Incentivizing Value Capture for Greener Transportation Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5641 To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide grants and develop value capture policy. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 16, 2020 Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide grants and develop value capture policy. 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 ‘‘Incentivizing Value 4 Capture for Greener Transportation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) In 2018, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) 8 rose sharply by 3.4 percent, the second-largest an- 9 nual gain in more than 20 years, and GHG emis- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641 2 •HR 5641 IH sions have grown by approximately 1.5 percent every 1 year over the last decade. 2 (2) Greenhouse gas emissions from the trans- 3 portation sector, including cars and trucks, are the 4 largest source of GHG emissions in the United 5 States with the transportation sector emitting 6 1,900,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annu- 7 ally. 8 (3) Annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the 9 United States have nearly tripled since 1971, rising 10 to 3,210,000,000,000 in 2018. 11 (4) Consequently, in 2018, Americans lost an 12 average of 97 hours a year due to congestion, cost- 13 ing them nearly $87,000,000,000. 14 (5) Residents in communities located near high- 15 capacity transit are twice as likely not to own a car 16 as residents who live elsewhere, and they own half 17 as many cars per household. 18 (6) Increasing transit ridership and improving 19 our transit systems in urban, suburban, and exurban 20 areas, using innovative solutions such as land value 21 capture, will help reduce VMT, congestion, GHG 22 emissions, and reliance on fossil fuels and vehicles. 23 By reducing such factors, the United States can help 24 curb the effects of climate change. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641 3 •HR 5641 IH SEC. 3. VALUE CAPTURE POLICY AND PLANNING PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 Chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amend- 3 ed by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 5341. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND VALUE CAPTURE 5 POLICY. 6 ‘‘(a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND POLICY DEVEL- 7 OPMENT.— 8 ‘‘(1) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.—The 9 Secretary may make a grant available to a State or 10 local government if the Secretary determines that 11 such grant will assist recipients under this section 12 to— 13 ‘‘(A) develop more State and local value 14 capture mechanisms for long-term funding that 15 promote mobility, public transportation, and af- 16 fordable transit-oriented development; 17 ‘‘(B) improve public transportation and 18 mobility; and 19 ‘‘(C) develop strategic partnerships that 20 create greater self-help capacity that leads to 21 greater long term and robust investments in 22 public transportation, mobility, inclusive eco- 23 nomic development, and affordable transit-ori- 24 ented development. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641 4 •HR 5641 IH ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS AND MAIN- 1 TENANCE OF EFFORT.— 2 ‘‘(A) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—To 3 be eligible for a grant under this section, the 4 grantee shall include in its application an expla- 5 nation of how the grant funds will demonstrably 6 increase transit capacity and ridership and re- 7 duce carbon dioxide emissions, vehicle miles 8 traveled, and congestion. 9 ‘‘(B) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL AND POSSIBLE RE- 11 DUCTION.—In addition to the eligibility re- 12 quirements of subparagraph (A), a grantee 13 also needs to include in its application a 14 certification to maintain the same funding 15 level as the aggregate expenditures at or 16 above the average level of expenditures in 17 the 2 fiscal years prior to the date of en- 18 actment of this section. If a State or local 19 government that receives a grant under 20 this section reduces its combined fiscal ef- 21 fort for value capture initiatives and pro- 22 grams or the aggregate expenditures with- 23 in the State or local government to support 24 value capture, public transportation, or af- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641 5 •HR 5641 IH fordable transit-oriented development pro- 1 grams for any fiscal year that a State or 2 local government receives a grant author- 3 ized under this section relative to the pre- 4 vious fiscal year, the Secretary, except as 5 provided in clause (ii), shall reduce support 6 for such State or local government under 7 this section by the same amount as the de- 8 cline in State or local effort for such fiscal 9 year. 10 ‘‘(ii) WAIVER.—The Secretary may 11 waive the requirements of this subpara- 12 graph if— 13 ‘‘(I) the Secretary determines 14 that a waiver would be appropriate 15 due to a precipitous decline in the fi- 16 nancial resources of a State or local 17 government as a result of unforeseen 18 economic hardship or a natural dis- 19 aster that has necessitated across-the- 20 board reductions in State or local 21 services, including value capture, pub- 22 lic transportation, and affordable 23 transit-oriented development pro- 24 grams; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641 6 •HR 5641 IH ‘‘(II) due to the circumstances of 1 a State or local government requiring 2 reductions in specific programs, if the 3 State or local government presents to 4 the Secretary a justification and dem- 5 onstration why other programs could 6 not be reduced and how value capture, 7 public transportation, and affordable 8 transit-oriented development programs 9 in the State will not be disproportion- 10 ately harmed by such State or local 11 action. 12 ‘‘(3) DAVIS-BACON.—The Secretary shall en- 13 sure that laborers and mechanics employed by con- 14 tractors and subcontractors in construction work fi- 15 nanced by a grant made under this section will be 16 paid wages not less than those prevailing on similar 17 construction in the locality, as determined by the 18 Secretary of Labor under subchapter IV of chapter 19 31 of title 40 (commonly known as the ‘Davis-Bacon 20 Act’). 21 ‘‘(4) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary may re- 22 voke grant funds provided under this section if a 23 grantee fails to implement the maintenance of effort 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Jan 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641 7 •HR 5641 IH under paragraph (2)(B) and Davis-Bacon provisions 1 referred to paragraph (3). 2 ‘‘(5) EVALUATION.—Not later than 3 years 3 after receiving a grant under this section, the grant- 4 ee shall assess the effectiveness of the use of the 5 funds by evaluating whether the funds created a de- 6 monstrable increase in transit capacity and ridership 7 and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, vehicle 8 miles traveled, and congestion. 9 ‘‘(6) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, 10 through a competitive bid process, may enter into 11 contracts, cooperative agreements, and other agree- 12 ments with national nonprofit organizations and uni- 13 versities that have the appropriate demonstrated ca- 14 pacity to provide value capture-related technical as- 15 sistance under this subsection, including guidance on 16 implementing foreign value capture models within 17 the United States. 18 ‘‘(7) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant 19 funds received under this section shall be used to 20 supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, 21 and local public funds expended on public value cap- 22 ture and affordable transit-oriented development 23 programs in the State or local government. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641 8 •HR 5641 IH ‘‘(8) VALUE CAPTURE POLICY REQUIRE- 1 MENTS.— 2 ‘‘(A) VALUE CAPTURE POLICY.—Not later 3 than October 1 of the fiscal year that begins 2 4 years after the date of enactment of this sec- 5 tion, the Secretary, in collaboration with State 6 departments of transportation, metropolitan 7 planning organizations, and regional council of 8 governments, shall establish voluntary and con- 9 sensus-based value capture standards, policies, 10 and best practices for State and local value cap- 11 ture mechanisms that promote greater invest- 12 ments in public transportation and affordable 13 transit-oriented development. 14 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 15 months 15 after the date of enactment of this section, the 16 Secretary shall make available to the public a 17 report cataloging examples of State and local 18 laws and policies that provide for value capture 19 and value sharing that promote greater invest- 20 ment in public transportation and affordable 21 transit-oriented development. 22 ‘‘(C) BEST PRACTICES.—Based on the re- 23 port required under subparagraph (B), the Sec- 24 retary shall identify and disseminate examples 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641 9 •HR 5641 IH of best practices where States and local govern- 1 ments have adopted value capture and value 2 sharing mechanisms that have successfully pro- 3 vided for greater investment in public transpor- 4 tation and affordable transit-oriented develop- 5 ment. 6 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 7 ‘‘(1) the term ‘value capture’ means capturing 8 a portion of the incremental economic value created 9 by government investments, activities, and policies 10 that may generate alternative revenue streams, as- 11 sets, or other financial value for which could assist 12 in funding those investments and activities; 13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘transit-oriented development’ 14 means a mix of commercial, residential, office, and 15 entertainment centered around or located near a 16 public transportation station that promotes afford- 17 able housing and commercial space; 18 ‘‘(3) the term ‘affordable housing’ means hous- 19 ing, the cost of which does not exceed 30 percent of 20 the income of a family; and 21 ‘‘(4) the term ‘affordable commercial space’ 22 means commercial space dedicated to either protect 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641 10 •HR 5641 IH or promote small and disadvantage businesses pro- 1 vided below market rent value.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5641.IH H5641