I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4867

To authorize appropriations for high-speed rail transportation, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 1, 1994

Ms. SCHENK (for herself, Mr. SWIFT, and Mr. DINGELL) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for high-speed rail

transportation, 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 ‘‘High-Speed Rail De5 velopment Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) high-speed rail offers safe and efficient

9 transportation in certain densely traveled corridors
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1 linking major metropolitan areas in the United

2 States;

3 (2) high-speed rail may have environmental ad4 vantages over certain other forms of intercity trans5 portation;

6 (3) Amtrak’s Metroliner service between Wash7 ington, District of Columbia, and New York, New

8 York, the United States premiere high-speed rail

9 service, has shown that Americans will use high10 speed rail when that transportation option is avail11 able;

12 (4) new high-speed rail service should not re13 ceive Federal subsidies for operating and mainte14 nance expenses;

15 (5) State and local governments should take the

16 prime responsibility for the development and imple17 mentation of high-speed rail service;

18 (6) the private sector should participate in

19 funding the development of high-speed rail systems;

20 (7) in some intercity corridors, Federal plan21 ning assistance may be required to supplement the

22 funding commitments of State and local govern23 ments and the private sector to ensure the adequate

24 planning, including reasonable estimates of the costs

25 and benefits, of high-speed rail systems;
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1 (8) improvement of existing technologies can fa2 cilitate the development of high-speed rail systems in

3 the United States; and

4 (9) Federal assistance is required for the im5 provement, adoption, and integration of developed

6 technologies for commercial application in high7 speed rail service in the United States.

8 SEC. 3. NATIONAL HIGH-SPEED RAIL ASSISTANCE PRO9 GRAM.

10 (a) AMENDMENTS.—(1) Part D of subtitle V of title

11 49, United States Code, is redesignated as part E, chapter

12 261 of such title is redesignated as chapter 281, and sec13 tions 26101 and 26102 of such title are redesignated as

14 sections 28101 and 28102.

15 (2) Subtitle V of title 49, United States Code, is

16 amended by inserting after part C the following new part:

17 ‘‘PART D—HIGH-SPEED RAIL

18 ‘‘CHAPTER 261—HIGH-SPEED RAIL ASSISTANCE

‘‘Sec.

‘‘26101. Corridor planning.

‘‘26102. High-speed rail technology improvements.

‘‘26103. Safety regulations.

‘‘26104. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘26105. Definitions.

19 ‘‘SEC. 26101. CORRIDOR PLANNING.

20 ‘‘(a) CORRIDOR PLANNING ASSISTANCE.—(1) The

21 Secretary may provide under this section financial assist22 ance to a public agency or group of public agencies for
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1 corridor planning for up to 50 percent of the publicly

2 funded costs associated with eligible activities.

3 ‘‘(2) No less than 20 percent of the publicly funded

4 costs associated with eligible activities shall come from

5 State and local sources, not including funds from any Fed6 eral program.

7 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—(1) A corridor planning

8 activity is eligible for financial assistance under subsection

9 (a) if the Secretary determines it to be necessary to estab10 lish appropriate engineering, operational, financial, envi11 ronmental, or socioeconomic projections preliminary to im12 plementation of specific high-speed rail improvements. Eli13 gible corridor planning activities include—

14 ‘‘(A) environmental assessments;

15 ‘‘(B) feasibility studies emphasizing commercial

16 technology improvements or applications;

17 ‘‘(C) economic analyses, including ridership,

18 revenue, and operating expense forecasting;

19 ‘‘(D) assessing the impact on rail employment

20 of developing high-speed rail corridors;

21 ‘‘(E) assessing community economic impacts;

22 ‘‘(F) coordination with State and metropolitan

23 area transportation planning and corridor planning

24 with other States;

25 ‘‘(G) operational planning;
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1 ‘‘(H) route selection analyses and purchase of

2 rights-of-way for proposed high-speed rail service;

3 ‘‘(I) preliminary engineering and design;

4 ‘‘(J) identification of specific improvements to a

5 corridor, including electrification, line straightening

6 and other right-of-way improvements, bridge reha7 bilitation and replacement, use of advanced loco8 motives and rolling stock, ticketing, coordination

9 with other modes of transportation, parking and

10 other means of passenger access, track, signal, sta11 tion, and other capital work, and use of intermodal

12 terminals;

13 ‘‘(K) preparation of financing plans and

14 prospectuses; and

15 ‘‘(L) creation of public/private partnerships.

16 ‘‘(2) No financial assistance shall be provided under

17 this section for corridor planning with respect to the main

18 line of the Northeast Corridor, between Washington, Dis19 trict of Columbia, and Boston, Massachusetts.

