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	S.B. No. 792




	AN ACT
	relating to the authority of certain counties and other entities
	with respect to certain transportation projects and to
	comprehensive development agreements with regard to such projects;
	authorizing the issuance of bonds; providing penalties.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	ARTICLE 1. TERM OF CERTAIN TOLL OR FEE COLLECTION
	CONTRACTS WITH PRIVATE ENTITIES
	SECTION 1.01. Section 223.203, Transportation Code, is
	amended by adding Subsection (f-1) to read as follows:
	(f-1) A private entity responding to a request for detailed
	proposals issued under Subsection (f) may submit alternative
	proposals based on comprehensive development agreements having
	different terms, with the alternative terms in multiples of 10
	years, ranging from 10 years from the later of the date of final
	acceptance of the project or the start of revenue operations by the
	private entity to 50 years from the later of the date of final
	acceptance of the project or the start of revenue operations by the
	private entity, not to exceed a total term of 52 years or any lesser
	term provided in a comprehensive development agreement.
	SECTION 1.02. Subsection (h), Section 223.208,
	Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(h) A [~~Except as provided by this section, a~~] comprehensive
	development agreement with a private participant that includes the
	collection by the private participant of tolls for the use of a toll
	project may be for a term not longer than 50 years from the later of
	the date of final acceptance of the project or the start of revenue
	operations by the private participant, not to exceed a total term of
	52 years. The comprehensive development agreement must contain
	[~~may be for a term not longer than 70 years if the agreement:~~
	[~~(1) contains~~] an explicit mechanism for setting the
	price for the purchase by the department of the interest of the
	private participant in the comprehensive development agreement and
	related property, including any interest in a highway or other
	facility designed, developed, financed, constructed, operated, or
	maintained under the agreement[~~; and~~
	[~~(2)~~ ~~outlines the benefit the state will derive from~~
	~~having a term longer than 50 years~~].
	SECTION 1.03. Subsection (f), Section 227.023,
	Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(f) A contract with a private entity that includes the
	collection by the private entity of a fee for the use of a facility
	may not be for a term longer than 50 years from the later of the date
	of final acceptance of the project or the start of revenue
	operations by the private entity, not to exceed a total term of 52
	years. The contract must contain an explicit mechanism for setting
	the price for the purchase by the department of the interest of the
	private entity in the contract and related property, including any
	interest in a highway or other facility designed, developed,
	financed, constructed, operated, or maintained under the contract.
	SECTION 1.04. Subsection (i), Section 370.302,
	Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(i) An agreement with a private entity that includes the
	collection by the private entity of tolls for the use of a
	transportation project may not be for a term longer than 50 years
	from the later of the date of final acceptance of the project or the
	start of revenue operations by the private entity, not to exceed a
	total term of 52 years. The agreement must contain an explicit
	mechanism for setting the price for the purchase by the authority of
	the interest of the private entity in the contract and related
	property, including any interest in a highway or other facility
	designed, developed, financed, constructed, operated, or
	maintained under the agreement.
	SECTION 1.05. The changes in law made by this article apply
	only to a contract entered into on or after the effective date of
	this Act. A contract entered into before the effective date of this
	Act is governed by the law in effect when the contract was entered
	into, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	ARTICLE 2. PAYMENTS TO UNSUCCESSFUL PROPOSERS FOR COMPREHENSIVE
	DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS
	SECTION 2.01. Subsection (m), Section 223.203,
	Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(m) The department may [~~shall~~] pay an unsuccessful private
	entity that submits a responsive proposal in response to a request
	for detailed proposals under Subsection (f) a stipulated amount in
	exchange for the work product contained in that proposal. A [~~The~~]
	stipulated amount must be stated in the request for proposals and
	may not exceed the value of any work product contained in the
	proposal that can, as determined by the department, be used by the
	department in the performance of its functions. The use by the
	department of any design element contained in an unsuccessful
	proposal is at the sole risk and discretion of the department and
	does not confer liability on the recipient of the stipulated amount
	under this section. After payment of the stipulated amount:
	(1) the department owns with the unsuccessful proposer
	jointly the rights to, and may make use of any work product
	contained in, the proposal, including the technologies,
	techniques, methods, processes, ideas, and information contained
	in the project design; and
	(2) the use by the unsuccessful proposer of any
	portion of the work product contained in the proposal is at the sole
	risk of the unsuccessful proposer and does not confer liability on
	the department.
	SECTION 2.02. Subsection (m), Section 370.306,
	Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(m) An authority may [~~shall~~] pay an unsuccessful private
	entity that submits a response to a request for detailed proposals
	under Subsection (f) a stipulated amount of the final contract
	price for any costs incurred in preparing that proposal. A [~~The~~]
	stipulated amount must be stated in the request for proposals and
	may not exceed the value of any work product contained in the
	proposal that can, as determined by the authority, be used by the
	authority in the performance of its functions. The use by the
	authority of any design element contained in an unsuccessful
	proposal is at the sole risk and discretion of the authority and
	does not confer liability on the recipient of the stipulated amount
	under this subsection. After payment of the stipulated amount:
	(1) the authority owns the exclusive rights to, and
	may make use of any work product contained in, the proposal,
	including the technologies, techniques, methods, processes, and
	information contained in the project design; and
	(2) the work product contained in the proposal becomes
	the property of the authority.
	ARTICLE 3. MORATORIUM ON CERTAIN TERMS IN COMPREHENSIVE
	DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS OR SALE OF TOLL PROJECTS
	SECTION 3.01. Subchapter E, Chapter 223, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Section 223.210 to read as follows:
	Sec. 223.210. MORATORIUM ON CERTAIN TERMS IN COMPREHENSIVE
	DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS OR SALE OF TOLL PROJECTS. (a) In this
	section:
	(1) "Toll project" means a toll project described by
	Section 201.001(b), regardless of whether the toll project:
	(A) is a part of the state highway system; or
	(B) is subject to the jurisdiction of the
	department.
	(2) "Toll project entity" means a public entity
	authorized by law to acquire, design, construct, finance, operate,
	or maintain a toll project, including:
	(A) the department;
	(B) a regional tollway authority;
	(C) a regional mobility authority; or
	(D) a county.
	(b) A comprehensive development agreement entered into with
	a private participant by a toll project entity on or after May 1,
	2007, for the acquisition, design, construction, financing,
	operation, or maintenance of a toll project may not contain a
	provision permitting the private participant to operate the toll
	project or collect revenue from the toll project, regardless of
	whether the private participant operates the toll project or
	collects the revenue itself or engages a subcontractor or other
	entity to operate the toll project or collect the revenue.
	(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to a comprehensive
	development agreement in connection with:
	(1) a project associated with the highway designated
	as the Trinity Parkway in the City of Dallas; or
	(2) a project:
	(A) that includes one or more managed lane
	facilities to be added to an existing controlled-access highway;
	(B) the major portion of which is located in a
	nonattainment or near-nonattainment air quality area as designated
	by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; and
	(C) for which the department has issued a request
	for qualifications before May 1, 2007.
	(d) Subsection (b) does not apply to a comprehensive
	development agreement in connection with a project associated with
	any portion of the Loop 9 project that is located in a nonattainment
	air quality area as designated by the United States Environmental
	Protection Agency that includes two adjacent counties that each
	have a population of one million or more.
	(e) Subsection (b) does not apply to a comprehensive
	development agreement in connection with a project associated with
	any portion of the State Highway 99 project.
	(f) Subsection (b) does not apply to a comprehensive
	development agreement in connection with a project:
	(1) on the ISTEA High Priority Corridor identified in
	Sections 1105(c)(18) and (20) of the Intermodal Surface
	Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (Pub. L. No. 102-240), as
	amended by Section 1211 of the Transportation Equity Act for the
	21st Century (Pub. L. No. 105-178, as amended by Title IX, Pub. L.
	No. 105-206), including land adjacent to the project needed to
	widen the project for a transportation use, if the project remains
	in a highway corridor designated by those laws; and
	(2) located south of Refugio County.
	(g) Subsection (b) does not apply to a comprehensive
	development agreement in connection with the State Highway 161
	project in Dallas County.
	(g-1) Subsection (b) does not apply to a comprehensive
	development agreement in connection with a project other than a
	Trans-Texas Corridor project if:
	(1) the project is located in the territory of a
	regional mobility authority that:
	(A) was created before January 1, 2005; and
	(B) is composed of a single county having a
	population of less than 125,000; and
	(2) the commissioners court of the county in which the
	project is located by official action approves the exemption from
	Subsection (b).
	(h) Notwithstanding the TxDOT/NTTA Regional Protocol
	entered into between the Texas Department of Transportation and the
	North Texas Tollway Authority and approved on August 10, 2006, by
	the authority and on August 24, 2006, by the department, Subsection
	(b) does not apply to a comprehensive development agreement entered
	into in connection with State Highway 121 if before the commission
	or the department enters into a contract for the financing,
	construction, or operation of the project with a private
	participant, an authority under Chapter 366 was granted the ability
	to finance, construct, or operate, as applicable, the portion of
	the toll project located within the boundaries of the North Texas
	Tollway Authority, and the authority was granted a period of 60 days
	from March 26, 2007, to submit a commitment to the metropolitan
	planning organization which is determined to be equal to or greater
	than any other commitment submitted prior to March 26, 2007. If the
	financial value of the commitment is determined to be equal to or
	greater value than any other commitment submitted prior to March
	26, 2007, the commission shall allow the North Texas Tollway
	Authority to develop the project.
	(i) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), Subsection (b) applies
	to any toll project or managed lane facility project located on any
	portion of U.S. Highway 281 that is located in a county with a
	population of more than one million in which more than 80 percent of
	the population lives in a single municipality.
	(j) For purposes of Subsection (c)(2), "managed lane
	facility" means a facility that increases the efficiency of a
	controlled-access highway through various operational and design
	actions and that allows lane management operations to be adjusted
	at any time. The term includes high-occupancy vehicle lanes,
	single-occupant vehicle express lanes, tolled lanes, priced lanes,
	truck lanes, bypass lanes, dual use facilities, or any combination
	of those facilities.
	(k) The department may not enter into a comprehensive
	development agreement in connection with a project described by
	Subsection (c)(2) unless the commissioners court of the county in
	which the majority of the project is located passes a resolution in
	support of the agreement that states that the commissioners court:
	(1) acknowledges that the comprehensive development
	agreement may contain penalties for the construction of future
	competing transportation projects that are acquired or constructed
	during the term of the comprehensive development agreement; and
	(2) knowing of those potential penalties, agrees that
	the department should execute the comprehensive development
	agreement.
	(k-1) If the department incurs a monetary penalty for the
	construction of a competing transportation project under a
	provision in a comprehensive development agreement approved by a
	county under Subsection (k), payment of the penalty may be made only
	with money that would otherwise be allocated for projects in the
	department district in which the county is located.
	(l) On or after the effective date of this section, a toll
	project entity may not sell or enter into a contract to sell a toll
	project of the entity to a private entity.
	(m) A legislative study committee is created. The committee
	is composed of nine members, appointed as follows:
	(1) three members appointed by the lieutenant
	governor;
	(2) three members appointed by the speaker of the
	house of representatives; and
	(3) three members appointed by the governor.
	(n) The legislative study committee shall select a
	presiding officer from among its members and conduct public
	hearings and study the public policy implications of including in a
	comprehensive development agreement entered into by a toll project
	entity with a private participant in connection with a toll project
	a provision that permits the private participant to operate and
	collect revenue from the toll project. In addition, the committee
	shall examine the public policy implications of selling an existing
	and operating toll project to a private entity.
	(o) Not later than December 1, 2008, the legislative study
	committee shall:
	(1) prepare a written report summarizing:
	(A) any hearings conducted by the committee;
	(B) any legislation proposed by the committee;
	(C) the committee's recommendations for
	safeguards and protections of the public's interest when a contract
	for the sale of a toll project to a private entity is entered into;
	and
	(D) any other findings or recommendations of the
	committee; and
	(2) deliver a copy of the report to the governor, the
	lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
	representatives.
	(p) On December 31, 2008, the legislative study committee
	created under this section is abolished.
	(q) This section expires September 1, 2009.
	(r) Subsection (b) does not apply to a project that is
	located in a county with a population of 300,000 or more and
	adjacent to an international border, except that Subsection (b)
	does not apply to a project that is located in a county that has a
	population of 600,000 or more and is adjacent to an international
	border only if before May 1, 2007, the project has been adopted by
	the metropolitan planning organization for the county in the
	transportation improvement plan or metropolitan transportation
	plan.
	ARTICLE 4. COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT SUNSET DATE
	SECTION 4.01. Section 223.201, Transportation Code, is
	amended by amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsections (h) and
	(i) to read as follows:
	(f) Except as provided by Subsections (h) and (i), the [~~The~~]
	authority to enter into comprehensive development agreements
	provided by this section expires on August 31, 2009 [~~2011~~].
	(h) Subsection (f) does not apply to a comprehensive
	development agreement that does not grant a private entity a right
	to finance a toll project or to a comprehensive development
	agreement in connection with a project:
	(1) that includes one or more managed lane facilities
	to be added to an existing controlled-access highway;
	(2) the major portion of which is located in a
	nonattainment or near-nonattainment air quality area as designated
	by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; and
	(3) for which the department has issued a request for
	qualifications before May 1, 2007.
	(i) The authority to enter into a comprehensive development
	agreement for a project exempted from Subsection (f) or Section
	223.210(b) expires August 31, 2011.
	SECTION 4.02. Section 370.305, Transportation Code, is
	amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (e) and
	(f) to read as follows:
	(d) Except as provided by Subsections (e) and (f), the
	authority to enter into comprehensive development agreements under
	this [~~This~~] section expires on August 31, 2009 [~~2011~~].
	(e) Subsection (d) does not apply to a comprehensive
	development agreement that does not grant a private entity a right
	to finance a toll project or a comprehensive development agreement
	in connection with a project:
	(1) that includes one or more managed lane facilities
	to be added to an existing controlled-access highway;
	(2) the major portion of which is located in a
	nonattainment or near-nonattainment air quality area as designated
	by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; and
	(3) for which the department has issued a request for
	qualifications before the effective date of this subsection.
	(f) The authority to enter into a comprehensive development
	agreement for a project exempted from Subsection (d) or Section
	223.210(b) expires August 31, 2011.
	ARTICLE 5. PUBLIC ACCESS TO TRANS-TEXAS CORRIDOR INFORMATION
	SECTION 5.01. Subchapter A, Chapter 227, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Sections 227.005 and 227.006 to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 227.005. PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION. (a) The
	department shall:
	(1) seek to achieve transparency in the department's
	functions related to the Trans-Texas Corridor by providing, to the
	greatest extent possible under the public information law (Chapter
	552, Government Code) and other statutes governing the access to
	records, public access to information collected, assembled, or
	maintained by the department relating to the Trans-Texas Corridor;
	(2) make public in a timely manner all documents,
	plans, and contracts related to the Trans-Texas Corridor; and
	(3) make public in a timely manner all updates to the
	master development plan for the Trans-Texas Corridor, including
	financial plans.
	(b) The department shall send electronic versions of all
	updates to the master development plan for the Trans-Texas Corridor
	to the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning, the Senate Finance
	Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, the Legislative
	Budget Board, the state auditor's office, and the comptroller in a
	timely manner.
	Sec. 227.006. POSTING INFORMATION RELATING TO TRANS-TEXAS
	CORRIDOR ON DEPARTMENT'S WEBSITE. (a) The department shall post
	on the department's Internet website, in a timely manner, the costs
	incurred by the department in connection with the financing,
	design, construction, maintenance, or operation of the Trans-Texas
	Corridor.
	(b) Not later than the 10th day after the date the
	department enters into a contract relating to the Trans-Texas
	Corridor, the department shall post a copy of the contract on the
	department's Internet website.
	ARTICLE 6. USE OF CERTAIN CONTRACT PAYMENTS AND OTHER REVENUE
	SECTION 6.01. Section 228.0055, Transportation Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 228.0055. USE OF CONTRACT PAYMENTS AND OTHER REVENUE.
	(a) Payments, project savings, refinancing dividends, and any
	other revenue received by the commission or the department under a
	comprehensive development agreement shall [~~may~~] be used by the
	commission or the department to finance the construction,
	maintenance, or operation of [a] transportation projects [~~project~~]
	or air quality projects [~~project~~] in the region.
	(b) The department shall allocate the distribution of funds
	to department districts in the region that are located in the
	boundaries of the metropolitan planning organization in which the
	project that is the subject of the comprehensive development
	agreement is located based on the percentage of toll revenue from
	users from each department district of the project. To assist the
	department in determining the allocation, each entity responsible
	for collecting tolls for a project shall calculate on an annual
	basis the percentage of toll revenue from users of the project from
	each department district based on the number of recorded electronic
	toll collections.
	(c) The commission or the department may not:
	(1) revise the formula as provided in the department's
	unified transportation program, or its successor document, in a
	manner that results in a decrease of a department district's
	allocation because of a payment under Subsection (a); or
	(2) take any other action that would reduce funding
	allocated to a department district because of payments received
	under a comprehensive development agreement.
	(d) A metropolitan planning organization may not take any
	action that would reduce distribution of funds or other resources
	to a department district because of the use of a payment or other
	revenue under Subsection (a).
	ARTICLE 7. TOLL PROJECTS IN TERRITORY OF LOCAL OR REGIONAL TOLL
	PROJECT ENTITY
	SECTION 7.01. Subchapter A, Chapter 228, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Sections 228.011, 228.0111, and 228.012
	to read as follows:
	Sec. 228.011. TOLL PROJECTS IN CERTAIN COUNTIES. (a) This
	section applies only to a county acting under Chapter 284 and the
	development, construction, and operation of all or a portion of any
	of the following toll projects, a component of that project, or the
	functional equivalent of that project:
	(1) Beltway 8 Tollway East, between US 59 North and US
	90 East;
	(2) Hardy Downtown Connector, consisting of the
	proposed direct connection from the Hardy Toll Road southern
	terminus at Loop 610 to downtown Houston;
	(3) State Highway 288, between US 59 and Grand Parkway
	South (State Highway 99);
	(4) US 290 Toll Lanes, between IH 610 West and the
	Grand Parkway Northwest (State Highway 99);
	(5) Fairmont Parkway East, between Beltway 8 East and
	Grand Parkway East (State Highway 99);
	(6) South Post Oak Road Extension, between IH 610
	South and near the intersection of Beltway 8 and Hillcroft in the
	vicinity of the Fort Bend Parkway Tollway;
	(7) Westpark Toll Road Phase II, between Grand Parkway
	(State Highway 99) and FM 1463;
	(8) Fort Bend Parkway, between State Highway 6 and the
	Brazos River; and
	(9) Montgomery County Parkway, between State Highway
	242 and the Grand Parkway (State Highway 99), and if the Grand
	Parkway project has not begun construction, a nontolled extension
	of the Montgomery County Parkway to allow a connection to
	Interstate Highway 45.
	(b) The county is the entity with the primary responsibility
	for the financing, construction, and operation of a toll project
	located in the county. A county may develop, construct, and operate
	a project described in Subsection (a) at any time, regardless of
	whether it receives a first option notice from the commission or the
	department under Subsection (e).
	(b-1) Consistent with federal law, the department shall
	assist the county in the financing, construction, and operation of
	a toll project in the county by allowing the county to use state
	highway right-of-way owned by the department and to access the
	state highway system. The commission or the department may not
	require the county to pay for the use of the right-of-way or access,
	except to reimburse the department as provided by this subsection.
	The county shall pay an amount to reimburse the department for the
	department's actual costs to acquire the right-of-way. If the
	department cannot determine that amount, the amount shall be
	determined based on the average historical right-of-way
	acquisition values for right-of-way located in proximity to the
	project on the date of original acquisition of the right-of-way.
	Money received by the department under this subsection shall be
	deposited in the state highway fund and used in the department
	district in which the project is located.
	(c) The department and the county must enter into an
	agreement that includes reasonable terms to accommodate the use of
	the right-of-way by the county and to protect the interests of the
	commission and the department in the use of the right-of-way for
	operations of the department, including public safety and
	congestion mitigation on the right-of-way.
	(d) Subsection (b) does not limit the authority of the
	commission or the department to participate in the cost of
	acquiring, constructing, maintaining, or operating a project of the
	county under Chapter 284.
	(e) Before the department may enter into a contract for the
	financing, construction, or operation of a proposed or existing
	toll project any part of which is located in the county, the
	commission or department shall provide the county the first option
	to finance, construct, or operate, as applicable, the portion of
	the toll project located in the county:
	(1) on terms agreeable to the county; and
	(2) in a manner determined by the county to be
	consistent with the practices and procedures by which the county
	finances, constructs, or operates a project.
	(f) A county's right to exercise the first option under
	Subsection (e) is effective for six months after the date of the
	receipt by the county of written notice from the commission or the
	department meeting the requirements of Subsection (e) and
	describing in reasonable detail the location of the toll project, a
	projected cost estimate, sources and uses of funds, and a
	construction schedule. If a county exercises the first option with
	respect to a toll project, the county must enter into one or more
	contracts for the financing, construction, or operation of the toll
	project within two years after the date on which all environmental
	requirements necessary for the development of the project are
	secured and all legal challenges to development are concluded. A
	contract may include agreements for design of the project,
	acquisition of right-of-way, and utility relocation. If the county
	does not enter into a contract during the two-year period, the
	commission or the department may enter into a contract for the
	financing, construction, or operation of the toll project with a
	different entity.
	(g) An agreement entered into by the county and the
	department in connection with a project under Chapter 284 that is
	financed, constructed, or operated by the county and that is on or
	directly connected to a highway in the state highway system does not
	create a joint enterprise for liability purposes.
	(h) If the county approves, the commission may remove any
	right-of-way to be used by a county under this section from the
	state highway system. If the right-of-way used by a county under
	this section remains part of the state highway system, the county
	must comply with department design and construction standards.
	(i) Notwithstanding an action of a county taken under this
	section, the commission or department may take any action that is
	necessary in its reasonable judgment to comply with any federal
	requirement to enable this state to receive federal-aid highway
	funds.
	(j) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission and the
	department are not liable for any damages that result from a
	county's use of state highway right-of-way or access to the state
	highway system under this section, regardless of the legal theory,
	statute, or cause of action under which liability is asserted.
	Sec. 228.0111. TOLL PROJECTS OF LOCAL TOLL PROJECT
	ENTITIES. (a) In this section:
	(1) "Local toll project entity" means:
	(A) a regional tollway authority under Chapter
	366;
	(B) a regional mobility authority under Chapter
	370; or
	(C) a county acting under Chapter 284.
	(2) "Market valuation" means the valuation of a toll
	project that:
	(A) is based on the terms and conditions
	established mutually by a local toll project entity and the
	department for the development, construction, and operation of a
	toll project, including the initial toll rate and the toll rate
	escalation methodology; and
	(B) takes into account a traffic and revenue
	study of the toll project using agreed-upon assumptions, an agreed
	project scope, market research, the estimated cost to finance,
	construct, maintain, and operate the project, and other information
	determined appropriate by the local toll project entity and the
	department.
	(3) "Region" has the meaning assigned by Section
	228.001, except that the region of a county acting under Chapter 284
	is composed of that county and the counties that are contiguous to
	that county.
	(4) "Toll project subaccount" means a subaccount
	created under Section 228.012.
	(b) This section does not apply to a toll project described
	in Section 228.011(a).
	(c) A local toll project entity is the entity with primary
	responsibility for the financing, construction, and operation of a
	toll project located within its boundaries.
	(d) Subsection (c) does not limit the authority of the
	commission or the department to participate in the cost of
	acquiring, constructing, maintaining, or operating a toll project
	of a local toll project entity.
	(e) Except as provided in this subsection, if a local toll
	project entity or the department determines that a toll project
	located within the boundaries of the local toll project entity
	should be developed, constructed, and operated as a toll project,
	the local toll project entity and the department mutually shall
	agree on the terms and conditions for the development,
	construction, and operation of the toll project, including the
	initial toll rate and the toll rate escalation methodology. The
	terms and conditions for the procurement and operation of the State
	Highway 99 project shall be approved by the metropolitan planning
	organization in which the project is located.
	(e-1) If the local toll project entity and the department
	are unable to mutually agree on the terms and conditions for the
	development, construction, and operation of the toll project as
	required by Subsection (e), neither the local toll project entity
	nor the department may develop the project as a toll project.
	(f) After agreeing on the terms and conditions for a toll
	project under Subsection (e), or after metropolitan planning
	organization approval of the terms and conditions for the State
	Highway 99 project, the local toll project entity and the
	department mutually shall determine which entity, including a third
	party under contract with the local toll project entity or the
	department, will develop a market valuation of the toll project
	that is based on the terms and conditions established under
	Subsection (e). The department and the local toll project entity
	have 90 days after the date of the receipt of a final draft version
	of the market valuation designated as "complete; subject to
	approval by the Texas Department of Transportation and (name of
	local toll project entity)" to mutually approve the market
	valuation included in the draft version or, in the alternative,
	negotiate and agree on a different market valuation. If the
	department and the local toll project entity are unable to agree on
	a market valuation within the 90-day period, the market valuation
	in the draft version is considered to be final for purposes of this
	section and mutually approved on the last day of that period.
	(f-1) The department and a local toll project entity may
	agree to waive the requirement to develop a market valuation under
	this section.
	(f-2) If the department and the local toll project entity
	are unable to mutually determine which entity will develop the
	market valuation of the toll project under Subsection (f), neither
	the department nor the local toll project entity may develop,
	construct, or operate the project as a toll project.
	(f-3) A third party that develops a market valuation under
	Subsection (f) may not:
	(1) invest money in a private entity that participates
	in the financing, development, construction, or operation of that
	toll project, either directly or indirectly through investment in
	the entity's equities or obligations, provided that fees for
	services are not considered direct or indirect investment; or
	(2) directly or indirectly through one or more
	intermediaries, control, be controlled by, or be under common
	control with a private entity that participates in the financing,
	development, construction, or operation of that toll project, as
	the term "control" is described by Section 21.605, Business
	Organizations Code.
	(g) A local toll project entity has the first option to
	develop, finance, construct, and operate a toll project under the
	terms and conditions established under Subsection (e). A local
	toll project entity, other than a regional mobility authority under
	Chapter 370, has six months after the date that the market valuation
	is mutually approved under Subsection (f) to decide whether to
	exercise the option. For a project proposed to be located within
	the boundaries of a regional mobility authority under Chapter 370,
	after the market valuation is final under Subsection (f), the
	metropolitan planning organization for the region in which the
	project is located shall determine whether the toll project should
	be developed using the business terms incorporated in the market
	valuation. If the metropolitan planning organization determines
	that the toll project should be developed using the business terms
	in the market valuation, the regional mobility authority has six
	months after the date the metropolitan planning organization
	decides whether to exercise the option to develop the project. If a
	local toll project entity exercises the option with respect to a
	toll project under this subsection, the local toll project entity,
	after exercising the option and within two years after the date on
	which all environmental requirements necessary for the development
	of the toll project are secured and all legal challenges to
	development are concluded, must:
	(1) enter into a contract for the construction of the
	toll project; and
	(2) either:
	(A) commit to make a payment into a toll project
	subaccount in an amount equal to the value of the toll project as
	determined by the market valuation, to be used by the department to
	finance the construction of additional transportation projects in
	the region in which the toll project is located;
	(B) commit to construct, within the period agreed
	to by the local toll project entity and the department, additional
	transportation projects in the region in which the toll project is
	located with estimated construction costs equal to the market
	valuation of the toll project; or
	(C) for a regional mobility authority under
	Chapter 370, commit to using, for a period to be agreed upon by the
	department and the authority, all surplus revenue from the toll
	project for the purposes authorized by Section 370.174(b) in an
	amount equal to the valuation of the project.
	(h) If a local toll project entity exercises the option with
	respect to a toll project under Subsection (g) and has not begun the
	environmental review of the project, the local toll project entity
	shall begin the environmental review within six months of
	exercising the option.
	(i) If a local toll project entity does not exercise the
	option to develop, finance, construct, and operate a toll project
	under Subsection (g), or does not enter into a contract for the
	construction of the project and make a commitment described in
	Subsection (g)(2) within the two-year period prescribed in
	Subsection (g), the department has the option to develop, finance,
	construct, and operate the toll project under the terms and
	conditions agreed to under Subsection (e). The department has two
	months after the date the local toll project entity fails to
	exercise its option or enter into a construction contract and make a
	commitment described in Subsection (g)(2) to decide whether to
	exercise its option. If the department exercises its option with
	respect to a toll project under this subsection, the department,
	after exercising the option and within two years after the date on
	which all environmental requirements necessary for the development
	of the project are secured and all legal challenges to such
	development are concluded, must:
	(1) enter into a contract for the construction of the
	toll project; and
	(2) either:
	(A) commit to make a payment into the toll
	project subaccount in an amount equal to the value of the toll
	project as determined by the market valuation, to be used by the
	department to finance the construction of additional
	transportation projects in the region in which the toll project is
	located; or
	(B) commit to construct, within the period agreed
	to by the local toll project entity and the department, additional
	transportation projects in the region in which the toll project is
	located with estimated construction costs equal to the market
	valuation of the toll project.
	(j) If the department does not exercise the option to
	develop, finance, construct, and operate a toll project under
	Subsection (i), or does not enter into a contract for the
	construction of the project and make a commitment described in
	Subsection (i)(2) within the two-year period prescribed in
	Subsection (i), the local toll project entity and the department
	may meet again for the purpose of agreeing on revised terms and
	conditions for the development, construction, and operation of the
	toll project, and the local toll project entity and the department
	shall follow the process prescribed in Subsections (f)-(i).
	(k) Consistent with federal law, the commission and the
	department shall assist a local toll project entity in the
	development, financing, construction, and operation of a toll
	project for which the local toll project entity has exercised its
	option to develop, finance, construct, and operate the project
	under Subsection (g) by allowing the local toll project entity to
	use state highway right-of-way and to access the state highway
	system as necessary to construct and operate the toll project.
