[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 948 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 948

  To amend title 23, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
  Transportation 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 Secretary of 
  Transportation to carry out a grant program for providing financial 
   assistance for local 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 ``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:
``Sec. 207. Capital grants for rail line relocation projects
    ``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary 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 equal to 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) Considerations for Approval of Grant Applications.--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:
            ``(1) The capability of the State to fund the rail line 
        relocation project without Federal grant funding.
            ``(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 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.--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 relating 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 October 1, 2004, the 
        Secretary shall issue final regulations implementing the 
        program.
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