106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2253

AN ACT

To authorize the establishment of a joint United StatesCanada commission to study the feasibility of connecting

the rail system in Alaska to the North American continental rail system; 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 ‘‘Rails to Resources Act

5 of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) rail transportation is an essential compo4 nent of the North American intermodal transpor5 tation system;

6 (2) the development of economically strong and

7 socially stable communities in the western United

8 States and Canada was encouraged significantly by

9 government policies promoting the development of

10 integrated transcontinental, interstate and inter11 provincial rail systems in the states, territories and

12 provinces of the two countries;

13 (3) United States and Canadian federal support

14 for the completion of new elements of the trans15 continental, interstate and interprovincial rail sys16 tems was halted before rail connections were estab17 lished to the state of Alaska and the Yukon Terri18 tory;

19 (4) both public and private lands in Alaska, the

20 Yukon Territory and northern British Columbia, in21 cluding lands held by aboriginal peoples, contain ex22 tensive deposits of oil, gas, coal and other minerals

23 as well as valuable forest products which presently

24 are inaccessible, but which could provide significant

25 economic benefit to local communities and to both
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1 nations if an economically efficient transportation

2 system was available;

3 (5) rail transportation in otherwise isolated

4 areas facilitates controlled access and reduced over5 all impact to environmentally sensitive areas;

6 (6) the extension of the continental rail system

7 through northern British Columbia and the Yukon

8 Territory to the current terminus of the Alaska Rail9 road would significantly benefit the U.S. and Cana10 dian visitor industries by facilitating the comfortable

11 movement of passengers over long distances while

12 minimizing effects on the surrounding areas; and

13 (7) ongoing research and development efforts in

14 the rail industry continue to increase the efficiency

15 of rail transportation, ensure safety, and decrease

16 the impact of rail service on the environment.

17 SEC. 3. AGREEMENT FOR A UNITED STATES-CANADA BILAT18 ERAL COMMISSION.

19 The President is authorized and urged to enter into

20 an agreement with the Government of Canada to establish

21 a joint commission to study the feasibility and advisability

22 of linking the rail system in Alaska to the nearest appro23 priate point on the North American continental rail sys24 tem.
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1 SEC. 4. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION.

2 (a) MEMBERSHIP.—

3 (1) TOTAL MEMBERSHIP.—The Agreement

4 should provide for the Commission to be composed

5 of 20 members, of which 10 members are appointed

6 by the President and 10 members are appointed by

7 the Government of Canada.

8 (2) GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS.—The Agree9 ment should provide for the membership of the Com10 mission, to the maximum extent practicable, to be

11 representative of—

12 (A) the interests of the local communities

13 (including the governments of the commu14 nities), aboriginal peoples, and businesses that

15 would be affected by the connection of the rail

16 system in Alaska to the North American conti17 nental rail system; and

18 (B) a broad range of expertise in areas of

19 knowledge that are relevant to the significant

20 issues to be considered by the Commission, in21 cluding economics, engineering, management of

22 resources (such as minerals and timber), social

23 sciences, fish and game management, environ24 mental sciences, and transportation.

25 (b) UNITED STATES MEMBERSHIP.—If the United

26 States and Canada enter into an agreement providing for
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1 the establishment of the Commission, the President shall

2 appoint the United States members of the Commission as

3 follows:

4 (1) Two members from among persons who are

5 qualified to represent the interests of communities

6 and local governments of Alaska.

7 (2) One member representing the State of Alas8 ka, to be nominated by the Governor of Alaska.

9 (3) One member from among persons who are

10 qualified to represent the interests of Native Alas11 kans residing in the area of Alaska that would be af12 fected by the extension of rail service.

13 (4) Three members from among persons in14 volved in commercial activities in Alaska who are

15 qualified to represent commercial interests in Alas16 ka, of which one shall be a representative of the

17 Alaska Railroad Corporation.

18 (5) Three members with relevant expertise, at

19 least one of whom shall be an engineer with exper20 tise in subarctic transportation.

21 (c) CANADIAN MEMBERSHIP.—The Agreement

22 should provide for the Canadian membership of the Com23 mission to be representative of broad categories of inter24 ests of Canada as the Government of Canada determines

25 appropriate, consistent with subsection (a)(2).
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1 SEC. 5. GOVERNANCE AND STAFFING OF COMMISSION.

2 (a) CHAIRMAN.—The Agreement should provide for

3 the Chairman of the Commission to be elected from among

4 the members of the Commission by a majority vote of the

5 members.

6 (b) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES OF UNITED

7 STATES MEMBERS.—

8 (1) COMPENSATION.—Each member of the

9 Commission appointed by the President who is not

10 an officer or employee of the Federal Government

11 shall be compensated at a rate equal to the daily

12 equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed

13 for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section

14 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day

15 (including travel time) during which such member is

16 engaged in the performance of the duties of the

17 Commission. Each such member who is an officer or

18 employee of the United States shall serve without

19 compensation in addition to that received for serv20 ices as an officer or employee of the United States.

21 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the

22 Commission appointed by the President shall be al23 lowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of

24 subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of

25 agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5,

26 United States Code, while away from their homes or
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1 regular places of business in the performance of

2 services for the Commission.