	Notwithstanding any other law, the toll project entity and the
	commission may agree to remove the project from the state highway
	system and transfer ownership to the local toll project entity. The
	commission or the department may not require a local toll project
	entity to pay for the use of the right-of-way or access, except to
	reimburse the department for actual costs incurred or to be
	incurred by the department that are owed to a third party, including
	the federal government, as a result of that use by the local toll
	project entity. If a local toll project entity exercises its option
	to develop, construct, and operate a toll project under this
	section, the following shall be deducted from the amount of the toll
	project entity commitment under Subsection (g)(2):
	(1) an amount equal to the amount reimbursed under
	this subsection, if any; and
	(2) with respect to a county operating under Chapter
	284, an amount equal to the costs of any road, street, or highway
	project undertaken by the county under Section 284.0031 before the
	acceptance of the market valuation, if the county requests a
	deduction and specifies in reasonable detail a description and cost
	of the project and the department agrees that any such road, street,
	or highway project constitutes an additional transportation
	project under Subsection (g)(2)(B).
	(l) A local toll project entity shall enter into an
	agreement with the department for any project for which the entity
	has exercised its option to develop, finance, construct, and
	operate the project under Subsection (g) and for which the entity
	intends to use state highway right-of-way. An agreement entered
	into under this subsection must contain provisions necessary to
	ensure that the local toll project entity's construction,
	maintenance, and operation of the project complies with the
	requirements of applicable federal and state law.
	(m) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission and the
	department are not liable for any damages that result from a local
	toll project entity's use of state highway right-of-way or access
	to the state highway system under this section, regardless of the
	legal theory, statute, or cause of action under which liability is
	asserted.
	(n) An agreement entered into by a local toll project entity
	and the department in connection with a toll project that is
	financed, constructed, or operated by the local toll project entity
	and that is on or directly connected to a highway in the state
	highway system does not create a joint enterprise for liability
	purposes.
	(o) Notwithstanding an action of a local toll project entity
	taken under this section, the commission or department may take any
	action that in its reasonable judgment is necessary to comply with
	any federal requirement to enable this state to receive federal-aid
	highway funds.
	(p) A local toll project entity and the department may issue
	bonds, including revenue bonds and refunding bonds, or other
	obligations, and enter into credit agreements, to pay any costs
	associated with a project under this section, including the
	payments deposited to the applicable toll project subaccount, and
	the costs to construct, maintain, and operate additional
	transportation projects that the local toll project entity or the
	department commits to undertake in accordance with this section, as
	follows:
	(1) the bonds or other obligations and the proceedings
	authorizing the bonds or other obligations must be submitted to the
	attorney general for review and approval as required by Chapter
	1202, Government Code;
	(2) the bonds or other obligations may be payable from
	and secured by revenue of one or more projects of the local toll
	project entity or the department, including toll road system
	revenues, or such other legally available revenue or funding
	sources as the local toll project entity or department shall
	determine;
	(3) the bonds or other obligations may mature serially
	or otherwise not more than 30 years from their date of issuance;
	(4) the bonds or other obligations are not a debt of
	and do not create a claim for payment against the revenue or
	property of the local toll project entity or the department, other
	than the revenue sources pledged for which the bonds or other
	obligations are issued; and
	(5) the local toll project entity and the department
	may issue obligations and enter into credit agreements under
	Chapter 1371, Government Code, and for purposes of that chapter, a
	local toll project entity and the department shall be considered a
	public utility and any cost authorized to be financed in accordance
	with this subsection is an eligible project.
	(q) The provisions of this section requiring metropolitan
	planning organization approval of the terms and conditions for the
	State Highway 99 project expire August 31, 2009.
	(r) This section expires August 31, 2011.
	(s) This section does not apply to:
	(1) any project for which the department has issued a
	request for qualifications or request for competing proposals and
	qualifications before May 1, 2007, except for the State Highway 161
	project in Dallas County;
	(2) the eastern extension of the President George Bush
	Turnpike from State Highway 78 to IH 30 in Dallas County;
	(3) the Phase 3 and 4 extensions of the Dallas North
	Tollway in Collin and Denton Counties from State Highway 121 to the
	Grayson County line, and the planned future extension into Grayson
	County, regardless of which local toll project entity develops the
	extension into Grayson County;
	(4) the Lewisville Lake Bridge (and portions of FM 720
	widening projects) in Denton County; or
	(5) the Southwest Parkway (State Highway 121) in
	Tarrant County from Dirks Road/Altamesa Boulevard to IH 30.
	Sec. 228.012. PROJECT SUBACCOUNTS. (a) The department
	shall create a separate account in the state highway fund to hold
	payments received by the department under a comprehensive
	development agreement, the surplus revenue of a toll project or
	system, and payments received under Sections 228.0111(g)(2) and
	(i)(2). The department shall create subaccounts in the account for
	each project, system, or region. Interest earned on money in a
	subaccount shall be deposited to the credit of that subaccount.
	(b) The department shall hold money in a subaccount in trust
	for the benefit of the region in which a project or system is
	located and may assign the responsibility for allocating money in a
	subaccount to a metropolitan planning organization in which the
	region is located. Except as provided by Subsection (c), money
	shall be allocated to projects authorized by Section 228.0055 or
	Section 228.006, as applicable.
	(c) Money in a subaccount received from a county or the
	department under Section 228.0111 in connection with a project for
	which a county acting under Chapter 284 has the first option shall
	be allocated to transportation projects located in the county and
	the counties contiguous to that county.
	(d) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
	department shall submit to the Legislative Budget Board, in the
	format prescribed by the Legislative Budget Board, a report on cash
	balances in the subaccounts created under this section and
	expenditures made with money in those subaccounts.
	(e) The commission or the department may not:
	(1) revise the formula as provided in the department's
	unified transportation program or a successor document in a manner
	that results in a decrease of a department district's allocation
	because of the deposit of a payment into a project subaccount or a
	commitment to undertake an additional transportation project under
	Section 228.0111; or
	(2) take any other action that would reduce funding
	allocated to a department district because of the deposit of a
	payment received from the department or local toll project entity
	into a project subaccount or a commitment to undertake an
	additional transportation project under Section 228.0111.
	SECTION 7.02. Section 228.0111, Transportation Code, as
	added by this article, applies to a project associated with State
	Highway 161 in Dallas County.
	ARTICLE 8. COUNTY AUTHORITY IN CONNECTION WITH CERTAIN TOLL
	PROJECTS
	SECTION 8.01. Subdivision (3), Section 284.001,
	Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(3) "Project" means:
	(A) a causeway, bridge, tunnel, turnpike,
	highway, ferry, or any combination of those facilities, including:
	(i) [~~(A)~~] a necessary overpass, underpass,
	interchange, entrance plaza, toll house, service station,
	approach, fixture, and accessory and necessary equipment that has
	been designated as part of the project by order of a county;
	(ii) [~~(B)~~] necessary administration,
	storage, and other buildings that have been designated as part of
	the project by order of a county; and
	(iii) [~~(C)~~] all property rights,
	easements, and related interests acquired; or
	(B) a turnpike project or system, as those terms
	are defined by Section 370.003.
	SECTION 8.02. Section 284.003, Transportation Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 284.003. PROJECT AUTHORIZED; CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION,
	AND COST. (a) A county, acting through the commissioners court of
	the county, or a local government corporation, without state
	approval, supervision, or regulation, may:
	(1) construct, acquire, improve, operate, maintain,
	or pool a project located:
	(A) exclusively in the county;
	(B) in the county and outside the county; or
	(C) in one or more counties adjacent to the
	county;
	(2) issue tax bonds, revenue bonds, or combination tax
	and revenue bonds to pay the cost of the construction, acquisition,
	or improvement of a project;
	(3) impose tolls or charges as otherwise authorized by
	this chapter;
	(4) construct a bridge over a deepwater [~~deep water~~]
	navigation channel, if the bridge does not hinder maritime
	transportation; [or]
	(5) construct, acquire, or operate a ferry across a
	deepwater navigation channel;
	(6) in connection with a project, on adoption of an
	order exercise the powers of a regional mobility authority
	operating under Chapter 370; or
	(7) enter into a comprehensive development agreement
	with a private entity to design, develop, finance, construct,
	maintain, repair, operate, extend, or expand a proposed or existing
	project in the county to the extent and in the manner applicable to
	the department under Chapter 223 or to a regional tollway authority
	under Chapter 366.
	(b) The county or a local government corporation may
	exercise a power provided by Subsection (a)(6) only in a manner
	consistent with the other powers provided by this chapter. To the
	extent of a conflict between this chapter and Chapter 370, this
	chapter prevails.
	(c) A project or any portion of a project that is owned by
	the county and licensed or leased to a private entity or operated by
	a private entity under this chapter to provide transportation
	services to the general public is public property used for a public
	purpose and exempt from taxation by this state or a political
	subdivision of this state.
	(d) If the county constructs, acquires, improves, operates,
	maintains, or pools a project under this chapter, before December
	31 of each even-numbered year the county shall submit to the
	department a plan for the project that includes the time schedule
	for the project and describes the use of project funds. The plan
	may provide for and permit the use of project funds and other money,
	including state or federal funds, available to the county for
	roads, streets, highways, and other related facilities in the
	county that are not part of a project under this chapter. A plan is
	not subject to approval, supervision, or regulation by the
	commission or the department, except that:
	(1) any use of state or federal highway funds must be
	approved by the commission;
	(2) any work on a highway in the state highway system
	must be approved by the department; and
	(3) the department shall supervise and regulate work
	on a highway in the state highway system.
	(e) Except as provided by federal law, an action of a county
	taken under this chapter is not subject to approval, supervision,
	or regulation by a metropolitan planning organization.
	(f) The county may enter into a protocol or other agreement
	with the commission or the department to implement this section
	through the cooperation of the parties to the agreement.
	(g) An action of a county taken under this chapter must
	comply with the requirements of applicable federal law. The
	foregoing compliance requirement shall apply to the role of
	metropolitan planning organizations under federal law, including
	the approval of projects for conformity to the state implementation
	plan relating to air quality, the use of toll revenue, and the use
	of the right-of-way of and access to federal-aid highways.
	Notwithstanding an action of a county taken under this chapter, the
	commission or department may take any action that is necessary in
	its reasonable judgment to comply with any federal requirement to
	enable the state to receive federal-aid highway funds.
	SECTION 8.03. Subchapter A, Chapter 284, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Sections 284.0031 and 284.0032 and
	amending Section 284.004 to read as follows:
	Sec. 284.0031. OTHER ROAD, STREET, OR HIGHWAY PROJECTS.
