FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION : LEGISLATION, REGULATION & LITIGATION

-CITE-
49 USC Sec. 22101 01/26/98

-EXPCITE-
TITLE 49 - TRANSPORTATION
SUBTITLE V - RAIL PROGRAMS
PART B - ASSISTANCE
CHAPTER 221 - LOCAL RAIL FREIGHT ASSISTANCE

-HEAD-
Sec. 22101. Financial assistance for State projects

-STATUTE-
(a) General. - The Secretary of Transportation shall provide
financial assistance to a State, as provided under this chapter,
for a rail freight assistance project of the State when a rail
carrier subject to part A of subtitle IV of this title maintains a
rail line in the State. The assistance is for the cost of -
(1) acquiring, in any way the State considers appropriate, an
interest in a rail line or rail property to maintain existing, or
to provide future, rail freight transportation, but only if the
Surface Transportation Board has authorized, or exempted from the
requirements of that authorization, the abandonment of, or the
discontinuance of rail transportation on, the rail line related
to the project;
(2) improving and rehabilitating rail property on a rail line
to the extent necessary to allow adequate and efficient rail
freight transportation on the line, but only if the rail carrier
certifies that the rail line related to the project carried not
more than 5,000,000 gross ton-miles of freight a mile in the
prior year; and
(3) building rail or rail-related facilities (including new
connections between at least 2 existing rail lines, intermodal
freight terminals, sidings, bridges, and relocation of existing
lines) to improve the quality and efficiency of the rail freight
transportation, but only if the rail carrier certifies that the
rail line related to the project carried not more than 5,000,000
gross ton-miles of freight a mile in the prior year.
(b) Calculating Cost-Benefit Ratio. - The Secretary shall
establish a methodology for calculating the ratio of benefits to
costs of projects proposed under this chapter. In establishing the
methodology, the Secretary shall consider the need for equitable
treatment of different regions of the United States and different
commodities transported by rail. The establishment of the
methodology is committed to the discretion of the Secretary.
(c) Conditions. - (1) Assistance for a project shall be provided
under this chapter only if -
(A) a rail carrier certifies that the rail line related to the
project carried more than 20 carloads a mile during the most
recent year during which transportation was provided by the
carrier on the line; and
(B) the ratio of benefits to costs for the project, as
calculated using the methodology established under subsection (b)
of this section, is more than 1.0.
(2) If the rail carrier that provided the transportation on the
rail line is no longer in existence, the applicant for the project
shall provide the information required by the certification under
paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection in the way the Secretary
prescribes.
(3) The Secretary may waive the requirement of paragraph (1)(A)
or (2) of this subsection if the Secretary -
(A) decides that the rail line has contractual guarantees of at
least 40 carloads a mile for each of the first 2 years of
operation of the proposed project; and
(B) finds that there is a reasonable expectation that the
contractual guarantees will be fulfilled.
(d) Limitations on Amounts. - A State may not receive more than
15 percent of the amounts provided in a fiscal year under this
chapter. Not more than 20 percent of the amounts available under
this chapter may be provided in a fiscal year for any one project.

-SOURCE-
(Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 894; Pub. L.
104-88, title III, Sec. 308(f)(1), (2), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat.
947.)

-MISC1-

Historical and Revision Notes
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Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at
Large)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
22101(a) 49 App.:1654(b). Oct. 15, 1966, Pub.
L. 89-670, 80 Stat.
931, Sec. 5(b),
(c), (n)-(p); added
Feb. 5, 1976, Pub.
L. 94-210, Sec.
803, 90 Stat. 130;
Nov. 8, 1978, Pub.
L. 95-607, Sec. 102-
106(a), 107-109(a),
92 Stat. 3059,
3062; Oct. 12,
1979, Pub. L. 96-
86, Sec. 115(b), 93
Stat. 662; Aug. 13,
1981, Pub. L. 97-
35, Sec. 1191, 1192,
95 Stat. 699; Jan.
14, 1983, Pub. L.
97-468, Sec. 501,
96 Stat. 2551; Apr.
7, 1986, Pub. L. 99-
272, Sec. 4018, 100
Stat. 111; restated
Dec. 11, 1989, Pub.
L. 101-213, Sec.
2(a), (c), 103
Stat. 1843, 1844,
1848.
49 App.:1654(p).
22101(b) 49 App.:1654(n).
22101(c) 49 App.:1654(c).
22101(d) 49 App.:1654(o).
-------------------------------
In this chapter, the word ''transportation'' is substituted for
''service'' for consistency in the revised title.
In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words ''when a rail
carrier . . . maintains a rail line in the State'' are substituted
for ''As used in this section, the term 'State' means any State in
which a rail carrier providing transportation . . . maintains any
line of railroad'' because of the restatement. The words ''the
jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission'' are omitted as
unnecessary because of 49:ch. 105. In clause (1), the words ''by
purchase, lease'' are omitted as being included in ''in any way the
State considers appropriate'' to eliminate unnecessary words.
In subsection (b), the words ''no later than July 1, 1990'' are
omitted as executed.
In subsection (c)(1), before clause (A), the words ''Assistance
for a project shall be provided under this chapter only if'' are
substituted for ''No project shall be provided rail freight
assistance under this section unless'' because of the restatement.
In subsection (c)(2), the words ''If the rail carrier that
provided the transportation on the rail line'' are substituted for
''In a case where the railroad'', and the words ''information
required by the certification under paragraph (1)(A) of this
subsection'' are substituted for ''such information'', for clarity.
AMENDMENTS
1995 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104-88 substituted ''part A of
subtitle IV'' for ''subchapter I of chapter 105'' in introductory
provisions and ''Surface Transportation Board'' for ''Interstate
Commerce Commission'' in par. (1).
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1995 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 104-88 effective Jan. 1, 1996, see section 2
of Pub. L. 104-88, set out as an Effective Date note under section
701 of this title.

-SECREF-
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS
This section is referred to in sections 22103, 22104, 22105 of
this title.