I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4361 

To promote transportation-oriented development and encourage dedicated 

revenue sources for urban and regional rail corridor development. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2012 

Mr. PETRI (for himself and Mr. LIPINSKI) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To promote transportation-oriented development and encourage dedicated revenue sources for urban and regional 

rail corridor development. 

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 ‘‘National High Per5 formance Passenger Rail Transportation-Oriented Devel6 opment Act of 2012’’. 

7 SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT INI8 TIATIVE. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor10 tation (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 


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1 establish an initiative to promote passenger rail operations 

2 and transportation-oriented development by creating in3 centives for communities to encourage dedicated revenue 

4 sources for urban and regional rail corridor development. 

5 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall appoint 

6 a Planning Developer to oversee implementation of this 

7 initiative. The Planning Developer shall report to the Sec8 retary. 

9 (c) COORDINATING COMMITTEE.—The Secretary 

10 shall harmonize planning requirements and direct coordi11 nation and administration of the initiative between the 

12 Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Transit 

13 Administration. The Secretary shall appoint a Transpor14 tation-Oriented Development Coordinating Committee 

15 composed of the Planning Developer as Chair, the Admin16 istrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, and the 

17 Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. 

18 SEC. 3. FEDERAL INCENTIVES. 

19 (a) QUALIFIED PROJECTS.— 

20 (1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 criteria for the designation of projects qualified for 

22 Federal incentives pursuant to this section and the 

23 amendments made by this section. 

24 (2) TYPES OF PROJECTS THAT MAY QUALIFY.— 

25 Projects that may qualify for Federal incentives purVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:04 Apr 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4361.IH H4361

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1 suant to this section and the amendments made by 

2 this section are those that contribute to the genera3 tion of revenue by the capture of increasing value 

4 from development around station areas, as defined 

5 by the Secretary, which are likely to make long-term 

6 contributions to rail corridor development funds or 

7 similar mechanisms that help finance intercity and 

8 urban passenger rail infrastructure or operating ex9 penses. Such commercial development or other 

10 projects designated as qualified by the Secretary 

11 may generate revenue for transportation-oriented de12 velopment and rail operations in the region by in13 creasing the tax base, promoting job growth, pro14 moting cost effectiveness, facilitating intermodal 

15 connectivity, combining congestion relief with station 

16 development, stimulating economic development, or 

17 any other appropriate means. The capture of in18 creased value shall be through the establishment of 

19 special assessment districts or similar mechanisms, 

20 and distribution of revenues shall be through rail 

21 corridor development funds or similar mechanisms 

22 established within the regions. 

23 (3) DESIGNATED COORDINATING AUTHORITY.— 

24 The Secretary shall designate a State authority, or 

25 regional commission in appropriate regions of the 


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1 country as defined by the Secretary, that petitions 

2 the Secretary to participate in the initiative estab3 lished under section 2. Such designated entity shall 

4 provide for coordination among stakeholders, local 

5 governments, and private developers in the defined 

6 region, and shall endorse each project of, and be the 

7 lead party in, an application for Federal incentives 

8 pursuant to this section and the amendments made 

9 by this section. 

10 (b) RAILROAD REHABILITATION IMPROVEMENT FI11 NANCING.—Section 502 of the Railroad Revitalization and 

12 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para16 graph (5); 

17 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

18 paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(7) persons conducting a qualified project (as 

22 defined in section 8 of the National High Perform23 ance Passenger Rail Transportation-Oriented Devel24 opment Act of 2012).’’; and 

25 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub2 paragraph (B); 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

4 subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

6 subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(D) conduct a qualified project (as de8 fined by the Secretary under section 3 of the 

9 National High Performance Passenger Rail 

10 Transportation-Oriented Development Act of 

11 2012.’’. 

12 (c) TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE.— 

13 Section 601(a)(8) of title 23, United States Code, is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara16 graph (C); 

17 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub18 paragraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(E) a qualified project (as defined by the 

22 Secretary under section 3 of the National High 

23 Performance Passenger Rail Transportation24 Oriented Development Act of 2012).’’. 


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1 (d) APPLICATION PRIORITY.—In general, Federal ap2 plications to the Federal Railroad Administration and 

3 Federal Transit Administration for railroad projects that 

4 participate in the transportation-oriented development 

5 program under this Act shall receive a priority for funding 

6 in the application decision process. 

7 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—For administrative 

8 costs to carry out this Act, including contracting with and 

9 support for the Planning Developer and transportation10 oriented development initial administrative costs of the 

11 Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Transit Ad12 ministration for the first 5 years, the Secretary may use 

13 such funds as necessary which are appropriated for car14 rying out chapter 6 of title 23, United States Code. 

15 (f) REVENUE NEUTRAL PROGRAM COST.—The Sec16 retary may establish a mechanism whereby amounts used 

17 under subsection (e) will be repaid to the Secretary for 

18 use in carrying out chapter 6 of title 23, United States 

19 Code. Repayment shall be derived from a small fee to all 

20 recipients of funding provided under subsection (e). The 

21 repayment shall commence upon substantial completion of 

22 qualified projects. 


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1 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

2 (a) NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The pro3 gram established under this Act shall provide technical as4 sistance to the States with respect to— 

5 (1) identification of transportation-oriented de6 velopment opportunities; 

7 (2) establishment of special assessment districts 

8 in regions; 

9 (3) establishment of rail corridor development 

10 funds; and 

11 (4) expediting Federal, State, and local regu12 latory approvals. 

13 (b) STATES AND REGIONS OUTSIDE THE NORTH14 EAST CORRIDOR.—The Secretary, through the initiative 

15 established by this Act, shall provide technical assistance 

16 to the States and regions outside the Northeast Corridor 

17 as identified by the Secretary, and shall provide— 

18 (1) technical assistance on the establishment of 

19 Regional Advisory Committees appropriate to car20 rying out the purposes of this Act at the regional 

21 level; and 

22 (2) technical assistance at the request of a 

23 State or qualified entity provided by the Planning 

24 Developer that will identify stations and potential 

25 stations within a given region, and conduct a pre26 liminary survey of property available and potentially 


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1 available, to maximize development and commercial 

2 revenue generation to financially support the devel3 opment of a high performance rail passenger cor4 ridor. 

5 (c) NORTHEAST CORRIDOR.—The Secretary, through 

6 the initiative established under this Act, shall provide tech7 nical assistance to the States and entities along the North8 east Corridor as identified by the Secretary— 

9 (1) on the establishment, by the Northeast Cor10 ridor Infrastructure and Operations Advisory Com11 mission established under section 24905 of title 49, 

12 United States Code, of a Northeast Corridor Trans13 portation-Oriented Development Working Group, 

14 which shall— 

15 (A) include outside members with expertise 

16 in transportation-oriented development; 

17 (B) be chaired by the Planning Developer; 

18 and 

19 (C) advise the Secretary and the Northeast 

20 Corridor Infrastructure and Operations Advi21 sory Commission on the ways and means for 

22 carrying out the purposes of this Act at the re23 gional level; and 

24 (2) technical assistance provided by the Plan25 ning Developer to the Secretary and identified 


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1 States and entities, not more than one year after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, that will identify 

3 Northeast Corridor stations and potential stations, 

4 and conduct a preliminary survey of property avail5 able and potentially available, to maximize develop6 ment and commercial revenue generation to finan7 cially support the creation of a true high-speed rail 

8 corridor in the Northeast Corridor. 

Æ 


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