Sec. 4. Capital grants for shortline freight railroad state of good repair
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In this section: The term capital project means acquiring, constructing, improving, or inspecting shortline or regional railroad infrastructure, such as equipment, track and track structures, or a facility, including— bringing that infrastructure to a state of good repair; bond costs and other costs relating to the issuance of bonds or other debt financing instruments; evaluating and assessing project implementation and outcomes; expenses incidental to the activities described in subparagraph (C), including designing, engineering, location surveying, mapping, and environmental studies; installing, restoring, and rehabilitating track; preserving and acquiring rights-of-way; relocation assistance, including— acquiring replacement housing sites, and acquiring, constructing, relocating, and rehabilitating replacement housing; and the lateral relocation of any portion of a rail line; eliminating obstacles and relocating utilities; payments for the maintenance responsibility of rail trackage rights agreements; mitigating adverse impacts on safety, motor vehicle traffic flow, quality of life, environment, or economic development; highway-rail grade crossing improvements, including the safety of and elimination of hazards at a highway-rail grade crossing; communication and signalization improvements; subsidy and administrative costs of projects eligible for Federal credit assistance under the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 ( 45 U.S.C. 801 et seq. ) for a capital project to improve shortline or regional railroad infrastructure; improving or replacing locomotives operated by a shortline or regional railroad; on-dock or near-dock projects at seaports; resolving critical freight chokepoints and addressing capacity constraints; and such other construction, improvement or inspection-related activities as determined appropriate by the Secretary.
The term eligible recipient means— a State; a political subdivision of a State; a metropolitan planning organization; a regional or local transportation authority, including a port authority; a tribal government or a consortium of tribal governments; a public entity responsible for providing rail freight transportation service; solely for the purpose of constructing a rail connection between a plant or facility and a rail carrier, a limited option freight shipper that owns or operates a plant or facility; 2 or more of the entities described in subparagraphs
(A)through (G); and if the capital project is a public-private partnership with 1 or more of the entities described in subparagraphs
(A)through (H), a shortline or regional railroad or a holding company of a shortline or regional railroad. The term railroad carrier has the meaning given the term in section 20102 of title 49, United States Code. The term Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation. The term shortline or regional railroad means a railroad carrier that has annual carrier operating revenues that meet the threshold amount for Class II carriers or Class III carriers, as determined by the Surface Transportation Board under section 1201.1–1 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, on which not less than 80 percent of the volume of rail traffic is freight traffic. The term state of good repair means a condition in which the existing physical assets, both individually and as a system, are functioning as designed within their useful lives and are sustained through regular maintenance and replacement programs. The Secretary shall establish a competitive grant program to provide financial assistance to eligible recipients for capital projects that— help accomplish the goals of a State rail plan under section 22702 of title 49, United States Code, or, if a State freight plan under section 5406 of that title is complete, the goals of the State freight plan; and either— improve shortline or regional railroad infrastructure by improving the efficient and safe movement of freight; or mitigate the adverse impacts of shortline or regional railroad infrastructure or operations on a local community. In determining whether to award a grant to an eligible recipient under this section, the Secretary shall consider the following, listed by priority: The extent to which a capital project— will contribute to the efficient movement of freight, including multimodal freight; will benefit the efficient movement of freight at or accessing a port, or agricultural or manufacturing cluster; will contribute to increasing the economic competitiveness and state of good repair of a shortline or regional railroad; will alleviate the impacts of a shortline or regional railroad’s operations on local communities, including impacts on safety, motor vehicle traffic flow, community quality of life, environment, or economic development; will enhance safety; is not capable of being fully funded without Federal grant funding; complies with the limitation relating to the allocation of grant funds set forth in subsection (c); will contribute to the equitable treatment of the various regions of the United States; includes equitable participation from other beneficiaries in the project’s financing, including the extent to which the project will leverage financial contributions or commitments from private entities involved with the project in proportion to the expected benefits that accrue to such entities from the project; is compatible with local land use, economic development, and transportation plans and objectives; and will increase the reliability and resilience of the Nation’s multimodal freight system. The past performance of the eligible recipient and other beneficiaries of the capital project in developing and delivering 1 or more capital projects. Such other factors as the Secretary considers relevant. Not less than 50 percent of all grant funds awarded under this section out of funds appropriated for a fiscal year shall be provided to publicly owned shortline railroads. The Secretary shall estimate the total cost of each eligible project based on— engineering studies; studies of economic feasibility; environmental analyses; and information on the expected use of the shortline or regional railroad infrastructure, such as equipment, track, track structure, or facility. A Federal grant for an eligible project under this section may not exceed— 90 percent of the total capital cost of the eligible project; or $6,000,000. An eligible recipient shall pay, or arrange for the payment from non-Federal sources, including financing, not less than 10 percent of the shared costs of an eligible project that is funded in part by a grant awarded under this section. The shared costs under subparagraph
(A)may be paid in cash or in-kind contributions. The non-Federal in-kind contributions under subparagraph
(B)may consist of— real property; tangible personal property; services of employees of the eligible recipient or non-Federal source; and payments made by an eligible recipient or other non-Federal source for costs incurred for the eligible project before the filing of an application for a grant under this section, and any in-kind contributions that were made for the project before the filing of the application, to the extent that such costs were incurred or in-kind contributions were made to comply with a legal requirement necessary to carry out the eligible project. The value of an in-kind contribution under clause (i)(III) shall be calculated— by including the costs incurred by the eligible recipient or other non-Federal source for the pay and benefits of an employee described in clause (i)(III); and by excluding any overhead or general administrative costs. As part of the grant application process, each eligible recipient shall submit a description of the anticipated public and private benefits (as those terms are defined in section 22701 of title 49, United States Code) associated with the eligible project. Two or more eligible recipients may agree to combine any part of the amounts provided through grants for an eligible project under this section if— the eligible project will benefit each eligible recipient entering into the agreement; and the agreement does not violate any Federal law or any law of any State in which an eligible recipient is located. The Secretary shall encourage each shortline or regional railroad applicant for a grant under this section to utilize the expertise and assistance of 1 or more State transportation agencies in applying for and administering the grant. The Secretary shall encourage each applicable State transportation agency to provide its expertise and assistance to the shortline or regional railroad. Not later than July 1, 2016, the Secretary shall issue final regulations for implementing the grant program authorized under this section. There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2021.
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Sec. 4
Capital grants for shortline freight railroad state of good repair
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