‘‘(K) Projects that provide viable solutions 
to the airside capacity problems in critical cor-
ridors identified by the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration; and 
‘‘(6) give preference to the following projects 
designated as a high-speed rail corridor: 
‘‘(A) California Corridor connecting the 
San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento to Los 
Angeles and San Diego. 
‘‘(B) Chicago Hub Corridor Network with 
the following spokes: 
‘‘(i) Chicago to Detroit. 
‘‘(ii) Chicago to Minneapolis/St. Paul, 
MN, via Milwaukee, WI. 
‘‘(iii) Chicago to Kansas City, MO, via 
Springfield, IL, and St Louis, MO. 
‘‘(iv) Chicago to Louisville, KY, via 
Indianapolis, IN, and Cincinnati, OH. 
‘‘(v) Chicago to Cleveland, OH, via 
Toledo, OH. 
‘‘(vi) Cleveland, OH, to Cincinnati, 
OH, via Columbus, OH. 
‘‘(C) Empire State Corridor from New 
York City, NY, through Albany, NY to Buffalo, 
NY. 
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‘‘(D) Florida High-Speed Rail Corridor 
from Tampa through Orlando to Miami. 
‘‘(E) Gulf Coast Corridor from Houston 
TX, through New Orleans, LA, to Mobile, AL, 
with a branch from New Orleans, through Me-
ridian, MS, and Birmingham, AL, to Atlanta, 
GA. 
‘‘(F) Keystone Corridor from Philadelphia, 
PA, through Harrisburg, PA, to Pittsburgh, 
PA. 
‘‘(G) Northeast Corridor from Washington, 
DC, through New York City, NY, New Haven, 
CT, and Providence, RI, to Boston, MA. 
‘‘(H) New England Corridor from Boston, 
MA, to Portland and Auburn, ME, and from 
Boston, MA, through Concord, NH, and Mont-
pelier, VT, to Montreal, PQ. 
‘‘(I) Pacific Northwest Corridor from Eu-
gene, OR, through Portland, OR, and Seattle, 
WA, to Vancouver, BC. 
‘‘(J) South Central Corridor from San An-
tonio, TX, through Dallas/ Fort Worth to Little 
Rock, AK, with a branch from Dallas/Fort 
Worth through Oklahoma City, OK, to Tulsa, 
OK. 
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‘‘(K) Southeast Corridor from Washington, 
DC, through Richmond, VA, Raleigh, NC, Co-
lumbia, SC, Savannah, GA, and Jesup, GA, to 
Jacksonville, FL, with a branch from Raleigh, 
NC, through Charlotte, NC, and Greenville, SC, 
to Atlanta, GA, a branch from Richmond, VA, 
to Hampton Roads/Norfolk, VA, and a con-
necting route between Atlanta, GA, to Jesup, 
GA. 
‘‘(d) AMTRAK ELIGIBILITY.—To receive a grant 
under this section, the National Railroad Passenger Cor-
poration may enter into a cooperative agreement with 1 
or more States to carry out 1 or more projects on a State 
rail plan’s ranked list of rail capital projects developed 
under section 22505(a)(5) of this title. 
‘‘(e) LETTERS OF INTENT, FULL FUNDING GRANT 
AGREEMENTS, AND EARLY SYSTEMS WORK AGREE-
MENTS.—(1)(A) The Secretary may issue a letter of intent 
to an applicant announcing an intention to obligate, for 
a major capital project under this section, an amount from 
future available budget authority specified in law that is 
not more than the amount stipulated as the financial par-
ticipation of the Secretary in the project. 
‘‘(B) At least 30 days before issuing a letter under 
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph or entering into a full 
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funding grant agreement, the Secretary shall notify in 
writing the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
and the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations 
of the proposed letter or agreement. The Secretary shall 
include with the notification a copy of the proposed letter 
or agreement as well as the evaluations and ratings for 
the project. 
