[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1815 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1815

   To amend title 23, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
  Transportation to carry out a grant program for providing financial 
 assistance for rail line relocation projects, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 11, 2003

  Mr. Spratt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 23, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
  Transportation to carry out a grant program for providing financial 
 assistance for rail line relocation projects, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Rail Line Relocation Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. RAIL LINE RELOCATION GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) Authority.--Chapter 3 of title 23, United States Code, 
        is amended by inserting after section 306 the following:
``Sec. 307. Capital grants for rail line relocation projects
    ``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary of Transportation 
shall carry out a grant program to provide financial assistance 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 municipality of the State that--
            ``(1) is carried out for the purpose of mitigating the 
        adverse effects of rail traffic on safety, motor vehicle 
        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 construction 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 relocation of a rail line only if 
the benefits of the project for the period of the estimated economic 
life of the relocated rail line exceed the costs of the project for 
that period, as determined by the Secretary considering the following 
factors:
            ``(1) The effects of the rail line and the rail traffic on 
        motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic, safety, 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 operations on the rail line.
    ``(d) Approval of Grant Applications.--
            ``(1) Additional factors.--In addition to considering the 
        relationship of benefits to costs in determining whether to 
        award a grant to an eligible State under this section, the 
        Secretary shall consider the following factors:
                    ``(A) The capability of the State to fund the rail 
                line relocation project without Federal grant funding.
                    ``(B) The requirement and limitation relating to 
                allocation of grant funds provided in subsection (e).
                    ``(C) Equitable treatment of the various regions of 
                the United States.
            ``(2) Existing projects.--The Secretary may award a grant 
        under this section to a State to provide reimbursement for the 
        cost of work carried out after January 1, 2002, and before the 
        date of enactment of Rail Line Relocation Act of 2003 for a 
        project for relocation of a rail yard if--
                    ``(A) the project conforms with the requirements of 
                this section, including requirements for State 
                participation under subsection (g); and
                    ``(B) the Secretary determines that the cost of the 
                project has caused a substantial financial hardship for 
                non-Federal interests involved in the project.
    ``(e) Allocation Requirements.--
            ``(1) Grants not greater than $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 as grant 
        awards of not more 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 80 percent of 
the shared costs of the project, as determined under subsection (g)(4).
    ``(g) State Share.--
            ``(1) Percentage.--A State shall pay 20 percent 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 follows:
                    ``(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 employees 
                of the State, calculated on the basis of costs incurred 
                by the State for the pay and benefits of the employees, 
                but excluding overhead and general administrative 
                costs.
                    ``(C) A payment of any costs that were incurred for 
                the project before the filing of an application 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 application, 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 include 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 municipality 
                        use the funds or contribution only for the 
                        project.
                            ``(ii) The condition that the availability 
                        of the funds or contribution to the 
                        municipality is contingent on the execution of 
                        the project.
                    ``(B) Determinations of the secretary.--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 entered 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.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary for use in carrying out this section 
$300,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2008.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 3 of title 23, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 306 the following:

``307. Capital grants for rail line relocation projects.''.
    (c) Regulations.--
            (1) Interim regulations.--Not later than October 1, 2003, 
        the Secretary of Transportation shall issue temporary 
        regulations to implement the grant program under section 307 of 
        title 23, United States Code. Subchapter II of chapter 5 of 
        title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the issuance of 
        a temporary regulation under this subsection or of any 
        amendment of such a temporary regulation.
            (2) Final regulations.--Not later than April 1, 2004, the 
        Secretary shall issue final regulations implementing the 
        program.
            (3) Criteria.--In developing regulations under paragraph 
        (1), and in any final regulations, the Secretary shall 
        establish criteria that ensure that all grants under section 
        307 of title 23, United States Code, are awarded on a 
        competitive basis.
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