I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1544 

To promote transportation-oriented development and encourage dedicated 

revenue sources for urban and regional rail corridor development. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2013 

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 2013’’. 

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 intercity and urban pas2 senger rail operations and transportation-oriented develop3 ment by creating incentives for communities to encourage 

4 dedicated revenue sources for urban and regional rail cor5 ridor development. 

6 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

8 obtain the services of qualified independent private sector 

9 entity with experience in transportation-oriented develop10 ment to serve as a liaison between the Federal Govern11 ment, State and local authorities, private sector partici12 pants, and appropriate other stakeholders in the initiative. 

13 Such entity shall— 

14 (1) serve as a development planning advisor, by 

15 advancing and recommending methodologies to use 

16 in the overall implementation of the initiative; 

17 (2) provide recommendations as requested by 

18 the Secretary, which shall include recommendations 

19 on— 

20 (A) liaison between the Federal Govern21 ment, and State, local, or regional applicants 

22 for incentives under the initiative; 

23 (B) mechanisms for coordination among all 

24 stakeholders, including State, local, and re25 gional authorities; 


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1 (C) types of projects that should receive in2 centives under the initiative; and 

3 (D) mechanisms for providing technical as4 sistance and types of technical assistance that 

5 should be provided; and 

6 (3) conduct a preliminary transportation-ori7 ented development survey on the Northeast Corridor 

8 or other local station areas or regional corridors. 

9 (c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall harmonize 

10 planning requirements and direct coordination and admin11 istration of the initiative between the Federal Railroad Ad12 ministration and the Federal Transit Administration. 

13 SEC. 3. FEDERAL INCENTIVES. 

14 (a) QUALIFIED PROJECTS.— 

15 (1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish 

16 criteria for the designation of projects qualified for 

17 Federal incentives pursuant to this section and the 

18 amendments made by this section. 

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

20 Projects that may qualify for Federal incentives pur21 suant to this section and the amendments made by 

22 this section are commercial development or other 

23 projects that— 

24 (A) contribute to the generation of revenue 

25 by the capture of increasing value from developVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:11 Apr 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1544.IH H1544

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1 ment around station areas, through the estab2 lishment of special assessment districts, increas3 ing the tax base, promoting job growth, pro4 moting cost effectiveness, facilitating intermodal 

5 connectivity, combining congestion relief with 

6 station development, stimulating economic de7 velopment, or any other appropriate means; 

8 (B) are likely to make long-term contribu9 tions to rail corridor development funds or simi10 lar mechanisms that help finance intercity and 

11 urban passenger rail infrastructure or operating 

12 expenses; and 

13 (C) provide for a quantifiable revenue 

14 stream to the relevant station or rail operation. 

15 (3) APPLICANT COORDINATING AUTHORITY.— 

16 An applicant for Federal incentives pursuant to this 

17 section and the amendments made by this section 

18 shall be a State, local, or regional authority. Such 

19 authority shall provide for coordination among 

20 stakeholders, local governments, and private devel21 opers in the defined region, and shall be the lead 

22 party in the application. 

23 (4) PROJECTS AUTHORIZED.—Except as pro24 vided in subsection (b), projects are not authorized 

25 to receive Federal incentives pursuant to this section 


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1 and the amendments made by this section until the 

2 date that is 1 year after the report required under 

3 subsection (c) is transmitted to Congress. 

4 (b) PILOT PROJECTS.—The Secretary may designate 

5 up to 4 pilot projects as qualified for Federal incentives 

6 pursuant to this section and the amendments made by this 

7 section before the date specified in subsection (a)(4). 

8 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, 

10 after consultation with each State, local, or regional au11 thority coordinating a pilot project under subsection (b), 

12 shall transmit to Congress a report assessing the success 

13 or failure of each such pilot project and making any appro14 priate recommendations for modifications to the initiative 

15 under this Act. 

16 (d) RAILROAD REHABILITATION IMPROVEMENT FI17 NANCING.—Section 502 of the Railroad Revitalization and 

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

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para22 graph (5); 

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

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


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

2 paragraph: 

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

4 defined by the Secretary under section 3 of the Na5 tional High Performance Passenger Rail Transpor6 tation-Oriented Development Act of 2013).’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara9 graph (B); 

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

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

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

13 subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(D) conduct a qualified project (as de15 fined by the Secretary under section 3 of the 

16 National High Performance Passenger Rail 

17 Transportation-Oriented Development Act of 

18 2013).’’. 

19 (e) TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE.— 

20 Section 601(a)(12) of title 23, United States Code, is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara23 graph (C); 

24 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub25 paragraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph: 

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

4 Secretary under section 3 of the National High 

5 Performance Passenger Rail Transportation6 Oriented Development Act of 2013).’’. 

7 (f) APPLICATION PRIORITY.—In general, Federal ap8 plications to the Federal Railroad Administration and 

9 Federal Transit Administration for railroad projects that 

10 participate in the transportation-oriented development ini11 tiative under this Act shall receive a priority for funding 

12 in the application decision process. 

13 (g) REVENUE NEUTRAL PROGRAM COST.—The Sec14 retary shall establish and apply to recipients of Federal 

15 incentives pursuant to this section and the amendments 

16 made by this section a fee in an amount sufficient to cover 

17 the administrative costs of carrying out this Act, including 

18 section 2(b). 

19 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

20 (a) NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec21 retary shall provide technical assistance to applicants and 

22 potential applicants for Federal incentives pursuant to 

23 this Act and the amendments made by this Act with re24 spect to— 


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1 (1) identification of transportation-oriented de2 velopment opportunities; 

3 (2) establishment of special assessment districts 

4 in regions; 

5 (3) establishment of rail corridor development 

6 funds; and 

7 (4) expediting Federal, State, and local regu8 latory approvals. 

9 (b) STATES, LOCALITIES, AND REGIONS OUTSIDE

10 THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR.—The Secretary shall pro11 vide technical assistance to the States, localities, and re12 gions outside the Northeast Corridor as identified by the 

13 Secretary, including— 

14 (1) technical assistance on the establishment of 

15 regional authorities appropriate to carrying out the 

16 purposes of this Act at the regional level; and 

17 (2) technical assistance at the request of a 

18 State, local, or regional entity to identify stations 

19 and potential stations within a region and conduct 

20 a preliminary survey of property available and po21 tentially available, to maximize development and 

22 commercial revenue generation to financially support 

23 the development of a high performance intercity or 

24 urban rail passenger corridor. 


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1 (c) NORTHEAST CORRIDOR.—The Secretary shall 

2 provide technical assistance to the States and local or re3 gional entities along the Northeast Corridor, including— 

4 (1) technical assistance on the establishment, 

5 by the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Oper6 ations Advisory Commission established under sec7 tion 24905 of title 49, United States Code, of a 

8 Northeast Corridor Transportation-Oriented Devel9 opment Working Group, which shall— 

10 (A) include outside members with expertise 

11 in transportation-oriented development; 

12 (B) be supported by the independent pri13 vate sector entity retained by the Secretary 

14 under section 2(b); 

15 (C) be chaired by a designee appointed by 

16 the Secretary who is an expert with private sec17 tor transportation oriented development experi18 ence; and 

19 (D) advise the Secretary and the North20 east Corridor Infrastructure and Operations 

21 Advisory Commission on the ways and means 

22 for carrying out the purposes of this Act at the 

23 regional level; and 

24 (2) not more than 1 year after the date of en25 actment of this Act, technical assistance to identify 


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1 Northeast Corridor stations and potential stations 

2 and conduct a preliminary survey of property avail3 able and potentially available, to maximize develop4 ment and commercial revenue generation to finan5 cially support the creation of a true high-speed rail 

6 corridor in the Northeast Corridor. 

Æ 


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