Federal
Metro Safety, Accountability, and Investment Act of 2019
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II
116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 1663
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
MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019
Mr. WARNER (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. KAINE, 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
2019’’.
6
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for
7
this Act is as follows:
8
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
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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;
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(B)(i) the Governor of Maryland;
19
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(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;
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(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;
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(4) the terms ‘‘Inspector General’’ and ‘‘Office
16
of Inspector General’’ mean the Inspector General
17
and the Office of Inspector General, respectively, of
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the Transit Authority;
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(5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
20
of Transportation; and
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(6) the term ‘‘Transit Authority’’ means the
22
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority es-
23
tablished under Article III of the Compact.
24
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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 2020
13
through 2029.’’.
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
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‘‘(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 2020
6
through 2029 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
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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
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SEC. 5. REFORMS TO OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.
1
The Secretary may not provide any amounts to the
2
Transit Authority under section 602(c) of the Passenger
3
Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (division
4
B of Public Law 110–432; 122 Stat. 4968), as added by
5
section 4, until the Secretary certifies that the Board has
6
passed a resolution that—
7
(1) reaffirms the status of the Office of Inspec-
8
tor General as an independent and objective unit of
9
the Transit Authority, as established under Section
10
9 of Article III of the Compact;
11
(2) provides that, for each fiscal year, the Of-
12
fice of Inspector General—
13
(A) shall transmit a budget estimate and
14
request to the Board specifying the aggregate
15
amount of funds requested for the fiscal year
16
for the operations of the Office; and
17
(B) may include a request under subpara-
18
graph (A) for a program or project that is an-
19
ticipated to generate obligations or liabilities be-
20
yond that fiscal year;
21
(3) delegates to the Inspector General, to the
22
extent possible under the Compact and in accord-
23
ance with each applicable Federal law or regulation,
24
contracting officer authority, subject to the require-
25
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ment that the Inspector General exercise that au-
1
thority—
2
(A) in accordance with Section 73 of Arti-
3
cle XVI of the Compact, after working with the
4
Transit Authority to develop procurement pro-
5
cedures to facilitate compliance with that sec-
6
tion; and
7
(B) only as is necessary to carry out the
8
duties of the Office of Inspector General;
9
(4) delegates to the Inspector General, to the
10
extent possible under the Compact—
11
(A) the authority to select, appoint, and
12
employ such officers and employees as may be
13
necessary for carrying out the duties of the Of-
14
fice of Inspector General;
15
(B) approving authority for policies that
16
impact the independence of the Office of In-
17
spector General; and
18
(C) the authority to adopt recruiting, hir-
19
ing, and personnel management policies for the
20
Office of Inspector General as appropriate in
21
exercising the authority delegated under sub-
22
paragraph (A);
23
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(5) ensures the Inspector General shall obtain
1
legal advice from a counsel reporting directly to the
2
Inspector General; and
3
(6) requires the Inspector General to—
4
(A) post any report containing a rec-
5
ommendation for corrective action to the
6
website of the Office of Inspector General not
7
later than 3 days after the recommendation is
8
submitted in final form to the General Manager
9
of the Transit Authority, except that—
10
(i) the Inspector General shall, if re-
11
quired by law or otherwise appropriate, re-
12
dact personally identifiable information
13
and information that, in the determination
14
of the Inspector General, would pose a se-
15
curity risk to the systems of the Transit
16
Authority; and
17
(ii) with respect to any investigative
18
findings in a case involving administrative
19
misconduct, whether included in a rec-
20
ommendation or otherwise, the Inspector
21
General shall publish only a summary of
22
the findings, which summary shall be re-
23
dacted in accordance with the procedures
24
set forth in clause (i);
25
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(B) submit a semiannual report containing
1
recommendations of corrective action to the
2
Board, which the Board shall transmit not later
3
than 30 days after receipt of the report, to-
4
gether with any comments the Board deter-
5
mines appropriate, to—
6
(i) each covered recipient described in
7
section 2(3)(A);
8
(ii) the Committee on Appropriations
9
of the Senate;
10
(iii) the Committee on Appropriations
11
of the House of Representatives; and
12
(iv) any other recipients that the
13
Board determines appropriate; and
14
(C) not later than 2 years after the date
15
of enactment of this Act and 5 years after the
16
date of enactment of this Act, submit to each
17
covered recipient a report that—
18
(i) describes the implementation by
19
the Transit Authority of the reforms re-
20
quired under, and the use by the Transit
21
Authority
of
the
funding
authorized
22
under—
23
(I) chapter 34 of title 33.2 of the
24
Code of Virginia;
25
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(II) section 10–205 of the Trans-
1
portation Article of the Code of Mary-
2
land; and
3
(III) section 6002 of the Dedi-
4
cated WMATA Funding and Tax
5
Changes Affecting Real Property and
6
Sales Amendment Act of 2018 (1–
7
325.401, D.C. Official Code); and
8
(ii) contains—
9
(I) an assessment of the effective
10
use of the funding described in clause
11
(i) to address major capital improve-
12
ment projects;
13
(II) a discussion of compliance
14
with strategic plan deadlines;
15
(III) an examination of compli-
16
ance with the reform requirements
17
under the laws described in clause (i),
18
including identifying any challenges to
19
compliance or implementation; and
20
(IV) recommendations to the
21
Transit Authority to improve imple-
22
mentation.
23
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SEC. 6. JEANICE MCMILLAN WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN
1
AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY TRACK SAFETY
2
TASK FORCE.
3
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
4
(1) the term ‘‘on-track safety program’’ means
5
the on-track safety program of the Transit Author-
6
ity; and
7
(2) the term ‘‘Task Force’’ means the Jeanice
8
McMillan Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
9
Authority Track Safety Task Force required to be
10
established under subsection (b).
11
(b) FUNDING CONTINGENT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF
12
TRACK SAFETY TASK FORCE.—The Secretary may not
13
provide any amounts to the Transit Authority under sec-
14
tion 602(c) of the Passenger Rail Investment and Im-
15
provement Act of 2008 (division B of Public Law 110–
16
432; 122 Stat. 4968), as added by section 4, until the
17
Transit Authority notifies the Secretary that the Transit
18
Authority has taken action to establish and maintain a
19
safety task force for the development of on-track safety
20
standards for the Transit Authority, to be known as the
21
‘‘Jeanice McMillan Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
22
Authority Track Safety Task Force’’, in accordance with
23
this section.
24
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(c) DUTIES.—The
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