I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2933 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a local rail facilities 
and safety program to award grants for freight capacity projects, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 25, 2015 
Mr. LARSEN of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a local 
rail facilities and safety program to award grants for 
freight capacity projects, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘At-Grade Crossing En-
hancement Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. LOCAL RAIL FACILITIES AND SAFETY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 201 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘§ 20168. Local rail facilities and safety program 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor-
tation, acting through the Administrator of the Federal 
Railroad Administration, shall establish a local rail facili-
ties and safety program (in this section referred to as the 
‘Program’) to mitigate the impacts of railroad operations 
in local communities through improvements to highway- 
rail grade crossings, rail line relocation and improvement 
projects, and training and technical assistance to local 
governments. 
‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the Pro-
gram, the Secretary may award grants to eligible entities 
for freight capacity projects (as described under sub-
section (e)). 
‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 
the Program, an eligible entity shall submit to the Sec-
retary an application in such form, at such time, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary determines is 
appropriate. 
‘‘(d) PROJECT SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting 
the recipients of grants for freight capacity projects under 
the Program, the Secretary shall consider— 
‘‘(1) the extent to which a proposed project— 
‘‘(A) alleviates the impacts of rail oper-
ations on local neighborhoods or urbanized 
areas; 
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‘‘(B) will result in clearly defined public 
benefits; 
‘‘(C) contributes to increasing the competi-
tiveness and state of good repair of short line 
railroads; 
‘‘(D) enhances safety at critical highway- 
rail grade crossings; 
‘‘(E) is compatible with local land use, eco-
nomic development, and transportation plans 
and objectives; 
‘‘(F) includes equitable participation from 
other beneficiaries in the project’s financing, in-
cluding the extent to which the project will le-
verage private or local government investments; 
and 
‘‘(G) will increase the reliability and resil-
ience of the Nation’s freight system; and 
‘‘(2) the past performance of the recipient and 
other beneficiaries of the project in developing and 
delivering rail projects. 
‘‘(e) FREIGHT
CAPACITY
PROJECTS.—A grant 
awarded under the Program may be used for the following: 
‘‘(1) A capital project to mitigate the impacts 
of rail infrastructure and operations on a local com-
munity, including— 
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‘‘(A) rail line relocation and improvement; 
and 
‘‘(B) improving the safety of, or elimi-
nating hazards at, a highway-rail grade cross-
ing. 
‘‘(2) A capital project to improve short-line rail-
road infrastructure. 
‘‘(3) Training and technical assistance to help 
local governments better understand how to coordi-
nate with railroad carriers on— 
‘‘(A) operations and safety issues; and 
‘‘(B) how to integrate railroad issues into 
land use and transportation planning processes. 
‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant may be used to pay 
all or a portion of the subsidy and administrative costs 
of projects eligible for Federal credit assistance under the 
Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 
1976 (45 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) for a capital project to im-
prove short-line railroad infrastructure. 
‘‘(g) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘eligible entity’ means each of the following: 
‘‘(1) One or more States. 
‘‘(2) An Interstate Compact. 
‘‘(3) A local government. 
‘‘(4) A tribal government. 
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‘‘(5) One or more metropolitan planning organi-
zations. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 
2021.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 
chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following new item: 
‘‘20168. Local rail facilities and safety program.’’. 
Æ 
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