49 U.S.C. § 20115 — User fees

submitted 32 years ago by Pub. L. 103-272 to r/title-49-TRANSPORTATION · 461 words · no verdicts yet

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The Secretary of Transportation must charge railroad carriers fees to cover the cost of running railroad safety programs. The fees must be fair, based on factors like track miles or passenger miles. This section expired on September 30, 1995.

(a) Schedule of Fees — The Secretary of Transportation must write rules setting fees for railroad carriers covered by this chapter. The fees must: (1) pay for the cost of running this chapter, except for section 20108(a); (2) be fair, based on a mix of factors like revenue per ton-mile, miles of track, miles traveled by passengers, or other relevant measures; and (3) never be based on how much of the industry's total revenue a single carrier or group of carriers earns. (b) Collection Procedures — The Secretary must set up a process for collecting the fees. The Secretary can ask another federal, state, or local agency to help collect them, and can pay that agency a reasonable amount for the work. (c) Collection, Deposit, and Use — (1) The Secretary must charge and collect the fees for each fiscal year before that year ends. (2) The money goes into the Treasury's general fund as "offsetting receipts." It can only be spent on this chapter's programs, and only if Congress approves that spending in advance through an appropriations law. (3) The fees must add up to enough to pay for this chapter's activities, but the total collected in a year cannot exceed 105 percent of that year's appropriated budget for these activities. (d) Annual Report — (1) Within 90 days after each fiscal year in which fees were collected, the Secretary must report to Congress on: (A) how much money was collected that year; (B) how the fees affected the railroad industry's finances and its ability to compete with other types of transportation; and (C) the total cost of government safety programs for each competing type of transportation, including any part the government covered through its own user fees. (2) Within 90 days of submitting that report, the Secretary must recommend new legislation to Congress if the report found that (A) the fees hurt the railroad industry's finances or competitiveness, or (B) government user fees fall unevenly on railroads compared with other transportation modes. (e) Expiration — This section expired on September 30, 1995.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a)Schedule of Fees.—

The Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe by regulation a schedule of fees for railroad carriers subject to this chapter. The fees—

(1)

shall cover the costs of carrying out this chapter (except section 20108(a));

(2)

shall be imposed fairly on the railroad carriers, in reasonable relationship to an appropriate combination of criteria such as revenue ton-miles, track miles, passenger miles, or other relevant factors; and

(3)

may not be based on that part of industry revenues attributable to a railroad carrier or class of railroad carriers.

(b)Collection Procedures.—

The Secretary shall prescribe procedures to collect the fees. The Secretary may use the services of a department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government or of a State or local authority to collect the fees, and may reimburse the department, agency, or instrumentality a reasonable amount for its services.

(c)Collection, Deposit, and Use.—

(1)

The Secretary shall impose and collect fees under this section for each fiscal year before the end of the fiscal year.

(2)

Fees collected under this section shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury as offsetting receipts. The fees may be used, to the extent provided in advance in an appropriation law, only to carry out this chapter.

(3)

Fees prescribed under this section shall be imposed in an amount sufficient to pay for the costs of activities under this chapter. However, the total fees received for a fiscal year may not be more than 105 percent of the total amount of the appropriations for the fiscal year for activities to be financed by the fees.

(d)Annual Report.—

(1)

Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year in which fees are collected under this section, the Secretary shall report to Congress on—

(A)

the amount of fees collected during that fiscal year;

(B)

the impact of the fees on the financial health of the railroad industry and its competitive position relative to each competing mode of transportation; and

(C)

the total cost of Government safety activities for each other competing mode of transportation, including any part of that total cost defrayed by Government user fees.

(2)

Not later than 90 days after submitting a report for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress recommendations for corrective legislation if the report includes a finding that—

(A)

there has been an impact from the fees on the financial health of the railroad industry or its competitive position relative to each competing mode of transportation; or

(B)

there is a significant difference in the burden of Government user fees on the railroad industry and other competing modes of transportation.

(e)Expiration.—

This section expires on September 30, 1995.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 870.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1994Enacted · Pub. L. 103-272 · 108 Stat. 870

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 103-272 on 1994-07-05.

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