I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 948
To amend title 23, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Transpor-
tation to carry out a grant program for providing financial assistance 
for local rail line relocation projects, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2003
Mr. WICKER (for himself and Mr. PICKERING) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend title 23, United States Code, to require the Sec-
retary of Transportation to carry out a grant program 
for providing financial assistance for local rail line reloca-
tion 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 ‘‘Community Rail Line 
Relocation Assistance Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. RAIL LINE RELOCATION GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
(1) AUTHORITY.—Chapter 2 of title 23, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 
206 the following: 
‘‘§ 207. Capital grants for rail line relocation projects 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 
shall carry out a grant program to provide financial assist-
ance for local rail line relocation projects. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible for a grant 
under this section for any project for the improvement of 
the route or structure of a rail line passing through a mu-
nicipality of the State that—
‘‘(1) is carried out for the purpose of mitigating 
the adverse effects of rail traffic on safety, motor ve-
hicle traffic flow, or economic development in the 
municipality; 
‘‘(2) involves a lateral or vertical relocation of 
any portion of the rail line within the municipality 
to avoid a closing of a grade crossing or the con-
struction of a road underpass or overpass; and 
‘‘(3) meets the costs-benefits requirement set 
forth in subsection (c). 
‘‘(c) COSTS-BENEFITS REQUIREMENT.—A grant may 
be awarded under this section for a project for the reloca-
tion of a rail line only if the benefits of the project for 
the period equal to the estimated economic life of the relo-
cated rail line exceed the costs of the project for that pe-
riod, as determined by the Secretary considering the fol-
lowing factors: 
‘‘(1) The effects of the rail line and the rail 
traffic on motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic, safe-
ty, and area commerce if the rail line were not so 
relocated. 
‘‘(2) The effects of the rail line, relocated as 
proposed, on motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic, 
safety, and area commerce. 
‘‘(3) The effects of the rail line, relocated as 
proposed, on the freight and passenger rail oper-
ations on the rail line. 
‘‘(d) CONSIDERATIONS FOR APPROVAL OF GRANT 
APPLICATIONS.—In addition to considering the relation-
ship of benefits to costs in determining whether to award 
a grant to an eligible State under this section, the Sec-
retary shall consider the following factors: 
‘‘(1) The capability of the State to fund the rail 
line relocation project without Federal grant fund-
ing. 
‘‘(2) The requirement and limitation relating to 
allocation of grant funds provided in subsection (e). 
‘‘(3) Equitable treatment of the various regions 
of the United States.
‘‘(e) ALLOCATION REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) PROJECTS
UNDER
$20,000,000.—At least 
50 percent of all grant funds awarded under this 
section out of funds appropriated for a fiscal year 
shall be provided for rail line relocation projects that 
have an estimated project cost of less than 
$20,000,000 each. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION
PER
PROJECT.—Not more 
than 25 percent of the total amount available for 
carrying out this section for a fiscal year may be 
provided for any one project in that fiscal year. 
‘‘(f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The total amount of a grant 
awarded under this section for a rail line relocation project 
shall be 90 percent of the shared costs of the project, as 
determined under subsection (g)(4). 
‘‘(g) STATE SHARE.—
‘‘(1) PERCENTAGE.—A State shall pay 10 per-
cent of the shared costs of a project that is funded 
in part by a grant awarded under this section. 
‘‘(2) FORMS
OF
CONTRIBUTIONS.—The share 
required by paragraph (1) may be paid in cash or 
in kind.
‘‘(3) IN-KIND
CONTRIBUTIONS.—The in-kind 
contributions that are permitted to be counted under
paragraph (2) for a project for a State are as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(A) A contribution of real property or 
tangible personal property (whether provided by 
the State or a person for the State). 
‘‘(B) A contribution of the services of em-
ployees of the State, calculated on the basis of 
costs incurred by the State for the pay and ben-
efits of the employees, but excluding overhead 
and general administrative costs. 
‘‘(C) A payment of any costs that were in-
curred for the project before the filing of an ap-
plication for a grant for the project under this 
section, and any in-kind contributions that were 
made for the project before the filing of the ap-
plication, if and to the extent that the costs 
were incurred or in-kind contributions were 
made, as the case may be, to comply with a 
provision of a statute required to be satisfied in 
order to carry out the project. 
‘‘(4) COSTS NOT SHARED.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 
subsection (f) and this subsection, the shared 
costs of a project in a municipality do not in-
clude any cost that is defrayed with any funds
or in-kind contribution that a source other than 
the municipality makes available for the use of 
the municipality without imposing at least one 
of the following conditions: 
‘‘(i) The condition that the munici-
pality use the funds or contribution only 
for the project. 
‘‘(ii) The condition that the avail-
ability of the funds or contribution to the 
municipality is contingent on the execution 
of the project. 
‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS
OF
THE
SEC-
RETARY.—The Secretary shall determine the 
amount of the costs, if any, that are not shared 
costs under this paragraph and the total 
amount of the shared costs. A determination of 
the Secretary shall be final. 
‘‘(h) MULTISTATE
AGREEMENTS
TO
COMBINE 
AMOUNTS.—Two or more States (not including political 
subdivisions of States) may, pursuant to an agreement en-
tered into by the States, combine any part of the amounts 
provided through grants for a project under this section 
if—
‘‘(1) the project will benefit each of the States 
entering into the agreement; and
‘‘(2) the agreement is not a violation of a law 
of any such State. 
‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 
regulations for carrying out this section. 
‘‘(j) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 
‘State’ includes, except as otherwise specifically provided, 
a political subdivision of a State. 
‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Funds 
are hereby authorized to be appropriated from the general 
fund of the Treasury for carrying out this section for fiscal 
years and in amounts as follows: 
‘‘(1) For fiscal year 2004, $250,000,000. 
‘‘(2) For fiscal year 2005, $500,000,000. 
‘‘(3) For fiscal year 2006, $500,000,000. 
‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2007, $500,000,000. 
‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2008, $500,000,000. 
‘‘(6) For fiscal year 2009, $500,000,000.’’. 
(2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 2 of title 23, United 
States Code, is amended by striking the item relat-
ing to section 207 and inserting the following:
‘‘207. Capital grants for rail line relocation projects.’’.
(b) REGULATIONS.—
(1) INTERIM
REGULATIONS.—Not later than 
December 31, 2003, the Secretary of Transportation 
shall issue temporary regulations to implement the
grant program under section 207 of title 23, United 
States Code, as added by subsection (a). Subchapter 
II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, shall 
not apply to the issuance of a temporary regulation 
under this paragraph or of any amendment of such 
a temporary regulation. 
(2) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than Oc-
tober 1, 2004, the Secretary shall issue final regula-
tions implementing the program.
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