[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1504 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1504

    To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to make grants for 
 engineering, final design, and construction of the Altamont Corridor 
           Rail Project, California, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 13, 2011

 Mr. McNerney (for himself, Mr. Cardoza, and Mr. Garamendi) introduced 
      the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to make grants for 
 engineering, final design, and construction of the Altamont Corridor 
           Rail Project, California, 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 ``Altamont Corridor Rail Improvement 
Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Altamont Rail Corridor serves a Northern California 
        mega region with a projected population of 18,000,000 by 2025.
            (2) The Altamont Rail Corridor is the primary gateway 
        between the Central Valley of California and the San Francisco 
        Bay Area and parallels two of the most congested highway 
        corridors in the region.
            (3) The Metropolitan Transportation Commission completed a 
        final report of the Bay Area Regional Rail Plan in 2007 that 
        called for a dedicated regional rail line that would provide 
        both intercity and commuter passenger rail service to improve 
        connectivity and accessibility between the Northern San Joaquin 
        Valley population centers and the Bay Area.
            (4) The California High Speed Rail Authority has identified 
        the Altamont Rail Corridor as a critical element to regional 
        transportation needs and entered into partnership with the 
        major governing and operating entities in the corridor to 
        improve the regional ACE service in the near term and develop 
        capability for joint use to accommodate intercity and commuter 
        service as well as interface with the high-speed rail system in 
        the future.
            (5) The Bay Area Regional Rail Plan projects that the ACE 
        train that currently provides passenger rail service in the 
        Altamont Rail Corridor will average 49,000 daily boardings by 
        2050.
            (6) The current situation of sharing Altamont Rail Corridor 
        passenger service with the growing freight operations in the 
        existing alignment will severely limit opportunity for service 
        improvement or expansion as critically needed.
            (7) The expansion and improvement of passenger rail service 
        in the Altamont Rail Corridor will have significant 
        environmental and economic development benefits for the region.

SEC. 3. PROJECT AUTHORIZATION FOR NEW FIXED GUIDE WAY CAPITAL PROJECT.

    (a) In General.--The Altamont Corridor Rail Project is authorized 
for final design and construction for fiscal years 2011 through 2021 in 
accordance with section 5309(d) of title 49, United States Code.
    (b) Allocation of Funds.--The Secretary of Transportation is 
authorized to allocate, out of funds made available under section 
5309(m) of title 49, United States Code, a total amount not to exceed 
$450,000,000 for fiscal years 2011 through 2021 to carry out any 
remaining preliminary engineering and final design and construction of 
the Altamont Corridor Rail Project.
    (c) Use of Environmental Documents.--Any alternatives analysis or 
environmental impact report relating to the Altamont Corridor Rail 
Project that is prepared to comply with the requirements for capital 
assistance from the Federal Railroad Administration (including 
documents prepared before the date of enactment of this Act) may be 
used to satisfy the requirements for grant assistance under section 
5309 of title 49, United States Code.
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