§20115 User fees

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must make a yearly fee schedule for railroad companies to pay for running the rules in this chapter. The fees must cover the chapter’s costs (except costs under section 20108(a)). They must be fair and set using things like revenue ton‑miles, track miles, or passenger miles, and may not be based on a carrier’s share of industry revenue. The Secretary must set rules to collect the fees and may hire a federal, state, or local agency to collect them and pay that agency a reasonable fee. Fees must be set and collected each fiscal year before the year ends. Money collected goes into the Treasury’s general fund as offsetting receipts and can be used to carry out the chapter only if Congress provides money in advance. Fees must be enough to cover costs but cannot exceed 105 percent of the appropriations for the covered activities. Within 90 days after each fiscal year ends, the Secretary must report to Congress on how much was collected, the fees’ effect on railroad finances and competition, and the government safety costs for other transport modes (including user fees). If the report finds harm to railroads or a big difference in fee burdens, the Secretary must send suggested law changes to Congress within 90 days after the report. The authority in effect ended on September 30, 1995.