[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2761 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2761

 To amend title 23, United States Code, to permit the consolidation of 
      metropolitan planning organizations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 31, 2014

  Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 23, United States Code, to permit the consolidation of 
      metropolitan planning organizations, 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 ``Local Empowerment Act''.

SEC. 2. CONSOLIDATED AND HIGH PERFORMING METROPOLITAN PLANNING 
              ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Highways.--
            (1) Apportionment.--Section 104(d)(2)(A) of title 23, 
        United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in clause (i), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 
                and
                    (C) by inserting after clause (i) the following:
                            ``(ii) prioritizes the needs of high 
                        performing metropolitan planning organizations 
                        (as designated by the Secretary under section 
                        134(r) or section 5303(r) of title 49); and''.
            (2) Surface transportation program.--Section 133 of title 
        23, United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (d), by striking paragraph (1) 
                and inserting the following:
            ``(1) Calculation.--Of the funds apportioned to a State 
        under section 104(b)(2)--
                    ``(A) 50 percent for a fiscal year shall be 
                obligated under this section, in proportion to their 
                relative shares of the population of the State--
                            ``(i) in urbanized areas of the State with 
                        an urbanized area population of more than 
                        200,000;
                            ``(ii) in urban areas of the State with an 
                        urban area population of not fewer than 5,000 
                        and not more than 200,000; and
                            ``(iii) in areas of the State with an area 
                        population of fewer than 5,000;
                    ``(B) 25 percent for a fiscal year may be obligated 
                under this section in any area of the State;
                    ``(C)(i) 25 percent for a fiscal year shall be 
                obligated under this section, in proportion to their 
                relative shares of the population of the State, in 
                urbanized areas described in subparagraph (A)(i) that 
                have a high performing metropolitan planning 
                organization (as designated by the Secretary under 
                section 134(r) or section 5303(r) of title 49); and
                    ``(ii) the amount of the funds obligated to each 
                urbanized area described in clause (i) shall--
                            ``(I) be equal to 50 percent of the amount 
                        of the funds obligated to the urbanized area 
                        under subparagraph (A)(i); and
                            ``(II) be in addition to the funds 
                        obligated to the urbanized area under 
                        subparagraph (A)(i); and
                    ``(D) any funds not obligated under subparagraph 
                (C) for a fiscal year shall be obligated under this 
                section, in proportion to the relative shares of the 
                population of the State, in any area of the State under 
                subparagraph (B).'';
                    (B) in subsection (f)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1)--
                                    (I) by striking ``A State'' and 
                                inserting ``Except as provided in 
                                paragraph (2), a State'';
                                    (II) by striking ``section 
                                104(b)(3)'' and inserting ``section 
                                104(b)(2)''; and
                                    (III) by striking ``2011 through 
                                2014'' and inserting ``2015 through 
                                2018'';
                            (ii) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 
                        paragraph (3);
                            (iii) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 
                        following:
            ``(2) High performing metropolitan planning 
        organizations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A State that is required to 
                obligate in an urbanized area under subsections 
                (d)(1)(A)(i) and (d)(1)(C) funds apportioned to the 
                State under section 104(b)(2) shall make available to 
                the urbanized area for each fiscal year during the 
                period described in paragraph (1) an amount of 
                obligation authority distributed to the State for 
                Federal-aid highways and highway safety construction 
                programs for use in the area that is equal to the 
                amount obtained by multiplying--
                            ``(i) the amount of funds that the State is 
                        required to obligate in the area under 
                        subsections (d)(1)(A)(i) and (d)(1)(C); and
                            ``(ii) the ratio described in paragraph 
                        (1)(B).
                    ``(B) Availability.--The obligation authority 
                described in subparagraph (A) shall remain available 
                for a period of 4 fiscal years.''; and
                            (iv) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), 
                        by striking ``paragraph (1)'' and inserting 
                        ``paragraphs (1) and (2)''; and
                    (C) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ``of fiscal 
                years 2013 through 2014'' and inserting ``fiscal 
                year''.
