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Title 49, TransportationRelease 119-110

§22101 Financial Assistance for State Projects

Title 49 › SUBTITLE V — RAIL PROGRAMS › PART B — ASSISTANCE › CHAPTER 221 — LOCAL RAIL FREIGHT ASSISTANCE › § 22101

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must give money to a State for rail freight projects when a rail carrier keeps a rail line in that State. The money can pay to buy or get an interest in a rail line or rail property if the Surface Transportation Board has allowed or exempted abandonment or stopping service. It can pay to fix or improve a line, or to build rail or related facilities (like new connections, terminals, sidings, bridges, or relocations). The fixes and new work can only get money if the carrier says the line moved no more than 5,000,000 gross ton‑miles of freight in the previous year. The Secretary must create a method to compare a project’s benefits to its costs and should try to be fair to different regions and kinds of freight. A project gets money only if the carrier says the line moved more than 20 carloads per mile in the last year it ran trains, and the benefits-to-costs number is more than 1.0. If the carrier no longer exists, the applicant must provide that information as the Secretary requires. The Secretary can waive the 20-carload rule if there are contracts guaranteeing at least 40 carloads per mile for each of the first two years and those contracts are likely to be kept. No State may get more than 15% of a year’s funds, and no single project may get more than 20% in a year.

Full Legal Text

Title 49, §22101

Transportation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)General.—
The Secretary of Transportation shall provide financial assistance to a State, as provided under this chapter, for a rail freight assistance project of the State when a rail carrier subject to part A of subtitle IV of this title maintains a rail line in the State. The assistance is for the cost of— (1)
(2)improving and rehabilitating rail property on a rail line to the extent necessary to allow adequate and efficient rail freight transportation on the line, but only if the rail carrier certifies that the rail line related to the project carried not more than 5,000,000 gross ton-miles of freight a mile in the prior year; and
(3)building rail or rail-related facilities (including new connections between at least 2 existing rail lines, intermodal freight terminals, sidings, bridges, and relocation of existing lines) to improve the quality and efficiency of the rail freight transportation, but only if the rail carrier certifies that the rail line related to the project carried not more than 5,000,000 gross ton-miles of freight a mile in the prior year.
(b)Calculating Cost-Benefit Ratio.—
The Secretary shall establish a methodology for calculating the ratio of benefits to costs of projects proposed under this chapter. In establishing the methodology, the Secretary shall consider the need for equitable treatment of different regions of the United States and different commodities transported by rail. The establishment of the methodology is committed to the discretion of the Secretary.
(c)Conditions.—
(1)Assistance for a project shall be provided under this chapter only if—
(A)a rail carrier certifies that the rail line related to the project carried more than 20 carloads a mile during the most recent year during which transportation was provided by the carrier on the line; and
(B)the ratio of benefits to costs for the project, as calculated using the methodology established under subsection (b) of this section, is more than 1.0.
(2)If the rail carrier that provided the transportation on the rail line is no longer in existence, the applicant for the project shall provide the information required by the certification under paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection in the way the Secretary prescribes.
(3)The Secretary may waive the requirement of paragraph (1)(A) or (2) of this subsection if the Secretary—
(A)decides that the rail line has contractual guarantees of at least 40 carloads a mile for each of the first 2 years of operation of the proposed project; and
(B)finds that there is a reasonable expectation that the contractual guarantees will be fulfilled.
(d)Limitations on Amounts.—
A State may not receive more than 15 percent of the amounts provided in a fiscal year under this chapter. Not more than 20 percent of the amounts available under this chapter may be provided in a fiscal year for any one project.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 22101(a)49 App.:1654(b).Oct. 15, 1966, Pub. L. 89–670, 80 Stat. 931, § 5(b), (c), (n)–(p); added Feb. 5, 1976, Pub. L. 94–210, § 803, 90 Stat. 130; Nov. 8, 1978, Pub. L. 95–607, §§ 102– 106(a), 107–109(a), 92 Stat. 3059, 3062; Oct. 12, 1979, Pub. L. 96–86, § 115(b), 93 Stat. 662; Aug. 13, 1981, Pub. L. 97–35, §§ 1191, 1192, 95 Stat. 699; Jan. 14, 1983, Pub. L. 97–468, § 501, 96 Stat. 2551; Apr. 7, 1986, Pub. L. 99–272, § 4018, 100 Stat. 111; restated Dec. 11, 1989, Pub. L. 101–213, § 2(a), (c), 103 Stat. 1843, 1844, 1848. 49 App.:1654(p). 22101(b)49 App.:1654(n). 22101(c)49 App.:1654(c). 22101(d)49 App.:1654(o). In this chapter, the word “transportation” is substituted for “service” for consistency in the revised title. In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words “when a rail carrier . . . maintains a rail line in the State” are substituted for “As used in this section, the term ‘State’ means any State in which a rail carrier providing transportation . . . maintains any line of railroad” because of the restatement. The words “the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission” are omitted as unnecessary because of 49:ch. 105. In clause (1), the words “by purchase, lease” are omitted as being included in “in any way the State considers appropriate” to eliminate unnecessary words. In subsection (b), the words “no later than July 1, 1990” are omitted as executed. In subsection (c)(1), before clause (A), the words “Assistance for a project shall be provided under this chapter only if” are substituted for “No project shall be provided rail freight assistance under this section unless” because of the restatement. In subsection (c)(2), the words “If the rail carrier that provided the transportation on the rail line” are substituted for “In a case where the railroad”, and the words “information required by the certification under paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection” are substituted for “such information”, for clarity.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1995—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–88 substituted “part A of subtitle IV” for “subchapter I of chapter 105” in introductory provisions and “Surface Transportation Board” for “Interstate Commerce Commission” in par. (1).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1995 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 104–88 effective Jan. 1, 1996, see section 2 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 1301 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

49 U.S.C. § 22101

Title 49, Transportation

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110