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 * * * * *