            (3) Metropolitan transportation planning.--Section 134 of 
        title 23, United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 
                        (7) as paragraphs (2) through (8), 
                        respectively; and
                            (ii) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 
                        so redesignated) the following:
            ``(1) Consolidated metropolitan planning organization.--The 
        term `consolidated metropolitan planning organization' means a 
        sole metropolitan planning organization that serves a 
        metropolitan statistical area.'';
                    (B) in subsection (d), by striking paragraph (6) 
                and inserting the following:
            ``(6) Consolidation of metropolitan planning organizations 
        in urbanized areas.--
                    ``(A) Limitation on new metropolitan planning 
                organizations.--A metropolitan planning organization 
                shall not be designated--
                            ``(i) within a metropolitan statistical 
                        area if another metropolitan planning 
                        organization already exists within the 
                        boundaries of the metropolitan statistical 
                        area; or
                            ``(ii) outside the boundaries of a 
                        metropolitan statistical area.
                    ``(B) Multiple existing metropolitan planning 
                organizations.--If more than 1 existing metropolitan 
                planning organizations are designated within a 
                metropolitan statistical area--
                            ``(i) each metropolitan planning 
                        organization may--
                                    ``(I) retain the designation as a 
                                metropolitan planning organization; or
                                    ``(II) agree to be consolidated 
                                with the other metropolitan planning 
                                organizations;
                            ``(ii) the existing metropolitan planning 
                        organizations and the applicable Governors 
                        may--
                                    ``(I) beginning on January 1, 2022, 
                                and once every 10 years thereafter, 
                                revisit the agreement described in 
                                clause (i)(I); and
                                    ``(II) submit to the Secretary a 
                                justification of the continued 
                                necessity of that agreement; and
                            ``(iii) each metropolitan planning 
                        organization shall cooperate with every other 
                        metropolitan planning organization to--
                                    ``(I) develop a single 
                                transportation improvement plan and a 
                                single long-range plan to be used by 
                                each metropolitan planning organization 
                                when developing individual plans of the 
                                metropolitan planning organization; and
                                    ``(II) establish a single set of 
                                performance targets that address the 
                                performance measures described in 
                                section 150(c) to be used in developing 
                                individual performance targets of the 
                                metropolitan planning organization in 
                                accordance with subsection 
                                (h)(2)(B).''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(r) High Performing Metropolitan Planning Organizations.--
            ``(1) In general.--A metropolitan planning organization 
        designated for an urbanized area with a population of more than 
        200,000 individuals may request that the Secretary designate 
        the metropolitan planning organization as a high performing 
        metropolitan planning organization.
            ``(2) Criteria.--In making a designation under paragraph 
        (1), the Secretary shall consider--
                    ``(A) the extent to which the metropolitan planning 
                organization has an equitable and regional approach to 
                decisionmaking;
                    ``(B) the extent to which the metropolitan planning 
                organization has incorporated the performance targets 
                established pursuant to section 150 and sections 
                5303(h)(2), 5326(c) and 5329(d) of title 49 into the 
                planning process;
                    ``(C) whether the metropolitan planning 
                organization is a consolidated metropolitan planning 
                organization;
                    ``(D) if the metropolitan planning organization is 
                not a consolidated metropolitan planning organization, 
                the extent to which the metropolitan planning 
                organization is coordinating with all other 
                metropolitan planning organizations designated for the 
                same metropolitan statistical area;
                    ``(E) the technical capacity of the metropolitan 
                planning organization; and
                    ``(F) any other guidance established by the 
                Secretary.
            ``(3) Review.--A designation under paragraph (1) shall be 
        effective for the period beginning on the date on which the 
        designation is made and ending on the date that is 10 years 
        after the date on which the designation is made.''.
            (4) Transportation alternatives.--Section 213(c) of title 
        23, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (1) 
        and inserting the following:
            ``(1) Calculation.--Of the funds reserved in a State under 
        this section--
                    ``(A) 50 percent for a fiscal year shall be 
                obligated under this section to any eligible entity in 
                proportion to their relative shares of the population 
                of the State--
                            ``(i) in urbanized areas of the State with 
                        an urbanized area population of more than 
                        200,000;
                            ``(ii) in urban areas of the State with an 
                        urban area population of not fewer than 5,000 
                        and not more than 200,000; and
                            ``(iii) in areas of the State with an area 
                        population of fewer than 5,000;
                    ``(B) 25 percent for a fiscal year may be obligated 
                under this section in any area of the State;
                    ``(C)(i) 25 percent for a fiscal year shall be 
                obligated under this section in urbanized areas 
                described in subparagraph (A)(i) that have a high 
                performing metropolitan planning organization (as 
                designated by the Secretary under section 134(r) or 
                section 5303(r) of title 49); and
                    ``(ii) the amount of the funds obligated to each 
                urbanized area described in clause (i) shall--
                            ``(I) be equal to 50 percent of the amount 
                        of the funds obligated to the urbanized area 
                        under subparagraph (A)(i); and
                            ``(II) be in addition to the funds 
                        obligated to the urbanized area under 
                        subparagraph (A)(i); and
                    ``(D) any funds not obligated under subparagraph 
                (C) for a fiscal year shall be obligated under this 
                section in any area of the State under subparagraph 
                (B).''.
