‘(A) debt service related to the investment 
in FAST lanes; 
‘‘(B) reasonable return on investment of 
any private entity financing the project as de-
termined by the State; and 
‘‘(C) any costs necessary for the improve-
ment of and the proper operation and mainte-
nance, including reconstruction, resurfacing, 
restoration, and rehabilitation of FAST lanes 
and existing lanes only—
‘‘(i) if such improvement is necessary 
to integrate existing lanes with the addi-
tional FAST lanes; and 
‘‘(ii) while fees are collected; 
‘‘(3) fees may be collected only for FAST lanes 
and may not be collected for existing lanes; 
‘‘(4) use of FAST lanes shall be voluntary; 
‘‘(5) revenues from fees received from operation 
of FAST lanes may not be used for any other 
project; 
‘‘(6) once the project is complete and the costs 
and revenue described in paragraph 2 are met, no 
additional fees may be collected; and 
‘‘(7) annual audits shall be conducted while fees 
are collected to ensure compliance with paragraphs 
(1) through (5) and the results of such audits shall 
be transmitted to the Secretary. 
‘‘(e) APPORTIONMENT.—Revenues collected from 
FAST lanes shall not be taken into account in determining 
the apportionments and allocations that any State or 
transportation district within a State shall be entitled to 
receive under or pursuant to this chapter.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 164 the following:
‘‘165. Fast fees.’’.
SEC. 3. TOLL FEASIBILITY. 
Section 106 of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(i) TOLL FEASIBILITY.—The Secretary shall con-
duct a study for a project under this title with an esti-
mated total cost of $50,000,000 or more to determine—
‘‘(1) if a toll facility for such project is feasible; 
and 
‘‘(2) if privatizing the construction, operation, 
and maintenance of the facility is financially advis-
able (while retaining legal and administrative control 
of the portion of the Interstate route).’’. 
SEC. 4. FREEDOM TO COLLECT TOLLS. 
Section 301 of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting before the comma the following: 
‘‘and section 165’’.
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