	(a) The commissioners court of a county or a local government
	corporation, without state approval, supervision, or regulation
	may:
	(1) authorize the use or pledge of surplus revenue to
	pay or finance the costs of a project for the study, design,
	construction, maintenance, repair, or operation of roads, streets,
	highways, or other related facilities that are not part of a project
	under this chapter; and
	(2) prescribe terms for the use of the surplus
	revenue, including the manner in which revenue from a project
	becomes surplus revenue and the manner in which the roads, streets,
	highways, or other related facilities are to be studied, designed,
	constructed, maintained, repaired, or operated.
	(b) To implement this section, a county may enter into an
	agreement with the commission, the department, a local governmental
	entity, or another political subdivision of this state.
	(c) A county may not take an action under this section that
	violates or impairs a bond resolution, trust agreement, or
	indenture that governs the use of the revenue of a project.
	(d) Except as provided by this section, a county has the
	same powers, including the powers to finance and to encumber
	surplus revenue, and may use the same procedures with respect to the
	study, financing, design, construction, maintenance, repair, or
	operation of a road, street, highway, or other related facility
	under this section as are available to the county with respect to a
	project under this chapter.
	(e) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section:
	(1) any work on the state highway system must be
	approved by the department; and
	(2) the department shall supervise and regulate any
	work on a highway in the state highway system.
	Sec. 284.0032. TRANS-TEXAS CORRIDOR PROJECTS. If a county
	is requested by the commission to participate in the development of
	a project under this chapter that has been designated as part of the
	Trans-Texas Corridor, the county has, in addition to all powers
	granted by this chapter, all powers of the department related to the
	development of a project that has been designated as part of the
	Trans-Texas Corridor.
	Sec. 284.004. USE OF COUNTY PROPERTY. (a) Notwithstanding
	any other law, a county may use any county property for a project
	under this chapter, regardless of when or how the property is
	acquired.
	(b) In addition to authority granted by other law, a county
	may use state highway right-of-way and may access state highway
	right-of-way in accordance with Sections 228.011 and 228.0111.
	SECTION 8.04. Subsections (c) and (d), Section 284.008,
	Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a project becomes
	a part of the state highway system and the commission shall maintain
	the project without tolls when:
	(1) all of the bonds and interest on the bonds that are
	payable from or secured by revenues of the project have been paid by
	the issuer of the bonds or another person with the consent or
	approval of the issuer; or
	(2) a sufficient amount for the payment of all bonds
	and the interest on the bonds to maturity has been set aside by the
	issuer of the bonds or another person with the consent or approval
	of the issuer in a trust fund held for the benefit of the
	bondholders.
	(d) A [~~Before construction on a project under this chapter~~
	~~begins, a~~] county may request that the commission adopt an order
	stating that a [~~the~~] project will not become part of the state
	highway system under Subsection (c). If the commission adopts the
	order:
	(1) Section 362.051 does not apply to the project;
	(2) the project must be maintained by the county; and
	(3) the project will not become part of the state
	highway system unless the county transfers the project under
	Section 284.011.
	SECTION 8.05. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 284.065,
	Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(b) An existing project may be pooled in whole or in part
	with a new project or another existing project.
	(c) A project may [~~not~~] be pooled more than once.
	ARTICLE 9. REGIONAL TOLLWAY AUTHORITIES
	SECTION 9.01. Section 366.003, Transportation Code, is
	amended by adding Subdivision (9-a) to read as follows:
	(9-a) "Surplus revenue" means the revenue of a
	turnpike project or system remaining at the end of any fiscal year
	after all required payments and deposits have been made in
	accordance with all bond resolutions, trust agreements,
	indentures, credit agreements, or other instruments and
	contractual obligations of the authority payable from the revenue
	of the turnpike project or system.
	SECTION 9.02. Section 366.301, Transportation Code, is
	amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
	(e) An action of an authority taken under this chapter must
	comply with the requirements of applicable federal law, including
	provisions relating to the role of metropolitan planning
	organizations under federal law and the approval of projects for
	conformity with the state implementation plan relating to air
	quality, the use of toll revenue, and the use of the right-of-way of
	and access to federal-aid highways. Notwithstanding an action of
	an authority taken under this chapter, the commission or the
	department may take any action that in its reasonable judgment is
	necessary to comply with any federal requirement to enable this
	state to receive federal-aid highway funds.
	SECTION 9.03. Chapter 366, Transportation Code, is amended
	by adding Subchapter H to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER H. COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS
	Sec. 366.401. COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS.
	(a) An authority may use a comprehensive development agreement
	with a private entity to design, develop, finance, construct,
	maintain, repair, operate, extend, or expand a turnpike project.
	(b) A comprehensive development agreement is an agreement
	with a private entity that, at a minimum, provides for the design,
	construction, rehabilitation, expansion, or improvement of a
	turnpike project and may also provide for the financing,
	acquisition, maintenance, or operation of a turnpike project.
	(c) An authority may negotiate provisions relating to
	professional and consulting services provided in connection with a
	comprehensive development agreement.
	(d) An authority may authorize the investment of public and
	private money, including debt and equity participation, to finance
	a function described by this section.
	Sec. 366.402. PROCESS FOR ENTERING INTO COMPREHENSIVE
	DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS. (a) If an authority enters into a
	comprehensive development agreement, the authority shall use a
	competitive procurement process that provides the best value for
	the authority. An authority may accept unsolicited proposals for a
	proposed turnpike project or solicit proposals in accordance with
	this section.
	(b) An authority shall establish rules and procedures for
	accepting unsolicited proposals that require the private entity to
	include in the proposal:
	(1) information regarding the proposed project
	location, scope, and limits;
	(2) information regarding the private entity's
	qualifications, experience, technical competence, and capability
	to develop the project; and
	(3) any other information the authority considers
	relevant or necessary.
	(c) An authority shall publish a notice advertising a
	request for competing proposals and qualifications in the Texas
	Register that includes the criteria to be used to evaluate the
	proposals, the relative weight given to the criteria, and a
	deadline by which proposals must be received if:
	(1) the authority decides to issue a request for
	qualifications for a proposed project; or
	(2) the authority authorizes the further evaluation of
	an unsolicited proposal.
	(d) A proposal submitted in response to a request published
	under Subsection (c) must contain, at a minimum, the information
	required by Subsections (b)(2) and (3).
	(e) An authority may interview a private entity submitting
	an unsolicited proposal or responding to a request under Subsection
	(c). The authority shall evaluate each proposal based on the
	criteria described in the request for competing proposals and
	qualifications and may qualify or shortlist private entities to
	submit detailed proposals under Subsection (f). The authority must
	qualify or shortlist at least two private entities to submit
	detailed proposals for a project under Subsection (f) unless the
	authority does not receive more than one proposal or one response to
	a request under Subsection (c).
	(f) An authority shall issue a request for detailed
	proposals from all private entities qualified or shortlisted under
	Subsection (e) if the authority proceeds with the further
	evaluation of a proposed project. A request under this subsection
	may require additional information the authority considers
	relevant or necessary, including information relating to:
	(1) the private entity's qualifications and
	demonstrated technical competence;
	(2) the feasibility of developing the project as
	proposed;
	(3) engineering or architectural designs;
	(4) the private entity's ability to meet schedules; or
	(5) a financial plan, including costing methodology
	and cost proposals.
	(g) In issuing a request for proposals under Subsection (f),
	an authority may solicit input from entities qualified under
	Subsection (e) or any other person. An authority may also solicit
	input regarding alternative technical concepts after issuing a
	request under Subsection (f).
	(h) An authority shall evaluate each proposal based on the
	criteria described in the request for detailed proposals and select
	the private entity whose proposal offers the apparent best value to
	the authority.
	(i) An authority may enter into negotiations with the
	private entity whose proposal offers the apparent best value.
	(j) If at any point in negotiations under Subsection (i), it
	appears to the authority that the highest ranking proposal will not
	provide the authority with the overall best value, the authority
	may enter into negotiations with the private entity submitting the
	next-highest-ranking proposal.
	(k) An authority may withdraw a request for competing
	proposals and qualifications or a request for detailed proposals at
	any time. The authority may then publish a new request for
	competing proposals and qualifications.
	(l) An authority may require that an unsolicited proposal be
	accompanied by a nonrefundable fee sufficient to cover all or part
	of its cost to review the proposal.
	(m) An authority may pay an unsuccessful private entity that
	submits a responsive proposal in response to a request for detailed
	proposals under Subsection (f) a stipulated amount in exchange for
	the work product contained in that proposal. A stipulated amount
	must be stated in the request for proposals and may not exceed the
	value of any work product contained in the proposal that can, as
	determined by the authority, be used by the authority in the
	performance of its functions. The use by the authority of any
	design element contained in an unsuccessful proposal is at the sole
	risk and discretion of the authority and does not confer liability
	on the recipient of the stipulated amount under this subsection.
	After payment of the stipulated amount:
	(1) the authority, with the unsuccessful private
	entity, jointly owns the rights to, and may make use of any work
	product contained in, the proposal, including the technologies,
	techniques, methods, processes, ideas, and information contained
	in the project design; and
	(2) the use by the unsuccessful private entity of any
	portion of the work product contained in the proposal is at the sole
	risk of the unsuccessful private entity and does not confer
	liability on the authority.
	(n) An authority may prescribe the general form of a
	comprehensive development agreement and may include any matter the
	authority considers advantageous to the authority. The authority
	and the private entity shall finalize the specific terms of a
	comprehensive development agreement.
	(o) Section 366.185 and Subchapter A, Chapter 223, of this
	code and Chapter 2254, Government Code, do not apply to a
	comprehensive development agreement entered into under this
	subchapter.
	Sec. 366.403. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION. (a) To
	encourage private entities to submit proposals under this
	subchapter, the following information is confidential, is not
	subject to disclosure, inspection, or copying under Chapter 552,
	Government Code, and is not subject to disclosure, discovery,
	subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for its release until a
	final contract for a proposed project is entered into:
	(1) all or part of a proposal that is submitted by a
	private entity for a comprehensive development agreement, except
	information provided under Sections 366.402(b)(1) and (2), unless
	the private entity consents to the disclosure of the information;
	(2) supplemental information or material submitted by
	a private entity in connection with a proposal for a comprehensive
	development agreement unless the private entity consents to the
	disclosure of the information or material; and
	(3) information created or collected by an authority
	or its agent during consideration of a proposal for a comprehensive
	development agreement or during the authority's preparation of a
	proposal to the department relating to a comprehensive development
	agreement.
