II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1087

To provide for the modernization of port and rail access in northern New

England, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 30, 1997

Mr. JEFFORDS (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To provide for the modernization of port and rail access

in northern New England, 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 ‘‘Older Industrial Re5 gion Rail and Port Access and Modernization Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) the growth of commerce in northern New

9 England is hampered by a decaying rail infrastruc10 ture;
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1 (2) during the 5-year period beginning on the

2 date of enactment of this Act, international trade

3 shipping is projected to increase by more than 20

4 percent;

5 (3) in the shipping industry, there is a wide6 spread international trend for shippers to use only

7 ports with double-stack rail access;

8 (4) aging rail lines and constricted passage in

9 older industrial States are—

10 (A) limiting the movement of cargo and in11 dividuals throughout that area; and

12 (B) restricting access to deepwater ports;

13 and

14 (5) improving rail lines and double-stack freight

15 rail passage to allow rail connections to and through

16 other States and provinces will enable the economy

17 of the older industrial region to grow and prosper by

18 bringing new industry into the region that will result

19 in growth in high wage jobs.

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

21 In this Act:

22 (1) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Older

23 Industrial Rail Modernization and Port Access Fund

24 established by section 4(g).
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1 (2) OLDER INDUSTRIAL REGION.—The term

2 ‘‘older industrial region’’ means the northeastern

3 area of the United States.

4 (3) OLDER INDUSTRIAL STATE.—The term

5 ‘‘older industrial State’’ means—

6 (A) Vermont;

7 (B) Maine; and

8 (C) New Hampshire.

9 (4) RAIL PROJECT.—The term ‘‘rail project’’

10 means a project for the acquisition, rehabilitation, or

11 improvement of railroad facilities or equipment, as

12 described in section 511 of the Railroad Revitaliza13 tion and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C.

14 831).

15 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

16 the Secretary of Transportation.

17 SEC. 4. DIRECT FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—

19 (1) GRANTS.—Subject to the availability of ap20 propriations, the Secretary shall make a grant under

21 this section to each older industrial State that sub22 mits an application to the Secretary that dem23 onstrates, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, a need

24 for assistance under this section in carrying out 1 or

25 more transportation projects described in subsection
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1 (b), (c), (d), or (e) that are necessary to improve

2 rail transport in that State.

3 (2) GRANT AGREEMENT.—The Secretary shall

4 enter into a grant agreement with each older indus5 trial State that receives a grant under this section.

6 At a minimum, the agreement shall specify that the

7 grant recipient will meet the applicable requirements

8 of this section, including the cost-sharing require9 ment under subsection (f)(2).

10 (b) GRANTS FOR PORT ACCESS.—The Secretary shall

11 make grants under this section for the purposes of con12 necting all railroads to ports and ensuring that double13 stack rail cars can travel freely throughout older industrial

14 States.

15 (c) GRANTS FOR BRIDGE AND TUNNEL OBSTRUC16 TION REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT.—The Secretary shall

17 make grants under this section for the purpose of enlarg18 ing tunnels and embankments, removing, repairing, or re19 placing bridges or other obstructions that inhibit the free

20 movement of freight or passenger rail cars and the use

21 of double-stack rail cars.

22 (d) GRANTS FOR REPAIR OF RAILROAD BEDS.—The

23 Secretary shall make grants under this section for the pur24 poses of repairing, upgrading, and purchasing railbeds
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1 and tracks, including improving safety of all railroad

2 tracks.

3 (e) GRANTS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF INTERMODAL

4 FACILITIES.—The Secretary shall make grants under this

5 section for the purposes of constructing, operating, and

6 maintaining train maintenance facilities and facilities for

7 the transfer of goods and individuals between other trans8 portation modes, including—

9 (1) intermodal truck-train transfer facilities;

10 (2) passenger rail stations; and

11 (3) bulk fuel transfer facilities.

12 (f) FUNDING LIMITATIONS ON EXPENDITURES OF

13 FUNDS.—

14 (1) FUNDING.—The grants made under this

15 section shall be made with funds transferred from

16 the Fund.

17 (2) COST-SHARING.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—A grant made under

19 this section shall be used to pay the Federal

20 share of the cost of a project conducted under

21 a grant agreement.

22 (B) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share

23 of the cost of a project referred to in subpara24 graph (A) shall be 80 percent of the cost of the

25 project.
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1 (3) ALLOCATION AMONG STATES.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years

3 1998 through 2001, the Secretary shall, in

4 making grants under this section, allocate avail5 able amounts in the Fund among older indus6 trial States in accordance with a formula estab7 lished by the Secretary in accordance with sub8 paragraph (B).