3 (c) STAFF.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Agreement should pro5 vide for the appointment of a staff and an executive

6 director to be the head of the staff.

7 (2) COMPENSATION.—Funds made available for

8 the Commission by the United States may be used

9 to pay the compensation of the executive director

10 and other personnel at rates fixed by the Commis11 sion that are not in excess of the rate payable for

12 level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316

13 of title 5, United States Code.

14 (d) OFFICE.—The Agreement should provide for the

15 office of the Commission to be located in a mutually

16 agreed location within the impacted areas of Alaska, the

17 Yukon Territory, and northern British Columbia.

18 (e) MEETINGS.—The Agreement should provide for

19 the Commission to meet at least biannually to review

20 progress and to provide guidance to staff and others, and

21 to hold, in locations within the affected areas of Alaska,

22 the Yukon Territory and northern British Columbia, such

23 additional informational or public meetings as the Com24 mission deems necessary to the conduct of its business.
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1 (f) PROCUREMENT OF SERVICES.—The Agreement

2 should authorize and encourage the Commission to pro3 cure by contract, to the maximum extent practicable, the

4 services (including any temporary and intermittent serv5 ices) that the Commission determines necessary for car6 rying out the duties of the Commission. In the case of

7 any contract for the services of an individual, funds made

8 available for the Commission by the United States may

9 not be used to pay for the services of the individual at

10 a rate that exceeds the daily equivalent of the annual rate

11 of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Sched12 ule under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.

13 SEC. 6. DUTIES.

14 (a) STUDY.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Agreement should pro16 vide for the Commission to study and assess, on the

17 basis of all available relevant information, the feasi18 bility and advisability of linking the rail system in

19 Alaska to the North American continental rail sys20 tem through the continuation of the rail system in

21 Alaska from its northeastern terminus to a connec22 tion with the continental rail system in Canada.

23 (2) SPECIFIC ISSUES.—The Agreement should

24 provide for the study and assessment to include the

25 consideration of the following issues:
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1 (A) Railroad engineering.

2 (B) Land ownership.

3 (C) Geology.

4 (D) Proximity to mineral, timber, tourist,

5 and other resources.

6 (E) Market outlook.

7 (F) Environmental considerations.

8 (G) Social effects, including changes in the

9 use or availability of natural resources.

10 (H) Potential financing mechanisms.

11 (3) ROUTE.—The Agreement should provide for

12 the Commission, upon finding that it is feasible and

13 advisable to link the rail system in Alaska as de14 scribed in paragraph (1), to determine one or more

15 recommended routes for the rail segment that estab16 lishes the linkage, taking into consideration cost, dis17 tance, access to potential freight markets, environ18 mental matters, and such other factors as the Com19 mission determines relevant.

20 (4) COMBINED CORRIDOR EVALUATION.—The

21 Agreement should also provide for the Commission

22 to consider whether it would be feasible and advis23 able to combine the power transmission infrastruc24 ture and petroleum product pipelines of other utili-
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1 ties into one corridor with a rail extension of the rail

2 system of Alaska.

3 (b) REPORT.—The Agreement should require the

4 Commission to submit to Congress and the Secretary of

5 Transportation and to the Minister of Transport of the

6 Government of Canada, not later than 3 years after the

7 Commission commencement date, a report on the results

8 of the study, including the Commission’s findings regard9 ing the feasibility and advisability of linking the rail sys10 tem in Alaska as described in subsection (a)(1) and the

11 Commission’s recommendations regarding the preferred

12 route and any alternative routes for the rail segment es13 tablishing the linkage.

14 SEC. 7. COMMENCEMENT AND TERMINATION OF COMMIS15 SION.

16 (a) COMMENCEMENT.—The Agreement should pro17 vide for the Commission to begin to function on the date

18 on which all members are appointed to the Commission

19 as provided for in the Agreement.

20 (b) TERMINATION.—The Commission should be ter21 minated 90 days after the date on which the Commission

22 submits its report under section 6.

23 SEC. 8. FUNDING.

24 (a) RAILS TO RESOURCES FUND.—The Agreement

25 should provide for the following:
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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The establishment of an

2 interest-bearing account to be known as the ‘‘Rails

3 to Resources Fund’’.

4 (2) CONTRIBUTIONS.—The contribution by the

5 United States and the Government of Canada to the

6 Fund of amounts that are sufficient for the Commis7 sion to carry out its duties.

8 (3) AVAILABILITY.—The availability of amounts

9 in the Fund to pay the costs of Commission activi10 ties.

11 (4) DISSOLUTION.—Dissolution of the Fund

12 upon the termination of the Commission and dis13 tribution of the amounts remaining in the Fund be14 tween the United States and the Government of

15 Canada.

16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

17 authorized to be appropriated to any fund established as

18 described in subsection (a)(1) $6,000,000, to remain avail19 able until expended.

20 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

21 In this Act:

22 (1) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Agreement’’

23 means an agreement described in section 2.
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1 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

2 means a commission established pursuant to any

3 Agreement.

Passed the Senate October 13 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest:

Secretary.
106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2253

AN ACT

To authorize the establishment of a joint United

States-Canada commission to study the feasibility of connecting the rail system in Alaska tothe North American continental rail system; andfor other purposes.