	(b) After an authority completes its final ranking of
	proposals under Section 366.402(h), the final rankings of each
	proposal under each of the published criteria are not confidential.
	Sec. 366.404. PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT SECURITY.
	(a) Notwithstanding the requirements of Subchapter B, Chapter
	2253, Government Code, an authority shall require a private entity
	entering into a comprehensive development agreement under this
	subchapter to provide a performance and payment bond or an
	alternative form of security in an amount sufficient to:
	(1) ensure the proper performance of the agreement;
	and
	(2) protect:
	(A) the authority; and
	(B) payment bond beneficiaries who have a direct
	contractual relationship with the private entity or a subcontractor
	of the private entity to supply labor or material.
	(b) A performance and payment bond or alternative form of
	security shall be in an amount equal to the cost of constructing or
	maintaining the project.
	(c) If an authority determines that it is impracticable for
	a private entity to provide security in the amount described by
	Subsection (b), the authority shall set the amount of the bonds or
	the alternative forms of security.
	(d) A payment or performance bond or alternative form of
	security is not required for the portion of an agreement that
	includes only design or planning services, the performance of
	preliminary studies, or the acquisition of real property.
	(e) The amount of the payment security must not be less than
	the amount of the performance security.
	(f) In addition to, or instead of, performance and payment
	bonds, an authority may require the following alternative forms of
	security:
	(1) a cashier's check drawn on a financial entity
	specified by the authority;
	(2) a United States bond or note;
	(3) an irrevocable bank letter of credit; or
	(4) any other form of security determined suitable by
	the authority.
	(g) An authority by rule shall prescribe requirements for
	alternative forms of security provided under this section.
	Sec. 366.405. OWNERSHIP OF TURNPIKE PROJECTS. (a) A
	turnpike project that is the subject of a comprehensive development
	agreement with a private entity, including the facilities acquired
	or constructed on the project, is public property and is owned by
	the authority.
	(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an authority may enter
	into an agreement that provides for the lease of rights-of-way, the
	granting of easements, the issuance of franchises, licenses, or
	permits, or any lawful uses to enable a private entity to construct,
	operate, and maintain a turnpike project, including supplemental
	facilities. At the termination of the agreement, the turnpike
	project, including the facilities, are to be in a state of proper
	maintenance as determined by the authority and shall be returned to
	the authority in satisfactory condition at no further cost.
	Sec. 366.406. LIABILITY FOR PRIVATE OBLIGATIONS. An
	authority may not incur a financial obligation for a private entity
	that designs, develops, finances, constructs, operates, or
	maintains a turnpike project. The authority or a political
	subdivision of the state is not liable for any financial or other
	obligation of a turnpike project solely because a private entity
	constructs, finances, or operates any part of the project.
	Sec. 366.407. TERMS OF PRIVATE PARTICIPATION. (a) An
	authority shall negotiate the terms of private participation in a
	turnpike project under this subchapter, including:
	(1) methods to determine the applicable cost, profit,
	and project distribution among the private participants and the
	authority;
	(2) reasonable methods to determine and classify toll
	rates and the responsibility for setting toll rates;
	(3) acceptable safety and policing standards; and
	(4) other applicable professional, consulting,
	construction, operation, and maintenance standards, expenses, and
	costs.
	(b) A comprehensive development agreement entered into
	under this subchapter may include any provision the authority
	considers appropriate, including a provision:
	(1) providing for the purchase by the authority, under
	terms and conditions agreed to by the parties, of the interest of a
	private participant in the comprehensive development agreement and
	related property, including any interest in a turnpike project
	designed, developed, financed, constructed, operated, or
	maintained under the comprehensive development agreement;
	(2) establishing the purchase price, as determined in
	accordance with the methodology established by the parties in the
	comprehensive development agreement, for the interest of a private
	participant in the comprehensive development agreement and related
	property;
	(3) providing for the payment of an obligation
	incurred under the comprehensive development agreement, including
	an obligation to pay the purchase price for the interest of a
	private participant in the comprehensive development agreement,
	from any available source, including securing the obligation by a
	pledge of revenues of the authority derived from the applicable
	project, which pledge shall have priority as established by the
	authority;
	(4) permitting the private participant to pledge its
	rights under the comprehensive development agreement;
	(5) concerning the private participant's right to
	operate and collect revenue from the turnpike project; and
	(6) restricting the right of the authority to
	terminate the private participant's right to operate and collect
	revenue from the turnpike project unless and until any applicable
	termination payments have been made.
	(c) An authority may enter into a comprehensive development
	agreement under this subchapter with a private participant only if
	the project is identified in the department's unified
	transportation program or is located on a transportation corridor
	identified in the statewide transportation plan.
	(d) Section 366.406 does not apply to an obligation of an
	authority under a comprehensive development agreement, nor is an
	authority otherwise constrained from issuing bonds or other
	financial obligations for a turnpike project payable solely from
	revenues of that turnpike project or from amounts received under a
	comprehensive development agreement.
	(e) Notwithstanding any other law, and subject to
	compliance with the dispute resolution procedures set out in the
	comprehensive development agreement, an obligation of an authority
	under a comprehensive development agreement entered into under this
	subchapter to make or secure payments to a person because of the
	termination of the agreement, including the purchase of the
	interest of a private participant or other investor in a project,
	may be enforced by mandamus against the authority in a district
	court of any county of the authority, and the sovereign immunity of
	the authority is waived for that purpose. The district courts of
	any county of the authority shall have exclusive jurisdiction and
	venue over and to determine and adjudicate all issues necessary to
	adjudicate any action brought under this subsection. The remedy
	provided by this subsection is in addition to any legal and
	equitable remedies that may be available to a party to a
	comprehensive development agreement.
	(f) If an authority enters into a comprehensive development
	agreement with a private participant that includes the collection
	by the private participant of tolls for the use of a toll project,
	the private participant shall submit to the authority for approval:
	(1) the methodology for:
	(A) the setting of tolls; and
	(B) increasing the amount of the tolls;
	(2) a plan outlining methods the private participant
	will use to collect the tolls, including:
	(A) any charge to be imposed as a penalty for late
	payment of a toll; and
	(B) any charge to be imposed to recover the cost
	of collecting a delinquent toll; and
	(3) any proposed change in an approved methodology for
	the setting of a toll or a plan for collecting the toll.
	(g) Except as provided by this subsection, a comprehensive
	development agreement with a private participant that includes the
	collection by the private participant of tolls for the use of a toll
	project may be for a term not longer than 50 years from the later of
	the date of final acceptance of the project or the start of revenue
	operations by the private participant, not to exceed a total term of
	52 years. The contract must contain an explicit mechanism for
	setting the price for the purchase by the department of the interest
	of the private participant in the contract and related property,
	including any interest in a highway or other facility designed,
	developed, financed, constructed, operated, or maintained under
	the contract.
	Sec. 366.408. RULES, PROCEDURES, AND GUIDELINES GOVERNING
	SELECTION AND NEGOTIATING PROCESS. (a) To promote fairness,
	obtain private participants in turnpike projects, and promote
	confidence among those participants, an authority shall adopt
	rules, procedures, and other guidelines governing selection of
	private participants for comprehensive development agreements and
	negotiations of comprehensive development agreements. The rules
	must contain criteria relating to the qualifications of the
	participants and the award of the contracts.
	(b) An authority shall have up-to-date procedures for
	participation in negotiations under this subchapter.
	(c) An authority has exclusive judgment to determine the
	terms of an agreement.
	Sec. 366.409. USE OF CONTRACT PAYMENTS. (a) Payments
	received by an authority under a comprehensive development
	agreement shall be used by the authority to finance the
	construction, maintenance, or operation of a turnpike project or a
	highway.
	(b) The authority shall allocate the distribution of funds
	received under Subsection (a) to the counties of the authority
	based on the percentage of toll revenue from users, from each
	county, of the project that is the subject of the comprehensive
	development agreement. To assist the authority in determining the
	allocation, each entity responsible for collecting tolls for a
	project shall calculate on an annual basis the percentage of toll
	revenue from users of the project from each county within the
	authority based on the number of recorded electronic toll
	collections.
	SECTION 9.04. Subsection (f), Section 366.033,
	Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(f) An authority may rent, lease, franchise, license, or
	otherwise make portions of any property of the authority, including
	tangible or intangible property, [~~its properties~~] available for use
	by others in furtherance of its powers under this chapter by
	increasing:
	(1) the feasibility or efficient operation [~~the~~
	~~revenue~~] of a turnpike project or system; or
	(2) the revenue of the authority.
	SECTION 9.05. Subchapter B, Chapter 366, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Sections 366.037 and 366.038 to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 366.037. OTHER HIGHWAY PROJECTS. (a) In addition to
	the powers granted under this chapter and without supervision or
	regulation by any state agency or local governmental entity, but
	subject to an agreement entered into under Subsection (c), the
	board of an authority may by resolution, and on making the findings
	set forth in this subsection, authorize the use of surplus revenue
	of a turnpike project or system for the study, design,
	construction, maintenance, repair, and operation of a highway or
	similar facility that is not a turnpike project if the highway or
	similar facility is:
	(1) situated in a county in which the authority is
	authorized to design, construct, and operate a turnpike project;
	(2) anticipated to either:
	(A) enhance the operation or revenue of an
	existing, or the feasibility of a proposed, turnpike project by
	bringing traffic to that turnpike project or enhancing the flow of
	traffic either on that turnpike project or to or from that turnpike
	project to another facility; or
	(B) ameliorate the impact of an existing or
	proposed turnpike project by enhancing the capability of another
	facility to handle traffic traveling, or anticipated to travel, to
	or from that turnpike project; and
	(3) not anticipated to result in an overall reduction
	of revenue of any turnpike project or system.
	(b) The board in the resolution may prescribe terms for the
	use of the surplus revenue, including the manner in which the
	highway or related facility shall be studied, designed,
	constructed, maintained, repaired, or operated.
	(c) An authority shall enter into an agreement to implement
	this section with the department, the commission, a local
	governmental entity, or another political subdivision that owns a
	street, road, alley, or highway that is directly affected by the
	authority's turnpike project or related facility.
	(d) An authority may not:
	(1) take an action under this section that violates,
	impairs, or is inconsistent with a bond resolution, trust
	agreement, or indenture governing the use of the revenue of a
	turnpike project or system; or
	(2) commit in any fiscal year expenditures under this
	section exceeding 10 percent of its surplus revenue from the
	preceding fiscal year.
	(e) In authorizing expenditures under this section, the
	board shall consider:
	(1) balancing throughout the counties of the authority
	the application of funds generated by its turnpike projects and
	systems, taking into account where those amounts are already
	committed or programmed as a result of this section or otherwise;
	and
	(2) connectivity to an existing or proposed turnpike
	project or system.
	(f) Except as provided by this section, an authority has the
	same powers and may use the same procedures with respect to the
	study, financing, design, construction, maintenance, repair, and
	operation of a highway or similar facility under this section as are
	available to the authority with respect to a turnpike project or
	system.
	(g) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section:
	(1) any work on a highway in the state highway system
	must be approved by the department; and
	(2) the department shall supervise and regulate any
	work on a highway in the state highway system.
	Sec. 366.038. TOLL COLLECTION. An authority shall provide,
	for reasonable compensation, customer service and other toll
	collection and enforcement services for a toll project in the
	boundaries of the authority, regardless of whether the toll project
	is developed, financed, constructed, and operated under an
	agreement, including a comprehensive development agreement, with
	the authority or another entity.
	SECTION 9.06. The heading to Section 366.185,
	Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 366.185. ENGINEERING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION
	SERVICES [~~COMPETITIVE BIDDING~~].
	SECTION 9.07. (a) Section 366.185, Transportation Code,
	is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c)
	through (f) to read as follows:
	(a) A contract made by an authority that requires the
	expenditures of public funds for the construction or maintenance of
	a turnpike project may [~~must~~] be let by a competitive bidding
	procedure in which the contract is awarded to the lowest
	responsible bidder that complies with the authority's criteria.
	(c) An authority may procure a combination of engineering,
	design, and construction services in a single procurement for a
	turnpike project, provided that any contract awarded results in the
	best value to the authority.
	(d) The authority shall adopt rules governing the award of
	contracts for engineering, design, construction, and maintenance
	services in a single procurement.
	(d-1) The rules adopted under Subsection (d) may not
	materially conflict with the design-build procedures provided by
	Subchapter J, Chapter 271, Local Government Code, and shall provide
	materially similar injunctive and declaratory action enforcement
	rights regarding the improper disclosure or use of unique or
	nonordinary information as provided in that subchapter.
	(e) Notwithstanding any other law requiring a competitive
	bidding procedure, an authority may let a contract for the
	construction of a turnpike project by a construction
	manager-at-risk procedure under which the construction
	manager-at-risk provides consultation to the authority during the
	design of the turnpike project and is responsible for the
	construction of the turnpike project in accordance with the
	authority's specifications. A construction manager-at-risk shall
	be selected on the basis of criteria established by the authority,
	which may include the construction manager-at-risk's experience,
	past performance, safety record, proposed personnel and
	methodology, proposed fees, and other appropriate factors that
	demonstrate the construction manager-at-risk's ability to provide
	the best value to the authority and to deliver the required services
	in accordance with the authority's specifications.
	(f) The authority shall adopt rules governing the award of
	contracts using construction manager-at-risk procedures under this
	section.
	(b) Subsection (d-1), Section 366.185, Transportation Code,
	as added by this section, takes effect only if H.B. No. 1886, Acts
	of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is enacted and
	becomes law.
	SECTION 9.08. Subchapter F, Chapter 366, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Sections 366.2521 and 366.2522 to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 366.2521. GIFTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS; OFFENSE. (a) In
	this section, "benefit" means anything reasonably regarded as
	pecuniary gain or pecuniary advantage, including benefit to any
	other person in whose welfare the beneficiary has a direct and
	substantial interest.
	(b) A director commits an offense if the person solicits,
	accepts, or agrees to accept any benefit from:
	(1) a person the director knows to be subject to
	regulation, inspection, or investigation by the authority; or
	(2) a person the director knows is interested in or
	likely to become interested in any contract, purchase, payment,
	claim, transaction, or matter involving the exercise of the
	director's discretion.
	(c) A director who receives an unsolicited benefit that the
	director is prohibited from accepting under this section may donate
	the benefit to a governmental entity that has the authority to
	accept the gift or may donate the benefit to a recognized tax-exempt
	charitable organization formed for educational, religious, or
	scientific purposes.
	(d) This section does not apply to:
	(1) a fee prescribed by law to be received by a
	director;
	(2) a benefit to which the director is lawfully
	entitled; or
	(3) a benefit for which the director gives legitimate
	consideration in a capacity other than as a director.
	(e) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
	(f) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this
	section also constitutes an offense under Section 36.08, Penal
	Code, the actor may be prosecuted under this section or Section
	36.08.
	Sec. 366.2522. OFFERING GIFT TO A DIRECTOR; OFFENSE.
	(a) A person commits an offense if the person offers, confers, or
	agrees to confer any benefit on a director that the person knows the
	director is prohibited from accepting under Section 366.2521.
	(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
	(c) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this
	section also constitutes an offense under Section 36.09, Penal
	Code, the actor may be prosecuted under this section or Section
	36.09.
	SECTION 9.09. Subchapter F, Chapter 366, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Section 366.2575 to read as follows:
	Sec. 366.2575. BOARD VOTE ON COUNTY REQUEST. On request of
	the commissioners court of a county of an authority, the board shall
	vote on whether to build a project that the county requests.
	SECTION 9.10. Subchapter G, Chapter 366, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Section 366.305 to read as follows:
	Sec. 366.305. TRANS-TEXAS CORRIDOR PROJECTS. If an
	authority is requested by the commission to participate in the
	development of a turnpike project that has been designated as part
	of the Trans-Texas Corridor, the authority shall have, in addition
	to all powers granted in this chapter, all powers of the department
	related to the development of Trans-Texas Corridor projects.
	SECTION 9.11. The TxDOT/NTTA Regional Protocol entered into
	between the Texas Department of Transportation and the North Texas
	Tollway Authority and approved on August 10, 2006, by the tollway
	authority and on August 24, 2006, by the department is invalidated.
	ARTICLE 10. REGIONAL MOBILITY AUTHORITIES
	SECTION 10.01. Section 370.251, Transportation Code, is
	amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to
	read as follows:
	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), the [~~The~~]
	governing body of an authority is a board of directors consisting of
	representatives of each county in which a transportation project of
	the authority is located or is proposed to be located. The
	commissioners court of each county that initially forms the
	authority shall appoint at least two directors to the board.
	Additional directors may be appointed to the board at the time of
	initial formation by agreement of the counties creating the
	authority to ensure fair representation of political subdivisions
	in the counties of the authority that will be affected by a
	transportation project of the authority, provided that the number
	of directors must be an odd number. The commissioners court of a
	county that is subsequently added to the authority shall appoint
	one director to the board. The governor shall appoint one director
	to the board who shall serve as the presiding officer of the board
	and shall appoint an additional director to the board if an
	appointment is necessary to maintain an odd number of directors on
	the board.
	(a-1) To be eligible to serve as director of an authority
	created by a municipality an individual:
	(1) may be a representative of an entity that also has
	representation on a metropolitan planning organization in the
	region where the municipality is located; and
	(2) is required to be a resident of Texas regardless of
	whether the metropolitan planning organization's geographic area
	includes territory in another state.
	SECTION 10.02. Subsection (d), Section 370.301,
	Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(d) The commission or department may use federal money for
	any purpose described by this chapter. An action of an authority
	taken under this chapter must comply with the requirements of
	applicable federal law, including provisions relating to the role
	of metropolitan planning organizations under federal law and the
	approval of projects for conformity with the state implementation
	plan relating to air quality, the use of toll revenue, and the use
	of the right-of-way of and access to federal-aid highways.
	Notwithstanding an action of an authority taken under this chapter,
	the commission or the department may take any action that in its
	reasonable judgment is necessary to comply with any federal
	requirement to enable this state to receive federal-aid highway
	funds.
	SECTION 10.03. (a) Section 370.314, Transportation Code,
	is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 370.314. DESIGN-BUILD PROCEDURES [~~COMBINATION OF~~
	~~ENGINEERING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES~~]. (a) An
	authority may procure a combination of engineering, design, and
	construction services in a single procurement for a transportation
	project provided that any contract awarded must be the one that
	results in the best value to the authority.
	(b) Procedures adopted under Subsection (a) may not
	materially conflict with the design-build procedures provided by
	Subchapter J, Chapter 271, Local Government Code.
	(b) Subsection (a) of this section takes effect only if H.B.
	No. 1886, Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is
	enacted and becomes law.
	ARTICLE 11. COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS FOR TOLL PROJECTS
	SECTION 11.01. Subtitle G, Title 6, Transportation Code, is
	amended by adding Chapter 371 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 371. COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS FOR HIGHWAY TOLL
	PROJECTS
	SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
	Sec. 371.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1) "Toll project" means a toll project described by
	Section 201.001(b), regardless of whether the toll project is:
	(A) a part of the state highway system; or
	(B) subject to the jurisdiction of the
	department.
	(2) "Toll project entity" means an entity authorized
	by law to acquire, design, construct, operate, and maintain a toll
	project, including:
	(A) the department, including under Chapter 227;
	(B) a regional tollway authority under Chapter
	366;
	(C) a regional mobility authority under Chapter
	370; or
	(D) a county under Chapter 284.
	Sec. 371.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter does not apply
	to a project for which the commission selected an apparent best
	value proposer before May 1, 2007.
	[Sections 371.003-371.050 reserved for expansion]
	SUBCHAPTER B. OVERSIGHT
	Sec. 371.051. ATTORNEY GENERAL REVIEW. A toll project
	entity may not enter into a comprehensive development agreement
	unless the attorney general reviews the proposed agreement and
	determines that it is legally sufficient.
	Sec. 371.052. NOTIFICATION TO LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD AND
	STATE AUDITOR. (a) Not later than the 10th day after the date of
	qualifying or shortlisting private entities to submit detailed
	proposals for a toll project, a toll project entity shall provide
	the Legislative Budget Board with the names of qualifying or
	shortlisted proposers and their team members.
