II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1220

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program

for the rehabilitation, preservation, or improvement of railroad track.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 23, 2001

Mr. BREAUX (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SPECTER, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to establish

a grant program for the rehabilitation, preservation, or

improvement of railroad track.

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 ‘‘Railroad Track Mod5 ernization Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. CAPITAL GRANTS FOR RAILROAD TRACK.

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 223 of title 49, United

8 States Code, is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 223—CAPITAL GRANTS FOR

2 RAILROAD TRACK

‘‘Sec.

‘‘22301. Capital grants for railroad track.

3 ‘‘§ 22301. Capital grants for railroad track

4 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—

5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of

6 Transportation shall establish a program of capital

7 grants for the rehabilitation, preservation, or im8 provement of railroad track (including roadbed,

9 bridges, and related track structures) of class II and

10 class III railroads. Such grants shall be for rehabili11 tating, preserving, or improving track used primarily

12 for freight transportation to a standard ensuring

13 that the track can be operated safely and efficiently,

14 including grants for rehabilitating, preserving, or im15 proving track to handle 286,000 pound rail cars.

16 Grants may be provided under this chapter—

17 ‘‘(A) directly to the class II or class III

18 railroad; or

19 ‘‘(B) with the concurrence of the class II

20 or class III railroad, to a State or local govern21 ment.

22 ‘‘(2) STATE COOPERATION.—Class II and class

23 III railroad applicants for a grant under this chap24 ter are encouraged to utilize the expertise and assist-
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1 ance of State transportation agencies in applying for

2 and administering such grants. State transportation

3 agencies are encouraged to provide such expertise

4 and assistance to such railroads.

5 ‘‘(3) INTERIM REGULATIONS.—Not later than

6 December 31, 2001, the Secretary shall issue tem7 porary regulations to implement the program under

8 this section. Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5

9 does not apply to a temporary regulation issued

10 under this paragraph or to an amendment to such

11 a temporary regulation.

12 ‘‘(4) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than Oc13 tober 1, 2002, the Secretary shall issue final regula14 tions to implement the program under this section.

15 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM FEDERAL SHARE.—The maximum

16 Federal share for carrying out a project under this section

17 shall be 80 percent of the project cost. The non-Federal

18 share may be provided by any non-Federal source in cash,

19 equipment, or supplies. Other in-kind contributions may

20 be approved by the Secretary on a case by case basis con21 sistent with this chapter.

22 ‘‘(c) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—For a project to be eli23 gible for assistance under this section the track must have

24 been operated or owned by a class II or class III railroad
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1 as of the date of the enactment of the Railroad Track

2 Modernization Act of 2001.

3 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants provided under this

4 section shall be used to implement track capital projects

5 as soon as possible. In no event shall grant funds be con6 tractually obligated for a project later than the end of the

7 third Federal fiscal year following the year in which the

8 grant was awarded. Any funds not so obligated by the end

9 of such fiscal year shall be returned to the Secretary for

10 reallocation.

11 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL PURPOSE.—In addition to making

12 grants for projects as provided in subsection (a), the Sec13 retary may also make grants to supplement direct loans

14 or loan guarantees made under title V of the Railroad Re15 vitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45

16 U.S.C. 822(d)), for projects described in the last sentence

17 of section 502(d) of such title. Grants made under this

18 subsection may be used, in whole or in part, for paying

19 credit risk premiums, lowering rates of interest, or pro20 viding for a holiday on principal payments.

21 ‘‘(f) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—The Secretary shall

22 require as a condition of any grant made under this sec23 tion that the recipient railroad provide a fair arrangement

24 at least as protective of the interests of employees who

25 are affected by the project to be funded with the grant
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1 as the terms imposed under section 11326(a), as in effect

2 on the date of the enactment of the Railroad Track Mod3 ernization Act of 2001.

4 ‘‘(g) LABOR STANDARDS.—

5 ‘‘(1) PREVAILING WAGES.—The Secretary shall

6 ensure that laborers and mechanics employed by

7 contractors and subcontractors in construction work

8 financed by a grant made under this section will be

9 paid wages not less than those prevailing on similar

10 construction in the locality, as determined by the

11 Secretary of Labor under the Act of March 3, 1931

12 (known as the Davis-Bacon Act; 40 U.S.C. 276a et

13 seq.). The Secretary shall make a grant under this

14 section only after being assured that required labor

15 standards will be maintained on the construction

16 work.

17 ‘‘(2) WAGE RATES.—Wage rates in a collective

18 bargaining agreement negotiated under the Railway

19 Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) are deemed for

20 purposes of this subsection to comply with the Act

21 of March 3, 1931 (known as the Davis-Bacon Act;

22 40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.).

23 ‘‘(h) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study

24 of the projects carried out with grant assistance under this

25 section to determine the public interest benefits associated
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1 with the light density railroad networks in the States and

2 their contribution to a multimodal transportation system.

3 Not later than March 31, 2003, the Secretary shall report

4 to Congress any recommendations the Secretary considers

5 appropriate regarding the eligibility of light density rail

6 networks for Federal infrastructure financing.

7 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

8 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of

9 Transportation $350,000,000 for each of the fiscal years

10 2002 through 2004 for carrying out this section.’’.

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The item relating

12 to chapter 223 in the table of chapters of subtitle V of

13 title 49, United States Code, is amended to read as fol14 lows:

‘‘223. CAPITAL GRANTS FOR RAILROAD TRACK .......................... 22301’’.

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