Incentivizing Value Capture for Greener Transportation Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10019 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                               H. R. 10019

 To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide grants and develop
                         value capture policy.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 3, 2026

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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Incentivizing Value Capture for
Greener Transportation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 2018, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) rose sharply by
        3.4 percent, the second-largest annual gain in more than 20
        years, and GHG emissions have grown by approximately 1.5
        percent every year over the last decade.
            (2) Greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation
        sector, including cars and trucks, are the largest source of
        GHG emissions in the United States with the transportation
        sector emitting 1,900,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)
        annually.
            (3) Annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United
        States have nearly tripled since 1971, rising to
        3,210,000,000,000 in 2018.
            (4) Consequently, in 2018, Americans lost an average of 97
        hours a year due to congestion, costing them nearly
        $87,000,000,000.
            (5) Residents in communities located near high-capacity
        transit are twice as likely not to own a car as residents who
        live elsewhere, and they own half as many cars per household.
            (6) Increasing transit ridership and improving our transit
        systems in urban, suburban, and exurban areas, using innovative
        solutions such as land value capture, will help reduce VMT,
        congestion, GHG emissions, and reliance on fossil fuels and
        vehicles. By reducing such factors, the United States can help
        curb the effects of climate change.

SEC. 3. VALUE CAPTURE POLICY AND PLANNING PROGRAM.

    Chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:

``SEC. 5341. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND VALUE CAPTURE POLICY.

    ``(a) Technical Assistance and Policy Development.--
            ``(1) Technical assistance grants.--The Secretary may make
        a grant available to a State or local government if the
        Secretary determines that such grant will assist recipients
        under this section to--
                    ``(A) develop more State and local value capture
                mechanisms for long-term funding that promote mobility,
                public transportation, and affordable transit-oriented
                development;
                    ``(B) improve public transportation and mobility;
                and
                    ``(C) develop strategic partnerships that create
                greater self-help capacity that leads to greater long
                term and robust investments in public transportation,
                mobility, inclusive economic development, and
                affordable transit-oriented development.
            ``(2) Performance benchmarks and maintenance of effort.--
                    ``(A) Performance benchmarks.--To be eligible for a
                grant under this section, the grantee shall include in
                its application an explanation of how the grant funds
                will demonstrably increase transit capacity and
                ridership and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, vehicle
                miles traveled, and congestion.
                    ``(B) Maintenance of effort.--
                            ``(i) In general and possible reduction.--
                        In addition to the eligibility requirements of
                        subparagraph (A), a grantee also needs to
                        include in its application a certification to
                        maintain the same funding level as the
                        aggregate expenditures at or above the average
                        level of expenditures in the 2 fiscal years
                        prior to the date of enactment of this section.
                        If a State or local government that receives a
                        grant under this section reduces its combined
                        fiscal effort for value capture initiatives and
                        programs or the aggregate expenditures within
                        the State or local government to support value
                        capture, public transportation, or affordable
                        transit-oriented development programs for any
                        fiscal year that a State or local government
                        receives a grant authorized under this section
                        relative to the previous fiscal year, the
                        Secretary, except as provided in clause (ii),
                        shall reduce support for such State or local
                        government under this section by the same
                        amount as the decline in State or local effort
                        for such fiscal year.
                            ``(ii) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the
                        requirements of this subparagraph if--
                                    ``(I) the Secretary determines that
                                a waiver would be appropriate due to a
                                precipitous decline in the financial
                                resources of a State or local
                                government as a result of unforeseen
                                economic hardship or a natural disaster
                                that has necessitated across-the-board
                                reductions in State or local services,
                                including value capture, public
                                transportation, and affordable transit-
                                oriented development programs; or
                                    ``(II) due to the circumstances of
                                a State or local government requiring
                                reductions in specific programs, if the
                                State or local government presents to
                                the Secretary a justification and
                                demonstration why other programs could
                                not be reduced and how value capture,
                                public transportation, and affordable
                                transit-oriented development programs
                                in the State will not be
                                disproportionately harmed by such State
                                or local action.
            ``(3) Davis-bacon.--The Secretary shall ensure that
        laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and
        subcontractors in construction work financed by a grant made
        under this section will be paid wages not less than those
        prevailing on similar construction in the locality, as
        determined by the Secretary of Labor under subchapter IV of
        chapter 31 of title 40 (commonly known as the `Davis-Bacon
        Act').
            ``(4) Enforcement.--The Secretary may revoke grant funds
        provided under this section if a grantee fails to implement the
        maintenance of effort under paragraph (2)(B) and Davis-Bacon
        provisions referred to paragraph (3).
            ``(5) Evaluation.--Not later than 3 years after receiving a
        grant under this section, the grantee shall assess the
        effectiveness of the use of the funds by evaluating whether the
        funds created a demonstrable increase in transit capacity and
        ridership and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, vehicle
        miles traveled, and congestion.
            ``(6) Technical assistance.--The Secretary, through a
        competitive bid process, may enter into contracts, cooperative
        agreements, and other agreements with national nonprofit
        organizations and universities that have the appropriate
        demonstrated capacity to provide value capture-related
        technical assistance under this subsection, including guidance
        on implementing foreign value capture models within the United
        States.
            ``(7) Supplement not supplant.--Grant funds received under
        this section shall be used to supplement and not supplant other
        Federal, State, and local public funds expended on public value
        capture and affordable transit-oriented development programs in
        the State or local government.
            ``(8) Value capture policy requirements.--
                    ``(A) Value capture policy.--Not later than October
                1 of the fiscal year that begins 2 years after the date
                of enactment of this section, the Secretary, in
                collaboration with State departments of transportation,
                metropolitan planning organizations, and regional
                council of governments, shall establish voluntary and
                consensus-based value capture standards, policies, and
                best practices for State and local value capture
                mechanisms that promote greater investments in public
                transportation and affordable transit-oriented
                development.
                    ``(B) Report.--Not later than 15 months after the
                date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall
                make available to the public a report cataloging
                examples of State and local laws and policies that
                provide for value capture and value sharing that
                promote greater investment in public transportation and
                affordable transit-oriented development.
                    ``(C) Best practices.--Based on the report required
                under subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall identify
                and disseminate examples of best practices where States
                and local governments have adopted value capture and
                value sharing mechanisms that have successfully
                provided for greater investment in public
                transportation and affordable transit-oriented
                development.
    ``(b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `value capture' means capturing a portion of
        the incremental economic value created by government
        investments, activities, and policies that may generate
        alternative revenue streams, assets, or other financial value
        for which could assist in funding those investments and
        activities;
            ``(2) the term `transit-oriented development' means a mix
        of commercial, residential, office, and entertainment centered
        around or located near a public transportation station that
        promotes affordable housing and commercial space;
            ``(3) the term `affordable housing' means housing, the cost
        of which does not exceed 30 percent of the income of a family;
        and
            ``(4) the term `affordable commercial space' means
        commercial space dedicated to either protect or promote small
        and disadvantage businesses provided below market rent
        value.''.
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