BRAIN TRAIN Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1852 To establish an intercity passenger rail service investment grant program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 26, 2021 Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish an intercity passenger rail service investment grant program. 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 TITLES. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Rail Across 4 Intercity Networks To Ride Around Interior of the Nation 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘BRAIN TRAIN Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1852 IS SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM FOR HIGH- 1 PERFORMANCE INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL 2 SERVICE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 261 of title 49, United 4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘§ 26107. Intercity passenger rail service investment 7 program 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means 10 Amtrak or a State, group of States, interstate com- 11 pact, or public agency established by 1 or more 12 States with responsibility for providing intercity pas- 13 senger rail service. 14 ‘‘(2) CAPITAL PROJECT.—The term ‘capital 15 project’ means a project or program in a State rail 16 plan developed under chapter 227 for— 17 ‘‘(A) acquiring, constructing, improving, or 18 inspecting equipment, track, and track struc- 19 tures, or a facility of use in or for the primary 20 benefit of intercity passenger rail service; 21 ‘‘(B) expenses incidental to the acquisition 22 or construction (including designing, engineer- 23 ing, location surveying, mapping, environmental 24 studies, and acquiring active or out of service 25 rights-of-way); and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1852 IS ‘‘(C) payments for the capital portions of 1 rail trackage rights agreements, highway-rail 2 grade crossing improvements related to intercity 3 passenger rail service, mitigating environmental 4 impacts, communication and signalization im- 5 provements, relocation assistance, acquiring re- 6 placement housing sites, and acquiring, con- 7 structing, relocating, and rehabilitating replace- 8 ment housing. 9 ‘‘(3) HIGH-PERFORMANCE RAIL.—The term 10 ‘high-performance rail’ means intercity passenger 11 rail service that is designed to meet the current and 12 future market demand for the transportation of peo- 13 ple, in terms of capacity, travel times, reliability, and 14 efficiency. 15 ‘‘(4) INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE.— 16 The term ‘intercity passenger rail service’ has the 17 meaning given the term ‘intercity rail passenger 18 transportation’ in section 24102. 19 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 20 the Secretary of Transportation. 21 ‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any of 22 the 50 States or the District of Columbia. 23 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1852 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab- 1 lish an intercity passenger rail service investment 2 program to promote high-performance rail transpor- 3 tation options. 4 ‘‘(2) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary 5 may award grants under this section to an applicant 6 to finance capital projects for high-performance rail, 7 including grants awarded in installments for projects 8 lasting longer than 1 year. 9 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—Each applicant seeking a grant 10 under this section shall submit an application to the Sec- 11 retary in such form and containing such information as 12 the Secretary shall reasonably require. 13 ‘‘(d) COMPETITIVE GRANT SELECTION AND CRI- 14 TERIA FOR GRANTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 16 ‘‘(A) establish criteria for selecting among 17 capital projects that meet the criteria specified 18 in paragraph (2); 19 ‘‘(B) conduct a national solicitation for ap- 20 plications; and 21 ‘‘(C) award grants on a competitive basis. 22 ‘‘(2) GRANT CRITERIA.—In selecting the recipi- 23 ents of intercity passenger rail grants under sub- 24 section (b)(2), the Secretary shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1852 IS ‘‘(A) require— 1 ‘‘(i) the project to be part of a State 2 rail plan developed under chapter 227, or 3 under the plan required under section 211 4 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Im- 5 provement Act of 2008 (49 U.S.C. 24902 6 note); 7 ‘‘(ii) the applicant or recipient to have 8 the legal, financial, and technical capacity 9 to carry out the project, satisfactory con- 10 tinuing control over the use of the equip- 11 ment or facilities, and the capability and 12 willingness to maintain the equipment or 13 facilities; 14 ‘‘(iii) the project to be based on the 15 results of preliminary engineering studies 16 or other planning; 17 ‘‘(iv) the applicant to provide suffi- 18 cient information upon which the Secretary 19 can make the findings required under this 20 subsection; 21 ‘‘(v) if an applicant has selected the 22 proposed operator of its service, the appli- 23 cant to provide written justification to the 24 Secretary showing why the proposed oper- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1852 IS ator is the best, taking into account costs 1 and other factors; 2 ‘‘(vi) each proposed project to meet all 3 safety and security requirements that are 4 applicable to the project under law; and 5 ‘‘(vii) each project to be compatible 6 with, and operated in conformance with— 7 ‘‘(I) plans developed pursuant to 8 the requirements under section 135 of 9 title 23; and 10 ‘‘(II) the national rail plan (if 11 available); 12 ‘‘(B) select high-performance rail 13 projects— 14 ‘‘(i) that are anticipated to result in 15 