561 
(4) all other new or rebuilt passenger rail plat-
forms shall be built and maintained at 15 inches 
above top of rail; and 
(5) it is the intent of Congress to expressly pre-
empt State and local laws, regulations and rules on 
passenger platform height and setback. 
(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 
(1) A railroad owner may seek an exception to 
the passenger platform height requirements by pre-
senting information to the Federal Railroad Admin-
istration of an actual conflict between the require-
ment and an existing piece of equipment operated 
past the platform location. New or rebuilt passenger 
rail equipment used on any route with a platform 
excepted under this subpart must be equipped with 
an onboard lift. 
(2) A railroad owner may seek an exception to 
the passenger platform height requirements by pre-
senting information to the Federal Railroad Admin-
istration that it will provide level-boarding at a 
height other than that provided in subsection (a). 
(3) A system that is in operation on the date 
of this enactment that provides a level-boarding plat-
form at a height other than those described in sub-
section (a) may continue to provide such service. 
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SEC. 9204. NEXT GENERATION EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE. 
(a) REVISIONS TO DIVISION B OF PUBLIC LAW 110– 
432, THE PASSENGER RAIL INVESTMENT AND IMPROVE-
MENT ACT OF 2008.—Section 305 of division B of Public 
Law 110–432 is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘labor orga-
nizations that represent employees who perform 
overhaul and maintenance work on passenger equip-
ment used for intercity passenger rail transpor-
tation,’’ after ‘‘manufacturers,’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (e) as para-
graph (f); and 
(3) by inserting new paragraph (e) to read as 
follows— 
‘‘(e) RAIL EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT.—Not later 
than December 30, 2015, the Next Generation Corridor 
Equipment Pool Committee shall issue a report with rec-
ommendations regarding the appropriate mechanisms for 
procuring, managing, and maintaining passenger rail cars 
and locomotives. This report shall be submitted to the Sec-
retary, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans-
portation of the Senate, and the Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa-
tives.’’. 
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SEC. 9205. BUY AMERICA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part E of subtitle V is amended 
by inserting the following after chapter 285: 
‘‘CHAPTER 287—BUY AMERICA 
PREFERENCES 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘28701. Buying goods produced in the United States. 
‘‘28702. Fraudulent use of ‘Made in America’ label. 
‘‘§ 28701. Buying goods produced in the United States 
‘‘(a) PREFERENCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the Secretary shall not obligate any 
funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
subtitle V of this title and administered by the De-
partment of Transportation, nor shall the Secretary 
provide direct loans or loan guarantees under section 
502 of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory 
Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822), unless steel, 
iron, and manufactured products used in the project 
are produced in the United States. 
‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL
FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, rolling stock and power 
train equipment (including train control, commu-
nication, traction power equipment, and rolling stock 
prototypes) purchased with non-Federal funds in 
connection with a project receiving Federal financial 
assistance under subtitle V of this title or under sec-
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tion 502 of the Railroad Revitalization and Regu-
latory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822), shall 
only use steel, iron, and manufactured products pro-
duced in the United States. 
‘‘(b) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive subsection 
(a) of this section if the Secretary finds that— 
‘‘(1) applying subsection (a) would be incon-
sistent with the public interest; 
‘‘(2) such materials and products produced in 
the United States are not produced in a sufficient 
and reasonably available amount or are not of a sat-
isfactory quality; 
‘‘(3) the cost of the domestic material will in-
crease the cost of the end product by more than 25 
percent; or 
‘‘(4) when procuring rolling stock or train con-
trol systems for high-speed rail, as that term is de-
fined by section 26105(2) of this title— 
‘‘(A) the rolling stock and train control 
systems are manufactured in the United States 
substantially from components produced or 
manufactured in the United States; 
‘‘(B) the rolling stock domestic material 
improvement plan required by subsection (c) of 
this section addresses how the domestic mate-
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rial content of the rolling stock and train con-
trol systems will be increased over the duration 
of the contract; and 
‘‘(C) final assembly of the rolling stock 
and train control systems, not including proto-
types that will primarily be used to test the roll-
ing stock or train control systems, has occurred 
in the United States; and 
‘‘(5) the waiver justifications contained in this 
subsection at paragraphs (1) through (3) apply to 
all steel, iron, and manufactured products, including 
all rolling stock. 
‘‘(c) ROLLING STOCK DOMESTIC MATERIAL IM-
PROVEMENT PLAN.—All rolling stock procurements sub-
ject to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section 
shall require that rolling stock procurement proposals in-
clude a plan to increase the domestic material content of 
the rolling stock over the duration of the contract. This 
plan shall address increasing the domestic material con-
tent of all components and subcomponents. Significant 
weight shall be given in the proposal evaluation criteria 
for the plan achieving the most domestic material content. 
The recipient of the Federal financial assistance shall con-
duct an audit post-contract award to verify implementa-
tion of the plan. As determined appropriate by the Sec-
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retary, a certain amount of funding made available for the 
rolling stock procurement shall be used to implement the 
plan. 
‘‘(d) LABOR COSTS.—For purposes of this section, 
labor costs involved in final assembly shall not be included 
in calculating the cost of components. 
‘‘(e) WAIVER NOTICE AND COMMENT.—If the Sec-
retary determines that it is necessary to waive the applica-
tion of subsection (a) based on a finding under subsection 
(b), the Secretary shall, before the date on which such 
finding takes effect— 
‘‘(1) make available to the public on the De-
partment of Transportation’s public Web site the 
waiver request and a detailed written justification as 
to why the waiver is needed; 
‘‘(2) publish in the Federal Register a detailed 
written justification as to why the waiver is needed; 
and 
‘‘(3) provide notice of such finding and an op-
portunity for public comment on such finding for a 
reasonable period of time not to exceed 15 days. 
‘‘(f) WAIVER PROHIBITED.—The Secretary may not 
make a waiver under subsection (b) of this section for 
goods produced in a foreign country if the Secretary, in 
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consultation with the United States Trade Representative, 
decides that the government of that foreign country— 
‘‘(1) has an agreement with the United States 
Government under which the Secretary has waived 
the requirement of this section; and 
‘‘(2) has violated the agreement by discrimi-
nating against goods to which this section applies 
that are produced in the United States and to which 
the agreement applies. 
‘‘(g) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may 
not impose any limitation on assistance provided under 
subtitle V of this title that restricts a State from imposing 
more stringent requirements than this section on the use 
of articles, materials, and supplies mined, produced, or 
manufactured in foreign countries, in projects carried out 
with that assistance, or restricts a recipient of that assist-
ance from complying with those State-imposed require-
ments. 
‘‘(h) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary may allow a 
manufacturer or supplier of steel, iron, or manufactured 
goods to correct after bid opening any certification of non-
compliance or failure to properly complete the certification 
(but not including failure to sign the certification) under 
this section if such manufacturer or supplier attests under 
penalty of perjury that such manufacturer or supplier sub-
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mitted an incorrect certification as a result of an inad-
vertent or clerical error. The burden of establishing inad-
vertent or clerical error is on the manufacturer or supplier. 
‘‘(i) REVIEW.—A party adversely affected by an 
agency action under this section shall have the right to 
seek review under section 702 of title 5. 
‘‘(j) MINIMUM COST.—The requirements of this sec-
tion shall only apply to contracts for which the costs ex-
ceed $100,000. 
‘‘(k) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.—This section 
shall be applied in a manner consistent with United States 
obligations under international agreements. 
‘‘§ 28702. Fraudulent use of ‘Made in America’ label 
‘‘A person is ineligible to receive a contract or sub-
contract made with amounts authorized under subtitle V 
of this title or section 502 of the Railroad Revitalization 
and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822) if 
a court or department, agency, or instrumentality of the 
Government decides the person intentionally— 
‘‘(1) affixed a ‘Made in America’ label, or a 
label with an inscription having the same meaning, 
to goods sold in or shipped to the United States that 
are used in a project to which this section applies, 
but were not produced in the United States; or 
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‘‘(2) represented that goods described in para-
graph (1) of this section were produced in the 
United States.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 
subtitle V is amended by inserting below the item for 
chapter 285 the following: 
‘‘287. Buy America preferences ...................................................28701
‘‘ Fraudulent use of ‘Made in America’label ...........................28702’’. 
(c) RELATED AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 24305 is amended by repealing sub-
section (f). 
(2) Section 24405(a) is amended by redesig-
nating paragraphs (1) through (11), respectively, as 
paragraphs (2) through (12). 
(3) Section 24405(a) is amended by inserting 
at the beginning the following: 
‘‘(1) This subsection applies to projects that 
have received Federal funding to carry out this 
chapter prior to the enactment of the Rail Safety, 
Reliability, and Efficiency for a Strong America 
Act.’’. 
SEC. 9206. RAIL PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION LIABILITY 
AND MANDATORY COVERAGE. 
(a) LIABILITY.—Section 28103 is amended as fol-
lows: 
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(1) By revising subsection (a)(2) by inserting, 
‘‘including commuter rail passengers,’’ after the 
words ‘‘rail passenger,’’. 
(2) By revising subsection (b) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(b) CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS.—A provider of 
rail passenger transportation may enter into contracts 
that allocate financial responsibility for claims and such 
contracts shall be enforceable notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, common law or public policy or the na-
ture of the conduct giving rise to the damages or liabil-
ity.’’. 
(3) By inserting at the end of subsection (e) the 
following: 
‘‘(4) the term ‘rail passenger transportation’ in-
cludes commuter rail transportation.’’. 
(b) MANDATORY COVERAGE.—Subsection 28103(c) 
is amended by striking ‘‘Amtrak’’ and inserting ‘‘A pro-
vider of rail passenger transportation’’. 
SEC. 9207. SHARED-USE STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 
study, in consultation with, as appropriate, Amtrak, com-
muter, and other passenger rail operators, rail carriers 
that own rail infrastructure over which both passenger and 
freight trains operate, States, the Surface Transportation 
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as evidenced by the completion of service devel-
opment planning and environmental analyses; 
‘‘(M) identification of plans for cost-effec-
tive, 
public 
investment 
in 
shared-benefit 
projects that contribute toward the efficient 
movement and increased capacity for freight 
rail operations; and 
‘‘(N) evidence of support from affected 
States and local jurisdictions. 
‘‘(2) PROCESS.—At a minimum, the process for 
creating the Regional Rail Development Plan shall 
fulfill the following: 
‘‘(A) Be led and formally adopted either— 
‘‘(i) by a Regional Rail Development 
Authority, as described in chapter 289 of 
this title, with the final plan being formally 
adopted by the Regional Rail Development 
Authority; or 
‘‘(ii) by two or more States that have 
jointly engaged in the planning process, 
with the final plan being formally incor-
porated into the State Rail Plans, State 
Freight Plans, and Statewide Transpor-
tation Improvement Plans of each State, 
as applicable. 
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