II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 733

To amend title 23, United States Code, to permit States to use Federal

highway funds for capital improvements to, and operating support for,

intercity passenger rail service, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 27 (legislative day, APRIL 24), 1995

Mr. ROTH (for himself, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. CHAFEE, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. COHEN, and Mr.

LAUTENBERG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend title 23, United States Code, to permit States

to use Federal highway funds for capital improvements

to, and operating support for, intercity passenger rail

service, 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 ‘‘Intercity Rail Infra5 structure Investment Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) intercity passenger rail service is an essen2 tial component of an integrated national transpor3 tation system;

4 (2) Amtrak must lessen its dependence on Fed5 eral operating support and instead enter into more

6 sustaining partnerships with States, multi-State re7 gions, and localities;

8 (3) intercity passenger rail service can play a

9 significant role in reducing traffic congestion, im10 prove national ambient air quality standards, and

11 lower fuel consumption;

12 (4) since certain major rail corridors clearly

13 meet the description of National Highway System

14 principal arterial routes in section 103(b)(1) of title

15 23, United States Code, by serving major population

16 centers, major travel destinations, and other inter17 modal transportation facilities, the corridors should

18 be designated as part of the mapped National High19 way System;

20 (5) since intercity passenger rail service is often

21 provided in the same corridor as, or in proximity to,

22 a designated segment of the National Highway Sys23 tem or will improve the level of service on a National

24 Highway System segment, the service should be eli-
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1 gible for funding under section 103(i) of title 23,

2 United States Code;

3 (6) States should be given the maximum flexi4 bility in the use of Federal transportation funds pro5 vided under titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to

6 provide—

7 (A) transportation systems that reflect

8 local priorities; and

9 (B) the highest quality most appropriate

10 transportation services for citizens of the

11 States; and

12 (7) Federal law should not restrict the rights of

13 States to use their Federal transportation allocation

14 for intercity passenger rail service.

15 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN CORRIDORS AS PART OF

16 NATIONAL HIGHWAY SYSTEM.

17 Section 103 of title 23, United States Code, is

18 amended by inserting after subsection (b) the following:

19 ‘‘(c) RAIL LINES AND RELATED FACILITIES.—The

20 National Highway System as designated pursuant to this

21 section shall include the rail lines and related facilities

22 owned or used by the National Railroad Passenger Cor23 poration for the provision of intercity passenger service be24 tween Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, District of

25 Columbia (including the rail lines owned by the Corpora-
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1 tion between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Harrisburg,

2 Pennsylvania, and between New Haven, Connecticut, and

3 Springfield, Massachusetts); between New York, New

4 York, and Albany, New York; between Albany, New York,

5 and Buffalo, New York; between Washington, District of

6 Columbia, and Richmond, Virginia; between Raleigh,

7 North Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina; between

8 Miami, Florida, and Tampa, Florida (through West Palm

9 Beach, Florida, and Orlando, Florida); between Detroit,

10 Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois; between Milwaukee, Wis11 consin, and Chicago, Illinois; between St. Louis, Missouri,

12 and Chicago, Illinois; between San Diego, California, and

13 Sacramento, California (through Los Angeles, California,

14 and Oakland, California); and between Eugene, Oregon,

15 and Vancouver, British Columbia (through Portland,

16 Oregon).’’.

17 SEC. 4. INTERSTATE RAIL COMPACTS.

18 (a) CONSENT TO COMPACTS.—Congress grants con19 sent to States with an interest in a specific form, route,

20 or corridor of intercity passenger rail service (including

21 high speed rail service) to enter into interstate compacts

22 to promote the provision of the service, including—

23 (1) retaining an existing service or commencing

24 a new service;

25 (2) assembling rights-of-way; and
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1 (3) performing capital improvements, includ2 ing—

3 (A) the construction and rehabilitation of

4 maintenance facilities;

5 (B) the purchase of locomotives; and

6 (C) operational improvements, including

7 communications, signals, and other systems.

8 (b) FINANCING.—An interstate compact established

9 by States under subsection (a) may provide that, in order

10 to carry out the compact, the States may—

11 (1) accept contributions from a unit of State or

12 local government or a person;

13 (2) use any Federal or State funds made avail14 able for intercity passenger rail service (except funds

15 made available for the National Railroad Passenger

16 Corporation);

17 (3) on such terms and conditions as the States

18 consider advisable—

19 (A) borrow money on a short-term basis

20 and issue notes for the borrowing; and

21 (B) issue bonds; and

22 (4) obtain financing by other means permitted

23 under Federal or State law.
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1 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF PASSENGER RAIL AS NATIONAL

2 HIGHWAY SYSTEM PROJECT.

3 Section 103(i) of title 23, United States Code, is

4 amended by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(14) Construction of and operational improve6 ments for intercity passenger rail facilities, operation

7 of intercity passenger rail trains, and acquisition of

8 rolling stock for intercity passenger rail service, ex9 cept that not more than 50 percent of the amount

10 received by a State for a fiscal year under this para11 graph may be obligated for operation.’’.

12 SEC. 6. ELIGIBILITY OF PASSENGER RAIL UNDER CONGES13 TION MITIGATION AND AIR QUALITY IM14 PROVEMENT PROGRAM.

15 The first sentence of section 149(b) of title 23, Unit16 ed States Code, is amended—

17 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the

18 end;

19 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at

20 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

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

22 ‘‘(4) if the project or program will have air

23 quality benefits through construction of and oper24 ational improvements for intercity passenger rail fa25 cilities, operation of intercity passenger rail trains,

26 and acquisition of rolling stock for intercity pas-
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1 senger rail service, except that not more than 50

2 percent of the amount received by a State for a fis3 cal year under this paragraph may be obligated for

4 operating support.’’.

5 SEC. 7. ELIGIBILITY OF PASSENGER RAIL FOR MASS

6 TRANSPORTATION FUNDING.

7 (a) DEFINITION OF MASS TRANSPORTATION.— Sec8 tion 5302(a)(7) of title 49, United States Code, is amend9 ed by inserting ‘‘including intercity passenger rail trans10 portation,’’ after ‘‘public’’.

11 (b) DEFINITION OF DESIGNATED RECIPIENT.—Sec12 tion 5307(a)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amend13 ed—

14 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at

15 the end;

16 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period

17 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’ and

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

19 ‘‘(D) a provider of intercity passenger rail

20 transportation.’’.

21 (c) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR OTHER THAN UR22 BANIZED AREAS.—Section 5311(b) of title 49, United

23 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow24 ing:
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1 ‘‘(3) Grants for intercity passenger rail service under

2 this section shall be used to preserve the maximum choice

3 of passenger modes in areas other than urbanized areas.’’.

Æ