‘‘(6) organizational structures, management 
skills, and staffing levels required throughout the 
construction phase; 
‘‘(7) quality control and quality assurance func-
tions, procedures, and responsibilities for construc-
tion, system installation, and integration of system 
components; 
‘‘(8) material testing policies and procedures; 
‘‘(9) internal plan implementation and reporting 
requirements; 
‘‘(10) criteria and procedures to be used for 
testing the operational system or its major compo-
nents; 
‘‘(11) periodic updates of the plan, especially 
related to project budget and project schedule, fi-
nancing, and ridership estimates; and 
‘‘(12) the recipient’s commitment to submit a 
project budget and project schedule to the Secretary 
each month. 
‘‘(b) SECRETARIAL OVERSIGHT.—(1) The Secretary 
may use no more than 0.5 percent of amounts made avail-
able in a fiscal year for capital projects under this chapter 
to enter into contracts to oversee the construction of such 
projects. 
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‘‘(2) The Secretary may use amounts available under 
paragraph (1) of this subsection to make contracts for 
safety, procurement, management, and financial compli-
ance reviews and audits of a recipient of amounts under 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) The Federal Government shall pay the entire 
cost of carrying out a contract under this subsection. 
‘‘(c) ACCESS TO SITES AND RECORDS.—Each recipi-
ent of assistance under this chapter shall provide the Sec-
retary and a contractor the Secretary chooses under sub-
section (b) of this section with access to the construction 
sites and records of the recipient when reasonably nec-
essary. 
‘‘§ 24404. Use of capital grants to finance first-dollar 
liability of grant project 
‘‘Notwithstanding the requirements of section 24402, 
the Secretary of Transportation may approve the use of 
capital assistance under this chapter to fund self-insured 
retention of risk for the first tier of liability insurance cov-
erage for rail passenger service associated with the capital 
assistance grant, but the coverage may not exceed 
$20,000,000 per occurrence or $20,000,000 in aggregate 
per year. 
‘‘§ 24405. Grant conditions 
‘‘(a) DOMESTIC BUYING PREFERENCE.— 
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‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In carrying out a 
project funded in whole or in part with a grant 
under this chapter, the grant recipient shall 
purchase only— 
‘‘(i) unmanufactured articles, mate-
rial, and supplies mined or produced in the 
United States; or 
‘‘(ii) manufactured articles, material, 
and supplies manufactured in the United 
States substantially from articles, material, 
and supplies mined, produced, or manufac-
tured in the United States. 
‘‘(B) DE
MINIMIS
AMOUNT.—Subpara-
graph (A) applies only to a purchase in an total 
amount that is not less than $1,000,000. 
‘‘(2) EXEMPTIONS.—On application of a recipi-
ent, the Secretary may exempt a recipient from the 
requirements of this subsection if the Secretary de-
cides that, for particular articles, material, or sup-
plies— 
‘‘(A) such requirements are inconsistent 
with the public interest; 
‘‘(B) the cost of imposing the requirements 
is unreasonable; or 
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‘‘(C) the articles, material, or supplies, or 
the articles, material, or supplies from which 
they are manufactured, are not mined, pro-
duced, or manufactured in the United States in 
sufficient and reasonably available commercial 
quantities and are not of a satisfactory quality. 
‘‘(3) UNITED STATES DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘the United States’ means the 
States, territories, and possessions of the United 
States and the District of Columbia. 
‘‘(b) OPERATORS DEEMED RAIL CARRIERS AND EM-
PLOYERS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.—A person that con-
ducts rail operations over rail infrastructure constructed 
or improved with funding provided in whole or in part in 
a grant made under this chapter shall be considered a rail 
carrier as defined in section 10102(5) of this title for pur-
poses of this title and any other statute that adopts the 
that definition or in which that definition applies, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(1) the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 
U.S.C. 231 et seq.); and 
‘‘(2) the Railway Labor Act (43 U.S.C. 151 et 
seq.). 
‘‘(c) GRANT CONDITIONS.—The Secretary shall re-
quire as a condition of making any grant under this chap-
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ter for a project that uses rights-of-way owned by a rail-
road that— 
‘‘(1) a written agreement exist between the ap-
plicant and the railroad regarding such use and 
ownership, including— 
‘‘(A) any compensation for such use; 
‘‘(B) assurances regarding the adequacy of 
infrastructure capacity to accommodate both 
existing and future freight and passenger oper-
ations; 
‘‘(C) an assurance by the railroad that col-
lective bargaining agreements with the rail-
road’s employees (including terms regulating 
the contracting of work) will remain in full 
force and effect according to their terms for 
work performed by the railroad on the railroad 
transportation corridor; 
‘‘(D) an assurance that an applicant com-
plies with liability requirements consistent with 
section 28103 of this title; and 
‘‘(E) for high-speed rail projects 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 
‘‘(2) the applicant agrees to comply with— 
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