Toll Credit Marketplace Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2340 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a toll credit exchange pilot program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 1, 2021 Mr. PAPPAS (for himself, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, and Mr. MALINOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a toll credit exchange pilot program, and for other purposes. 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Toll Credit Market- 4 place Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. TRANSFER AND SALE OF TOLL CREDITS. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) ORIGINATING STATE.—The term ‘‘origi- 8 nating State’’ means a State that— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2340 IH (A) is eligible to use a credit under section 1 120(i) of title 23, United States Code; and 2 (B) has been selected by the Secretary 3 under subsection (d)(2). 4 (2) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro- 5 gram’’ means the pilot program established under 6 subsection (b). 7 (3) RECIPIENT STATE.—The term ‘‘recipient 8 State’’ means a State that receives a credit by trans- 9 fer or by sale under this section from an originating 10 State. 11 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 12 ing given the term in section 101(a) of title 23, 13 United States Code. 14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.—The Sec- 15 retary of Transportation shall establish and implement a 16 toll credit exchange pilot program in accordance with this 17 section. 18 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the pilot program 19 are— 20 (1) to identify the extent of the demand to pur- 21 chase toll credits; 22 (2) to identify the cash price of toll credits 23 through bilateral transactions between States; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2340 IH (3) to analyze the impact of the purchase or 1 sale of toll credits on transportation expenditures; 2 (4) to test the feasibility of expanding the pilot 3 program to allow all States to participate on a per- 4 manent basis; and 5 (5) to identify any other repercussions of the 6 toll credit exchange. 7 (d) SELECTION OF ORIGINATING STATES.— 8 (1) APPLICATION.—In order to participate in 9 the pilot program as an originating State, a State 10 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 11 time, in such manner, and containing such informa- 12 tion as the Secretary may require, including, at a 13 minimum, such information as is required for the 14 Secretary to verify— 15 (A) the amount of unused toll credits for 16 which the State has submitted certification to 17 the Secretary that are available to be sold or 18 transferred under the pilot program, includ- 19 ing— 20 (i) toll revenue generated and the 21 sources of that revenue; 22 (ii) toll revenue used by public, quasi- 23 public, and private agencies to build, im- 24 prove, or maintain highways, bridges, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2340 IH tunnels that serve the public purpose of 1 interstate commerce; and 2 (iii) an accounting of any Federal 3 funds used by the public, quasi-public, or 4 private agency to build, improve, or main- 5 tain the toll facility, to validate that the 6 credit has been reduced by a percentage 7 equal to the percentage of the total cost of 8 building, improving, or maintaining the fa- 9 cility that was derived from Federal funds; 10 (B) the documentation of maintenance of 11 effort for toll credits earned by the originating 12 State; and 13 (C) the accuracy of the accounting system 14 of the State to earn and track toll credits. 15 (2) SELECTION.—Of the States that submit an 16 application under paragraph (1), the Secretary may 17 select not more than 10 States to be designated as 18 an originating State. 19 (3) LIMITATION ON SALES.—At any time, the 20 Secretary may limit the amount of unused toll cred- 21 its that may be offered for sale under the pilot pro- 22 gram. 23 (e) TRANSFER OR SALE OF CREDITS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2340 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot 1 program, the Secretary shall provide that an origi- 2 nating State may transfer or sell to a recipient State 3 a credit not previously used by the originating State 4 under section 120(i) of title 23, United States Code. 5 (2) WEBSITE SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall 6 make available a publicly accessible website on which 7 originating States shall post the amount of toll cred- 8 its, verified under subsection (d)(1)(A), that are 9 available for sale or transfer to a recipient State. 10 (3) BILATERAL TRANSACTIONS.—An origi- 11 nating State and a recipient State may enter into a 12 bilateral transaction to sell or transfer verified toll 13 credits. 14 (4) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 15 after the date on which a credit is transferred or 16 sold, the originating State and the recipient State 17 shall jointly submit to the Secretary a written notifi- 18 cation of the transfer or sale, including details on— 19 (A) the amount of toll credits that have 20 been sold or transferred; 21 (B) the price paid or other value trans- 22 ferred in exchange for the toll credits; 23 (C) the intended use by the recipient State 24 of the toll credits, if known; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2340 IH (D) the intended use by the originating 1 State of the cash or other value transferred; 2 (E) an update on the toll credit balance of 3 the originating State and the recipient State; 4 and 5 (F) any other information about the trans- 6 action that the Secretary may require. 7 (5) USE OF CREDITS BY TRANSFEREE OR PUR- 8 CHASER.—A recipient State may use a credit re- 9 ceived under paragraph (1) toward the non-Federal 10 share requirement for any funds made available to 11 carry out title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49, United 12 States Code, in accordance with section 120(i) of 13 title 23, United States Code. 14 (6) USE OF PROCEEDS FROM SALE OF CRED- 15 ITS.—An originating State shall use the proceeds 16 from the sale of a credit under paragraph (1) for the 17 construction costs of any project in the originating 18 State that is eligible under title 23, United States 19 Code. 20 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 21 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 22 after the date on which the pilot program is estab- 23 lished, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 24 on Environment and Public Works of the Senate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2340 IH and the Committee on Transportation and Infra- 1 structure of the House of Representatives a report 2 on the progress of the pilot program. 3 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 4 after the date on which the pilot program is estab- 5 lished, the Secretary shall— 6 (A) submit to the Committee on Environ- 7 ment and Public Works of the Senate and the 8 Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- 9 ture of the House of Representatives a report 10 that— 11 (i) determines whether a toll credit 12 marketplace is viable and cost-effective; 13 (ii) describes the buying and selling 14 activities under the pilot program; 15 (iii) describes the average sale price of 16 toll credits; 17 (iv) determines whether the pilot pro- 18 gram could be expanded to more States or 19 all States or to non-State operators of toll 20 facilities; 21 (v) provides updated information on 22 the toll credit balance accumulated by each 23 State; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2340 IH (vi) describes the list of projects that 1 were assisted by the pilot program; and 2 (B) make the report under subparagraph 3 (A) publicly available on the website of the De- 4 partment. 5 (g) TERMINATION.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may termi- 7 nate the pilot program or the participation of any 8 State in the pilot program if the Secretary deter- 9 mines that— 10 (A) the pilot program is not serving a pub- 11 lic benefit; or 12 (B) it is not cost effective to carry out the 13 pilot program. 14 (2) PROCEDURES.—The termination of the pilot 15 program or the participation of a State in the pilot 16 program shall be carried out consistent with Federal 17 requirements for project closeout, adjustment, and 18 continuing responsibilities. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2340.IH H2340 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS