By:  Shapleigh, Lucio                                  S.B. No. 246
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to a review of transportation projects related to
 1-3     international trade.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subsections (a) and (c), Section 201.608,
 1-6     Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  The department annually shall review its proposed road
 1-8     projects to determine whether the projects are adequate to allow
 1-9     for the projected volume of highway traffic resulting from
1-10     international trade over the five-year period following the date of
1-11     the review.  As part of the review, the department, with the
1-12     cooperation of the Center for Transportation Research at The
1-13     University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Transportation
1-14     Institute, shall develop recommendations concerning how state and
1-15     federal highway funds or resources may be used in the department's
1-16     Pharr, Laredo, and El Paso districts to increase international
1-17     trade, including:
1-18                 (1)  recommendations concerning transportation linkages
1-19     between national and international markets and the area adjacent to
1-20     the border with Mexico, including rural communities in that area;
1-21                 (2)  strategies to eliminate congestion at
1-22     international border crossings; and
1-23                 (3)  revisions to the department's funding formulas to
1-24     increase funding to the department's Pharr, Laredo, and El Paso
1-25     districts to:
 2-1                       (A)  permanently increase and facilitate planning
 2-2     and capacity and improve traffic infrastructure in those districts;
 2-3                       (B)  increase trade;
 2-4                       (C)  expedite the flow of commercial motor
 2-5     vehicle traffic related to the North American Free Trade Agreement;
 2-6     and
 2-7                       (D)  reflect and address the damage caused by
 2-8     that traffic.
 2-9           (c)  Not later than February 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
2-10     department shall report to the legislature on:
2-11                 (1)  the ability of the state highway system to allow
2-12     for the projected volume of highway traffic resulting from
2-13     international trade over the five-year period following the date of
2-14     the report; and
2-15                 (2)  the recommendations developed under Subsection
2-16     (a).
2-17           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.