Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-161)

In the Senate of the United States,

September 12, 2007.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives

(H.R. 3074) entitled ‘‘An Act making appropriations for

the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban

Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending

September 30, 2008, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with

the following

FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

9 SAFETY AND OPERATIONS

10 For necessary expenses of the Federal Railroad Admin11

istration, not otherwise provided for, $151,186,000, of which

12 $12,268,890 shall remain available until expended.

13 RAILROAD RESEARCHAND DEVELOPMENT

14 For necessary expenses for railroad research and devel15

opment, $36,250,000, to remain available until expended.

16 CAPITAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES—INTERCITY PASSENGER

17 RAIL SERVICE

18 To enable the Federal Railroad Administrator to make

19 grants to States for the capital costs of improving existing

20 intercity passenger rail service and providing new intercity

21 passenger rail, $100,000,000, to remain available until ex22

pended: Provided, That grants shall be provided to a State

23 only on a reimbursable basis: Provided further, That grants

24 cover no more than 50 percent of the total capital cost of

25 a project selected for funding: Provided further, That no

26 later than eight months following enactment of this Act, the

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1 Secretary shall establish and publish criteria for project se2

lection, set a deadline for grant applications, and provide

3 a schedule for project selection: Provided further, That the

4 provisions of section 24312 of title 49, United States Code,

5 shall apply to grantees assisted under this paragraph: Pro6

vided further, That to be eligible for this assistance, States

7 must include intercity passenger rail service as an integral

8 part of statewide transportation planning as required

9 under section 135 of title 23, United States Code: Provided

10 further, That the specific project must be on the Statewide

11 Transportation Improvement Plan at the time of the appli12

cation to qualify: Provided further, That the Secretary give

13 priority to applications for projects that improve the safety

14 and reliability of intercity passenger trains, involve a com15

mitment by freight railroads to an enforceable on-time per16

formance of passenger trains of 80 percent or greater, in17

volve a commitment by freight railroads of financial re18

sources commensurate with the benefit expected to their op19

erations, improve or extend service on a route that requires

20 little or no Federal assistance for its operations, involve a

21 commitment by States or railroads of financial resources

22 to improve the safety of highway/rail grade crossings over

23 which the passenger service operates.

24 RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM

25 The Secretary of Transportation is authorized to issue

26 to the Secretary of the Treasury notes or other obligations

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HR 3074 EAS

1 pursuant to section 512 of the Railroad Revitalization and

2 Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (Public Law 94–210), as

3 amended, in such amounts and at such times as may be

4 necessary to pay any amounts required pursuant to the

5 guarantee of the principal amount of obligations under sec6

tions 511 through 513 of such Act, such authority to exist

7 as long as any such guaranteed obligation is outstanding:

8 Provided, That pursuant to section 502 of such Act, as

9 amended, no new direct loans or loan guarantee commit10

ments shall be made using Federal funds for the credit risk

11 premium during fiscal year 2008.

12 OPERATING GRANTS TO THE NATIONAL RAILROAD

13 PASSENGER CORPORATION

14 To enable the Secretary of Transportation to make

15 quarterly grants to the National Railroad Passenger Cor16

poration for operation of intercity passenger rail,

17 $485,000,000 to remain available until expended: Provided,

18 That the Secretary of Transportation shall approve funding

19 to cover operating losses for the Corporation only after re20

ceiving and reviewing a grant request for each specific train

21 route: Provided further, That each such grant request shall

22 be accompanied by a detailed financial analysis, revenue

23 projection, and capital expenditure projection justifying the

24 Federal support to the Secretary’s satisfaction: Provided

25 further, That the Corporation is directed to achieve savings

26 through operating efficiencies including, but not limited to,

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1 modifications to food and beverage service and first class

2 service: Provided further, That the Inspector General of the

3 Department of Transportation shall report to the House

4 and Senate Committees on Appropriations beginning three

5 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and quar6

terly thereafter with estimates of the savings accrued as a

7 result of all operational reforms instituted by the Corpora8

tion: Provided further, That not later than 120 days after

9 enactment of this Act, the Corporation shall transmit to the

10 House and Senate Committees on Appropriations the status

11 of its plan to improve the financial performance of food

12 and beverage service and its plan to improve the financial

13 performance of first class service (including sleeping car

14 service): Provided further, That the Corporation shall report

15 quarterly to the House and Senate Committees on Appro16

priations on its progress against the milestones and target

17 dates contained in the plan provided in fiscal year 2007

18 and quantify savings realized to date on a monthly basis

19 compared to those projected in the plan, identify any

20 changes in the plan or delays in implementing these plans,

21 and identify the causes of delay and proposed corrective

22 measures: Provided further, That not later than 90 days

23 after enactment of this Act, the Corporation shall transmit,

24 in electronic format, to the Secretary, the House and Senate

25 Committees on Appropriations, the House Committee on

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HR 3074 EAS

1 Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Com2

mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation a com3

prehensive business plan approved by the Board of Direc4

tors for fiscal year 2008 under section 24104(a) of title 49,

5 United States Code: Provided further, That the business

6 plan shall include, as applicable, targets for ridership, reve7

nues, and capital and operating expenses: Provided further,

8 That the plan shall also include a separate accounting of

9 such targets for the Northeast Corridor; commuter service;

