[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2933 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2933

   To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a local rail 
  facilities and safety program to award grants for freight capacity 
                   projects, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2015

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a local rail 
  facilities and safety program to award grants for freight capacity 
                   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 ``At-Grade Crossing Enhancement Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. LOCAL RAIL FACILITIES AND SAFETY.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 20168. Local rail facilities and safety program
    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Transportation, acting 
through the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, shall 
establish a local rail facilities and safety program (in this section 
referred to as the `Program') to mitigate the impacts of railroad 
operations in local communities through improvements to highway-rail 
grade crossings, rail line relocation and improvement projects, and 
training and technical assistance to local governments.
    ``(b) Grant Authority.--In carrying out the Program, the Secretary 
may award grants to eligible entities for freight capacity projects (as 
described under subsection (e)).
    ``(c) Application.--To be eligible for a grant under the Program, 
an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an application in such 
form, at such time, and containing such information as the Secretary 
determines is appropriate.
    ``(d) Project Selection Criteria.--In selecting the recipients of 
grants for freight capacity projects under the Program, the Secretary 
shall consider--
            ``(1) the extent to which a proposed project--
                    ``(A) alleviates the impacts of rail operations on 
                local neighborhoods or urbanized areas;
                    ``(B) will result in clearly defined public 
                benefits;
                    ``(C) contributes to increasing the competitiveness 
                and state of good repair of short line railroads;
                    ``(D) enhances safety at critical highway-rail 
                grade crossings;
                    ``(E) is compatible with local land use, economic 
                development, and transportation plans and objectives;
                    ``(F) includes equitable participation from other 
                beneficiaries in the project's financing, including the 
                extent to which the project will leverage private or 
                local government investments; and
                    ``(G) will increase the reliability and resilience 
                of the Nation's freight system; and
            ``(2) the past performance of the recipient and other 
        beneficiaries of the project in developing and delivering rail 
        projects.
    ``(e) Freight Capacity Projects.--A grant awarded under the Program 
may be used for the following:
            ``(1) A capital project to mitigate the impacts of rail 
        infrastructure and operations on a local community, including--
                    ``(A) rail line relocation and improvement; and
                    ``(B) improving the safety of, or eliminating 
                hazards at, a highway-rail grade crossing.
            ``(2) A capital project to improve short-line railroad 
        infrastructure.
            ``(3) Training and technical assistance to help local 
        governments better understand how to coordinate with railroad 
        carriers on--
                    ``(A) operations and safety issues; and
                    ``(B) how to integrate railroad issues into land 
                use and transportation planning processes.
    ``(f) Use of Funds.--A grant may be used to pay all or a portion of 
the subsidy and administrative costs of projects eligible for Federal 
credit assistance under the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory 
Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) for a capital project to 
improve short-line railroad infrastructure.
    ``(g) Eligible Entity Defined.--In this section, the term `eligible 
entity' means each of the following:
            ``(1) One or more States.
            ``(2) An Interstate Compact.
            ``(3) A local government.
            ``(4) A tribal government.
            ``(5) One or more metropolitan planning organizations.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $300,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2016 through 2021.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 201 of title 
49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following 
new item:

``20168. Local rail facilities and safety program.''.
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