49 U.S.C. § 24911 — Federal-State partnership for intercity passenger rail

(a) Definitions. (1) "Applicant" means a state (including D.C.), a group of states, an interstate compact, a public agency or authority one or more states created, a political subdivision of a state, Amtrak (on its own or with states), a federally recognized Indian Tribe, or any combination of these. (2) "Intercity rail passenger transportation" has the meaning given in section 24102. (3) "Northeast Corridor" means the main rail line between Boston and D.C., the branch lines connecting to Harrisburg, Springfield, and Spuyten Duyvil, New York, and the facilities and services used to operate and maintain those lines. (b) Grant Program Authorized. The Secretary must develop and run a competitive grant program funding capital projects that reduce the state-of-good-repair backlog, improve performance, or expand or create new intercity passenger rail service — including privately operated service, if an eligible applicant is involved. (c) Eligible Projects. Grants under this section, including for acquiring real property interests, can fund: (1) replacing, rehabilitating, or repairing infrastructure, equipment, or a facility to bring intercity rail passenger assets into a state of good repair; (2) improving service performance, including shorter trip times, more frequent trains, higher speeds, better reliability, expanded capacity, reduced congestion, electrification, and other improvements the Secretary approves; (3) expanding or establishing new intercity passenger rail service; (4) groups of related projects described in (1) through (3); and (5) planning, environmental studies, and final design for a project or group of projects described in (1) through (4). (d) Project Selection Criteria. (1) For Northeast Corridor projects, the Secretary must select consistent with the published Northeast Corridor Project Inventory — unless materially changed infrastructure, service conditions, sponsor capabilities, or other significant changes require otherwise — and, for projects benefiting both intercity and commuter rail, only select them once Amtrak and the commuter rail authorities involved are in compliance with section 24905(c)(2) and have identified funding for the intercity, commuter, and local shares before the project starts. (2) For projects off the Corridor, the Secretary must give preference to projects where Amtrak isn't the sole applicant, that improve an Amtrak route's financial performance, reliability, frequency, or repair, and that appear in a corridor inventory built under the Corridor Identification and Development Program (section 25101); and must weigh the project's cost-benefit analysis — including effects on system and service performance, safety, competitiveness, trip time, greenhouse gas emissions, and resilience; expected economic and employment impacts near stations, historic districts, or opportunity zones; efficiencies from better connections to other modes; and ability to meet demand — plus how much the project's business plan considers private-sector participation, the applicant's track record on similar projects and past financial contributions, whether the applicant has or will have the legal, financial, and technical capacity to carry out the project plus continued access to and willingness to maintain the equipment or facilities, consistency with relevant planning guidance, whether the project serves historically unconnected or underconnected communities, and any other relevant factor the Secretary identifies. (3) The Secretary must reserve at least 45 percent of the appropriated grant money for projects off the Northeast Corridor (at least 20 percent of that share for projects benefiting a long-distance route), and at least 45 percent for projects listed on the published Northeast Corridor project inventory. (e) Long-term Planning. Within 1 year of the 2021 Passenger Rail Expansion and Rail Safety Act's enactment, and every 2 years after, the Secretary must publish a Northeast Corridor project inventory that: (1) identifies capital projects for federal investment, applicants, and proposed federal funding levels; (2) sets the order the Secretary will fund projects with identified sponsors on the Corridor, including a method and plan for apportioning funds over a 2-year period, which the Secretary may adjust if recipients fall behind schedule; (3) considers the sequencing and phasing in the Corridor capital investment plan under section 24904(a); (4) is consistent with the most recent Corridor service development plan update under section 24904(d); (5) considers existing commitments and expected federal, applicant, sponsor, and other funding for the next 5 fiscal years; and (6) is developed with the Northeast Corridor Commission and the owners of Corridor infrastructure and facilities. (f) Federal Share of Total Project Costs. (1) The Secretary must estimate a project's total cost using the best available information — engineering studies, economic feasibility studies, environmental analyses, and expected equipment or facility use. (2) The federal share of total costs cannot exceed 80 percent, except as allowed under paragraph (4). (3) If Amtrak is the applicant, it may use ticket and other revenue to cover its non-federal share. (g) Letters of Intent; Phased Funding Agreements. (1) The Secretary may issue a grantee a letter of intent announcing an intention to obligate, from future available budget authority, an amount up to the Secretary's stated financial share of a major capital project — while stating clearly that this contingent commitment is not a federal obligation and depends on future appropriations and any federal laws enacted after the commitment. (2) The Secretary may enter a phased funding agreement with an applicant if the project is highly rated under this section's evaluations and the requested federal assistance exceeds $80,000,000. That agreement must set the terms of federal participation, establish the maximum federal funding, cover the time needed to complete the project (even past the period Congress has already authorized funding for), ease timely and efficient project management under federal law, and, if applicable, specify when environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act and related laws will be finished. On finances: the agreement obligates already-available budget authority now and may include a contingent commitment, dependent on future appropriations, to obligate more later; the agreement must state that contingent commitment isn't a government obligation; interest and other financing costs of efficiently carrying out part of the project count as a project cost, but capped at what the most favorable financing terms reasonably available would cost, and the applicant must certify to the Secretary that it showed reasonable diligence in seeking those terms; if the applicant fails to carry out the project for reasons within its control, it must repay all federal grant funds awarded for the project, from every federal funding source and every project activity, facility, and equipment, plus reasonable interest and penalty charges allowed by law or set in the agreement — except that an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act that results in choosing the no-build option does not count as something within the applicant's control; and any funds the government gets back under this paragraph, other than interest and penalties, go back into the appropriation account they came from. (3) At least 30 days before issuing a phased funding agreement or a letter of intent, the Secretary must notify the Senate and House commerce/transportation and appropriations committees, including a copy of the agreement or letter, the selection criteria used, and how the project met them. (4) The Secretary may make phased funding agreements with contingent commitments in whatever amounts the Secretary finds appropriate, but may only actually obligate or administratively commit money once it has been appropriated for that purpose. (h) Availability. Amounts appropriated for this section stay available until spent. (i) Grant Conditions. Except where this section specifically says otherwise, money granted under this section is subject to the grant conditions in sections 22903 and 22905. (j) Annual Report on Phased Funding Agreements and Letters of Intent. By the first Monday in February each year, the Secretary must report to the relevant Senate and House committees: (1) a proposed allocation of available grant money among applicants; (2) evaluations and ratings for each project with a phased funding agreement or letter of intent; and (3) funding recommendations for those projects, based on the evaluations and ratings and on expected funding for the next 3 fiscal years. (k) Regional Planning Guidance Corridor Planning. The Secretary may withhold up to 5 percent of the total money available for this section to carry out planning and development activities tied to section 25101 — including funding public entities to develop service development plans selected under the Corridor Identification and Development Program, facilitating and guiding intercity passenger rail systems planning, and funding the development of planning analytical tools and models.