1-1     By:  Shapleigh, Lucio                                  S.B. No. 246
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 12, 2001; January 16, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce;
 1-4     April 9, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 9, 2001,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 246                By:  Shapleigh
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to a review of transportation projects related to
1-11     international trade.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Subsections (a) and (c), Section 201.608,
1-14     Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-15           (a)  The department annually shall review its proposed road
1-16     projects to determine whether the projects are adequate to allow
1-17     for the projected volume of highway traffic resulting from
1-18     international trade over the five-year period following the date of
1-19     the review.  As part of the review, the department, with the
1-20     cooperation of the Center for Transportation Research at The
1-21     University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Transportation
1-22     Institute, shall develop recommendations concerning how state and
1-23     federal highway funds or resources may be used in the department's
1-24     Pharr, Laredo, and El Paso districts to increase international
1-25     trade, including:
1-26                 (1)  recommendations concerning transportation linkages
1-27     between national and international markets and the area adjacent to
1-28     the border with Mexico, including rural communities in that area;
1-29                 (2)  strategies to eliminate congestion at
1-30     international border crossings; and
1-31                 (3)  revisions to the department's funding formulas to
1-32     increase funding to the department's Pharr, Laredo, and El Paso
1-33     districts to:
1-34                       (A)  permanently increase and facilitate planning
1-35     and capacity and improve traffic infrastructure in those districts;
1-36                       (B)  increase trade;
1-37                       (C)  expedite the flow of commercial motor
1-38     vehicle traffic related to the North American Free Trade Agreement;
1-39     and
1-40                       (D)  reflect and address the damage caused by
1-41     that traffic.
1-42           (c)  Not later than February 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
1-43     department shall report to the legislature on:
1-44                 (1)  the ability of the state highway system to allow
1-45     for the projected volume of highway traffic resulting from
1-46     international trade over the five-year period following the date of
1-47     the report; and
1-48                 (2)  the recommendations developed under Subsection
1-49     (a).
1-50           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-51                                  * * * * *