‘‘(C) An obligation or administrative commitment 
may be made only when amounts are appropriated. 
‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary may make a full funding grant 
agreement with an applicant. The agreement shall— 
‘‘(i) establish the terms of participation by the 
United States Government in a project under this 
section; 
‘‘(ii) establish the maximum amount of Govern-
ment financial assistance for the project; 
‘‘(iii) cover the period of time for completing 
the project, including a period extending beyond the 
period of an authorization; and 
‘‘(iv) make timely and efficient management of 
the project easier according to the laws of the 
United States. 
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‘‘(B) An agreement under this paragraph obligates 
an amount of available budget authority specified in law 
and may include a commitment, contingent on amounts 
to be specified in law in advance for commitments under 
this paragraph, to obligate an additional amount from fu-
ture available budget authority specified in law. The 
agreement shall state that the contingent commitment is 
not an obligation of the Government and is subject to the 
availability of appropriations made by Federal law and to 
Federal laws in force on or enacted after the date of the 
contingent commitment. Interest and other financing costs 
of efficiently carrying out a part of the project within a 
reasonable time are a cost of carrying out the project 
under a full funding grant agreement, except that eligible 
costs may not be more than the cost of the most favorable 
financing terms reasonably available for the project at the 
time of borrowing. The applicant shall certify, in a way 
satisfactory to the Secretary, that the applicant has shown 
reasonable diligence in seeking the most favorable financ-
ing terms. 
‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary may make an early systems 
work agreement with an applicant if a record of decision 
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) has been issued on the project and 
the Secretary finds there is reason to believe— 
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‘‘(i) a full funding grant agreement for the 
project will be made; and 
‘‘(ii) the terms of the work agreement will pro-
mote ultimate completion of the project more rapidly 
and at less cost. 
‘‘(B) A work agreement under this paragraph obli-
gates an amount of available budget authority specified 
in law and shall provide for reimbursement of preliminary 
costs of carrying out the project, including land acquisi-
tion, timely procurement of system elements for which 
specifications are decided, and other activities the Sec-
retary decides are appropriate to make efficient, long-term 
project management easier. A work agreement shall cover 
the period of time the Secretary considers appropriate. 
The period may extend beyond the period of current au-
thorization. Interest and other financing costs of effi-
ciently carrying out the work agreement within a reason-
able time are a cost of carrying out the agreement, except 
that eligible costs may not be more than the cost of the 
most favorable financing terms reasonably available for 
the project at the time of borrowing. The applicant shall 
certify, in a way satisfactory to the Secretary, that the 
applicant has shown reasonable diligence in seeking the 
most favorable financing terms. If an applicant does not 
carry out the project for reasons within the control of the 
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‘‘(C) The Secretary shall give priority in allocating 
future obligations and contingent commitments to incur 
obligations to grant requests seeking a lower Federal 
share of the project net capital cost. 
‘‘(2) Up to an additional 20 percent of the required 
non-Federal funds may be funded from amounts appro-
priated to or made available to a department or agency 
of the Federal Government that are eligible to be expended 
for transportation. 
‘‘(3) 50 percent of the average amounts expended by 
a State or group of States (including the District of Co-
lumbia) for capital projects to benefit intercity passenger 
rail service and operating costs of such service of up to 
$5,000,000 per fiscal year, beginning in fiscal year 2007, 
shall be credited towards the matching requirements for 
grants awarded under this section. The Secretary may re-
quire such information as necessary to verify such expend-
itures. 
‘‘(g) UNDERTAKING PROJECTS
IN ADVANCE.—(1) 
The Secretary may pay the Federal share of the net cap-
ital project cost to an applicant that carries out any part 
of a project described in this section according to all appli-
cable procedures and requirements if— 
‘‘(A) the applicant applies for the payment; 
‘‘(B) the Secretary approves the payment; and 
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‘‘(C) before carrying out the part of the project, 
the Secretary approves the plans and specifications 
for the part in the same way as other projects under 
this section. 
‘‘(2) The cost of carrying out part of a project in-
cludes the amount of interest earned and payable on bonds 
issued by the applicant to the extent proceeds of the bonds 
are expended in carrying out the part. However, the 
amount of interest under this paragraph may not be more 
than the most favorable interest terms reasonably avail-
able for the project at the time of borrowing. The appli-
cant shall certify, in a manner satisfactory to the Sec-
retary, that the applicant has shown reasonable diligence 
in seeking the most favorable financial terms. 
‘‘(3) The Secretary shall consider changes in capital 
project cost indices when determining the estimated cost 
under paragraph (2) of this subsection. 
‘‘(h) 2-YEAR AVAILABILITY.—Funds appropriated 
under this section shall remain available until expended. 
If any amount provided as a grant under this section is 
not obligated or expended for the purposes described in 
subsection (a) within 2 years after the date on which the 
State received the grant, such sums shall be returned to 
the Secretary for other intercity passenger rail develop-
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ment projects under this section at the discretion of the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(i) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A metropolitan planning 
organization, State transportation department, or 
other project sponsor may enter into an agreement 
with any public, private, or nonprofit entity to coop-
eratively implement any project funded with a grant 
under this chapter. 
‘‘(2) FORMS OF PARTICIPATION.—Participation 
by an entity under paragraph (1) may consist of— 
‘‘(A) ownership or operation of any land, 
facility, locomotive, rail car, vehicle, or other 
physical asset associated with the project; 
‘‘(B) cost-sharing of any project expense; 
‘‘(C) carrying out administration, construc-
tion management, project management, project 
operation, or any other management or oper-
ational duty associated with the project; and 
‘‘(D) any other form of participation ap-
proved by the Secretary. 
‘‘(3) SUBALLOCATION.—A State may allocate 
funds under this section to any entity described in 
paragraph (1). 
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‘‘(j) SPECIAL TRANSPORTATION CIRCUMSTANCES.— 
In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall allocate 
an appropriate portion of the amounts available under this 
section to provide grants to States— 
‘‘(1) in which there is no intercity passenger 
rail service for the purpose of funding freight rail 
capital projects that are on a State rail plan devel-
oped under chapter 225 of this title that provide 
public benefits (as defined in chapter 225) as deter-
mined by the Secretary; or 
‘‘(2) in which the rail transportation system is 
not physically connected to rail systems in the conti-
nental United States or may not otherwise qualify 
for a grant under this section due to the unique 
characteristics of the geography of that State or 
other relevant considerations, 
for the purpose of funding transportation-related capital 
projects. 
‘‘(k) SMALL CAPITAL PROJECTS.—The Secretary 
shall make available $10,000,000 annually from the 
amounts otherwise authorized by law beginning in fiscal 
year 2008 for grants for capital projects eligible under this 
section not exceeding $2,000,000. The Secretary may 
wave requirements of this section, including State rail plan 
requirements, as appropriate. 
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‘‘§ 24403. Project management oversight 
‘‘(a) PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
PLAN
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—To receive Federal financial assistance for a 
major capital project under this chapter, an applicant 
must have a record of decision under the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 
issued on the project, and prepare and carry out a project 
management plan approved by the Secretary of Transpor-
tation. The plan shall provide for— 
‘‘(1) adequate recipient staff organization with 
well-defined reporting relationships, statements of 
functional responsibilities, job descriptions, and job 
qualifications; 
‘‘(2) a budget covering the project management 
organization, appropriate consultants, property ac-
quisition, utility relocation, systems demonstration 
staff, audits, and miscellaneous payments the recipi-
ent may be prepared to justify; 
‘‘(3) a construction schedule for the project; 
‘‘(4) a document control procedure and record-
keeping system; 
‘‘(5) a change order procedure that includes a 
documented, systematic approach to handling the 
construction change orders; 
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