(6) Offering development of alerts and triggers 
to capture and transmit freight railcar mechanical 
issues to the railroad operator for action. 
(7) Ability to communicate events real-time to 
a wide variety of stakeholders. 
(c) GRANT USE PRIORITIZATION.—In selecting re-
cipients of grants under this section, the Administrator 
shall prioritize installation of onboard freight railcar 
telematic systems or onboard freight railcar gateway de-
vices in the following order of priority: 
(1) Newly built freight railcars manufactured 
by a qualified manufacturer in a qualified facility. 
(2) Freight railcars entering a certification 
event in a qualified facility. 
(3) Freight railcars entering a shopping event 
or maintenance event in a qualified facility. 
(d) FREIGHT RAILCAR TYPE PRIORITIZATION.— 
After establishing the priority requirements under sub-
section (c), the Administrator shall further ensure that the 
freight railcar types eligible to receive such an installation 
be considered in the following order of priority: 
(1) Tank cars in ‘‘TIH/PIH’’ (toxic inhalation 
products) service. 
(2) Tank cars in Class I, II, and III flammable 
service. 
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(3) Tank cars in hazardous materials service. 
(4) Tank cars in specialized service. 
(5) Other tank cars. 
(6) All other freight railcars. 
(e) LIMITATION.—To be eligible for any expenditure 
of funds under this section, a freight railcar and any sen-
sitive technology relating to such railcar shall comply with 
the requirements of section 20171 of title 49, United 
States Code. 
(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
shall submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 
of Representatives on the activities carried out with funds 
provided under this section, including the number of 
freight railcars that have been outfitted with onboard rail-
car telematics or gateway devices using such funds. 
(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) ONBOARD FREIGHT RAILCAR TELEMATICS 
SYSTEM; ONBOARD FREIGHT RAILCAR GATEWAY DE-
VICE.—The 
terms 
‘‘onboard 
freight 
railcar 
telematics system’’ and ‘‘onboard freight railcar 
gateway device’’ mean the telematics or gateway de-
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vice physically installed on a freight railcar that is 
installed and owned by a railcar owner that collects 
and transmits data about the railcar asset. 
(2) 
TELEMATICS.—The 
term 
‘‘telematics’’ 
means a technology that— 
(A) 
relies 
on 
telecommunications, 
informatics, and computer and data processing; 
(B) generates data and informatics from 
gateway devices fixed to railcars and provide for 
the exchange of information over a distance 
using battery or solar powered wireless connec-
tions; and 
(C) includes the method upon which 
freight railcars are monitored by using GPS 
technology through a gateway device using on- 
board diagnostics to plot a railcar’s movements 
and, if applicable, gather railcar equipment 
health and condition data from other onboard 
railcar sensors when applied. 
(3) GATEWAY DEVICE.—The term ‘‘gateway de-
vice’’ means a network hardware or software node 
used in freight railcar telecommunications that— 
(A) connects two networks with different 
transmission protocols together; 
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(B) serve as an entry and exit point for a 
network as all data collected from the railcar 
must pass through or communicate with the 
gateway prior to being routed; 
(C) are distinct from routers or switches in 
that they communicate using more than one 
protocol to connect multiple networks; and 
(D) may be any device on a freight railcar 
that is embedded with electronics, software, 
sensors, or other connectivity, that enables the 
device to connect to, collect data from, or ex-
change data with another device, including— 
(i) railcar onboard telematics; 
(ii) global positioning system satellite 
and cellular location tracking systems; 
(iii) railcar event status sensors; 
(iv) railcar predictive component con-
dition and performance monitoring sen-
sors; and 
(v) similar sensitive technologies em-
bedded into freight railcar components and 
sub-assemblies. 
(4) RAILROAD FREIGHT CAR.—The term ‘‘rail-
road freight car’’ means a car designed to carry 
freight or railroad personnel by rail, including— 
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(A) a box railcar; 
(B) a refrigerator railcar; 
(C) a ventilator railcar; 
(D) an intermodal well railcar; 
(E) a gondola railcar; 
(F) a hopper railcar; 
(G) an auto rack railcar; 
(H) a flat railcar; 
(I) a special railcar; 
(J) a caboose railcar; 
(K) a tank railcar; and 
(L) a yard railcar. 
(5) QUALIFIED FACILITY.—The term ‘‘qualified 
facility’’ means a facility that is not owned or under 
the control of a state-owned enterprise. 
(6) QUALIFIED
MANUFACTURER.—The term 
‘‘qualified manufacturer’’ means a railroad freight 
car manufacturer that is not owned or under the 
control of a state-owned enterprise. 
(7) CERTIFICATION EVENT.—The term ‘‘certifi-
cation event’’ means a railroad freight car that is re-
quired by current regulations to be recertified in a 
maintenance facility or qualified facility. 
(8) SHOPPING
EVENT.—The term ‘‘shopping 
event’’ means a railroad freight car that is under-
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going regular or routine maintenance and physically 
located in a railcar maintenance facility or qualified 
facility. 
