To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a Center of Excellence to advance rail research and development.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3726 To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a Center of Excellence to advance rail research and development. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 4, 2021 Ms. NEWMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish a Center of Excellence to advance rail research and development. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. RAIL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER 3 OF EXCELLENCE. 4 Section 20108 of title 49, United States Code, is 5 amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(d) RAIL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER 7 OF EXCELLENCE.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:07 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3726.IH H3726 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3726 IH ‘‘(1) CENTER OF EXCELLENCE.—The Secretary 1 shall establish a center of excellence to carry out re- 2 search and development that improves the safety, ef- 3 ficiency and reliability of passenger and freight rail 4 transportation. 5 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF HOST INSTITUTION.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 7 select an institution of higher education, or a 8 consortium of institutions of higher education, 9 to host and maintain the center of excellence 10 established under paragraph (1). 11 ‘‘(B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting a 12 such an institution, the Secretary shall— 13 ‘‘(i) give preference to applicants with 14 strong past performance related to rail re- 15 search, education, and workforce develop- 16 ment activities; 17 ‘‘(ii) consider the extent to which the 18 applicant would involve public and private 19 sector passenger and freight railroad oper- 20 ators; and 21 ‘‘(iii) consider the regional and na- 22 tional impacts of the applicant’s proposed 23 research and development activities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:07 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3726.IH H3726 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3726 IH ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—The institution of higher 1 education may use funds provided under this sub- 2 section to carry out basic and applied research, eval- 3 uation, education, workforce development, and train- 4 ing efforts related to safety, efficiency, reliability, re- 5 siliency, and sustainability of commuter rail, inter- 6 city high-speed rail, and freight rail transportation, 7 including advances in rolling stock, advanced posi- 8 tive train control, human factors, rail infrastructure, 9 shared corridors, grade crossing safety, inspection 10 technology, remote sensing, rail systems mainte- 11 nance, network resiliency, operational reliability, en- 12 ergy efficiency, and advanced technologies. 13 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a 14 grant under this subsection shall not exceed 50 per- 15 cent of the costs of establishing and operating the 16 center of excellence and related research activities 17 carried out by the grant recipient. 18 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 19 ‘‘(A) FISCAL YEAR 2022.—There is author- 20 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary 21 $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2022 for a grant 22 under this subsection. 23 ‘‘(B) FISCAL YEARS 2023 THROUGH 2026.— 24 There are authorized to be appropriated to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:07 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3726.IH H3726 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3726 IH Secretary such sums as may be necessary for 1 each of the fiscal years 2022 through 2026 for 2 a grant under this subsection. 3 ‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appro- 4 priated pursuant to this paragraph shall remain 5 available until expended. 6 ‘‘(6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION DE- 7 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘institution of 8 higher education’ has the meaning given the term in 9 section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 10 (20 U.S.C. 1001).’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:07 Jun 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3726.IH H3726 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS