[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1767 Introduced in House (IH)]







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) 
 introduced 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 Representatives 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:
``Sec. 165. Fast fees
    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish and implement 
an Interstate System FAST Lanes program under which the Secretary, 
notwithstanding sections 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 additional 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 application 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 metropolitan planning 
        organization established under section 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 includes--
                    ``(A) a plan for implementing the imposition of 
                fees on the additional lanes;
                    ``(B) a schedule and finance plan for construction, 
                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 implementation 
                and administration of the program.
    ``(c) Selection Criteria.--The Secretary shall approve 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 program, 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 operation 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 determined by 
                the State; and
                    ``(C) any costs necessary for the improvement of 
                and the proper operation and maintenance, 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 additional 
                        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 relating 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 conduct a study for a 
project under this title with an estimated 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 advisable (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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