9 (B) ALLOCATION FORMULA.—In making

10 grants under this section, for each of the fiscal

11 years specified in subparagraph (A), the Sec12 retary shall allocate an equal amount of the

13 amounts available from the Fund to each of the

14 older industrial States that submits 1 or more

15 grant applications that meet the requirements

16 of this section.

17 (g) OLDER INDUSTRIAL RAIL MODERNIZATION AND

18 PORT ACCESS FUND.—

19 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

20 the Treasury of the United States a trust fund, to

21 be known as the ‘‘Older Industrial Rail Moderniza22 tion and Port Access Fund’’. The Fund shall consist

23 of—

24 (A) such amounts as are appropriated to

25 the Fund; and
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1 (B) any interest earned on investment of

2 amounts in the Fund under paragraph (2).

3 (2) INVESTMENT OF FUND.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the

5 Treasury shall invest such portion of the Fund

6 as is not, in the judgment of the Secretary, re7 quired to meet then current withdrawals. Those

8 investments may be made only in interest-bear9 ing obligations of the United States or obliga10 tions guaranteed as to both principal and inter11 est by the United States. For that purpose,

12 those obligations may be acquired—

13 (i) on original issue at the issue price,

14 or

15 (ii) by purchase of outstanding obliga16 tions at the market price.

17 (B) SALE OF OBLIGATION.—Any obligation

18 acquired by the Fund (except special obligations

19 issued exclusively to the Fund) may be sold by

20 the Secretary of the Treasury at the market

21 price. The special obligations may be redeemed

22 at par plus accrued interest.

23 (C) CREDITS TO FUND.—The interest on,

24 and the proceeds from, the sale or redemption
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1 of, any obligations held in the Fund shall be

2 credited to and form a part of the Fund.

3 (3) TRANSFERS FROM FUND.—The Secretary of

4 the Treasury shall, on the request of the Secretary

5 of Transportation, transfer from the Fund to the

6 Secretary of Transportation, any amounts that the

7 Secretary of Transportation determines to be nec8 essary to carry out the grant program under this

9 section.

10 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more

11 than 1 percent of the amounts in the Fund may be

12 used by the Secretary of Transportation to cover ad13 ministrative expenses for carrying out the grant pro14 gram under this section.

15 (h) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Except as other16 wise provided in this section, funds made available to an

17 older industrial State under this section shall be available

18 for obligation in the manner provided for funds appor19 tioned under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code.

20 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

22 appropriated to the Fund to carry out this section

23 $65,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1998 through

24 2001.
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1 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The amounts

2 appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall re3 main available for obligation until the end of the

4 third fiscal year following the fiscal year for which

5 the amounts are appropriated.

6 SEC. 5. RAILROAD LOAN AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

7 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro8 vide assistance for rail projects in older industrial States.

9 (b) ISSUANCE OF OBLIGATIONS.—The Secretary

10 shall issue to the Secretary of the Treasury notes or other

11 obligations pursuant to section 512 of the Railroad Revi12 talization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C.

13 832), in such amounts, and at such times, as may be nec14 essary, during the period that the guaranteed obligation

15 is outstanding, to—

16 (1) pay any amounts required pursuant to the

17 guarantee of the principal amount of an obligation

18 under section 511 of that Act (45 U.S.C. 831) for

19 any eligible rail project described in subsection (c);

20 and

21 (2) meet the applicable requirements of this

22 section and sections 511 and 513 of that Act (45

23 U.S.C. 832 and 833).

24 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—A rail project that is eligible for

25 assistance under this section is a rail project—
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1 (1) for a railroad that is located in an older in2 dustrial State; and

3 (2) that promotes the mobility of goods and in4 dividuals.

5 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, the aggregate unpaid principal amounts of ob7 ligations that may be guaranteed by the Secretary under

8 this section may not exceed $50,000,000 during any of

9 fiscal years 1998 through 2001.

10 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of

12 Transportation, to be used by the Secretary to make guar13 antees under this section, $5,000,000 for each of fiscal

14 years 1998 through 2001.

15 SEC. 6. REPORT.

16 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment

17 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall

18 submit to Congress and the Governor of each older indus19 trial State a report concerning the rehabilitation of the

20 rail infrastructure of older industrial States.

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