20 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING FINANCIAL AS21 SISTANCE.—Selection by the Secretary of recipients of fi22 nancial assistance under this section shall be based on

23 such criteria as the Secretary considers appropriate, in24 cluding—
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1 ‘‘(1) the relationship of the corridor to the Sec2 retary’s national high-speed ground transportation

3 policy;

4 ‘‘(2) the extent to which the proposed planning

5 focuses on systems which will achieve sustained

6 speeds of 125 mph or greater;

7 ‘‘(3) the integration of the corridor into metro8 politan area and statewide transportation planning;

9 ‘‘(4) the potential interconnection of the cor10 ridor with other parts of the Nation’s transportation

11 system, including the interconnection with other

12 countries;

13 ‘‘(5) the anticipated effect of the high-speed rail

14 service on the congestion of other modes of transpor15 tation;

16 ‘‘(6) whether the work to be funded will aid the

17 efforts of State and local governments to comply

18 with the Clean Air Act;

19 ‘‘(7) the past and proposed financial commit20 ments and other support of State and local govern21 ments and the private sector to the proposed high22 speed rail program, including the acquisition of roll23 ing stock;

24 ‘‘(8) the estimated level of ridership;
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1 ‘‘(9) the estimated capital cost of corridor im2 provements, including the cost of closing, improving,

3 or separating highway-rail grade crossings;

4 ‘‘(10) rail transportation employment impacts;

5 ‘‘(11) community economic impacts;

6 ‘‘(12) the extent to which the projected reve7 nues of the high-speed rail service, along with any

8 financial commitments of State or local governments

9 and the private sector, are expected to cover capital

10 costs and operating and maintenance expenses;

11 ‘‘(13) whether a specific route has been se12 lected, specific improvements identified, and capacity

13 studies completed; and

14 ‘‘(14) whether the corridor has been designated

15 as a high-speed rail corridor by the Secretary.

16 ‘‘SEC. 26102. HIGH-SPEED RAIL TECHNOLOGY IMPROVE17 MENTS.

18 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may undertake ac19 tivities for the improvement, adaptation, and integration

20 of developed technologies for commercial application in

21 high-speed rail service in the United States.

22 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—In carrying out activi23 ties authorized by subsection (a), the Secretary may pro24 vide financial assistance to any United States private busi25 ness, educational institution located in the United States,
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1 State or local government or public authority, or agency

2 of the Federal Government.

3 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—In

4 carrying out activities authorized by subsection (a), the

5 Secretary shall consult with such other governmental

6 agencies as may be necessary concerning the availability

7 of appropriate technologies for commercial application in

8 high-speed rail service in the United States.

9 ‘‘SEC. 26103. SAFETY REGULATIONS.

10 ‘‘The Secretary shall promulgate such safety regula11 tions as may be necessary for high-speed rail.

12 ‘‘SEC. 26104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

13 ‘‘(a) FISCAL YEAR 1995.—There are authorized to

14 be appropriated to the Secretary $29,000,000 for fiscal

15 year 1995, for carrying out sections 26101 and 26102.

16 ‘‘(b) FISCAL YEAR 1996.—(1) There are authorized

17 to be appropriated to the Secretary $40,000,000 for fiscal

18 year 1996, for carrying out section 26101.

19 ‘‘(2) There are authorized to be appropriated to the

20 Secretary $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, for carrying

21 out section 26102.

22 ‘‘(c) FISCAL YEAR 1997.—(1) There are authorized

23 to be appropriated to the Secretary $45,000,000 for fiscal

24 year 1997, for carrying out section 26101.
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1 ‘‘(2) There are authorized to be appropriated to the

2 Secretary $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1997, for carrying

3 out section 26102.

4 ‘‘(d) FUNDS TO REMAIN AVAILABLE.—Funds made

5 available under this section shall remain available until ex6 pended.

7 ‘‘SEC. 26105. DEFINITIONS.

8 ‘‘For purposes of this chapter—

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘financial assistance’ includes

10 grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements;

11 ‘‘(2) the term ‘high-speed rail’ has the meaning

12 given such term under section 511(n) of the Rail13 road Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of

14 1976;

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘publicly funded costs’ means the

16 costs funded after April 29, 1993, by Federal, State,

17 and local governments;

18 ‘‘(4) the term ‘State’ means any of the several

19 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the

20 Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands,

21 Guam, American Samoa, and any other territory or

22 possession of the United States; and

23 ‘‘(5) the term ‘United States private business’

24 means a business entity organized under the laws of

25 the United States, or of a State, and conducting
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1 substantial business operations in the United

2 States.’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) The table of

4 chapters of subtitle V of title 49, United States Code, is

5 amended by striking the items relating to part D and in6 serting in lieu thereof the following:

‘‘PART D—HIGH-SPEED RAIL

‘‘261. HIGH-SPEED RAIL ASSISTANCE ............................................ 26101

‘‘PART E—MISCELLANEOUS

‘‘281. LAW ENFORCEMENT ................................................................ 28101’’.

7 (2) The table of sections of chapter 281 of title 49,

8 United States Code, as such chapter is redesignated by

9 subsection (a)(1) of this section, is amended—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘26101’’ and inserting in lieu

11 thereof ‘‘28101’’; and

12 (B) by striking ‘‘26102’’ and inserting in lieu

13 thereof ‘‘28102’’.

Æ