1.This Act may be cited as the
National Infrastructure Improvement
Act of 2007
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The
term acquisition includes any necessary activities for siting a
facility, equipment, structures, or rolling stock by purchase, lease-purchase,
trade, or donation.
(2)The
term Commission means the National Commission on the
Infrastructure of the United States established by section 3(a).
(3)The
term construction means—
(A)the design,
planning, and erection of new infrastructure;
(B)the expansion of
existing infrastructure;
(C)the
reconstruction of an infrastructure project at an existing site; and
(D)the installation
of initial or replacement infrastructure equipment.
(4)
(A)The term infrastructure means a nonmilitary
structure or facility, and any equipment and any nonstructural elements
associated with such a structure or facility.
(B)The
term infrastructure includes—
(i)a
surface transportation facility (such as a road, bridge, highway, public
transportation facility, and freight and passenger rail), as the Commission, in
consultation with the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study
Commission established by section 1909(b)(1) of the Safe, Accountable,
Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (Public Law
109–59; 119 Stat. 1471), determines to be appropriate;
(ii)a
mass transit facility;
(iii)an airport or
airway facility;
(iv)a
resource recovery facility;
(v)a
water supply and distribution system;
(vi)a
wastewater collection, conveyance, or treatment system, and related
facilities;
(vii)a
stormwater treatment system to manage, reduce, treat, or reuse municipal
stormwater;
(viii)waterways,
locks, dams, and associated facilities;
(ix)a
levee and any related flood damage reduction facility;
(x)a
dock or port; and
(xi)a
solid waste disposal facility.
(5)The term nonstructural elements includes
—
(A)any feature that
preserves and restores a natural process, a landform (including a floodplain),
a natural vegetated stream side buffer, wetland, or any other topographical
feature that can slow, filter, and naturally store storm water runoff and flood
waters;
(B)any natural
design technique that percolates, filters, stores, evaporates, and detains
water close to the source of the water; and
(C)any feature that
minimizes or disconnects impervious surfaces to slow runoff or allow
precipitation to percolate.
(6)The
term maintenance means any regularly scheduled activity, such as a
routine repair, intended to ensure that infrastructure continues to operate
efficiently and as intended.
(7)The
term rehabilitation means an action to extend the useful life or
improve the effectiveness of existing infrastructure, including—
(A)the correction of
a deficiency;
(B)the modernization
or replacement of equipment;
(C)the modernization
of, or replacement of parts for, rolling stock relating to
infrastructure;
(D)the use of
nonstructural elements; and
(E)the removal of
infrastructure that is deteriorated or no longer useful.
3.Establishment of
commission
(a)There
is established a commission to be known as the National Commission on
the Infrastructure of the United States
to ensure that the
infrastructure of the United States—
(1)meets current and
future demand;
(2)facilitates
economic growth;
(3)is maintained in
a manner that ensures public safety; and
(4)is developed or
modified in a sustainable manner.
(b)
(1)The
Commission shall be composed of 8 members, of whom—
(A)2 members shall
be appointed by the President;
(B)2 members shall
be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
(C)1 member shall be
appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives;
(D)2 members shall
be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; and
(E)1 member shall be
appointed by the minority leader of the Senate.
(2)Each
member of the Commission shall—
(A)have experience
in 1 or more of the fields of economics, public administration, civil
engineering, public works, construction, and related design professions,
planning, public investment financing, environmental engineering, or water
resources engineering; and
(B)represent a
cross-section of geographical regions of the United States.
(3)The members of the Commission shall be appointed
under paragraph (1) not later than 90 days after the enactment of this
Act.
(c)
(1)A
member shall be appointed for the life of the Commission.
(2)A
vacancy in the Commission—
(A)shall not affect
the powers of the Commission; and
(B)shall be filled,
not later than 30 days after the date on which the vacancy occurs, in the same
manner as the original appointment was made.
(d)Not later than 30 days after the date on which all
members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission shall hold the
initial meeting of the Commission.
(e)The
Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairperson or the request of the
majority of the Commission members.
(f)A
majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a
lesser number of members may hold hearings.
(g)Chairperson and
vice chairpersonThe Commission shall select a Chairperson and
Vice Chairperson from among the members of the Commission.
4.
(a)
(1)Not later than February 15, 2009, the Commission shall
complete a study of all matters relating to the state of the infrastructure of
the United States.
(2)In carrying out paragraph (1), the Commission shall study
matters such as—
(A)the capacity of
infrastructure to sustain current and anticipated economic development and
competitiveness, including long-term economic growth, including the potential
return to the United States economy on investments in new infrastructure as
opposed to investments in existing infrastructure;
(B)the age and
condition of public infrastructure (including congestion and changes in the
condition of that infrastructure as compared with preceding years);
(C)the methods used
to finance the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, and maintenance of
infrastructure (including general obligation bonds, tax-credit bonds, revenue
bonds, user fees, excise taxes, direct governmental assistance, and private
investment);
(D)any trends or
innovations in methods used to finance the construction, acquisition,
rehabilitation, and maintenance of infrastructure;
(E)investment
requirements, by type of infrastructure, that are necessary to maintain the
current condition and performance of the infrastructure and the investment
needed (adjusted for inflation and expressed in real dollars) to improve
infrastructure in the future;
(F)based on the
current level of expenditure (calculated as a percentage of total expenditure
and in constant dollars) by Federal, State, and local governments—
(i)the
projected amount of need the expenditures will meet 5, 15, 30, and 50 years
after the date of enactment of this Act; and
(ii)the levels of
investment requirements, as identified under subparagraph (E);
(G)any trends or
innovations in infrastructure procurement methods;
(H)any trends or
innovations in construction methods or materials for infrastructure;
(I)the impact of
local development patterns on demand for Federal funding of
infrastructure;
(J)the impact of
deferred maintenance; and
(K)the collateral
impact of deteriorated infrastructure.
(b)The
Commission shall develop recommendations—
(1)on a Federal
infrastructure plan that will detail national infrastructure program
priorities, including alternative methods of meeting national infrastructure
investment needs to effectuate balanced economic development;
(2)on infrastructure
improvements and methods of delivering and providing for infrastructure
facilities;
(3)for analysis or
criteria and procedures that may be used by Federal agencies and State and
local governments in—
(A)inventorying
existing and needed infrastructure improvements;
(B)assessing the
condition of infrastructure improvements;
(C)developing
uniform criteria and procedures for use in conducting the inventories and
assessments; and
(D)maintaining
publicly accessible data; and
(4)for proposed
guidelines for the uniform reporting, by Federal agencies, of construction,
acquisition, rehabilitation, and maintenance data with respect to
infrastructure improvements.
(c)Statement and
recommendationsNot later than February 15, 2010, the Commission
shall submit to Congress—
(1)a detailed
statement of the findings and conclusions of the Commission; and
(2)the
recommendations of the Commission under subsection (b), including
recommendations for such legislation and administrative actions for 5-, 15-,
30-, and 50-year time periods as the Commission considers to be
appropriate.
5.
(a)The
Commission shall hold such hearings, meet and act at such times and places,
take such testimony, administer such oaths, and receive such evidence as the
Commission considers advisable to carry out this Act.
(b)Information
from Federal agencies
(1)The Commission may secure directly from a Federal agency
such information as the Commission considers necessary to carry out this
Act.
(2)On request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the
head of the Federal agency shall provide the information to the
Commission.
(c)The
Commission may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of services or
property.
(d)The
Commission may enter into contracts with other entities, including contracts
under which 1 or more entities, with the guidance of the Commission, conduct
the study required under section 4(a).
(e)The Commission may use the United States mails in the
same manner and under the same conditions as other agencies of the Federal
Government.
6.Commission
personnel matters
(a)A member of the Commission shall serve without pay, but
shall be allowed a per diem allowance for travel expenses, at rates authorized
for an employee of an agency under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5,
United States Code, while away from the home or regular place of business of
the member in the performance of the duties of the Commission.
(b)
(1)The Chairperson of the Commission may, without regard to
the civil service laws, including regulations, appoint and terminate an
executive director and such other additional personnel as are necessary to
enable the Commission to perform the duties of the Commission.
(2)Confirmation of
executive directorThe employment of an executive director shall
be subject to confirmation by a majority of the members of the
Commission.
(3)
(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Chairperson
of the Commission may fix the compensation of the executive director and other
personnel without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of
chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of
positions and General Schedule pay rates.
(B)In no event shall any employee of the Commission (other than
the executive director) receive as compensation an amount in excess of the
maximum rate of pay for Executive Level IV under section 5315 of title 5,
United States Code.
(c)Detail of
Federal government employees
(1)An employee of the Federal Government may be detailed to
the Commission without reimbursement.
(2)The detail of a Federal employee shall be without
interruption or loss of civil service status or privilege.
(d)Procurement of
temporary and intermittent servicesOn request of the Commission,
the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, shall
provide, on a reimbursable basis, such office space, supplies, equipment, and
other support services to the Commission and staff of the Commission as are
necessary for the Commission to carry out the duties of the Commission under
this Act.
7.
(a)Not later than 1 year after the date of the initial
meeting of the Commission, the Commission shall submit an interim report
containing a detailed summary of the progress of the Commission, including
meetings and hearings conducted during the interim period, to—
(1)the
President;
(2)the Committees on
Transportation and Infrastructure and Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives; and
(3)the Committees on
Environment and Public Works, Energy and Natural Resources, and Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(b)On termination of the Commission under section 9, the
Commission shall submit a final report containing a detailed statement of the
findings and conclusions of the Commission and recommendations for legislation
and other policies to implement those findings and conclusions, to—
(1)the
President;
(2)the Committees on
Transportation and Infrastructure and Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives; and
(3)the Committees on
Environment and Public Works, Energy and Natural Resources, and Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(c)A
report submitted under subsection (a) or (b) shall be made available to the
public electronically, in a user-friendly format, including on the
Internet.
8.For each of fiscal years 2008 through 2010,
upon request by the Commission—
(1)using amounts made available to the
Secretary of Transportation from any source or account other than the Highway
Trust Fund, the Secretary of Transportation shall transfer to the Commission
$750,000 for use in carrying out this Act;
(2)using amounts
from the General Expenses account of the Corps of Engineers (other than amounts
in that account made available through the Department of Defense), the
Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, shall transfer to
the Commission $250,000 for use in carrying out this Act; and
(3)the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency shall transfer to the Commission
$250,000 for use in carrying out this Act.
9.Termination of
commissionThe Commission
shall terminate on September 30, 2010.
Passed the Senate
August 2, 2007.
NANCY ERICKSON,
Secretary.