[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 71 (Tuesday, April 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19612-19614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8321]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Notice of Funds Availability and Request for Comment To Assist in 
the Development and Implementation of a Procedure for Fair Competitive 
Bidding by Amtrak and Non-Amtrak Operators of State-Supported Intercity 
Passenger Rail Routes

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Under this Notice, the FRA solicits comments from interested 
parties on how the Secretary of Transportation, working with affected 
States, could develop and implement a procedure for fair competitive 
bidding by Amtrak and non-Amtrak operators for State-supported 
intercity passenger rail routes. FRA also encourages interested States 
to submit a Statement of Interest in receiving a grant to support an 
initiative leading to a fair and open competitive selection of an 
operator to provide passenger rail service over a specific intercity 
route that receives or will receive State financial support. Services 
eligible for funding under programs administered by the Federal Transit 
Administration are not eligible for a grant under this notice. 
Responses to this notice are sought on or before May 28, 2004.

DATES: All submissions of Statements of Interest and comments must be 
received in FRA's offices by close of business Friday, May 28, 2004. 
The deadline for the submission of applications will be noted in the 
solicitation from FRA to prospective grantees as a result of the 
evaluation of the Statements of Interest.

ADDRESSES: Applicants must submit an original and six (6) copies to the 
Federal Railroad Administration at one of the following addresses:
    Postal address (note correct zip code): Federal Railroad 
Administration, Attention: Alex Chavrid, Chief, Passenger Programs 
Division (RDV-11),

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Mail Stop 20, 1120 Vermont Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20590.
    FedEx/courier address (note correct zip code): Federal Railroad 
Administration, Attention: Alex Chavrid, Chief, Passenger Programs 
Division, (RDV-11), Room 773, 1120 Vermont Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20005.
    Due to delays caused by enhanced screening of mail delivered via 
the US Postal Service, applicants are encouraged to use other means to 
assure timely receipt of materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Yachmetz, Associate Administrator 
for Railroad Development (RDV-1), Federal Railroad Administration, 1120 
Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20590. Phone: (202) 493-6381; Fax: 
(202) 493-6330.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The demonstration will be supported with up 
to $2,485,250 of Federal funds provided to FRA as part of the 
Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 
2004 (included as Division F of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2004 (Public Law 108-199 (January 23, 2004)). FRA anticipates 
soliciting one or more grant applications and awarding one or more 
grants to eligible participants before September 30, 2004. The funds 
made available under this program will be available for activities 
related to developing and/or implementing a fair and open competitive 
process for selecting an operator of a State-supported intercity 
passenger rail route. FRA anticipates that no further public notice 
will be made with respect to selecting applicants for this 
demonstration.
    Purpose: From the creation of Amtrak in 1971 until the enactment of 
the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act (ARAA) in 1997, the National 
Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak, had the 
exclusive right to operate intercity passenger rail service over the 
routes where it provided service. ARAA eliminated Amtrak's monopoly as 
the exclusive intercity passenger rail service operator on these 
routes. Some have argued since enactment of ARAA that competition in 
the selection of intercity rail passenger service operators could 
result in improved service and/or lower costs. On June 22, 2002, 
Secretary of Transportation, Norman Y. Mineta, identified the five 
principles for intercity passenger rail reform advocated by the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. Included among these principles are: 
``Introduce carefully managed competition to provide higher quality 
rail services at reasonable prices.'' Subsequently, on June 27, 2003, 
Secretary Mineta submitted to Congress proposed legislation: ``The Rail 
Passenger Reform Investment Act'' that would take this principle and 
make competitive selection of intercity passenger rail service 
operators by States the foundation for a new approach to providing 
intercity passenger rail service in the United States. Since the 
enactment of ARAA, some States have contemplated using competitive 
processes to select operators of intercity passenger rail service they 
deem important enough to support financially. However, to date there 
has not yet been a successful process through which a fair and open 
competition has resulted in the selection of an operator other than 
Amtrak. Section 151 of the General Provisions of the Transportation, 
Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004 (included 
as Division F of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 (Public Law 
108-199 (January 23, 2004)) provides as follows: ``For the purpose of 
assisting State-supported intercity rail service, in order to 
demonstrate whether competition will provide higher quality rail 
passenger service at reasonable prices, the Secretary of 
Transportation, working with affected States, shall develop and 
implement a procedure for fair competitive bidding by Amtrak and non-
Amtrak operators for State-supported routes: Provided, That in the 
event a State desires to select or selects a non-Amtrak operator for 
the route, the State may make an agreement with Amtrak to use 
facilities and equipment of, or have services provided by, Amtrak under 
terms agreed to by the State and Amtrak to enable the non-Amtrak 
operator to provide the State-supported service: Provided further, That 
if the parties cannot agree on terms, the Secretary shall, as a 
condition of receipt of Federal grant funds, order that the facilities 
and equipment be made available under reasonable terms and 
compensation: Provided further, That when prescribing reasonable 
compensation to Amtrak, the Secretary shall consider quality of service 
as a major factor when determining whether, and the extent to which, 
the amount of compensation shall be greater than the incremental costs 
of using the facilities and providing the services: Provided further, 
That the Secretary may reprogram up to $2,500,000 from the Amtrak 
operating grant funds for costs associated with the implementation of 
the fair bid procedure and demonstration of competition under this 
section.'' (Note: Section 168 of Division H of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2004, imposes an across-the-board rescission of 
0.59 percent to all appropriations in the act, thereby reducing the 
appropriation that is available for costs associated with the 
implementation of the fair bid procedure and demonstration of 
competition to $2,485,250.)
    Section 151 provides the Secretary of Transportation with 
significant flexibility and latitude in establishing the referenced 
``fair bid procedure.'' The purpose of this notice is threefold. First, 
FRA seeks comment and recommendations on how such a ``fair bid 
procedure'' should be structured, what issues should be addressed in 
such a procedure, how they could be best addressed, how the available 
funds should best be used and whether the available funds are adequate 
for the intended purpose. Second, FRA seeks to identify the extent of 
interest among the States in competitively selecting operators of 
State-supported intercity rail passenger service. Finally, FRA wishes 
to identify the State or States that could implement or make the most 
progress toward implementing a ``fair bid procedure'' in the most 
timely manner with the available Federal funding.
    Authority: The authority for the program can be found in Section 
151 of the Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 2004 (included as Division F of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2004 (Public Law 108-199 (January 23, 2004)). The 
Secretary of Transportation's responsibilities under this program have 
been delegated to the Federal Railroad Administration.
    Funding: The Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 2004, provides $2,485,250 for this purpose. It is 
anticipated that the available funding could be used for one or more 
grants. If two grants are awarded, FRA may choose not to award the 
grants in equal amounts. Additional funding for this or related work 
may be available in subsequent fiscal years and may be awarded without 
further competition.
    Eligible Participants: Any State that presently provides financial 
assistance for an intercity passenger rail service operated by Amtrak 
or any State or group of States that is willing to provide financial 
assistance for an intercity rail passenger service, the operator of 
which is selected through a fair bid procedure, is eligible to 
participate in this program. Comment and recommendations on how such a 
``fair bid procedure'' should be structured, what issues should be

[[Page 19614]]

addressed in such a procedure, how they could be best addressed, how 
the available funds should best be used and whether the available funds 
are adequate for the intended purpose are solicited from eligible 
participants and any other interested party.
    Requirements for Statements of Interest: The following points 
describe the minimum content that is required in Statements of 
Interest.
    1. Describe the service to be subject to fair bid competition, 
including frequencies of service, schedules for operation, any unique 
aspects of the service sought by the State, endpoints and intermediate 
stops and connections to other intercity and commuter rail and transit 
services, and estimates of annual ridership, revenue and expenses 
during the period of operation covered by the fair bid competition.
    2. Describe the analysis, if any, undertaken regarding the 
incorporation of this service into State and/or regional transportation 
plans.
    3. Describe the experience or analysis, if any, undertaken by the 
State regarding competitive selection of passenger service providers, 
by any mode of intercity transportation, for commuter rail service or 
for local transit service.
    4. Describe how the State or States envision their role and that of 
the selected operator in defining the key attributes of the service to 
be provided.
    5. Describe the history, if any, of State and other non-Federal 
financial support for this service and the financial support the State 
and other non-Federal sources propose during the period of operation 
resulting from the fair bid competition, clearly indicating the 
estimated amount and sources for the required non-Federal funds 
required.
    6. Identify the entity that would conduct the fair bid competition. 
To the extent this entity does not presently have legal authority to 
undertake such a competition, identify the process and schedule under 
which this authority would be provided.
    7. Describe the route over which the service would be operated, 
including the owner of the rail infrastructure, the traffic types 
(including ownership of trains), volumes, and speeds presently involved 
in operation on the track segment(s) over which the service would 
operate.
    8. Describe any communications between the State and the owner of 
the rail infrastructure over which the service would operate that 
addresses the issue of access for passenger service operated by an 
entity other than Amtrak, including the terms and conditions under 
which this access would be provided.
    9. Describe how the State or States would propose that a fair bid 
procedure to be implemented by the Secretary should address the issue 
of access to rail infrastructure.
    10. Describe the equipment proposed for use in providing the 
service, its current ownership, current use and any commitment that the 
State might have for access to this equipment.
    11. Describe how the State or States would propose that a fair bid 
procedure to be implemented by the Secretary should address the issue 
of access to rail passenger equipment.
    12. Describe the provisions the State or States would make to 
address the liability of the operator selected under the fair bid 
competition, the owner of the rail infrastructure and others in the 
event of an accident.
    13. Describe how the State or States would propose that a fair bid 
procedure to be implemented by the Secretary should address the issue 
of liability.
    14. Describe any other issues that need to be addressed either by 
the Secretary or by the State or States to implement a fair bid 
competitive process for selection of an operator of an intercity 
passenger rail service.
    Format: Statements of Interest or comments may not exceed twenty-
five pages in length.
    Selection Criteria: The following will be considered to be positive 
selection factors in evaluating Statements of Interest for this 
demonstration:
    1. The contribution the proposed fair bid competitive selection 
will make to understanding the issues that must be addressed in 
competitive selection of intercity rail operators.
    2. The timeliness of the initiation of the competitive bid process 
and initiation of the competitively bid service.
    3. The ability of the State or States to adequately address the 
challenges facing a competitive selection of an operator of intercity 
passenger rail service.
    4. Financial commitment from non-Federal sources.
    5. Cost to the Federal Government.
    6. Past and likely future State commitments to support the service 
in question.
    7. Projected ridership, revenues, expenses and capital needs of the 
expected service.
    8. Likely effects of the competitively bid service on other Amtrak 
services.
    9. Length of the demonstration period and prospects for the service 
at the end of the demonstration period.

    Issued in Washington, DC on April 7, 2004.
Mark E. Yachmetz,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Development.
[FR Doc. 04-8321 Filed 4-12-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P