significant improvements to intercity rail 16 passenger service, including consideration 17 of the project’s— 18 ‘‘(I) levels of estimated ridership, 19 increased on-time performance, re- 20 duced trip time, or additional service 21 frequency to meet anticipated or exist- 22 ing demand; 23 ‘‘(II) anticipated provision of 24 intercity passenger rail service in his- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1852 IS torically and persistently unconnected 1 and under-connected regions; and 2 ‘‘(III) anticipated favorable im- 3 pact on air or highway traffic conges- 4 tion, capacity, or safety; 5 ‘‘(ii) for which there is a high degree 6 of confidence that the proposed project is 7 feasible and will result in the anticipated 8 benefits, as indicated by— 9 ‘‘(I) the project’s 10 precommencement compliance with 11 environmental protection require- 12 ments; 13 ‘‘(II) the readiness of the project 14 to be commenced; and 15 ‘‘(III) other relevant factors de- 16 termined by the Secretary; and 17 ‘‘(iii) for which the level of the antici- 18 pated benefits compares favorably to the 19 amount of Federal funding requested 20 under this section; and 21 ‘‘(C) give greater consideration to projects 22 that— 23 ‘‘(i) are anticipated to result in bene- 24 fits to other modes of transportation and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1852 IS to the public at large, including consider- 1 ation of the project’s— 2 ‘‘(I) encouragement of intermodal 3 connectivity through provision of di- 4 rect connections between train and 5 transit stations, airports, bus termi- 6 nals, subway stations, ferry ports, and 7 other modes of transportation; 8 ‘‘(II) anticipated improvement of 9 conventional intercity passenger, 10 freight, or commuter rail operations; 11 ‘‘(III) use of positive train con- 12 trol technologies; 13 ‘‘(IV) environmental benefits, in- 14 cluding projects that involve the pur- 15 chase of environmentally sensitive, 16 fuel-efficient or electrified, and cost- 17 effective passenger rail equipment; 18 ‘‘(V) anticipated reduction of 19 greenhouse gas emissions; 20 ‘‘(VI) anticipated improvement of 21 air quality and public health; 22 ‘‘(VII) anticipated positive eco- 23 nomic and employment impacts, in- 24 cluding development in the areas near 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1852 IS passenger stations, historic districts, 1 or other opportunity zones; 2 ‘‘(VIII) encouragement of State 3 and private contributions toward sta- 4 tion development, energy and environ- 5 mental efficiency, and economic bene- 6 fits; and 7 ‘‘(IX) provision of enhanced ac- 8 cess for persons with disabilities to 9 intercity passenger rail service; and 10 ‘‘(ii) incorporate equitable financial 11 participation in the project’s financing, in- 12 cluding consideration of— 13 ‘‘(I) donated or discounted inter- 14 ests in real or personal property; 15 ‘‘(II) donated services; 16 ‘‘(III) financial contributions by 17 intercity passenger, freight, and com- 18 muter rail carriers commensurate with 19 the benefit expected to their oper- 20 ations; 21 ‘‘(IV) financial commitments 22 from host railroads, non-Federal gov- 23 ernmental entities, nongovernmental 24 entities, and others; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1852 IS ‘‘(V) Federal loans, including 1 loans under title V of the Railroad 2 Revitalization and Regulatory Reform 3 Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 821 et seq.). 4 ‘‘(3) GRANT CONDITIONS.—The Secretary shall 5 require each recipient of a grant under this chapter 6 to comply with the grant requirements under section 7 22905. 8 ‘‘(4) STATE RAIL PLANS.—State rail plans com- 9 pleted before the date of enactment of the Passenger 10 Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (divi- 11 sion B of Public Law 110–432) that substantially 12 meet the requirements of chapter 227 of this title, 13 as determined by the Secretary pursuant to section 14 22706, shall be deemed by the Secretary to have met 15 the requirements of paragraph (2)(A)(i). 16 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL SHARE.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 18 cost of a capital project financed under this section 19 shall not exceed 90 percent of the project’s net cap- 20 ital cost. 21 ‘‘(2) IN-KIND MATCH.—The fair market value 22 of in-kind contributions to a capital project financed 23 under this section shall be treated as non-Federal 24 matching funds for purposes of paragraph (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1852 IS ‘‘(3) LOANS.—The value of any Federal loans 1 paid back with non-Federal funds shall be treated as 2 non-Federal matching funds for purposes of para- 3 graph (1). 4 ‘‘(f) ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 5 year after the date of the enactment of this section, the 6 Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out this section. 7 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 9 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sec- 10 tion $5,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 11 2022 through 2026. 12 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any amounts 13 appropriated for a fiscal year pursuant to paragraph 14 (1) that remain unobligated at the end of such fiscal 15 year shall be made available for eligible projects in 16 the following fiscal year.’’. 17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 18 for chapter 261 of title 49, United States Code, is amend- 19 ed by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘26107. Intercity passenger rail service investment program.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:35 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1852.IS S1852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS