[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 870 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 870

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide additional tax 
  incentives for public-private partnerships in financing of highway, 
   mass transit, high-speed rail, and intermodal transfer facilities 
                   projects, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 10, 2001

Mr. Smith of New Hampshire (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide additional tax 
  incentives for public-private partnerships in financing of highway, 
   mass transit, high-speed rail, and intermodal transfer facilities 
                   projects, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Multimodal Transportation Financing 
Act''.

SEC. 2. TAX-EXEMPT FINANCING OF QUALIFIED HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE.

    (a) Treatment as Exempt Facility Bond.--Subsection (a) of section 
142 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exempt facility 
bond) is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (11), by 
striking the period at the end of paragraph (12) and inserting ``, 
or'', and by adding at the end the following:
            ``(13) qualified highway infrastructure projects.''.
    (b) Qualified Highway Infrastructure Projects.--Section 142 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(k) Qualified Highway Infrastructure Projects.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a)(13), the 
        term `qualified highway infrastructure project' means a 
        project--
                    ``(A) for the construction, reconstruction, or 
                maintenance of a highway, including related startup 
                costs, and
                    ``(B) meeting the requirements of paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Project requirements.--A project meets the 
        requirements of this paragraph if the project--
                    ``(A) serves the general public,
                    ``(B) is located on publicly-owned rights-of-way, 
                and
                    ``(C) is publicly owned or the ownership of the 
                highway constructed, reconstructed, or maintained under 
                the project reverts to the public.''
    (c) Exemption From General State Volume Caps.--Paragraph (3) of 
section 146(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 
exception for certain bonds) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or (12)'' and inserting ``(12), or 
        (13)'', and
            (2) by striking ``and environmental enhancements of 
        hydroelectric generating facilities'' and inserting 
        ``environmental enhancements of hydroelectric generating 
        facilities, and qualified highway infrastructure projects''.
    (d) Exemption From Limitation on Use for Land Acquisition.--Section 
147(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exception 
for certain land acquired for environmental purposes, etc.) is amended 
by striking ``or wharf'' both places it appears and inserting ``wharf, 
or qualified highway infrastructure project''.
    (e) Treatment of Certain Refunding Bonds.--
            (1) In general.--Paragraph (2) of section 149(d) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to certain private 
        activity bonds) is amended by inserting ``or any exempt 
        facility bond issued as part of an issue described in paragraph 
        (13) of section 142(a) (relating to qualified highway 
        infrastructure projects)'' after ``other than a qualified 
        501(c)(3) bond''.
            (2) Special rules.--Paragraph (6) of section 149(d) of such 
        Code is amended to read as follows:
            ``(6) Special rules for purposes of paragraph (3).--For 
        purposes of paragraph (3)--
                    ``(A) bonds issued before October 22, 1986, shall 
                be taken into account under subparagraph (A)(i) thereof 
                except--
                            ``(i) a refunding which occurred before 
                        1986 shall be treated as an advance refunding 
                        only if the refunding bond was issued more than 
                        180 days before the redemption of the refunded 
                        bond, and
                            ``(ii) a bond issued before 1986, shall be 
                        treated as advance refunded no more than once 
                        before March 15, 1986, and
                    ``(B) a bond issued as part of an issue that is 
                either the 1st or 2nd advance refunding of the original 
                bond shall be treated as only the 1st advance refunding 
                of the original bond if--
                            ``(i) at least 95 percent or more of the 
                        net proceeds of the original bond issue are to 
                        be used to finance a highway infrastructure 
                        project (regardless of whether the original 
                        bond was issued as a private activity bond),
                            ``(ii) the original bonds and applicable 
                        refunding bonds are or are reasonably expected 
                        to be primarily secured by project-based 
                        revenues, and
                            ``(iii) in any case in which--
                                    ``(I) the original bonds or 
                                applicable refunding bonds are private 
                                activity bonds issued as part of an 
                                issue at least 95 percent or more of 
                                the net proceeds of which are to be 
                                used to finance a qualified highway 
                                infrastructure project described in 
                                section 142(a)(13), the refunding bonds 
                                of the issue and original bonds of the 
                                issue satisfy the requirements of 
                                section 147(b), or
                                    ``(II) the original bonds and 
                                applicable refunding bonds are not 
                                private activity bonds, the second 
                                generation advance refunding bonds of 
                                the issue (and any future bonds of the 
                                issue refunding such bonds) satisfy the 
                                requirements of section 147(b).''.
            (3) Special rule relating to maturity limitation.--Section 
        147(b) of such Code (relating to maturity limitations) is 
        amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Special rule for certain highway infrastructure 
        projects.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the case of bonds of an issue 
                described in section 149(d)(6)(B), the limit described 
                in paragraph (1)(B) shall be reduced--
                            ``(i) in any case in which the original 
                        bonds or applicable refunding bonds are private 
                        activity bonds, by the remaining weighted 
                        average maturity of the escrowed bonds with 
                        respect to both the first and second generation 
                        advance refunding, and
                            ``(ii) in any case in which the original 
                        bonds and applicable refunding bonds are not 
                        private activity bonds, by the remaining 
                        weighted average maturity of the escrowed bonds 
                        with respect to the second generation advance 
                        refunding.
                    ``(B) Remaining weighted average maturity of 
                escrowed bonds.--For purposes of subparagraph (A), the 
                remaining weighted average maturity of the escrowed 
                bonds is equal to the weighted average maturity, 
                calculated as of the applicable refunding bond issue 
                date--
                            ``(i) with respect to subparagraph (A)(i), 
                        of the applicable bonds advance refunded, and
                            ``(ii) with respect to subparagraph 
                        (A)(ii), of the applicable bonds directly 
                        refunded by the second generation advance 
                        refunding bonds, and
                treating any date of actual early redemption as a 
                maturity date for this purpose.
    (f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to bonds issued after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. MASS COMMUTING FACILITIES.

    (a) Exemption From State Volume Cap.--Section 146(g)(3) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exception for certain 
bonds), as amended by section 2, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(3),'' after ``(2),'', and
            (2) by inserting ``mass commuting facilities,'' after 
        ``wharves,''.
    (b) Inclusion of Rolling Stock.--Section 142(c) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to airports, docks and wharves, mass 
commuting facilities and high-speed intercity rail facilities) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Mass commuting facilities.--The term `mass commuting 
        facilities' includes rolling stock related to such 
        facilities.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to bonds issued after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF HIGH-SPEED INTERCITY RAIL 
              FACILITIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 142(i)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (defining high-speed intercity rail facilities) is amended by 
striking `` and their baggage'' and all that follows and inserting ``on 
high speed rail corridors designated under section 104(d)(2) of title 
23, United States Code, or on corridors using magnetic levitation 
technology.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to bonds issued after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. TAX-EXEMPT FINANCING OF INTERMODAL TRANSFER FACILITIES.

    (a) Treatment as Exempt Facility Bond.--Subsection (a) of section 
142 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exempt facility 
bond), as amended by section 2(a), is amended by striking ``or'' at the 
end of paragraph (12), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
(13) and inserting ``, or'', and by adding at the end the following:
            ``(14) intermodal transfer facilities.''.
    (b) Intermodal Transfer Facilities.--Section 142 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by section 2(b), is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(l) Intermodal Transfer Facilities.--For purposes of subsection 
(a)(14), the term `intermodal transfer facilities' means any facility 
for the transfer of people or goods between the same or different 
transportation modes.''.
    (c) Exemption From General State Volume Caps.--Paragraph (3) of 
section 146(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 
exception for certain bonds), as amended by section 2(c), is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or (13)'' and inserting ``(13), or 
        (14)'', and
            (2) by striking ``and qualified highway infrastructure 
        projects'' and inserting ``qualified highway infrastructure 
        projects, and intermodal transfer facilities''.
    (d) Exemption From Limitation on Use for Land Acquisition.--Section 
147(d)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exception 
for certain land acquired for environmental purposes, etc.), as amended 
by section 2(d), is amended by striking ``or qualified highway 
infrastructure project'' both places it appears and inserting 
``qualified highway infrastructure project, or intermodal transfer 
facility''.
    (e) Conforming Amendments.--Subsection (c) of section 142 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or (11)'' both places it appears in 
        paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting ``, (11), or (14)'', and
            (2) by striking ``and High-Speed Intercity Rail 
        Facilities'' in the heading thereof and inserting ``, High-
        Speed Intercity Rail Facilities, and Intermodal Transfer 
        Facilities''.
    (f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to bonds issued after the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>