I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4272 

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to make capital grants for 

certain freight rail economic development projects. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 27, 2012 

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

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to make capital 

grants for certain freight rail economic development projects. 

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 ‘‘Freight Rail Economic 

5 Development Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CAPITAL GRANTS FOR FREIGHT RAIL ECONOMIC 

7 DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

9 of Transportation shall carry out a program for making 


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1 capital grants to construct freight rail switches and sid2 ings to encourage economic development. 

3 (b) PROVISION OF GRANTS AND GRANT CRITERIA.— 

4 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—Grants shall be made under 

5 this section— 

6 (A) directly to a class I, class II or class 

7 II railroad; or 

8 (B) with the concurrence of the railroad to 

9 a State or local government. 

10 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Secretary shall— 

11 (A) conduct a national solicitation for ap12 plications; 

13 (B) award grants on a competitive basis; 

14 and 

15 (C) establish criteria for selecting among 

16 projects that meet the criteria specified in para17 graph (3). 

18 (3) GRANT CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in select19 ing the recipients of grants to be provided under this 

20 subsection, shall select projects that— 

21 (A) construct or rehabilitate freight rail 

22 sidings; 

23 (B) construct or rehabilitate freight rail 

24 switches; 

25 (C) promote economic development; and 


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1 (D) have a public benefit. 

2 (c) STATE COOPERATION.—Railroad applicants for a 

3 grant under this section are encouraged to utilize the ex4 pertise and assistance of State transportation agencies in 

5 applying for and administering such grants. State trans6 portation agencies are encouraged to provide such exper7 tise and assistance to such railroads. 

8 (d) FEDERAL SHARE.—The maximum Federal share 

9 for carrying out a project under this section shall be 80 

10 percent of the project cost. The non-Federal share may 

11 be provided by any non-Federal source in cash, equipment, 

12 or supplies. Other in-kind contributions may be approved 

13 by the Secretary on a case-by-case basis. 

14 (e) WAGE RATE REQUIREMENTS.—All laborers and 

15 mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors in 

16 the construction, alteration, or repair, including painting 

17 and decorating of projects, buildings, and works, with re18 spect to any project that receives assistance under this 

19 section shall be paid wages at rates not less than those 

20 prevailing on similar construction in the locality as deter21 mined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with sub22 chapter IV of chapter 31 of part A of subtitle II of title 

23 40, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 

24 ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’). The Secretary of Labor shall have, 

25 with respect to such labor standards, the authority and 


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1 functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Number 14 of 

2 1950 (15 Fed. Reg. 3176; 64 Stat. 1267) and in section 

3 3145 of title 40, United States Code. 

4 (f) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pre6 scribe regulations for carrying out this section. 

7 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

9 Transportation for use in carrying out this section 

10 $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2013 through 

11 2017. 

Æ 


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