I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1815

To amend title 23, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a grant program for providing financial assistance 

for rail line relocation projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2003

Mr. SPRATT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To amend title 23, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a grant program 

for providing financial assistance for rail line relocation 

projects, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rail Line Relocation 

5 Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RAIL LINE RELOCATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
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1 (1) AUTHORITY.—Chapter 3 of title 23, United 

2 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 

3 306 the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 307. Capital grants for rail line relocation projects 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

6 of Transportation shall carry out a grant program to pro7 vide financial assistance for local rail line relocation 

8 projects. 

9 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible for a grant 

10 under this section for any project for the improvement of 

11 the route or structure of a rail line passing through a mu12 nicipality of the State that—

13 ‘‘(1) is carried out for the purpose of mitigating 

14 the adverse effects of rail traffic on safety, motor ve15 hicle traffic flow, or economic development in the 

16 municipality; 

17 ‘‘(2) involves a lateral or vertical relocation of 

18 any portion of the rail line within the municipality 

19 to avoid a closing of a grade crossing or the con20 struction of a road underpass or overpass; and 

21 ‘‘(3) meets the costs-benefits requirement set 

22 forth in subsection (c). 

23 ‘‘(c) COSTS-BENEFITS REQUIREMENT.—A grant may 

24 be awarded under this section for a project for the reloca25 tion of a rail line only if the benefits of the project for 
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1 the period of the estimated economic life of the relocated 

2 rail line exceed the costs of the project for that period, 

3 as determined by the Secretary considering the following 

4 factors: 

5 ‘‘(1) The effects of the rail line and the rail 

6 traffic on motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic, safe7 ty, and area commerce if the rail line were not so 

8 relocated. 

9 ‘‘(2) The effects of the rail line, relocated as 

10 proposed, on motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic, 

11 safety, and area commerce. 

12 ‘‘(3) The effects of the rail line, relocated as 

13 proposed, on the freight and passenger rail oper14 ations on the rail line. 

15 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL OF GRANT APPLICATIONS.—

16 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL FACTORS.—In addition to 

17 considering the relationship of benefits to costs in 

18 determining whether to award a grant to an eligible 

19 State under this section, the Secretary shall consider 

20 the following factors: 

21 ‘‘(A) The capability of the State to fund 

22 the rail line relocation project without Federal 

23 grant funding. 
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1 ‘‘(B) The requirement and limitation relat2 ing to allocation of grant funds provided in sub3 section (e). 

4 ‘‘(C) Equitable treatment of the various re5 gions of the United States. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXISTING PROJECTS.—The Secretary may 

7 award a grant under this section to a State to pro8 vide reimbursement for the cost of work carried out 

9 after January 1, 2002, and before the date of enact10 ment of Rail Line Relocation Act of 2003 for a 

11 project for relocation of a rail yard if—

12 ‘‘(A) the project conforms with the require13 ments of this section, including requirements 

14 for State participation under subsection (g); 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) the Secretary determines that the 

17 cost of the project has caused a substantial fi18 nancial hardship for non-Federal interests in19 volved in the project. 

20 ‘‘(e) ALLOCATION REQUIREMENTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) GRANTS NOT GREATER THAN

22 $20,000,000.—At least 50 percent of all grant funds 

23 awarded under this section out of funds appro24 priated for a fiscal year shall be provided as grant 

25 awards of not more than $20,000,000 each.
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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION PER PROJECT.—Not more 

2 than 25 percent of the total amount available for 

3 carrying out this section for a fiscal year may be 

4 provided for any one project in that fiscal year. 

5 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The total amount of a grant 

6 awarded under this section for a rail line relocation project 

7 shall be 80 percent of the shared costs of the project, as 

8 determined under subsection (g)(4). 

9 ‘‘(g) STATE SHARE.—

10 ‘‘(1) PERCENTAGE.—A State shall pay 20 per11 cent of the shared costs of a project that is funded 

12 in part by a grant awarded under this section. 

13 ‘‘(2) FORMS OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—The share 

14 required by paragraph (1) may be paid in cash or 

15 in kind. 

16 ‘‘(3) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The in-kind 

17 contributions that are permitted to be counted under 

18 paragraph (2) for a project for a State are as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(A) A contribution of real property or 

21 tangible personal property (whether provided by 

22 the State or a person for the State). 

23 ‘‘(B) A contribution of the services of em24 ployees of the State, calculated on the basis of 

25 costs incurred by the State for the pay and ben-
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1 efits of the employees, but excluding overhead 

2 and general administrative costs. 

3 ‘‘(C) A payment of any costs that were in4 curred for the project before the filing of an ap5 plication for a grant for the project under this 

6 section, and any in-kind contributions that were 

7 made for the project before the filing of the ap8 plication, if and to the extent that the costs 

9 were incurred or in-kind contributions were 

10 made, as the case may be, to comply with a 

11 provision of a statute required to be satisfied in 

12 order to carry out the project. 

13 ‘‘(4) COSTS NOT SHARED.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 

15 subsection (f) and this subsection, the shared 

16 costs of a project in a municipality do not in17 clude any cost that is defrayed with any funds 

18 or in-kind contribution that a source other than 

19 the municipality makes available for the use of 

20 the municipality without imposing at least one 

21 of the following conditions: 

22 ‘‘(i) The condition that the munici23 pality use the funds or contribution only 

24 for the project. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) The condition that the avail2 ability of the funds or contribution to the 

3 municipality is contingent on the execution 

4 of the project. 

5 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS OF THE SEC6 RETARY.—The Secretary shall determine the 

7 amount of the costs, if any, that are not shared 

8 costs under this paragraph and the total 

9 amount of the shared costs. A determination of 

10 the Secretary shall be final. 

11 ‘‘(h) MULTISTATE AGREEMENTS TO COMBINE

12 AMOUNTS.—Two or more States (not including political 

13 subdivisions of States) may, pursuant to an agreement en14 tered into by the States, combine any part of the amounts 

15 provided through grants for a project under this section 

16 if—

17 ‘‘(1) the project will benefit each of the States 

18 entering into the agreement; and 

19 ‘‘(2) the agreement is not a violation of a law 

20 of any such State. 

21 ‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

22 regulations for carrying out this section. 

23 ‘‘(j) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

24 ‘State’ includes, except as otherwise specifically provided, 

25 a political subdivision of a State. 
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1 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for use 

3 in carrying out this section $300,000,000 for each of the 

4 fiscal years 2004 through 2008.’’.

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

6 chapter 3 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 

7 inserting after the item relating to section 306 the fol8 lowing:

‘‘307. Capital grants for rail line relocation projects.’’.

9 (c) REGULATIONS.—

10 (1) INTERIM REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

11 October 1, 2003, the Secretary of Transportation 

12 shall issue temporary regulations to implement the 

13 grant program under section 307 of title 23, United 

14 States Code. Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, 

15 United States Code, shall not apply to the issuance 

16 of a temporary regulation under this subsection or 

17 of any amendment of such a temporary regulation. 

18 (2) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than April 

19 1, 2004, the Secretary shall issue final regulations 

20 implementing the program. 

21 (3) CRITERIA.—In developing regulations under 

22 paragraph (1), and in any final regulations, the Sec23 retary shall establish criteria that ensure that all 
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1 grants under section 307 of title 23, United States 

2 Code, are awarded on a competitive basis.

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