[House Report 114-753]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress     }                                    {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session        }                                    {      114-753

======================================================================

 
TO DIRECT THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION TO PROVIDE TO THE APPROPRIATE 
COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS ADVANCE NOTICE OF CERTAIN ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND FOR 
                             OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 September 19, 2016.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Shuster, from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 5977]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom 
was referred the bill (H.R. 5977) to direct the Secretary of 
Transportation to provide to the appropriate committees of 
Congress advance notice of certain announcements, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose of Legislation...........................................     2
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Legislative History and Consideration............................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     2
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     2
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     4
Advisory of Earmarks.............................................     4
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     4
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings..............................     4
Federal Mandate Statement........................................     4
Preemption Clarification.........................................     4
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     4
Applicability of Legislative Branch..............................     4
Section-by-Section Analysis of Legislation.......................     5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     5

                         PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION

    H.R. 5977 directs the Secretary of Transportation to 
provide to the appropriate committees of Congress advance 
notice of certain announcements.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 5977 requires the Secretary of Transportation to 
provide the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
(Committee) and certain Senate committees with at least three 
days' notice prior to announcing grant awards and credit 
assistance for certain transportation projects. The Secretary 
is further required to provide notification to the Committee 
and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate 
for any quick release of funds from the Emergency Relief 
program concurrent with such release.
    The Committee authorizes funding for federal transportation 
programs, which in turn provide funding and credit assistance 
for transportation projects across the country. However, the 
Committee does not consistently receive notice from the 
Secretary prior to the announcement of grant awards and credit 
assistance for transportation projects.\1\ H.R. 5977 improves 
transparency and enhances oversight of the Department of 
Transportation by ensuring that Congress is properly notified 
of such announcements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Section 1531 of MAP-21 (P.L. 112-141) included a similar 
notification procedure, which has since expired.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                HEARINGS

    No hearings were held on H.R. 5977.

                 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND CONSIDERATION

    On September 9, 2016, Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) and Ranking Member 
Peter DeFazio (D-OR) introduced H.R. 5977, a bill to direct the 
Secretary of Transportation to provide to the appropriate 
committees of Congress advance notice of certain announcements.
    On September 14, 2016, the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure met in open session to consider H.R. 5977. The 
Committee ordered the bill reported favorably to the House of 
Representatives by voice vote with a quorum present.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires each committee report to include the 
total number of votes cast for and against on each record vote 
on a motion to report and on any amendment offered to the 
measure or matter, and the names of those members voting for 
and against. There were no record votes taken in connection 
with consideration of H.R. 5977.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(1) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are 
reflected in this report.

               NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives does not apply where a cost estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 has been timely submitted prior to the filing of the 
report and is included in the report. Such a cost estimate is 
included in this report.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(3) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 
received the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5977 from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                                September 15, 2016.
Hon. Bill Shuster,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5977, a bill to 
direct the Secretary of Transportation to provide to the 
appropriate committees of Congress advance notice of certain 
announcements, and for other purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Sarah Puro.
            Sincerely,
                                                        Keith Hall.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 5977--A bill to direct the Secretary of Transportation to provide 
        to the appropriate committees of Congress advance notice of 
        certain announcements, and for other purposes

    H.R. 5977 would require the Department of Transportation 
(DOT) to notify certain Congressional committees at least three 
days before announcing the award of certain funds to grantees. 
Under current practice, DOT already informs other committees of 
Congress about such grants and awards. As a result, CBO 
estimates that any additional communications costs incurred by 
the department would not be significant.
    Enacting H.R. 5977 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 5977 would not increase 
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
    H.R. 5977 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Sarah Puro. The 
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
performance goal and objective of this legislation is to 
enhance transparency and oversight of the Department of 
Transportation by improving its Congressional notification 
procedures.

                          ADVISORY OF EARMARKS

    Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee is required to include a list 
of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of 
rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. No 
provision in H.R. 5977 includes an earmark, limited tax 
benefit, or limited tariff benefit under clause 9(e), 9(f), or 
9(g) of rule XXI.

                    DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    Pursuant to section 3(g) of H. Res. 5, 114th Cong. (2015), 
the Committee finds that no provision of H.R. 5977 establishes 
or reauthorizes a program of the federal government known to be 
duplicative of another federal program, a program that was 
included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-
139, or a program related to a program identified in the most 
recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.

                  DISCLOSURE OF DIRECTED RULE MAKINGS

    Pursuant to section 3(i) of H. Res. 5, 114th Cong. (2015), 
the Committee finds that enacting H.R. 5977 does not direct the 
completion of a specific rule making within the meaning of 
section 551 of title 5, United States Code.

                       FEDERAL MANDATE STATEMENT

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act (Public Law 104-4).

                        PREEMPTION CLARIFICATION

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 
requires the report of any Committee on a bill or joint 
resolution to include a statement on the extent to which the 
bill or joint resolution is intended to preempt state, local, 
or tribal law. The Committee states that H.R. 5977 does not 
preempt any state, local, or tribal law.

                      ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act are created by this 
legislation.

                  APPLICABILITY OF LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 
104-1).

         SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATION, AS AMENDED

Section 1. Congressional notification requirements

    This section requires the Secretary of Transportation to 
provide the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment 
and Public Works, the Committee on Commerce, Science and 
Transportation, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, Urban 
Affairs of the Senate with at least three days' notice prior to 
announcing grant awards and credit assistance for certain 
transportation projects. It also requires the Secretary to 
provide notification to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure and the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works of a quick release of funds from the Emergency Relief 
program concurrent with such release. Finally, the section 
ensures that notification procedures existing under current law 
are not affected by the requirements of this bill.

Section 2. Definitions

    This section defines certain terms used in the bill.

         CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    H.R. 5977 makes no changes in existing law.

                                  [all]