49 U.S.C. § 24315 — Reports and audits

(a) Amtrak Annual Operations Report — By February 15 each year, Amtrak must send Congress a report that: (1) for every route Amtrak ran the year before, gives data on ridership, passenger-miles, short-term profit or loss per passenger-mile, revenue-to-cost ratio, revenue, the U.S. government subsidy, any subsidy from elsewhere, on-time performance, and any change to the route's frequency or stops; (2) explains any decision to pay an Amtrak officer more than the top federal pay rate (Executive Schedule level I); and (3) lists significant operating problems and Amtrak's proposed fixes. (b) Amtrak General and Legislative Annual Report — (1) By February 15 each year, Amtrak must send the President and Congress a full report on its operations, activities, and accomplishments, including revenue and spending for the past year. The report: (A) must discuss how well Amtrak is meeting the goal in section 24902(a); (B) may recommend legislation, including funding needs and how to calculate and source them; (C) must include the category described in section 24319(c)(2)(C); (D) must include a plan for bringing Amtrak stations that don't meet the Americans with Disabilities Act into compliance, as required by Amtrak's 2020 settlement with the Justice Department; and (E) must report on the status of ADA compliance at stations where Amtrak is solely responsible, where responsibility is shared, and where Amtrak has no responsibility, identifying who's in charge and the compliance timeline in each case. (2) Amtrak can also send extra reports to the President and Congress whenever it wants. (3) For the shared- and no-responsibility station reports under (1)(E)(ii)-(iii), Amtrak can satisfy the requirement by showing it made reasonable efforts to get cooperation from the responsible parties. (4) Amtrak must keep submitting the ADA action plan and status report yearly while the 2020 settlement is in effect, then every 5 years after that. (c) Secretary's Report on Effectiveness of This Part — The Secretary of Transportation must write a report on how well this part of the law is achieving a balanced national transportation system, and may recommend legislation. This report goes inside the Secretary's annual report required under section 308(a). (d) Independent Audits — An independent certified public accountant must audit Amtrak's financial statements every year, done where the statements are normally kept and following standard accounting rules. This audit report must be included in the report required by subsection (a). (e) Comptroller General Audits — The Comptroller General may conduct performance audits of Amtrak's activities and transactions, done wherever the Comptroller General decides and under standard management principles, and may set rules governing the audit. (f) Availability of Records and Property of Amtrak and Rail Carriers — For audits under (d) or (e), Amtrak — and any rail carrier under contract with Amtrak, if the Comptroller General requires it — must make all necessary records and property available. Both must provide ways to verify transactions against balances or securities held by banks, agents, and custodians. Both may keep their reports and property. (g) Comptroller General's Report to Congress — The Comptroller General must send Congress a report on each audit, with comments and information about Amtrak's finances and recommendations, and must flag any financial transaction the Comptroller General thinks was done without legal authority. A copy goes to the President, the Secretary, and Amtrak at the same time it goes to Congress. (h) Access to Records and Accounts — A state must be able to see Amtrak's records, accounts, and other documents used to figure out how much that state owes Amtrak.