[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 948 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 948
To amend title 23, United States Code, to require the Secretary of
Transportation to carry out a grant program for providing financial
assistance for local rail line relocation projects, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 24, 2001
Mr. Lott (for himself and Mr. Kerry) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 23, United States Code, to require the Secretary of
Transportation to carry out a grant program for providing financial
assistance for local rail line relocation projects, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Community Rail Line Relocation
Assistance Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. RAIL LINE RELOCATION GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) Authority.--Chapter 2 of title 23, United States Code,
is amended by inserting after section 206 the following:
``Sec. 207. Capital grants for rail line relocation projects
``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary shall carry out a
grant program to provide financial assistance for local rail line
relocation projects.
``(b) Eligibility.--A State is eligible for a grant under this
section for any project for the improvement of the route or structure
of a rail line passing through a municipality of the State that--
``(1) is carried out for the purpose of mitigating the
adverse effects of rail traffic on safety, motor vehicle
traffic flow, or economic development in the municipality;
``(2) involves a lateral or vertical relocation of any
portion of the rail line within the municipality to avoid a
closing of a grade crossing or the construction of a road
underpass or overpass; and
``(3) meets the costs-benefits requirement set forth in
subsection (c).
``(c) Costs-Benefits Requirement.--A grant may be awarded under
this section for a project for the relocation of a rail line only if
the benefits of the project for the period equal to the estimated
economic life of the relocated rail line exceed the costs of the
project for that period, as determined by the Secretary considering the
following factors:
``(1) The effects of the rail line and the rail traffic on
motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic, safety, and area commerce
if the rail line were not so relocated.
``(2) The effects of the rail line, relocated as proposed,
on motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic, safety, and area
commerce.
``(3) The effects of the rail line, relocated as proposed,
on the freight and passenger rail operations on the rail line.
``(d) Considerations for Approval of Grant Applications.--In
addition to considering the relationship of benefits to costs in
determining whether to award a grant to an eligible State under this
section, the Secretary shall consider the following factors:
``(1) The capability of the State to fund the rail line
relocation project without Federal grant funding.
``(2) The requirement and limitation relating to allocation
of grant funds provided in subsection (e).
``(3) Equitable treatment of the various regions of the
United States.
``(e) Allocation Requirements.--
``(1) Projects under $20,000,000.--At least 50 percent of
all grant funds awarded under this section out of funds
appropriated for a fiscal year shall be provided for rail line
relocation projects that have an estimated project cost of less
than $20,000,000 each.
``(2) Limitation per project.--Not more than 25 percent of
the total amount available for carrying out this section for a
fiscal year may be provided for any one project in that fiscal
year.
``(f) Federal Share.--The total amount of a grant awarded under
this section for a rail line relocation project shall be 90 percent of
the shared costs of the project, as determined under subsection (g)(4).
``(g) State Share.--
``(1) Percentage.--A State shall pay 10 percent of the
shared costs of a project that is funded in part by a grant
awarded under this section.
``(2) Forms of contributions.--The share required by
paragraph (1) may be paid in cash or in kind.
``(3) In-kind contributions.--The in-kind contributions
that are permitted to be counted under paragraph (2) for a
project for a State are as follows:
``(A) A contribution of real property or tangible
personal property (whether provided by the State or a
person for the State).
``(B) A contribution of the services of employees
of the State, calculated on the basis of costs incurred
by the State for the pay and benefits of the employees,
but excluding overhead and general administrative
costs.
``(C) A payment of any costs that were incurred for
the project before the filing of an application for a
grant for the project under this section, and any in-
kind contributions that were made for the project
before the filing of the application, if and to the
extent that the costs were incurred or in-kind
contributions were made, as the case may be, to comply
with a provision of a statute required to be satisfied
in order to carry out the project.
``(4) Costs not shared.--
``(A) In general.--For the purposes of subsection
(f) and this subsection, the shared costs of a project
in a municipality do not include any cost that is
defrayed with any funds or in-kind contribution that a
source other than the municipality makes available for
the use of the municipality without imposing at least
one of the following conditions:
``(i) The condition that the municipality
use the funds or contribution only for the
project.
``(ii) The condition that the availability
of the funds or contribution to the
municipality is contingent on the execution of
the project.
``(B) Determinations of the secretary.--The
Secretary shall determine the amount of the costs, if
any, that are not shared costs under this paragraph and
the total amount of the shared costs. A determination
of the Secretary shall be final.
``(h) Multistate Agreements To Combine Amounts.--Two or
more States (not including political subdivisions of States)
may, pursuant to an agreement entered into by the States,
combine any part of the amounts provided through grants for a
project under this section if--
``(1) the project will benefit each of the States
entering into the agreement; and
``(2) the agreement is not a violation of a law of
any such State.
``(i) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe regulations for
carrying out this section.
``(j) State Defined.--In this section, the term `State' includes,
except as otherwise specifically provided, a political subdivision of a
State.
``(k) Authorization of Appropriations.--Funds are hereby authorized
to be appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury for carrying
out this section for fiscal years and in amounts as follows:
``(1) For fiscal year 2001, $250,000,000.
``(2) For fiscal year 2002, $500,000,000.
``(3) For fiscal year 2003, $500,000,000.
``(4) For fiscal year 2004, $500,000,000.
``(5) For fiscal year 2005, $500,000,000.
``(6) For fiscal year 2006, $500,000,000.''.
(2) Table of sections.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 2 of title 23, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 206 the
following:
``207. Capital grants for rail line relocation projects.''.
(b) Regulations.--
(1) Interim regulations.--Not later than December 31, 2001,
the Secretary of Transportation shall issue temporary
regulations to implement the grant program under section 207 of
title 23, United States Code, as added by subsection (a).
Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code,
shall not apply to the issuance of a temporary regulation under
this paragraph or of any amendment of such a temporary
regulation.
(2) Final regulations.--Not later than October 1, 2002, the
Secretary shall issue final regulations implementing the
program.
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