Railroad Crossing Elimination Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1465 To establish a competitive grant program for highway-rail grade crossing improvement projects. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2021 Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish a competitive grant program for highway-rail grade crossing improvement projects. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Railroad Crossing 4 Elimination Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. RAILROAD CROSSING ELIMINATION PROGRAM. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 229 of title 49, United 7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1465 IS ‘‘§ 22909. Railroad Crossing Elimination Program 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Transpor- 2 tation, in cooperation with the Administrator of the Fed- 3 eral Railroad Administration, shall establish a competitive 4 grant program (referred to in this section as the ‘Pro- 5 gram’) under which the Secretary shall award grants to 6 eligible recipients described in subsection (c) for highway- 7 rail grade crossing improvement projects that focus on im- 8 proving the safety and mobility of people and goods. 9 ‘‘(b) GOALS.—The goals of the Program are— 10 ‘‘(1) to eliminate highway-rail grade crossings 11 that are frequently blocked by trains; 12 ‘‘(2) to improve the health and safety of com- 13 munities; 14 ‘‘(3) to reduce the impacts that freight move- 15 ment and railroad operations may have on under- 16 served communities; and 17 ‘‘(4) to improve the mobility of people and 18 goods. 19 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The following entities 20 are eligible to receive a grant under this section: 21 ‘‘(1) A State, including the District of Colum- 22 bia, Puerto Rico, and other United States territories 23 and possessions. 24 ‘‘(2) A political subdivision of a State. 25 ‘‘(3) A federally recognized Indian Tribe. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1465 IS ‘‘(4) A unit of local government or a group of 1 local governments. 2 ‘‘(5) A public port authority, including inland 3 ports. 4 ‘‘(6) A metropolitan planning organization. 5 ‘‘(7) A group of entities described in any of 6 paragraphs (1) through (6). 7 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may 8 award a grant under the Program for a highway-rail or 9 pathway-rail grade crossing improvement project (includ- 10 ing acquiring real property interests) involving— 11 ‘‘(1) grade separation or closure, including 12 through the use of a bridge or a tunnel; 13 ‘‘(2) track relocation; 14 ‘‘(3) the improvement or installation of protec- 15 tive devices, signals, signs, or other measures to im- 16 prove safety if it is related to a separation or reloca- 17 tion project described in paragraph (1) or (2); 18 ‘‘(4) other means intended to improve the mo- 19 bility of people and goods at highway-rail grade 20 crossings (including technological solutions); 21 ‘‘(5) a group of related projects described in 22 paragraphs (1) through (4) that would collectively 23 improve freight mobility; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1465 IS ‘‘(6) the planning and design of an eligible 1 project described in paragraphs (1) through (5). 2 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 4 grant under the Program shall submit an application 5 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 6 containing such information as the Secretary may 7 require. 8 ‘‘(2) RAILROAD APPROVALS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 10 subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall require 11 applicants to obtain the necessary approvals 12 from any impacted rail carriers or right-of-way 13 owners before proceeding with the construction 14 of a project funded by a grant under the Pro- 15 gram. 16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under 17 subparagraph (A) shall not apply to planning 18 projects described in subsection (d)(6) if the ap- 19 plicant agrees to work collaboratively with rail 20 carriers and right-of-way owners. 21 ‘‘(f) PROJECT SELECTION CRITERIA.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants under 23 the Program, the Secretary shall evaluate the extent 24 to which proposed projects would— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1465 IS ‘‘(A) improve safety at highway-rail or 1 pathway-rail grade crossings; 2 ‘‘(B) improve the mobility of people and 3 goods; 4 ‘‘(C) reduce emissions, protect the environ- 5 ment, and provide community benefits, includ- 6 ing noise reduction; 7 ‘‘(D) improve access to emergency services; 8 ‘‘(E) provide economic benefits; and 9 ‘‘(F) improve access to communities sepa- 10 rated by rail crossings. 