(9) STATE-OWNED
ENTERPRISE.—The term 
‘‘state-owned enterprise’’ means— 
(A) an entity that is owned by, or under 
the control of, a national, provincial, or local 
government of a country of concern, or an 
agency of such government; or 
(B) an individual acting under the direc-
tion or influence of a government or agency de-
scribed in subparagraph (A). 
(10) COUNTRY OF CONCERN.—The term ‘‘coun-
try of concern’’ means a country that— 
(A) is identified by the Department of 
Commerce as a nonmarket economy country (as 
defined in section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 
1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(18))) as of the date of 
enactment of the Passenger Rail Expansion and 
Rail Safety Act of 2021; 
(B) was identified by the United States 
Trade Representative in the most recent report 
required by section 182 of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242) as a foreign country in-
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cluded on the priority watch list (as defined in 
subsection (g)(3) of such section); and 
(C) is subject to monitoring by the Trade 
Representative under section 306 of the Trade 
Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416). 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2028, 
to remain available until expended. 
SEC. 
122. 
ENHANCING 
FREIGHT 
RAILCAR 
ONBOARD 
TELEMATICS AND SENSOR DEVELOPMENT 
PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 
Federal Railroad Administration shall establish a pilot 
program to— 
(1) assist freight railcar owners and freight 
railcar manufacturers in the development of freight 
railcar onboard sensor technologies to add visibility 
to the safety of the freight railcar asset and com-
modity within the freight railcar asset; 
(2) encourage development of freight railcar on-
board sensors that communicate to the freight rail-
car onboard gateway device to offer future capabili-
ties of real-time visibility of— 
(A) wheel and wheel bearing temperature; 
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(B) whether a hand brake is on or off; 
(C) whether a hatch is open or closed; and 
(D) internal railcar temperature; and 
(3) carry out any of the activities described in 
paragraph (1) and (2) for purposes of informing 
railcar owners or operators on maintenance require-
ments, and enables railroads, shippers, and railcar 
owners to possibly identify railcars that could be-
come a hazard. 
(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Eligible entities for fund-
ing under pilot program under this section are freight rail-
car owners. 
(c) LIMITATION.—To be eligible for any expenditure 
of funds under this section, a freight railcar and any sen-
sitive technology relating to such railcar shall comply with 
the requirements of section 20171 of title 49, United 
States Code. 
(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report on— 
(1) the activities carried out with funds pro-
vided under this section; and 
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(2) the effectiveness of developed freight railcar 
onboard sensors by outlining the types and numbers 
of sensors that have become industry accepted and 
are in use on freight railcars. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) FREIGHT RAILCAR ONBOARD SENSOR.—The 
term ‘‘freight railcar onboard sensor’’ means the on-
board sensor that communicates or signals the 
freight railcar onboard telematics device or gateway 
device physically installed on a freight railcar that is 
installed by, and owned by the railcar owner that 
collects and transmits data about the railcar asset to 
the railcar owner, data system, or data collection 
point. 
(2) RAILROAD FREIGHT CAR.—The term ‘‘rail-
road freight car’’ means a car designed to carry 
freight or railroad personnel by rail, including— 
(A) a box railcar; 
(B) a refrigerator railcar; 
(C) a ventilator railcar; 
(D) an intermodal well railcar; 
(E) a gondola railcar; 
(F) a hopper railcar; 
(G) an auto rack railcar; 
(H) a flat railcar; 
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(I) a special railcar; 
(J) a caboose railcar; 
(K) a tank railcar; and 
(L) a yard railcar. 
(3) 
TELEMATICS.—The 
term 
‘‘telematics’’ 
means a technology that— 
(A) 
relies 
on 
telecommunications, 
informatics, and computer and data processing; 
(B) generates data and informatics from 
gateway devices fixed to railcars and provide for 
the exchange of information over a distance 
using battery or solar powered wireless connec-
tions; and 
(C) includes the method upon which 
freight railcars are monitored by using GPS 
technology through a gateway device using on- 
board diagnostics to plot a railcar’s movements 
and, if applicable, gather railcar equipment 
health and condition data from other onboard 
railcar sensors when applied. 
(4) GATEWAY DEVICE.—The term ‘‘gateway de-
vice’’ means a network hardware or software node 
used in freight railcar telecommunications that— 
(A) connects two networks with different 
transmission protocols together; 
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(B) serve as an entry and exit point for a 
network as all data collected from the railcar 
must pass through or communicate with the 
gateway prior to being routed; 
(C) are distinct from routers or switches in 
that they communicate using more than one 
protocol to connect multiple networks; and 
(D) may be any device on a freight railcar 
that is embedded with electronics, software, 
sensors, or other connectivity, that enables the 
device to connect to, collect data from, or ex-
change data with another device, including— 
(i) railcar onboard telematics; 
(ii) global positioning system satellite 
and cellular location tracking systems; 
(iii) railcar event status sensors; 
(iv) railcar predictive component con-
dition and performance monitoring sen-
sors; and 
(v) similar sensitive technologies em-
bedded into freight railcar components and 
sub-assemblies. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
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