    (b) Transportation.--Section 5303 of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (7) as 
                paragraphs (2) through (8), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so 
                redesignated) the following:
            ``(1) Consolidated metropolitan planning organization.--The 
        term `consolidated metropolitan planning organization' means a 
        single metropolitan planning organization that serves a 
        metropolitan statistical area.'';
            (2) in subsection (d), by striking paragraph (6) and 
        inserting the following:
            ``(6) Consolidation of metropolitan planning organizations 
        in urbanized areas.--
                    ``(A) Limitation on new metropolitan planning 
                organizations.--A metropolitan planning organization 
                shall not be designated--
                            ``(i) within a metropolitan statistical 
                        area if another metropolitan planning 
                        organization already exists within the 
                        boundaries of the metropolitan statistical 
                        area; or
                            ``(ii) outside the boundaries of a 
                        metropolitan statistical area.
                    ``(B) Multiple existing metropolitan planning 
                organizations.--If more than 1 existing metropolitan 
                planning organizations are designated within a 
                metropolitan statistical area--
                            ``(i) each metropolitan planning 
                        organization may--
                                    ``(I) retain the designation as a 
                                metropolitan planning organization; or
                                    ``(II) agree to be consolidated 
                                with the other metropolitan planning 
                                organizations;
                            ``(ii) the existing metropolitan planning 
                        organizations and the applicable Governors 
                        may--
                                    ``(I) beginning on January 1, 2022, 
                                and once every 10 years thereafter, 
                                revisit the agreement described in 
                                clause (i)(II); and
                                    ``(II) submit to the Secretary a 
                                justification of the continued 
                                necessity of that agreement; and
                            ``(iii) each metropolitan planning 
                        organization shall cooperate with every other 
                        metropolitan planning organization to--
                                    ``(I) develop a single 
                                transportation improvement plan and a 
                                single long-range plan to be used by 
                                each metropolitan planning organization 
                                when developing individual plans of the 
                                metropolitan planning organization; and
                                    ``(II) establish a single set of 
                                performance targets that address the 
                                performance measures described in 
                                section 150(c) of title 23 to be used 
                                in developing individual performance 
                                targets of the metropolitan planning 
                                organization in accordance with 
                                subsection (h)(2)(B) and sections 
                                5326(c)(2) and 5329(d).''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(r) High Performing Metropolitan Planning Organizations.--
            ``(1) In general.--A metropolitan planning organization 
        designated for an urbanized area with a population of more than 
        200,000 individuals may request that the Secretary designate 
        the metropolitan planning organization as a high performing 
        metropolitan planning organization.
            ``(2) Criteria.--In making a designation under paragraph 
        (1), the Secretary shall consider--
                    ``(A) the extent to which the metropolitan planning 
                organization has an equitable and regional approach to 
                decisionmaking;
                    ``(B) the extent to which the metropolitan planning 
                organization has incorporated the performance targets 
                established pursuant to section 150 of title 23 and 
                sections 5303(h)(2), 5326(c) and 5329(d) into the 
                planning process;
                    ``(C) whether the metropolitan planning 
                organization is a consolidated metropolitan planning 
                organization;
                    ``(D) if the metropolitan planning organization is 
                not a consolidated metropolitan planning organization, 
                the extent to which the metropolitan planning 
                organization is coordinating with all other 
                metropolitan planning organizations designated for the 
                same metropolitan statistical area;
                    ``(E) the technical capacity of the metropolitan 
                planning organization; and
                    ``(F) any other guidance established by the 
                Secretary.
            ``(3) Review.--A designation under paragraph (1) shall be 
        effective for the period beginning on the date on which the 
        designation is made and ending on the date that is 10 years 
        after the date on which the designation is made.''.
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