11 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In 12 awarding grants under the Program, the Secretary 13 shall consider— 14 ‘‘(A) the degree to which the proposed 15 project will— 16 ‘‘(i) use innovative technologies; 17 ‘‘(ii) use innovative design and con- 18 struction techniques; or 19 ‘‘(iii) use construction materials that 20 reduce greenhouse gas emissions; 21 ‘‘(B) the applicant’s planned use of con- 22 tracting incentives to employ local labor, to the 23 extent permissible under Federal statutes and 24 regulations; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1465 IS ‘‘(C) whether the proposed project im- 1 proves the mobility of— 2 ‘‘(i) multiple modes of transportation, 3 including ingress and egress from freight 4 facilities; or 5 ‘‘(ii) users of nonvehicular modes of 6 transportation, such as pedestrians, bicy- 7 clists, and public transportation; 8 ‘‘(D) whether the proposed project is iden- 9 tified in— 10 ‘‘(i) the freight investment plan com- 11 ponent of a State freight plan, as required 12 under section 70202(b)(9) of title 49, 13 United States Code; 14 ‘‘(ii) a State rail plan prepared under 15 chapter 227; or 16 ‘‘(iii) a State highway-rail grade 17 crossing action plan, as required under sec- 18 tion 11401(b) of the FAST Act (49 U.S.C. 19 22501 note); and 20 ‘‘(E) the level of financial support provided 21 by impacted rail carriers. 22 ‘‘(3) AWARD DISTRIBUTION.—In selecting 23 grants for Program funds in any fiscal year, the 24 Secretary shall comply with the following limitations: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1465 IS ‘‘(A) GRANT FUNDS.—Not less than 20 1 percent of the grant funds available for the 2 Program in any fiscal year shall be reserved for 3 projects located in rural areas or on tribal 4 lands. The requirement under section 22907(l) 5 of title 49, United States Code, shall not apply 6 to grant funds reserved under this subpara- 7 graph. 8 ‘‘(B) PLANNING GRANTS.—Not less than 9 25 percent of the grant funds set aside for 10 planning projects in any fiscal year pursuant to 11 subsection (k)(2) shall be awarded for projects 12 located in rural areas or on tribal lands. 13 ‘‘(C) STATE LIMITATION.—Not more than 14 20 percent of the grant funds available for the 15 Program in any fiscal year may be selected for 16 projects in any single State. 17 ‘‘(D) MINIMUM SIZE.—No grant awarded 18 under this section shall be for less than 19 $1,000,000. 20 ‘‘(g) COST SHARE.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 22 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of a project 23 carried out using a grant under the Program may 24 not exceed 80 percent of the total cost of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1465 IS project. Applicants may count costs incurred for pre- 1 liminary engineering associated with highway-rail 2 and pathway-rail grade crossing improvement 3 projects as part of the total project costs. 4 ‘‘(2) PLANNING PROJECTS.—The Federal share 5 of the cost of a planning project described in sub- 6 section (d)(6) may be 100 percent of the total cost 7 of the project. 8 ‘‘(h) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later 9 than 3 days before awarding a grant for a project under 10 the Program, the Secretary shall submit written notifica- 11 tion of the proposed grant to the Committee on Com- 12 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 13 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 14 House of Representatives, which notification shall in- 15 clude— 16 ‘‘(1) a summary of the project; and 17 ‘‘(2) the amount of the proposed grant award. 18 ‘‘(i) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term 19 ‘rural area’ means any area that is not in an urbanized 20 area, as defined by the Bureau of the Census. 21 ‘‘(j) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after 22 each round of award notifications, the Secretary shall 23 post, on the public website of the Department of Trans- 24 portation, a list of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1465 IS ‘‘(1) all eligible applicants that submitted an 1 application for funding under the Program during 2 such fiscal year; 3 ‘‘(2) the grant recipients and projects that re- 4 ceived grant funding under the Program during such 5 fiscal year; and 6 ‘‘(3) a list of proposed projects and applicants 7 that were determined to be ineligible. 8 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 10 appropriated $500,000,000 in each of the fiscal 11 years 2022 through 2026 to carry out the Program. 12 ‘‘(2) PLANNING PROJECTS SET ASIDE.—Not 13 less than 3 percent of the amount appropriated for 14 the Program in each fiscal year shall be used for 15 planning projects described in subsection (d)(6). 16 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 17 2 percent of the amount appropriated for the Pro- 18 gram in each fiscal year may be used for administra- 19 tive costs.’’. 20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 21 in chapter 229 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 22 by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘22909. Railroad Crossing Elimination Program.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1465.IS S1465 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS