[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.J. Res. 194 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.J. Res.194
One Hundred Fourth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six
Joint Resolution
Granting the consent of the Congress to amendments made by Maryland,
Virginia, and the District of Columbia to the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Regulation Compact.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,

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The Congress consents to the amendments of the State of Maryland
(chapter 252, 1995 Acts of the Maryland General Assembly and chapter
489, 1996 Laws of Maryland), the amendments of the Commonwealth of
Virginia (chapter 150, 1995 Acts of Assembly of Virginia), and the
amendments of the District of Columbia (D.C. Law 11-138) of title III
of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact. Such
amendments are substantially as follows:
(1) Section 3 is amended to read as follows:
``Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Zone
``3. There is hereby created the Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Zone which shall embrace the District of Columbia, the cities
of Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax and the counties of Arlington,
Fairfax, and Loudoun and political subdivisions of the Commonwealth of
Virginia located within those counties, and the counties of Montgomery
and Prince George's in the State of Maryland and political subdivisions
of the State of Maryland located in said counties.''.
(2) Subsection (a) of section 5 is amended to read as follows:
``(a) The Authority shall be governed by a Board of six Directors
consisting of two Directors for each signatory. For Virginia, the
Directors shall be appointed by the Northern Virginia Transportation
Commission; for the District of Columbia, by the Council of the
District of Columbia; and for Maryland, by the Washington Suburban
Transit Commission. For Virginia and Maryland, the Directors shall be
appointed from among the members of the appointing body, except as
otherwise provided herein, and shall serve for a term coincident with
their term on the appointing body. A Director may be removed or
suspended from office only as provided by the law of the signatory from
which he was appointed. The appointing authorities shall also appoint
an alternate for each Director, who may act only in the absence of the
Director for whom he has been appointed an alternate, except that, in
the case of the District of Columbia where only one Director and his
alternate are present, such alternate may act on behalf of the absent
Director. Each alternate shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing
authority. In the event of a vacancy in the Office of Director or
alternate, it shall be filled in the same manner as an original
appointment.''.
(3) Subsection (a) of section 8 is amended to read as follows:
``(a) Four Directors or alternates consisting of at least one
Director or alternate appointed from each Signatory, shall constitute a
quorum and no action by the Board shall be effective unless a majority
of the Board present and voting, which majority shall include at least
one Director or alternate from each Signatory, concur therein;
provided, however, that a plan of financing may be adopted or a mass
transit plan adopted, altered, revised or amended by the unanimous vote
of the Directors representing any two Signatories.''.
(4) Subsection (b) of section 14 is amended to read as follows:
``(b) It shall be the duty and responsibility of each member of the
Board to serve as liaison between the Board and the body which
appointed him to the Board. To provide a framework for regional
participation in the planning process, the Board shall create technical
committees concerned with planning and collection and analyses of data
relative to decision-making in the transportation planning process and
the Mayor and Council of the District of Columbia, the component
governments of the Northern Virginia Transportation District and the
Washington Suburban Transit District shall appoint representatives to
such technical committees and otherwise cooperate with the Board in the
formulation of a mass transit plan, or in revisions, alterations or
amendments thereof.''.
(5)(A) Paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of section 15 is amended to
read as follows:
``(1) The Mayor and Council of the District of Columbia, the
Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Washington
Suburban Transit Commission;''.
(B) Paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of section 15 is amended to
read as follows:
``(3) the transportation agencies of the signatories;''.
(C) The last paragraph of section 15 is amended to read as follows:
``(b) A copy of the proposed mass transit plan, amendment or
revision, shall be kept at the office of the Board and shall be
available for public inspection. Information with respect thereto shall
be released to the public. After thirty days' notice published once a
week for two successive weeks in one or more newspapers of general
circulation within the zone, a public hearing shall be held with
respect to the proposed plan, alteration, revision or amendment. The
thirty days' notice shall begin to run on the first day the notice
appears in any such newspaper. The Board shall consider the evidence
submitted and statements and comments made at such meeting and may make
any changes in the proposed plan, amendment or revision which it deems
appropriate and such changes may be made without further hearing.''.
(6) Subsection (a) of section 70 is amended to read as follows:
``(a) As soon as practical after the closing of the fiscal year, an
audit shall be made of the financial accounts of the Authority. The
audit shall be made by qualified certified public accountants selected
by the Board, who shall have no personal interest direct or indirect in
the financial affairs of the Authority or any of its officers or
employees. The report of audit shall be prepared in accordance with
generally accepted auditing principles and shall be filed with the
Chairman and other officers as the Board shall direct. Copies of the
report shall be distributed to each Director, to the Congress, to the
Mayor and Council of the District of Columbia, to the Governors of
Virginia and Maryland, to the Washington Suburban Transit Commission,
to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and to the governing
bodies of the political subdivisions located within the Zone which are
parties to commitments for participation in the financing of the
Authority and shall be made available for public distribution.''.
(7) Section 73 is amended to read as follows:
``Contracting and Purchasing
``73. (a)(1) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (f) of
this section, and except in the case of procurement procedures
otherwise expressly authorized by statute, the Authority in conducting
a procurement of property, services, or construction shall:
``(A) obtain full and open competition through the use of
competitive procedures in accordance with the requirements of this
Section; and
``(B) use the competitive procedure or combination of
competitive procedures that is best suited under the circumstances
of the procurement.
``(2) In determining the competitive procedure appropriate under
the circumstances, the Authority shall:
``(A) solicit sealed bids if:
``(i) time permits the solicitation, submission, and
evaluation of sealed bids;
``(ii) the award will be made on the basis of price and
other price-related factors;
``(iii) it is not necessary to conduct discussions with the
responding sources about their bids; and
``(iv) there is a reasonable expectation of receiving more
than one sealed bid; or
``(B) request competitive proposals if sealed bids are not
appropriate under clause (A) of this paragraph.
``(b) The Authority may provide for the procurement of property,
services, or construction covered by this Section using competitive
procedures but excluding a particular source in order to establish or
maintain an alternative source or sources of supply for that property,
service, or construction if the Authority determines that excluding the
source would increase or maintain competition and would likely result
in reduced overall costs for procurement of property, services, or
construction.
``(c) The Authority may use procedures other than competitive
procedures if:
``(1) the property, services, or construction needed by the
Authority is available from only one responsible source and no
other type of property, services, or construction will satisfy the
needs of the Authority; or
``(2) the Authority's need for the property, services, or
construction is of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the
Authority would be seriously injured unless the Authority limits
the number of sources from which it solicits bids or proposals; or
``(3) the Authority determines that it is necessary in the
public interest to use procedures other than competitive procedures
in the particular procurement; or
``(4) the property or services can be obtained through federal
or other governmental sources at reasonable prices.
``(d) For the purpose of applying subsection (c)(1) of this
section:
``(1) in the case of a contract for property, services, or
construction to be awarded on the basis of acceptance of an
unsolicited proposal, the property, services, or construction shall
be deemed to be available from only one responsible source if the
source has submitted an unsolicited proposal that demonstrates a
concept:
``(A) that is unique and innovative or, in the case of a
service, for which the source demonstrates a unique capability
to provide the service; and
``(B) the substance of which is not otherwise available to
the Authority and does not resemble the substance of a pending
competitive procurement.
``(2) in the case of a follow-on contract for the continued
development or production of a major system or highly specialized
equipment or the continued provision of highly specialized
services, the property, services, or construction may be deemed to
be available from only the original source and may be procured
through procedures other than competitive procedures if it is
likely that award to a source other than the original source would
result in:
``(A) substantial duplication of cost to the Authority that
is not expected to be recovered through competition; or
``(B) unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Authority's
needs.
``(e) If the Authority uses procedures other than competitive
procedures to procure property, services, or construction under
subsection (c)(2) of this section, the Authority shall request offers
from as many potential sources as is practicable under the
circumstances.
``(f)(1) To promote efficiency and economy in contracting, the
Authority may use simplified acquisition procedures for purchases of
property, services and construction.
``(2) For the purposes of this subsection, simplified acquisition
procedures may be used for purchases for an amount that does not exceed
the simplified acquisition threshold adopted by the Federal Government.
``(3) A proposed purchase or contract for an amount above the
simplified acquisition threshold may not be divided into several
purchases or contracts for lesser amounts in order to use the
procedures under paragraph (1) of this subsection.
``(4) In using simplified acquisition procedures, the Authority
shall promote competition to the maximum extent practicable.
``(g) The Board shall adopt policies and procedures to implement
this Section. The policies and procedures shall provide for publication
of notice of procurements and other actions designed to secure
competition where competitive procedures are used.
``(h) The Authority in its discretion may reject any and all bids
or proposals received in response to a solicitation.''.
(8) Section 81 is amended to read as follows:
``Jurisdiction of Courts
``81. The United States District Courts shall have original
jurisdiction, concurrent with the Courts of Maryland, Virginia and the
District of Columbia, of all actions brought by or against the
Authority and to enforce subpoenas issued under this Title. Any such
action initiated in a State or District of Columbia Court shall be
removable to the appropriate United States District Court in the manner
provided by Act of June 25, 1948, as amended (28 U.S.C. 1446).''.
(9) Section 84 is amended to read as follows:
``Amendments and Supplements
``84. Amendments and supplements to this Title to implement the
purposes thereof may be adopted by legislative action of any of the
signatory parties concurred in by all of the others. When one signatory
adopts an amendment or supplement to an existing section of the
Compact. that amendment shall not be immediately effective, and the
previously enacted provision(s) shall remain in effect in each
jurisdiction until the amendment or supplement is approved by the other
signatories and is consented to by Congress.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

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Granting the consent of the Congress to amendments made by Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact.

Granting the consent of the Congress to amendments made by Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact. — HJRES. 194

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