Metro Safety, Accountability, and Investment Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 354 To reauthorize funding to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Author- ity contingent on improvements to the governance and operations of the Transit Authority. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 22, 2021 Mr. WARNER (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To reauthorize funding to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority contingent on improvements to the governance and operations of the Transit Authority. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Metro Safety, Accountability, and Investment Act of 5 2021’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 354 IS Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Reauthorization of capital and preventive maintenance grants to Wash- ington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Sec. 4. Additional funds for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Sec. 5. Reforms to Office of Inspector General. Sec. 6. Jeanice McMillan Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Track Safety Task Force. Sec. 7. Keith Dodson Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Bus Safety Task Force. Sec. 8. Capital program and planning. Sec. 9. Cybersecurity protections in future rolling stock procurements. Sec. 10. Sense of Congress. Sec. 11. Additional reporting. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act— 2 (1) the term ‘‘Board’’ means the Board of Di- 3 rectors of the Transit Authority; 4 (2) the term ‘‘Compact’’ means the Washington 5 Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact con- 6 sented to by Congress under Public Law 89–774 (80 7 Stat. 1324); 8 (3) the term ‘‘covered recipient’’ means— 9 (A)(i) the Committee on Banking, Hous- 10 ing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 11 (ii) the Committee on Homeland Security 12 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 13 (iii) the Committee on Transportation and 14 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 15 and 16 (iv) the Committee on Oversight and Re- 17 form of the House of Representatives; 18 (B)(i) the Governor of Maryland; 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 354 IS (ii) the President of the Maryland Senate; 1 and 2 (iii) the Speaker of the Maryland House of 3 Delegates; 4 (C)(i) the Governor of Virginia; 5 (ii) the President of the Virginia Senate; 6 and 7 (iii) the Speaker of the Virginia House of 8 Delegates; 9 (D)(i) the Mayor of the District of Colum- 10 bia; and 11 (ii) the Chairman of the Council of the 12 District of Columbia; and 13 (E) the Chairman of the Northern Virginia 14 Transportation Commission; 15 (4) the terms ‘‘Inspector General’’ and ‘‘Office 16 of Inspector General’’ mean the Inspector General 17 and the Office of Inspector General, respectively, of 18 the Transit Authority; 19 (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 20 of Transportation; and 21 (6) the term ‘‘Transit Authority’’ means the 22 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority es- 23 tablished under Article III of the Compact. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 354 IS SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF CAPITAL AND PREVENTIVE 1 MAINTENANCE GRANTS TO WASHINGTON 2 METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY. 3 Section 601(f) of the Passenger Rail Investment and 4 Improvement Act of 2008 (division B of Public Law 110– 5 432; 122 Stat. 4968) is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘under this section an aggregate 7 amount’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘under this 8 section— 9 ‘‘(2) an aggregate amount’’; and 10 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert- 11 ing the following: ‘‘; and 12 ‘‘(2) $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 13 through 2030.’’. 14 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR WASHINGTON METRO- 15 POLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY. 16 Title VI of the Passenger Rail Investment and Im- 17 provement Act of 2008 (division B of Public Law 110– 18 432; 122 Stat. 4968) is amended by adding at the end 19 the following: 20 ‘‘SEC. 602. ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR CAPITAL AND PRE- 21 VENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROJECTS AND FOR 22 INSPECTOR GENERAL. 23 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 24 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 25 of Transportation; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 354 IS ‘‘(2) the term ‘Transit Authority’ has the mean- 1 ing given the term in section 601(a). 2 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION.—In addition to the amounts 3 authorized to be appropriated under section 601, there are 4 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Trans- 5 portation $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 6 through 2030 for use under subsections (c) and (d) of this 7 section. 8 ‘‘(c) FUNDING FOR CAPITAL AND PREVENTIVE 9 MAINTENANCE PROJECTS.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (e), 11 of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for a 12 fiscal year under subsection (b), the Secretary of 13 Transportation may use $45,000,000 for grants to 14 the Transit Authority for the purpose of financing 15 the capital and preventive maintenance projects in- 16 cluded in the Capital Improvement Program ap- 17 proved by the Board of Directors of the Transit Au- 18 thority. 19 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.— 20 ‘‘(A) LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS.— 21 Paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 601(b) shall 22 apply to a grant made under this subsection. 23 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR MASS TRANS- 24 PORTATION CAPITAL PROJECTS RECEIVING 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 354 IS FUNDS UNDER FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION 1 LAW.—Section 601(c) shall apply to the use of 2 any amounts provided to the Transit Authority 3 under this subsection. 4 ‘‘(d) FUNDING FOR OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 5 OF THE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT 6 AUTHORITY.—Subject to subsection (e), of the amounts 7 authorized to be appropriated for a fiscal year under sub- 8 section (b), the Secretary of Transportation shall use 9 $5,000,000 for grants to the Transit Authority for use 10 exclusively by the Office of Inspector General of the Tran- 11 sit Authority for the operations of the Office in accordance 12 with Section 9 of Article III of the Compact, to remain 13 available until expended. 14 ‘‘(e) MATCHING INSPECTOR GENERAL FUNDS RE- 15 QUIRED FROM TRANSIT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may 16 not provide any amounts to the Transit Authority for a 17 fiscal year under subsection (c) or (d) until the Transit 18 Authority notifies the Secretary that the Transit Author- 19 ity has made available $5,000,000 in non-Federal funds 20 for that fiscal year for use exclusively by the Office of In- 21 spector General of the Transit Authority for the oper- 22 ations of the Office in accordance with Section 9 of Article 23 III of the Compact.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 354 IS SEC. 5. REFORMS TO OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. 1 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—Congress recognizes the 2 importance of the Transit Authority having a strong and 3 independent Office of Inspector General, as codified in 4 subsections (a) and (d) of Section 9 of Article III of the 5 Compact. 6 (b) REFORMS.—The Secretary may not provide any 7 amounts to the Transit Authority under section 602(c) of 8 the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 9 2008 (division B of Public Law 110–432; 122 Stat. 4968), 10 as added by section 4, until the Secretary certifies that 11 the Board has passed a resolution that— 12 (1) provides that, for each fiscal year, the Of- 13 fice of Inspector General shall transmit a budget es- 14 timate and request to the Board specifying the ag- 15 gregate amount of funds requested for the fiscal 16 year for the operations of the Office; 17 (2) delegates to the Inspector General, to the 18 extent possible under the Compact and in accord- 19 ance with each applicable Federal law or regulation, 20 contracting officer authority, subject to the require- 21 ment that the Inspector General exercise that au- 22 thority— 23 (A) in accordance with Section 73 of Arti- 24 cle XVI of the Compact, after working with the 25 Transit Authority to amend procurement poli- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 354 IS cies and procedures to give the Inspector Gen- 1 eral approving authority for exceptions to those 2 policies and procedures; and 3 (B) only as is necessary to carry out the 4 duties of the Office of Inspector General; 5 (3) delegates to the Inspector General, to the 6 extent possible under the Compact and in accord- 7 ance with each applicable Federal law or regula- 8 tion— 9 (A) the authority to select, appoint, and 10 employ such officers and employees as may be 11 necessary for carrying out the duties of the Of- 12 fice of Inspector General, subject to the require- 13 ment that the Inspector General exercise that 14 authority in accordance with— 15 (i) subsections (g) and (h) of Section 16 12 of Article V of the Compact; and 17 (ii) personnel policies and procedures 18 of the Transit Authority; and 19 (B) approving authority, subject to the ap- 20 proval of the Board, for exceptions to policies 21 that impact the independence of the Office of 22 Inspector General, but those exceptions may not 23 include the use of employee benefits and pen- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 354 IS sion plans other than the employee benefits and 1 pension plans of the Transit Authority; 2 (4)(A) ensures that the Inspector General ob- 3 tains legal advice from a counsel reporting directly 4 to the Inspector General; and 5 (B) prohibits the counsel described in subpara- 6 graph (A) from— 7 (i) providing legal advice for or on behalf 8 of the Transit Authority; 9 (ii) issuing a legal opinion on behalf of the 10 Transit Authority or making a statement about 11 a legal position of the Transit Authority; or 12 (iii) waiving any privilege or protection 13 from disclosure on any matter under the juris- 14 diction of the Transit Authority; and 15 (5) requires the Inspector General to— 16 (A) post any report containing a rec- 17 ommendation for corrective action to the 18 website of the Office of Inspector General not 19 later than 3 days after the report is submitted 20 in final form to the Board, except that— 21 (i) the Inspector General shall, if re- 22 quired by law or otherwise appropriate, re- 23 dact— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 354 IS (I) personally identifiable infor- 1 mation; 2 (II) legally privileged informa- 3 tion; 4 (III) information legally prohib- 5 ited from disclosure; and 6 (IV) information that, in the de- 7 termination of the Inspector General, 8 would pose a security risk to the sys- 9 tems of the Transit Authority; and 10 (ii) with respect to any investigative 11 findings in a case involving administrative 12 misconduct, whether included in a rec- 13 ommendation or otherwise, the Inspector 14 General shall publish only a summary of 15 the findings, which summary shall be re- 16 dacted in accordance with the procedures 17 set forth in clause (i); 18 (B) submit a semiannual report containing 19 recommendations of corrective action to the 20 Board, which the Board shall transmit not later 21 than 30 days after receipt of the report, to- 22 gether with any comments the Board deter- 23 mines appropriate, to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 354 IS (i) each covered recipient described in 1 section 2(3)(A); 2 (ii) the Committee on Appropriations 3 of the Senate; 4 (iii) the Committee on Appropriations 5 of the House of Representatives; and 6 (iv) any other recipients that the 7 Board determines appropriate; and 8 (C) not later than 2 years after the date 9 of enactment of this Act and 5 years after the 10 date of enactment of this Act, submit to each 11 covered recipient a report that— 12 (i) describes the implementation by 13 the Transit Authority of the reforms re- 14 quired under, and the use by the Transit 15 Authority of the funding authorized 16 under— 17 (I) chapter 34 of title 33.2 of the 18 Code of Virginia; 19 (II) section 10–205 of the Trans- 20 portation Article of the Code of Mary- 21 land; and 22 (III) section 6002 of the Dedi- 23 cated WMATA Funding and Tax 24 Changes Affecting Real Property and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 354 IS Sales Amendment Act of 2018 (1– 1 325.401, D.C. Official Code); and 2 (ii) contains— 3 (I) an assessment of the effective 4 use of the funding described in clause 5 (i) to address major capital improve- 6 ment projects; 7 (II) a discussion of compliance 8 with strategic plan deadlines; 9 (III) an examination of compli- 10 ance with the reform requirements 11 under the laws described in clause (i), 12 including identifying any challenges to 13 compliance or implementation; and 14 (IV) recommendations to the 15 Transit Authority to improve imple- 16 mentation. 17 SEC. 6. JEANICE MCMILLAN WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN 18 AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY TRACK SAFETY 19 TASK FORCE. 20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 21 (1) the term ‘‘on-track safety program’’ means 22 the on-track safety program of the Transit Author- 23 ity; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:49 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S354.IS S354 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 354 IS (2) the term ‘‘Task Force’’ means the Jeanice 1 McMillan Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 2 Authority Track Safety Task Force [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]