I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6224 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a dedicated, competitive 
highway-rail grade separation program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 12, 2020 
Mr. LIPINSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to establish a dedi-
cated, competitive highway-rail grade separation pro-
gram, 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 ‘‘Building Much Needed 
Rail Grade Separations Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. GRADE SEPARATION GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 23, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 130 the 
following: 
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‘‘§ 131. Railway-highway crossing separation program 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) CROSSING.—The term ‘crossing’ means a 
railway-highway grade crossing. 
‘‘(2) GRADE
SEPARATION.—The term ‘grade 
separation’ means separation of a rail-highway grade 
crossing through the building of an additional struc-
ture such as an overpass, underpass, or trench. 
‘‘(3) 
LARGE
PROJECT.—The 
term 
‘large 
project’ means a project funded under this section 
that has a total eligible project costs of greater than 
$100,000,000. 
‘‘(4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 
the grade separation investment program established 
under subsection (b)(1). 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRADE SEPARATION PRO-
GRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish a grade separation investment program to pro-
vide grants on a competitive basis to carry out ac-
tivities described in subsection (h) relating to grade 
separations. 
‘‘(2) GOALS.—The goals of the Program shall 
be— 
‘‘(A) to separate railway-highway grade 
crossings; 
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‘‘(B) to improve safety by reducing the 
number of deaths and injuries at rail-highway 
crossings; 
‘‘(C) to increase the efficiency, and reli-
ability of the movement of people and freight 
over rail-highway crossings; 
‘‘(D) to increase the capacity of the freight 
and passenger rail system; 
‘‘(E) to reduce the amount of noise from 
trains; and 
‘‘(F) to improve air quality and reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions from less idling at 
rail-highway crossings. 
‘‘(c) FUNDING.— 
‘‘(1) GRANT
AMOUNTS.—Except as otherwise 
provided, a grant under the Program shall be— 
‘‘(A) in the case of a large project, in an 
amount that is— 
‘‘(i) adequate to fully fund the project 
(in combination with other financial re-
sources identified in the application); and 
‘‘(ii) not less than $50,000,000; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of an eligible project that 
is not a large project, in an amount that is— 
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‘‘(i) adequate to fully fund the project 
(in combination with other financial re-
sources identified in the application); and 
‘‘(ii) not less than $2,500,000. 
‘‘(2) MAXIMUM
AMOUNT.—For an eligible 
project receiving assistance under the Program, the 
amount of assistance provided by the Secretary 
under this section, as a share of eligible project 
costs, shall be— 
‘‘(A) in the case of a large project, not 
more than 50 percent; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of a project this not a 
large project, not more than 80 percent. 
‘‘(3) RAILROAD SHARE.—A railroad’s share of 
the cost of a project funded under this section— 
‘‘(A) shall be 10 percent of the net benefit 
to the railroad for the purpose of determining 
the railroad’s share of the cost of the project; 
and 
‘‘(B) may not be more than 5 percent of 
the cost share described under subparagraph 
(A) may be attributable to non-cash contribu-
tions of materials and labor furnished by the 
railroad in connection with the construction of 
such project. 
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‘‘(4) LARGE PROJECTS.—At least 70 percent of 
the funds awarded in a fiscal year under this Pro-
gram shall go to large projects. 
‘‘(5) FUTURE PIPELINE.—At least 5 percent of 
the total amount awarded in a fiscal year under this 
Program shall be for projects seeking funding for 
planning, preliminary engineering, or final environ-
mental review. The Secretary shall ensure that the 
funding awarded is sufficient for such project to be 
eligible for grant amounts for final design or con-
struction in a future application cycle. 
‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The Secretary may make 
a grant under the Program to any of the following: 
‘‘(1) A State. 
‘‘(2) A group of States. 
‘‘(3) An interstate compact. 
‘‘(4) A public agency or publicly chartered au-
thority established by 1 or more States. 
‘‘(5) A political subdivision of a State. 
‘‘(6) A metropolitan planning organization. 
‘‘(7) Amtrak or another rail carrier that pro-
vides intercity rail passenger transportation (as de-
fined in section 24102 of title 49). 
‘‘(8) A commuter rail authority. 
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‘‘(9) A Tribal government or a consortium of 
Tribal governments. 
‘‘(10) A multistate or multijurisdictional group 
of entities described in paragraphs (1) through (9). 
‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) PRIMARY CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding 
grants under the Program, the Secretary shall con-
sider the following primary factors: 
‘‘(A) Accident history at the crossing over 
the last 10 years, including the number of fa-
talities and injuries. 
‘‘(B) Volume of trains, both freight and 
passenger, passing through the crossing. 
‘‘(C) Average speed of trains, both freight 
and passenger, that pass through the crossing. 
‘‘(D) Annual average daily traffic at the 
crossing. 
‘‘(E) Likelihood of a collision based on the 
geometry of the crossing. 
‘‘(F) Design speed and speed limit of the 
roadway that meets the crossing. 
‘‘(G) The number of other at-grade cross-
ings in the vicinity of the project location. 
‘‘(H) The number of other grade separated 
crossings in the vicinity of the project location. 
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