[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 769 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 769

 To streamline the permit process for rail and transit infrastructure.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 18, 2015

  Mr. Blunt (for himself, Mr. Manchin, and Mr. Thune) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To streamline the permit process for rail and transit infrastructure.

    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 ``Track, Railroad, and Infrastructure 
Network Act''.

SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC LANDS.

    (a) Highways.--Section 138 of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Mitigation.--The Secretary may make a finding of de 
        minimis impact under this subsection as a result of mitigation 
        undertaken pursuant to a review of a program or project 
        pursuant to section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
        Act (16 U.S.C. 470f).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Rail and Transit.--Improvements to, or the maintenance, 
rehabilitation, or operation of, railroad or rail transit lines or 
elements of such lines, with the exception of stations, that are in use 
or were historically used for the transportation of goods or 
passengers, shall not be considered a use of an historic site under 
subsection (a), regardless of whether the railroad or rail transit line 
or element of such line is listed on, or eligible for listing on, the 
National Register of Historic Places.''.
    (b) Transportation Projects.--Section 303 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by striking ``subsection (d)'' and 
        inserting ``subsections (d) and (e)'';
            (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Mitigation.--The Secretary may make a finding of de 
        minimis impact under this subsection as a result of mitigation 
        undertaken pursuant to a review of a program or project 
        pursuant to section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
        Act (16 U.S.C. 470f).''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Rail and Transit.--Improvements to, or the maintenance, 
rehabilitation, or operation of, railroad or rail transit lines or 
elements of such lines, with the exception of stations, that are in use 
or were historically used for the transportation of goods or 
passengers, shall not be considered a use of an historic site under 
subsection (c), regardless of whether the railroad or rail transit line 
or element of such line is listed on, or eligible for listing on, the 
National Register of Historic Places.''.

SEC. 3. EFFICIENT ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS.

    (a) In General.--Section 304 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``for multimodal 
        projects'' and inserting ``and increasing the efficiency of 
        environmental reviews''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Efficient Environmental Reviews.--Any rail project that 
requires the approval of the Secretary of Transportation shall be 
subject to the project development procedures set forth in section 139 
of title 23.
    ``(f) Applicability of NEPA Decisions.--Any environmental impact 
statement, categorical exclusion, or other decision relating to a 
transportation project that is issued by an agency of the Department of 
Transportation under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall be available to any rail project to which 
such statement, exclusion, or decision reasonably applies.''.
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