Transportation Me­ga­proj­ects Accountability and Oversight Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5508 To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish additional requirements for certain transportation projects with estimated costs of $2,500,000,000 or more, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish addi- tional requirements for certain transportation projects with estimated costs of $2,500,000,000 or more, 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 ‘‘Transportation Mega- 4 projects Accountability and Oversight Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Dec 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5508.IH H5508 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5508 IH SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN TRANS- 1 PORTATION PROJECTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of title 23, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(k) MEGAPROJECTS.— 6 ‘‘(1) MEGAPROJECT DEFINED.—In this sub- 7 section, the term ‘megaproject’ means a project that 8 has an estimated total cost of $2,500,000,000 or 9 more, and such other projects as may be identified 10 by the Secretary. 11 ‘‘(2) COMPREHENSIVE RISK MANAGEMENT 12 PLAN.—A recipient of Federal financial assistance 13 under this title for a megaproject shall, in order to 14 be authorized for construction, submit to the Sec- 15 retary a comprehensive risk management plan that 16 contains— 17 ‘‘(A) a description of the process by which 18 the recipient will identify, quantify, and monitor 19 the risks that might result in cost overruns, 20 project delays, reduced construction quality, or 21 reductions in benefits with respect to the 22 megaproject; 23 ‘‘(B) examples of mechanisms the recipient 24 will use to track risks identified pursuant to 25 subparagraph (A); 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Dec 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5508.IH H5508 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5508 IH ‘‘(C) a plan to control such risks; and 1 ‘‘(D) such assurances as the Secretary con- 2 siders appropriate that the recipient will, with 3 respect to the megaproject— 4 ‘‘(i) regularly submit to the Secretary 5 updated cost estimates; and 6 ‘‘(ii) maintain and regularly reassess 7 financial reserves for addressing known 8 and unknown risks. 9 ‘‘(3) PEER REVIEW GROUP.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of Federal 11 financial assistance under this title for a 12 megaproject shall, not later than 90 days after 13 the date when such megaproject is authorized 14 for construction, establish a peer review group 15 for such megaproject that consists of at least 5 16 individuals (including at least 1 individual with 17 project management experience) to give expert 18 advice on the scientific, technical, and project 19 management aspects of the megaproject. 20 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.— 21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 22 180 days after the date of the enactment 23 of this subsection, the Secretary shall es- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Dec 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5508.IH H5508 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5508 IH tablish guidelines describing how a recipi- 1 ent described in subparagraph (A) shall— 2 ‘‘(I) recruit and select members 3 for a peer review group established 4 under such subparagraph; and 5 ‘‘(II) make publicly available the 6 criteria for such selection and the 7 identity of members so selected. 8 ‘‘(ii) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—No 9 member of a peer review group for a 10 megaproject may have a direct or indirect 11 financial interest in such megaproject. 12 ‘‘(C) TASKS.—A peer review group estab- 13 lished under subparagraph (A) by a recipient of 14 Federal financial assistance for a megaproject 15 shall— 16 ‘‘(i) meet annually until completion of 17 the megaproject; 18 ‘‘(ii) not later than 90 days after the 19 date of the establishment of the peer re- 20 view group and not later than 90 days 21 after the date of any significant change, as 22 determined by the Secretary, to the scope, 23 schedule, or budget of the megaproject, re- 24 view the scope, schedule, and budget of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Dec 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5508.IH H5508 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5508 IH megaproject, including planning, engineer- 1 ing, financing, and any other elements de- 2 termined appropriate by the Secretary; and 3 ‘‘(iii) submit a report on the findings 4 of each review under clause (ii) to the Sec- 5 retary, Congress, and the recipient. 6 ‘‘(4) TRANSPARENCY.—A recipient of Federal 7 financial assistance under this title for a megaproj- 8 ect shall publish on the internet website of such re- 9 cipient— 10 ‘‘(A) the name, license number, and license 11 type of each engineer supervising an aspect of 12 the megaproject; and 13 ‘‘(B) the report submitted under para- 14 graph (3)(C)(iii), not later than 90 days after 15 such submission. 16 ‘‘(5) COMMITTEE.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 18 days after the date of enactment of this sub- 19 section, the Secretary of Transportation shall 20 make appropriate arrangements with the 21 Transportation Research Board (hereinafter re- 22 ferred to as the ‘Board’) of the National Acad- 23 emies under which the Board shall convene a 24 transportation megaprojects committee. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Dec 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5508.IH H5508 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5508 IH ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The transportation mega- 1 projects committee convened pursuant to sub- 2 paragraph (A) shall— 3 ‘‘(i) perform a literature search and 4 assessment of existing megaproject studies; 5 ‘‘(ii) review any relevant foreign expe- 6 rience and actions taken, with a particular 7 focus on the United Kingdom and France; 8 ‘‘(iii) identify recurring or typical 9 problems with megaprojects; 10 ‘‘(iv) outline possible approaches to 11 dealing with the problems in the Federal 12 and State context; and 13 ‘‘(v) recommend any changes in the 14 Department of Transportation’s approach 15 to megaproject funding and oversight, such 16 as a recommendation that each project be 17 required to identify a peer group to work 18 with project management and report to the 19 Inspector General and Congress. 20 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 21 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 22 the committee convened pursuant to subpara- 23 graph (A) shall submit to the Secretary, the 24 Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Dec 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5508.IH H5508 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5508 IH ture of the House of Representatives, and the 1 Committee on Environment and Public Works 2 of the Senate a report containing any results, 3 findings, and recommendations made by the 4 committee under subparagraph (B).’’. 5 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub- 6 section (a) applies with respect to projects that are author- 7 ized for construction on or after the date that is 1 year 8 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Dec 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5508.IH H5508 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS