[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1020 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1020

   To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant 
    program for the rehabilitation, preservation, or improvement of 
                            railroad track.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2001

  Mr. Quinn (for himself, Mr. Clement, and Mr. Bachus) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
                           and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant 
    program for the rehabilitation, preservation, or improvement of 
                            railroad track.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Railroad Track Modernization Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. CAPITAL GRANTS FOR RAILROAD TRACK.

    (a) Amendment.--Chapter 223 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows:

            ``CHAPTER 223--CAPITAL GRANTS FOR RAILROAD TRACK

``Sec.
``22301. Capital grants for railroad track.
``Sec. 22301. Capital grants for railroad track
    ``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary of Transportation 
shall establish a program of capital grants to class II and class III 
railroads to rehabilitate, preserve, or improve railroad track 
(including roadbed, bridges, and related track structures) used 
primarily for freight transportation to a standard ensuring that such 
railroad track can be operated safely and efficiently, particularly 
when handling 286,000 pound rail cars. The Secretary shall issue 
regulations to implement the program.
    ``(b) Maximum Federal Share.--The maximum Federal share for 
carrying out a project under this section shall be 80 percent of the 
project cost. The non-Federal share may be provided by any non-Federal 
source in cash, equipment, supplies, or other in-kind contributions 
approved by the Secretary.
    ``(c) Project Eligibility Standards.--For a project to be eligible 
for assistance under this section--
            (1) the ratio of benefits to costs for the project must be 
        more than 1.0 as calculated by a methodology established by the 
        Secretary for calculating the ratio of benefits to costs of 
        projects proposed under this section; and
            (2) the track must have been operated by a class II or 
        class III railroad as of the date of the enactment of the 
        Railroad Track Modernization Act of 2001.
The Secretary may waive the requirement under paragraph (1) if the 
Secretary determines that a project is in the public interest.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--Grants provided under this section shall be 
used to implement track capital projects as soon as possible. In no 
event shall grant funds be contractually obligated for a project later 
than the end of the third Federal fiscal year following the year in 
which the grant was awarded. Any funds not so obligated by the end of 
such fiscal year shall be returned to the Secretary for reallocation.
    ``(e) Additional Purpose.--In addition to making grants for 
projects as provided in subsection (a), the Secretary may also make 
grants to supplement direct loans or loan guarantees made under title V 
of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 
U.S.C. 822(d)), for projects described in the last sentence of section 
502(d) of such title. Grants made under this subsection may be used, in 
whole or in part, for paying credit risk premiums, lowering rates of 
interest, or providing for a holiday on principal payments.
    ``(f) Employee Protection.--The Secretary shall require as a 
condition of any grant made under this section that the recipient 
railroad provide a fair arrangement at least as protective of the 
interests of employees who are affected by the project to be funded 
with the grant as the terms imposed under section 5(2)(f) of the 
Interstate Commerce Act before February 5, 1976.
    ``(g) Labor Standards.--
            ``(1) Prevailing wages.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
        laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and 
        subcontractors in construction work financed by a grant made 
        under this section will be paid wages not less than those 
        prevailing on similar construction in the locality, as 
        determined by the Secretary of Labor under the Act of March 3, 
        1931 (known as the Davis-Bacon Act; 40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.). 
        The Secretary shall make a grant under this section only after 
        being assured that required labor standards will be maintained 
        on the construction work.
            ``(2) Wage rates.--Wage rates in a collective bargaining 
        agreement negotiated under the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 
        et seq.) are deemed for purposes of this subsection to comply 
        with the Act of March 3, 1931 (known as the Davis-Bacon Act; 40 
        U.S.C. 276a et seq.).
    ``(h) Study.--The Secretary shall conduct a study of the projects 
carried out with grant assistance under this section to determine the 
public interest benefits associated with the light density railroad 
networks in the States and their contribution to a multimodal 
transportation system. Not later than March 31, 2003, the Secretary 
shall report to Congress any recommendations the Secretary considers 
appropriate regarding the eligibility of light density rail networks 
for Federal infrastructure financing.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Transportation $350,000,000 for each 
of the fiscal years 2002 through 2004 for carrying out this section.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The item relating to chapter 223 in the 
table of chapters of subtitle V of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows:

``223. CAPITAL GRANTS FOR RAILROAD TRACK....................   22301''.
    (c) Repeal.--Chapter 221 of title 49, United States Code (Local 
Rail Freight Assistance), and the item relating thereto in the table of 
chapters of subtitle V of such title are repealed.
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