II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 769 

To streamline the permit process for rail and transit infrastructure. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 18, 2015 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To streamline the permit process for rail and transit 

infrastructure. 

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 ‘‘Track, Railroad, and 

5 Infrastructure Network Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC LANDS. 

7 (a) HIGHWAYS.—Section 138 of title 23, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

10 following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) MITIGATION.—The Secretary may make a 

2 finding of de minimis impact under this subsection 

3 as a result of mitigation undertaken pursuant to a 

4 review of a program or project pursuant to section 

5 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 

6 U.S.C. 470f).’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘(c) RAIL AND TRANSIT.—Improvements to, or the 

9 maintenance, rehabilitation, or operation of, railroad or 

10 rail transit lines or elements of such lines, with the excep11 tion of stations, that are in use or were historically used 

12 for the transportation of goods or passengers, shall not 

13 be considered a use of an historic site under subsection 

14 (a), regardless of whether the railroad or rail transit line 

15 or element of such line is listed on, or eligible for listing 

16 on, the National Register of Historic Places.’’. 

17 (b) TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—Section 303 of 

18 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection 

20 (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (d) and (e)’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(4) MITIGATION.—The Secretary may make a 

24 finding of de minimis impact under this subsection 

25 as a result of mitigation undertaken pursuant to a 


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1 review of a program or project pursuant to section 

2 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 

3 U.S.C. 470f).’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(e) RAIL AND TRANSIT.—Improvements to, or the 

6 maintenance, rehabilitation, or operation of, railroad or 

7 rail transit lines or elements of such lines, with the excep8 tion of stations, that are in use or were historically used 

9 for the transportation of goods or passengers, shall not 

10 be considered a use of an historic site under subsection 

11 (c), regardless of whether the railroad or rail transit line 

12 or element of such line is listed on, or eligible for listing 

13 on, the National Register of Historic Places.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. EFFICIENT ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of title 49, United 

16 States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘for 

18 multimodal projects’’ and inserting ‘‘and in19 creasing the efficiency of environmental 

20 reviews’’; and 

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

22 ‘‘(e) EFFICIENT ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS.—Any 

23 rail project that requires the approval of the Secretary of 

24 Transportation shall be subject to the project development 

25 procedures set forth in section 139 of title 23. 


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1 ‘‘(f) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA DECISIONS.—Any en2 vironmental impact statement, categorical exclusion, or 

3 other decision relating to a transportation project that is 

4 issued by an agency of the Department of Transportation 

5 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

6 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be available to any rail project 

7 to which such statement, exclusion, or decision reasonably 

8 applies.’’. 

Æ 


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