10 long-distance Amtrak service; State-supported service; each

11 intercity train route, including Autotrain; and commercial

12 activities including contract operations: Provided further,

13 That the business plan shall include a description of the

14 work to be funded, along with cost estimates and an esti15

mated timetable for completion of the projects covered by

16 this business plan: Provided further, That the Corporation

17 shall continue to provide monthly reports in electronic for18

mat regarding the pending business plan, which shall de19

scribe the work completed to date, any changes to the busi20

ness plan, and the reasons for such changes, and shall iden21

tify all sole source contract awards which shall be accom22

panied by a justification as to why said contract was

23 awarded on a sole source basis: Provided further, That the

24 Corporation’s business plan and all subsequent supple25

mental plans shall be displayed on the Corporation’s

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1 website within a reasonable timeframe following their sub2

mission to the appropriate entities: Provided further, That

3 the leases and contracts entered into by the Corporation in

4 any year that the Corporation receives a Federal subsidy

5 after the date of enactment of the Act, regardless of the place

6 the same may be executed, shall be governed by the laws

7 of the District of Columbia: Provided further, That none

8 of the funds under this heading may be obligated or ex9

pended until the Corporation agrees to continue abiding by

10 the provisions of paragraphs 1, 2, 5, 9, and 11 of the sum11

mary of conditions for the direct loan agreement of June

12 28, 2002, in the same manner as in effect on the date of

13 enactment of this Act.

14 CAPITAL AND DEBT SERVICE GRANTS TO THE NATIONAL

15 RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION

16 To enable the Secretary of Transportation to make

17 quarterly grants to the National Railroad Passenger Cor18

poration for the maintenance and repair of capital infra19

structure owned by the Corporation, including railroad

20 equipment, rolling stock, legal mandates and other services,

21 $885,000,000, to remain available until expended, of which

22 not to exceed $285,000,000 shall be for debt service obliga23

tions: Provided, That the Secretary may retain up to one24

quarter of one percent of the funds under this heading to

25 fund the oversight by the Federal Railroad Administration

26 of the design and implementation of capital projects funded

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HR 3074 EAS

1 by grants made under this heading: Provided further, That

2 the Secretary shall approve funding for capital expendi3

tures, including advance purchase orders of materials, for

4 the Corporation only after receiving and reviewing a grant

5 request for each specific capital grant justifying the Federal

6 support to the Secretary’s satisfaction: Provided further,

7 That none of the funds under this heading may be used

8 to subsidize operating losses of the Corporation: Provided

9 further, That none of the funds under this heading may be

10 used for capital projects not approved by the Secretary of

11 Transportation or on the Corporation’s fiscal year 2008

12 business plan: Provided further, That $35,000,000 of

13 amounts made available under this heading shall be avail14

able until expended for capital improvements if the Cor15

poration demonstrates to the Secretary’s satisfaction that

16 the Corporation has achieved operational savings and met

17 ridership and revenue targets as defined in the Corpora18

tion’s business plan: Provided further, That of the funds

19 provided under this section, not less than $5,000,000 shall

20 be expended for the development and implementation of a

21 managerial cost accounting system, which includes average

22 and marginal unit cost capability: Provided further, That

23 within 90 days of enactment, the Department of Transpor24

tation Inspector General shall review and comment to the

25 Secretary of Transportation and the House and Senate

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1 Committees on Appropriations upon the strengths and

2 weaknesses of the system being developed by the Corporation

3 and how it best can be implemented to improve decision

4 making by the Board of Directors and management of the

5 Corporation: Provided further, That not later than 180

6 days after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con7

sultation with the Corporation and the States on the North8

east Corridor, shall establish a common definition of what

9 is determined to be a ‘‘state of good repair’’ on the Northeast

10 Corridor and report its findings, including definitional

11 areas of disagreement, to the House and Senate Committees

12 on Appropriations, the House Committee on Transpor13

tation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on

14 Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

15 ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS—FEDERAL RAILROAD

16 ADMINISTRATION

17 SEC. 150. Notwithstanding any other provision of this

18 Act, funds provided in this Act for the National Railroad

19 Passenger Corporation shall immediately cease to be avail20

able to said Corporation in the event that the Corporation

21 contracts to have services provided at or from any location

22 outside the United States. For purposes of this section, the

23 word ‘‘services’’ shall mean any service that was, as of July

24 1, 2006, performed by a full-time or part-time Amtrak em25

ployee whose base of employment is located within the

26 United States.

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1 SEC. 151. Not later than January 1, 2008, the Federal

2 Railroad Administrator shall submit a report, and quar3

terly reports thereafter, to the House and Senate Commit4

tees on Appropriations detailing the Administrator’s efforts

5 at improving the on-time performance of Amtrak intercity

6 rail service operating on non-Amtrak owned property. Such

7 reports shall compare the most recent actual on-time per8

formance data to pre-established on-time performance goals

9 that the Administrator shall set for each rail service, identi10

fied by route. Such reports shall also include whatever other

11 information and data regarding the on-time performance

12 of Amtrak trains the Administrator deems to be appro13

priate.

14 SEC. 152. The Secretary may purchase promotional

15 items of nominal value for use in public outreach activities

16 to accomplish the purposes of 49 U.S.C. 20134: Provided,

17 That the Secretary shall prescribe guidelines for the admin18

istration of such purchases and use.

19 SEC. 153. Hereafter, any lease or contract entered into

20 between the National Railroad Passenger Corporation and

21 the State of Maryland or any department or agency of the

22 State of Maryland, after the date of the enactment of this

23 Act, shall be governed by the laws of the District of Colum24

bia.

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