I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5947 To amend the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 to provide for the Secretary to pay certain credit risk premiums for loan or loan guarantees, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 21, 2020 Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire (for herself, Mr. SMUCKER, and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 to provide for the Secretary to pay certain credit risk premiums for loan or loan guarantees, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Invest in American 4 Railroads Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5947.IH H5947 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5947 IH SEC. 2. PAYMENT OF CREDIT RISK PREMIUMS FOR LOANS 1 AND LOAN GUARANTEES. 2 Section 502(f)(4) of the Railroad Revitalization and 3 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(f)(4)) is 4 amended— 5 (1) by striking ‘‘Credit risk premiums’’ and in- 6 serting the following: 7 ‘‘(A) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—Credit risk 8 premiums’’; and 9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT OF CREDIT RISK PRE- 11 MIUMS.— 12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In granting assist- 13 ance under this section, the Secretary may 14 pay credit risk premiums required under 15 paragraph (3), in whole or in part, with re- 16 spect to a loan or loan guarantee. 17 ‘‘(ii) SET-ASIDE.—Of the amounts 18 made available to carry out this paragraph, 19 at least $100,000,000 shall be used for 20 passenger rail projects for a fiscal year. 21 Any amounts not obligated in a fiscal year 22 shall be made available for any project re- 23 ceiving assistance under this section. 24 ‘‘(iii) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 25 TION.—There are authorized to be appro- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5947.IH H5947 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5947 IH priated $300,000,000 for each of fiscal 1 years 2021 through 2026 to carry out this 2 subparagraph, to remain available until ex- 3 pended.’’. 4 SEC. 3. INCREASING FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR FREIGHT 5 RAIL. 6 Section 502(a) of the Railroad Revitalization and 7 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(a)) is 8 amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 10 end; 11 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 12 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(7) a private entity with controlling ownership 15 in one or more freight railroads other than Class I 16 carriers.’’. 17 SEC. 4. EXPANDING USES FOR RIFF. 18 Section 502(b)(1) of the Railroad Revitalization and 19 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(b)(1)) is 20 amended— 21 (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 22 the following: 23 ‘‘(A) acquire, improve, or rehabilitate 24 intermodal or rail equipment or facilities, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5947.IH H5947 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5947 IH cluding track, components of track, civil works 1 such as cuts and fills, stations, tunnels, bridges, 2 yards, buildings, and shops, and costs related to 3 these activities, including pre-construction 4 costs;’’; and 5 (2) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 6 the following: 7 ‘‘(D) reimburse planning, permitting, and 8 design expenses relating to activities described 9 in subparagraph (A) or (C); or’’. 10 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY. 11 Section 502(f)(3) of the Railroad Revitalization and 12 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(f)(3)) is 13 amended— 14 (1) by amending clause (ii) of subparagraph 15 (B) to read as follows: 16 ‘‘(ii) user fees, including operating or 17 tenant charges, facility rents or other fees 18 paid by transportation service providers or 19 operators for access to or use of infrastruc- 20 ture including but not limited to rail lines, 21 bridges tunnels, yards or stations; or’’; and 22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(D) A projection of freight or passenger 24 demand for the project based on regionally de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5947.IH H5947 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5947 IH veloped economic forecasts, including projec- 1 tions of any modal diversion resulting from the 2 project.’’. 3 SEC. 6. COLLATERAL AND APPRAISAL STANDARDS. 4 Section 502(f) of the Railroad Revitalization and 5 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(f)) is 6 amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘tangible 8 asset’’ and inserting ‘‘collateral described in para- 9 graph (5)’’; and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(5) COLLATERAL.— 12 ‘‘(A) TYPES OF COLLATERAL.—An appli- 13 cant or infrastructure partner may propose tan- 14 gible and intangible assets as collateral, exclu- 15 sive of goodwill. The Secretary shall evaluate 16 each such asset and— 17 ‘‘(i) shall accept a net liquidation 18 value of collateral; and 19 ‘‘(ii) shall consider and may accept— 20 ‘‘(I) the market value of collat- 21 eral; or 22 ‘‘(II) in the case of a blanket 23 pledge or assignment of an entire op- 24 erating asset or basket of assets as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5947.IH H5947 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5947 IH collateral, the net liquidation value, 1 the market value of assets, or, the 2 market value of the going concern, 3 considering— 4 ‘‘(aa) inclusion in the pledge 5 of all the assets necessary for 6 independent operational utility of 7 the collateral, including tangible 8 assets such as real property, 9 track and structure, equipment 10 and rolling stock, stations, sys- 11 tems and maintenance facilities 12 and intangible assets such as 13 long-term shipping agreements, 14 easements, leases and access 15 rights such as for trackage and 16 haulage; 17 ‘‘(bb) interchange commit- 18 ments; and 19 ‘‘(cc) the value of the asset 20 as determined through the cost 21 or market approaches, or the 22 market value of the going con- 23 cern, with the latter considering 24 discounted cash flows for a pe- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5947.IH H5947 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5947 IH riod not to exceed the term of the 1 direct loan or loan guarantee. 2 ‘‘(B) APPRAISAL STANDARDS.—In evalua- 3 tion of appraisals of collateral under subpara- 4 graph (A), the Secretary shall consider— 5 ‘‘(i) adherence to the substance and 6 principles of the Uniform Standards of 7 Professional Appraisal Practice, as devel- 8 oped by the Appraisal Standards Board of 9 the Appraisal Foundation; 10 ‘‘(ii) performance of the appraisal by 11 licensed or certified appraisers as may be 12 required by the State of jurisdiction for the 13 type of asset being appraised; and 14 ‘‘(iii) the qualifications of the apprais- 15 ers to value the type of collateral offered.’’. 16 SEC. 7. REPAYMENT OF RRIF LOANS. 17 Section 502(g)(1) of the Railroad Revitalization and 18 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822(g)(1)) is 19 amended— 20 (1) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘35’’ and 21 inserting ‘‘50’’; and 22 (2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 23 follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5947.IH H5947 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5947 IH ‘‘(B) the estimated useful life of the rail 1 equipment or facilities to be acquired, rehabili- 2 tated, improved, developed, or established, in- 3 cluding civil works such as cuts and fills, 4 bridges, tunnels, yards, buildings and other 5 long-lived assets.’’. 6 SEC. 8. LEVERAGING EXISTING FEDERAL INFRASTRUC- 7 TURE PROGRAMS. 8 Section 502 of the Railroad Revitalization and Regu- 9 latory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 822) is amended 10 by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(n) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The proceeds of a se- 12 cured loan under this title, if such loan is repayable from 13 non-Federal funds, shall not be considered Federal funds. 14 Such loan funds shall be accepted for payment of the non- 15 Federal share of project costs under law, including for any 16 projects receiving funding under title 23 or 49 of the 17 United States Code.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5947.IH H5947 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS