
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 49USC22101]

 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                        SUBTITLE V--RAIL PROGRAMS
 
                           PART B--ASSISTANCE
 
               CHAPTER 221--LOCAL RAIL FREIGHT ASSISTANCE
 
Sec. 22101. Financial assistance for State projects

    (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.

(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.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
           Revised  Section                    Source (U.S. Code)              
 Source (Statutes at Large)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
22101(a)..............................  49 App.:1654(b).                 Oct. 1
5, 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, Secs.  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, S
ecs.  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;
                                                                          resta
ted 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.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 22103, 22104, 22105 of this 
title.