	(b) At least 30 days before entering into a comprehensive
	development agreement, a toll project entity shall provide the
	Legislative Budget Board with:
	(1) a copy of the version of the proposed
	comprehensive development agreement to be executed;
	(2) a copy of the proposal submitted by the apparent
	best value proposer; and
	(3) a financial forecast prepared by the toll project
	entity that includes:
	(A) toll revenue the entity projects will be
	derived from the project during the planned term of the agreement;
	(B) estimated construction costs and operating
	expenses; and
	(C) the amount of income the entity projects the
	private participant in the agreement will realize during the
	planned term of the agreement.
	(c) Before entering into a comprehensive development
	agreement, a toll project entity shall provide the state auditor
	with the traffic and revenue report prepared by the toll project
	entity or its consultant for the project. The entity may not enter
	into the comprehensive development agreement before the 30th day
	after the date that the state auditor receives the report so that
	the state auditor may review and comment on the report and the
	methodology used to develop the report.
	(d) Before the comprehensive development agreement is
	entered into, financial forecasts and traffic and revenue reports
	prepared by or for a toll project entity for the project are
	confidential and are not subject to disclosure, inspection, or
	copying under Chapter 552, Government Code. On or after the date
	the comprehensive development agreement is entered into, the
	financial forecasts and traffic revenue reports are public
	information under Chapter 552, Government Code.
	[Sections 371.053-371.100 reserved for expansion]
	SUBCHAPTER C. CONTRACT PROVISIONS
	Sec. 371.101. TERMINATION FOR CONVENIENCE. (a) A toll
	project entity having rulemaking authority by rule and a toll
	project entity without rulemaking authority by official action
	shall develop a formula for making termination payments to
	terminate a comprehensive development agreement under which a
	private participant receives the right to operate and collect
	revenue from a toll project. A formula must calculate an estimated
	amount of loss to the private participant as a result of the
	termination for convenience.
	(b) The formula shall be based on investments,
	expenditures, and the internal rate of return on equity under the
	agreed base case financial model as projected over the original
	term of the agreement, plus an agreed percentage markup on that
	amount.
	(c) A formula under Subsection (b) may not include any
	estimate of future revenue from the project, if not included in an
	agreed base case financial model under Subsection (b).
	Compensation to the private participant upon termination for
	convenience may not exceed the amount determined using the formula
	under Subsection (b).
	Sec. 371.102. TERMINATION OF CERTAIN COMPREHENSIVE
	DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS. If a toll project entity elects to
	terminate a comprehensive development agreement under which a
	private participant receives the right to operate and collect
	revenue from a project, the entity may:
	(1) if authorized to issue bonds for that purpose,
	issue bonds to:
	(A) make any applicable termination payments to
	the private participant; or
	(B) purchase the interest of the private
	participant in the comprehensive development agreement or related
	property; or
	(2) provide for the payment of obligations of the
	private participant incurred pursuant to the comprehensive
	development agreement.
	Sec. 371.103. PROHIBITION AGAINST LIMITING OR PROHIBITING
	CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS. (a) A comprehensive
	development agreement may not contain a provision that limits or
	prohibits the construction, reconstruction, expansion,
	rehabilitation, operation, or maintenance of a highway or other
	transportation project, as that term is defined by Section 370.003,
	by the toll project entity or other governmental entity, or by a
	private entity under a contract with the toll project entity or
	other governmental entity.
	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a comprehensive
	development agreement may contain a provision authorizing the toll
	project entity to compensate the private participant in the
	agreement for the loss of toll revenues attributable to the
	construction by the entity of a limited access highway project
	located within an area that extends up to four miles from either
	side of the centerline of the project developed under the
	agreement, less the private participant's decreased operating and
	maintenance costs attributable to the highway project, if any.
	(c) A comprehensive development agreement may not require
	the toll project entity to provide compensation for the
	construction of:
	(1) a highway project contained in the state
	transportation plan or a transportation plan of a metropolitan
	planning organization in effect on the effective date of the
	agreement;
	(2) work on or improvements to a highway project
	necessary for improved safety, or for maintenance or operational
	purposes;
	(3) a high occupancy vehicle exclusive lane addition
	or other work on any highway project that is required by an
	environmental regulatory agency; or
	(4) a transportation project that provides a mode of
	transportation that is not included in the project that is the
	subject of the comprehensive development agreement.
	(d) The private participant has the burden of proving any
	loss of toll revenue resulting from the construction of a highway
	project described by Subsection (b).
	(e) A comprehensive development agreement that contains a
	provision described by Subsection (b) must require the private
	participant to provide compensation to the toll project entity in
	the amount of any increase in toll revenues received by the private
	participant that is attributable to the construction of a highway
	project described by Subsection (b), less the private participant's
	increased operation and maintenance costs attributable to the
	highway project, if any.
	[Sections 371.104-371.150 reserved for expansion]
	SUBCHAPTER D. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
	Sec. 371.151. DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION.
	(a) Before a toll project entity enters into a contract for the
	construction of a toll project, the entity shall publish in the
	manner provided by Section 371.152 information regarding:
	(1) project financing, including:
	(A) the total amount of debt that has been and
	will be assumed to acquire, design, construct, operate, and
	maintain the toll project;
	(B) a description of how the debt will be repaid,
	including a projected timeline for repaying the debt; and
	(C) the projected amount of interest that will be
	paid on the debt;
	(2) whether the toll project will continue to be
	tolled after the debt has been repaid;
	(3) a description of the method that will be used to
	set toll rates;
	(4) a description of any terms in the contract
	relating to competing facilities, including any penalties
	associated with the construction of a competing facility;
	(5) a description of any terms in the contract
	relating to a termination for convenience provision, including any
	information regarding how the value of the project will be
	calculated for the purposes of making termination payments;
	(6) the initial toll rates, the methodology for
	increasing toll rates, and the projected toll rates at the end of
	the term of the contract; and
	(7) the projected total amount of concession payments.
	(b) A toll project entity may not enter into a contract for
	the construction of a toll project before the 30th day after the
	date the information is first published under Section 371.152.
	Sec. 371.152. DISCLOSURE BY PUBLICATION. (a) Information
	under Section 371.151 must be published in a newspaper published in
	the county in which the toll project is to be constructed once a
	week for at least two weeks before the time set for entering into
	the contract and in two other newspapers that the toll project
	entity may designate.
	(b) Instead of the notice required by Subsection (a), if the
	toll project entity estimates that the contract involves an amount
	less than $300,000, the information may be published in two
	successive issues of a newspaper published in the county in which
	the project is to be constructed.
	(c) If a newspaper is not published in the county in which
	the toll project is to be constructed, notice shall be published in
	a newspaper published in the county:
	(1) nearest the county seat of the county in which the
	improvement is to be made; and
	(2) in which a newspaper is published.
	Sec. 371.153. HEARING. (a) A toll project entity shall
	hold a public hearing on the information published under Section
	371.152 not later than the 10th day after the date the information
	is first published and not less than 10 days before the entity
	enters into the contract.
	(b) A hearing under this section must be held in the county
	seat of the county in which the toll project is located.
	(c) A hearing under this section must include a formal
	presentation and a mechanism for responding to comments and
	questions.
	ARTICLE 12. METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATIONS
	SECTION 12.01. Subchapter D, Chapter 472, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Section 472.034 to read as follows:
	Sec. 472.034. ETHICS POLICY. Each policy board shall adopt
	bylaws establishing an ethics policy to prevent a policy board
	member from having a conflict of interest in business before the
	metropolitan planning organization.
	ARTICLE 13. TOLL COLLECTION
	SECTION 13.01. Subchapter B, Chapter 228, Transportation
	Code, is amended by adding Section 228.059 to read as follows:
	Sec. 228.059. TOLL COLLECTION AND ENFORCEMENT BY OTHER
	ENTITY; OFFENSE. An entity operating a toll lane pursuant to
	Section 228.007(b) has, with regard to toll collection and
	enforcement for that toll lane, the same powers and duties as the
	department under this chapter. A person who fails to pay a toll or
	administrative fee imposed by the entity commits an offense. Each
	failure to pay a toll or administrative fee imposed by the entity is
	a separate offense. An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
	punishable by a fine not to exceed $250, and the provisions of
	Section 228.056 apply to the prosecution of the offense under this
	section. The entity may use revenues for improvement, extension,
	expansion, or maintenance of the toll lane.
	ARTICLE 14. ISSUANCE OF BONDS
	SECTION 14.01. Subsections (b) and (d), Section 222.003,
	Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(b) The aggregate principal amount of the bonds and other
	public securities that are issued may not exceed $6 [$3] billion.
	The commission may only issue bonds or other public securities in an
	aggregate principal amount of not more than $1.5 [$1] billion each
	year.
	(d) Of the aggregate principal amount of bonds and other
	public securities that may be issued under this section, the
	commission shall issue bonds or other public securities in an
	aggregate principal amount of $1.2 billion [~~$600 million~~] to fund
	projects that reduce accidents or correct or improve hazardous
	locations on the state highway system. The commission by rule shall
	prescribe criteria for selecting projects eligible for funding
	under this section. In establishing criteria for the projects, the
	commission shall consider accident data, traffic volume, pavement
	geometry, and other conditions that can create or exacerbate
	hazardous roadway conditions.
	ARTICLE 15. EFFECTIVE DATE
	SECTION 15.01. This Act takes effect immediately if it
	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2007.






	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House

	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 792 passed the Senate on
	May 14, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0;
	May 18, 2007, Senate refused to concur in House amendments and
	requested appointment of Conference Committee; May 22, 2007, House
	granted request of the Senate; May 25, 2007, Senate adopted
	Conference Committee Report by the following vote: Yeas 29,
	Nays 1.


	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate

	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 792 passed the House, with
	amendments, on May 17, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 143,
	Nays 2, one present not voting; May 22, 2007, House granted request
	of the Senate for appointment of Conference Committee;
	May 26, 2007, House adopted Conference Committee Report by the
	following vote: Yeas 127, Nays 19, two present not voting.


	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House



	Approved:

	______________________________
	Date


	______________________________
	Governor