text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Highway Infrastructure Privatization 
  Act''.
  
  SEC. 2. TAX-EXEMPT FINANCING OF QUALIFIED HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE 
                CONSTRUCTION.
  
      (a) Treatment as Exempt Facility Bond.--Subsection (a) of section 
  142 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exempt facility 
  bond) is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (11), by 
  striking the period at the end of paragraph (12) and inserting ``, 
  or'', and by adding at the end the following:
              ``(13) qualified highway infrastructure projects.''
      (b) Qualified Highway Infrastructure Projects.--Section 142 of such 
  Code is amended by adding at the end the following:
      ``(k) Qualified Highway Infrastructure Projects.--
              ``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a)(13), the 
          term `qualified highway infrastructure project' means a 
          project--
                      ``(A) for the construction or reconstruction of a 
                  highway, and
                      ``(B) designated under paragraph (2) as an eligible 
                  pilot project.
              ``(2) Eligible pilot project.--
                      ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Transportation, 
                  in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 
                  shall select not more than 15 highway infrastructure 
                  projects to be pilot projects eligible for tax-exempt 
                  financing.
                      ``(B) Eligibility criteria.--The Secretary of 
                  Transportation shall establish criteria for the 
                  selection of projects under subparagraph (A), except 
                  that no project may be selected unless the project--
                              ``(i) serves the general public;
                              ``(ii) is necessary to evaluate the 
                          potential of the private sector's participation 
                          in the provision of the highway infrastructure 
                          of the United States;
                              ``(iii) is located on publicly owned 
                          rights-of-way;
                              ``(iv) is publicly owned or the ownership 
                          of the highway constructed or reconstructed 
                          under the project reverts to the public; and
                              ``(v) is consistent with a transportation 
                          plan developed pursuant to section 134(g) or 
                          135(e) of title 23, United States Code.
              ``(3) Aggregate face amount of tax-exempt financing.--
                      ``(A) In general.--An issue shall not be treated as 
                  an issue described in subsection (a)(13) if the 
                  aggregate face amount of bonds issued pursuant thereto 
                  (when added to the aggregate face amount of bonds 
                  previously so issued and outstanding) exceeds 
                  $15,000,000,000.
                      ``(B) Allocation.--The Secretary of Transportation 
                  shall allocate the amount described in subparagraph (A) 
                  among the eligible pilot projects designated under 
                  paragraph (2).
                      ``(C) Reallocation.--If any portion of an 
                  allocation under subparagraph (B) is unused on the date 
                  which is 3 years after such allocation, the Secretary 
                  of Transportation may reallocate such portion among the 
                  remaining eligible pilot projects.''
      (c) Exemption From General State Volume Caps.--Paragraph (3) of 
  section 146(g) of such Code (relating to exception for certain bonds) 
  is amended--
              (1) by striking ``or (12)'' and inserting ``(12), or 
          (13)'', and
              (2) by striking ``and environmental enhancements of 
          hydroelectric generating facilities'' and inserting 
          ``environmental enhancements of hydroelectric generating 
          facilities, and qualified highway infrastructure projects''.
      (d) Report.--
              (1) In general.--Not later than the earlier of--
                      (A) one year after either one-half of the projects 
                  authorized under section 142(k) of the Internal Revenue 
                  Code of 1986 have been identified or one-half of the 
                  total bonds allowable for such projects under such 
                  section have been issued, or
                      (B) seven years after the date of the enactment of 
                  this Act,
          the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the 
          Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit to the Committees on 
          Finance and Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the 
          Committees on Ways and Means and Transportation and 
          Infrastructure of the House of Representatives the report 
          described in paragraph (2).
              (2) Contents.--The report under paragraph (1) shall 
          evaluate the overall success of the program conducted pursuant 
          to the amendments made by this Act, including--
                      (A) a description of each project,
                      (B) the extent to which such projects used new 
                  technologies, construction techniques, or innovative 
                  cost controls which resulted in savings in building the 
                  project, and
                      (C) the use and efficiency of the Federal tax 
                  subsidy provided by the bond financing.
      (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
  apply to bonds issued after the date of the enactment of this Act.
target: Highway Infrastructure Privatization Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of a qualified highway infrastructure project bond as an exempt facility bond. 
  Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to select no more than 15 highway infrastructure projects as pilot projects eligible for tax-exempt financing.
feat_title: Highway Infrastructure Privatization Act