I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2474 

To amend the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 

to provide for the Secretary to pay certain credit risk premiums for 

loan or loan guarantees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2021 

Ms. KUSTER (for herself, Mr. SMUCKER, and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform 

Act of 1976 to provide for the Secretary to pay certain 

credit risk premiums for loan or loan guarantees, 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 ‘‘Invest in American 

5 Railroads Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PAYMENT OF CREDIT RISK PREMIUMS FOR LOANS 

2 AND LOAN GUARANTEES. 

3 Section 502(f)(4) of the Railroad Revitalization and 

4 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(f)(4)) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘Credit risk premiums’’ and in7 serting the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—Credit risk 

9 premiums’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT OF CREDIT RISK PRE12 MIUMS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In granting assist14 ance under this section, the Secretary may 

15 pay credit risk premiums required under 

16 paragraph (3), in whole or in part, with re17 spect to a loan or loan guarantee. 

18 ‘‘(ii) SET-ASIDE.—Of the amounts 

19 made available to carry out this paragraph, 

20 at least $100,000,000 shall be used for 

21 passenger rail projects for a fiscal year. 

22 Any amounts not obligated in a fiscal year 

23 shall be made available for any project re24 ceiving assistance under this section. 

25 ‘‘(iii) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA26 TION.—There are authorized to be approVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2474.IH H2474

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1 priated $300,000,000 for each of fiscal 

2 years 2022 through 2027 to carry out this 

3 subparagraph, to remain available until ex4 pended.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. INCREASING FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR FREIGHT 

6 RAIL. 

7 Section 502(a) of the Railroad Revitalization and 

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

9 amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

11 end; 

12 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 

13 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(7) a private entity with controlling ownership 

16 in one or more freight railroads other than Class I 

17 carriers.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. EXPANDING USES FOR RIFF. 

19 Section 502(b)(1) of the Railroad Revitalization and 

20 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(b)(1)) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) acquire, improve, or rehabilitate 

25 intermodal or rail equipment or facilities, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2474.IH H2474

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1 cluding track, components of track, civil works 

2 such as cuts and fills, stations, tunnels, bridges, 

3 yards, buildings, and shops, and costs related to 

4 these activities, including pre-construction 

5 costs;’’; and 

6 (2) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(D) reimburse planning, permitting, and 

9 design expenses relating to activities described 

10 in subparagraph (A) or (C); or’’. 

11 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY. 

12 Section 502(f)(3) of the Railroad Revitalization and 

13 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(f)(3)) is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) by amending clause (ii) of subparagraph 

16 (B) to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(ii) user fees, including operating or 

18 tenant charges, facility rents or other fees 

19 paid by transportation service providers or 

20 operators for access to or use of infrastruc21 ture including but not limited to rail lines, 

22 bridges tunnels, yards or stations; or’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(D) A projection of freight or passenger 

25 demand for the project based on regionally deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2474.IH H2474

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1 veloped economic forecasts, including projec2 tions of any modal diversion resulting from the 

3 project.’’. 

4 SEC. 6. COLLATERAL AND APPRAISAL STANDARDS. 

5 Section 502(f) of the Railroad Revitalization and 

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

7 amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘tangible 

9 asset’’ and inserting ‘‘collateral described in para10 graph (5)’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(5) COLLATERAL.— 

13 ‘‘(A) TYPES OF COLLATERAL.—An appli14 cant or infrastructure partner may propose tan15 gible and intangible assets as collateral, exclu16 sive of goodwill. The Secretary shall evaluate 

17 each such asset and— 

18 ‘‘(i) shall accept a net liquidation 

19 value of collateral; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) shall consider and may accept— 

21 ‘‘(I) the market value of collat22 eral; or 

23 ‘‘(II) in the case of a blanket 

24 pledge or assignment of an entire op25 erating asset or basket of assets as 


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1 collateral, the net liquidation value, 

2 the market value of assets, or, the 

3 market value of the going concern, 

4 considering— 

5 ‘‘(aa) inclusion in the pledge 

6 of all the assets necessary for 

7 independent operational utility of 

8 the collateral, including tangible 

9 assets such as real property, 

10 track and structure, equipment 

11 and rolling stock, stations, sys12 tems and maintenance facilities 

13 and intangible assets such as 

14 long-term shipping agreements, 

15 easements, leases and access 

16 rights such as for trackage and 

17 haulage; 

18 ‘‘(bb) interchange commit19 ments; and 

20 ‘‘(cc) the value of the asset 

21 as determined through the cost 

22 or market approaches, or the 

23 market value of the going con24 cern, with the latter considering 

25 discounted cash flows for a peVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2474.IH H2474

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1 riod not to exceed the term of the 

2 direct loan or loan guarantee. 

3 ‘‘(B) APPRAISAL STANDARDS.—In evalua4 tion of appraisals of collateral under subpara5 graph (A), the Secretary shall consider— 

6 ‘‘(i) adherence to the substance and 

7 principles of the Uniform Standards of 

8 Professional Appraisal Practice, as devel9 oped by the Appraisal Standards Board of 

10 the Appraisal Foundation; 

11 ‘‘(ii) performance of the appraisal by 

12 licensed or certified appraisers as may be 

13 required by the State of jurisdiction for the 

14 type of asset being appraised; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) the qualifications of the apprais16 ers to value the type of collateral offered.’’. 

17 SEC. 7. REPAYMENT OF RRIF LOANS. 

18 Section 502(g)(1) of the Railroad Revitalization and 

19 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(g)(1)) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘35’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘50’’; and 

23 (2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 

24 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(B) the estimated useful life of the rail 

2 equipment or facilities to be acquired, rehabili3 tated, improved, developed, or established, in4 cluding civil works such as cuts and fills, 

5 bridges, tunnels, yards, buildings and other 

6 long-lived assets.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. LEVERAGING EXISTING FEDERAL INFRASTRUC8 TURE PROGRAMS. 

9 Section 502 of the Railroad Revitalization and Regu10 latory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822) is amended 

11 by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(n) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The proceeds of a se13 cured loan under this title, if such loan is repayable from 

14 non-Federal funds, shall not be considered Federal funds. 

15 Such loan funds shall be accepted for payment of the non16 Federal share of project costs under law, including for any 

17 projects receiving funding under title 23 or 49 of the 

18 United States Code.’’. 

Æ 


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