Toll Credit Marketplace Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2954 To establish a pilot toll credit marketplace program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To establish a pilot toll credit marketplace 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’’. 5 SEC. 2. TOLL CREDIT MARKETPLACE PILOT PROGRAM. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro- 8 gram’’ means the toll credit marketplace pilot pro- 9 gram established under subsection (b). 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2954.IS S2954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2954 IS (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Transportation. 2 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 3 ing given the term in section 101 of title 23, United 4 States Code. 5 (4) TOLL CREDIT.—The term ‘‘toll credit’’ 6 means the credit that can be used toward the non- 7 Federal share requirement under section 120(i) of 8 title 23, United States Code. 9 (5) TOLL CREDIT MARKETPLACE.—The term 10 ‘‘toll credit marketplace’’ means a market in which 11 toll credits can be purchased and sold by States par- 12 ticipating in the pilot program. 13 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Not 14 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 15 the Secretary shall establish and implement a pilot pro- 16 gram to develop a toll credit marketplace for States to 17 buy and sell toll credits in accordance with this 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 participating 24 States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2954.IS S2954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2954 IS (3) to analyze the impact of the purchase or 1 sale of toll credits on transportation expenditures; 2 and 3 (4) to test the feasibility of expanding the toll 4 credit market to allow all States to participate on a 5 permanent basis. 6 (d) PARTICIPANTS.—The Secretary shall select not 7 fewer than 10 States to participate in the pilot program. 8 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out the pilot pro- 9 gram, the Secretary— 10 (1) shall establish procedures for a toll credit 11 marketplace; 12 (2) not later than 90 days after the date of en- 13 actment of this Act, shall provide notice to States 14 that the Secretary is requesting participants for the 15 pilot program; and 16 (3) shall allow to participate in the pilot pro- 17 gram— 18 (A) a State that maintains a toll credit 19 balance accumulated before the date of enact- 20 ment of this Act; 21 (B) a State that does not maintain infra- 22 structure for the collection of toll credits; and 23 (C) a State that has not accumulated a toll 24 credit balance. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2954.IS S2954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2954 IS (f) TRANSFER OR SALE OF TOLL CREDITS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot 2 program, the Secretary shall allow a participating 3 State to sell a toll credit not previously used by the 4 State under section 120(i) of title 23, United States 5 Code. 6 (2) REQUIREMENT.—A State participating in 7 the toll credit marketplace shall be subject to section 8 120(i)(2) of title 23, United States Code. 9 (3) WEBSITE SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall 10 establish an online platform that allows participating 11 States to offer and bid on toll credit purchases. 12 (4) OVERSIGHT.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may— 14 (i) review any purchase and sale of a 15 toll credit under the pilot program; and 16 (ii) limit or prohibit a purchase or 17 sale of a toll credit under the pilot pro- 18 gram if the Secretary determines that the 19 purchase or sale is not consistent with the 20 purposes of the pilot program. 21 (B) APPEAL.—If the Secretary limits or 22 prohibits a purchase or sale of a toll credit 23 under subparagraph (A)(ii)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2954.IS S2954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2954 IS (i) the Secretary shall provide to the 1 State notice of that determination; 2 (ii) not later than 30 days after the 3 date on which the State receives the notice 4 under clause (i), the State may request 5 that the Secretary reconsider the deter- 6 mination; and 7 (iii) not later than 60 days after the 8 date on which the Secretary receives a re- 9 quest under clause (ii), the Secretary shall 10 make a determination on the request. 11 (g) USE OF TOLL CREDITS AND FUNDS.— 12 (1) USE OF TOLL CREDITS BY PURCHASER.—A 13 participating State shall use a toll credit purchased 14 under the pilot program toward the non-Federal 15 share requirement for a project carried out under 16 title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49, United States 17 Code, in accordance with section 120(i) of title 23, 18 United States Code. 19 (2) USE OF PROCEEDS FROM SALE OF TOLL 20 CREDITS.—A participating State shall use the pro- 21 ceeds from the sale of a toll credit under the pilot 22 program for a project eligible for assistance under 23 title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49, United States 24 Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2954.IS S2954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2954 IS (h) METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION AND 1 LOCAL GOVERNMENT TOLL CREDIT ALLOCATION.— 2 (1) PURCHASE OF TOLL CREDITS.—On request 3 of a metropolitan planning organization or local gov- 4 ernment in the State, and with a timely payment of 5 the amount of the toll credits, a State may purchase 6 toll credits under this section on behalf of the metro- 7 politan planning organization or local government. 8 (2) ALLOCATION OF TOLL CREDITS.—On ap- 9 proval of the relevant metropolitan planning organi- 10 zation or local government, a State may allocate toll 11 credits purchased by the State for use by the metro- 12 politan planning organization or local government. 13 (i) LIMITATION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR 14 THE PURCHASE OF TOLL CREDITS.—A State, metropoli- 15 tan planning organization, or local government may not 16 use Federal funds to purchase toll credits on the toll credit 17 marketplace. 18 (j) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 19 (1) STATE REPORT.—Not later than 30 days 20 after each purchase or sale in the toll credit market- 21 place under the pilot program— 22 (A) the State that sold the toll credit shall 23 provide to the Secretary information on the 24 transaction, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2954.IS S2954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2954 IS (i) the amount of cash received; 1 (ii) the value of the toll credit sold; 2 (iii) the intended use of the cash; and 3 (iv) the remaining toll credit balance 4 of the State; and 5 (B) the State that purchased the toll credit 6 shall provide to the Secretary information on— 7 (i) the value of the toll credit pur- 8 chased; and 9 (ii) the anticipated use of the toll 10 credit. 11 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year 12 after the date on which the pilot program is estab- 13 lished under subsection (b) and each year thereafter 14 for the duration of the pilot program, the Secretary 15 shall submit to the Committee on Environment and 16 Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on 17 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 18 Representatives a report on the progress of the toll 19 credit marketplace. 20 (3) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the date 21 on which the pilot program terminates under sub- 22 section (l), the Secretary shall— 23 (A) submit to the Committee on Environ- 24 ment and Public Works of the Senate and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2954.IS S2954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2954 IS Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- 1 ture of the House of Representatives a report 2 that— 3 (i) evaluates whether a toll credit 4 marketplace is viable; 5 (ii) describes the buying and selling 6 activities of the toll credit marketplace; 7 (iii) determines the average sales price 8 of toll credits; 9 (iv) evaluates whether the pilot pro- 10 gram could be expanded to more States or 11 all States; 12 (v) provides updated information on 13 the toll credit balance accumulated by each 14 State; and 15 (vi) describes the list of projects that 16 were assisted by the pilot program; and 17 (B) make the report under subparagraph 18 (A) publicly available on the website of the Sec- 19 retary. 20 (k) GAO REPORT.—After the end of the first year 21 during which the toll credit marketplace is in operation, 22 the Comptroller General of the United States shall— 23 (1) conduct a study on the performance of the 24 toll credit marketplace; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2954.IS S2954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2954 IS (2) submit to Congress a report that includes— 1 (A) an evaluation regarding whether the 2 pilot program is successful; and 3 (B) any recommendations on how to im- 4 prove the pilot program. 5 (l) SUNSET.—The pilot program shall terminate on 6 the date that is 5 years after the date on which the pilot 7 program is established. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:33 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2954.IS S2954 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS