[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5711 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5711
To amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to improve public
understanding of how transportation investments are made by public
agencies through establishing greater transparency and accountability
processes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 8, 2025
Mr. DeSaulnier introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to improve public
understanding of how transportation investments are made by public
agencies through establishing greater transparency and accountability
processes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Metropolitan Planning Enhancement
Act''.
SEC. 2. METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.
(a) Development of Transportation Plan.--Section 134(i) of title
23, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as paragraphs
(8) and (9); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
``(7) Project selection transparency and accountability.--
Projects included in the adopted transportation plan shall be
selected through a publicly available transparent process that
includes use of criteria that directly support factors in
subsection (h), the national transportation goals under section
150(b), and applicable State transportation goals. The criteria
shall be used to publicly categorize the highest performing
projects.''.
(b) Metropolitan Tip.--Section 134(j)(2)(A) of title 23, United
States Code is amended by adding after the period at the end the
following:
``Projects included in the priority list shall come from the
highest performing category of projects identified in the
transportation plan under subsection (i)(7). If a lower-categorized
project is included in the priority project list, a public description
shall be included to explain why the lower-categorized project is
included before a higher-categorized project, including geographic
balance and projects in economically distressed areas.''.
SEC. 3. STATEWIDE AND NONMETROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.
(a) Long-Range Statewide Transportation Plan.--Section 135(f) of
title 23, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (10); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following:
``(9) Project selection transparency and accountability.--
Projects included in the adopted long-range statewide
transportation plan shall be selected through a publicly
available transparent process that includes use of criteria
that directly support factors in subsection (d), the national
transportation goals under section 150(b), and applicable State
transportation goals. The criteria shall be used to publicly
categorize the highest performing projects.''.
(b) Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.--Section
135(g)(5)(A) of title 23, United States Code is amended by adding after
the period at the end the following:
``Projects included in the transportation improvement program shall
come from the highest performing category of projects identified in the
transportation plan under subsection (f)(9). If a lower-categorized
project is included in the priority project list, a public description
shall be included to explain why the lower-categorized project is
included before a higher-categorized project, including geographic
balance and projects in economically distressed areas.''.
SEC. 4. METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.
(a) Development of Transportation Plan.--Section 5303(i) of chapter
53 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as paragraphs
(8) and (9); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
``(7) Project selection transparency and accountability.--
Projects included in the adopted transportation plan shall be
selected through a publicly available transparent process that
includes use of criteria that directly support factors in
subsection (h), the national transportation goals under section
150(b), and applicable State transportation goals. The criteria
shall be used to publicly categorize the highest performing
projects.''.
(b) Metropolitan Tip.--Section 5303(j)(2)(A) of chapter 53 of title
49, United States Code is amended by adding after the period at the end
the following:
``Projects included in the priority list shall come from the
highest performing category of projects identified in the
transportation plan under subsection (i)(7). If a lower-categorized
project is included in the priority project list, a public description
shall be included to explain why the lower-categorized project is
included before a higher-categorized project, including geographic
balance and projects in economically distressed areas.''.
SEC. 5. STATEWIDE AND NONMETROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION PLANNING.
(a) Long-Range Statewide Transportation Plan.--Section 5304(f) of
chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (10); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following:
``(9) Project selection transparency and accountability.--
Projects included in the adopted long-range statewide
transportation plan shall be selected through a publicly
available transparent process that includes use of criteria
that directly support factors in subsection (d), the national
transportation goals under section 150(b), and applicable State
transportation goals. The criteria shall be used to publicly
categorize the highest performing projects.''.
(b) Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.--Section
5304(g)(5)(A) of chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amended
by adding after the period at the end the following:
``Projects included in the statewide transportation improvement
program shall come from the highest performing category of projects
identified in the transportation plan under subsection (f)(9). If a
lower-categorized project is included in the priority project list, a
public description shall be included to explain why the lower-
categorized project is included before a higher-categorized project,
including geographic balance and projects in economically distresses
areas.''.
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