23 U.S.C. § 130: Railway-highway crossings

Subject to section 120 and subsection (b) of this section, the entire cost of construction of projects for the elimination of hazards of railway-highway crossings, including the separation or protection of grades at crossings, the reconstruction of existing railroad grade crossing structures, the relocation of highways to eliminate grade crossings, and projects at grade crossings to eliminate hazards posed by blocked grade crossings due to idling trains, may be paid from sums apportioned in accordance with section 104 of this title . In any case when the elimination of the hazards of a railway-highway crossing can be effected by the relocation of a portion of a railway at a cost estimated by the Secretary to be less than the cost of such elimination by one of the methods mentioned in the first sentence of this section, then the entire cost of such relocation project, subject to section 120 and subsection (b) of this section, may be paid from sums apportioned in accordance with section 104 of this title . The Secretary may classify the various types of projects involved in the elimination of hazards of railway-highway crossings, and may set for each such classification a percentage of the costs of construction which shall be deemed to represent the net benefit to the railroad or railroads for the purpose of determining the railroad’s share of the cost of construction. The percentage so determined shall in no case exceed 10 per centum. The Secretary shall determine the appropriate classification of each project. Any railroad involved in a project for the elimination of hazards of railway-highway crossings paid for in whole or in part from sums made available for expenditure under this title, or prior Acts, shall be liable to the United States for the net benefit to the railroad determined under the classification of such project made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. Such liability to the United States may be discharged by direct payment to the State transportation department of the State in which the project is located, in which case such payment shall be credited to the cost of the project. Such payment may consist in whole or in part of materials and labor furnished by the railroad in connection with the construction of such project. If any such railroad fails to discharge such liability within a six-month period after completion of the project, it shall be liable to the United States for its share of the cost, and the Secretary shall request the Attorney General to institute proceedings against such railroad for the recovery of the amount for which it is liable under this subsection. The Attorney General is authorized to bring such proceedings on behalf of the United States, in the appropriate district court of the United States, and the United States shall be entitled in such proceedings to recover such sums as it is considered and adjudged by the court that such railroad is liable for in the premises. Any amounts recovered by the United States under this subsection shall be credited to miscellaneous receipts. Each State shall conduct and systematically maintain a survey of all highways to identify those railroad crossings which may require separation, relocation, or protective devices, and establish and implement a schedule of projects for this purpose. At a minimum, such a schedule shall provide signs for all railway-highway crossings. Before making an apportionment under section 104(b)(3) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall set aside, from amounts made available to carry out the highway safety improvement program under section 148 for such fiscal year, for the elimination of hazards, the installation of protective devices at railway-highway crossings, the replacement of functionally obsolete warning devices, and as described in subparagraph (B), not less than $245,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. A State may use funds set aside under subparagraph (A) for projects to reduce pedestrian fatalities and injuries from trespassing at grade crossings. Sums set aside each fiscal year under subparagraph (A) shall be available for obligation in the same manner as funds apportioned under section 104(b)(1). If a State demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the State has met all its needs for installation of protective devices at railway-highway crossings, the State may use funds made available by this section for other highway safety improvement program purposes. Fifty percent of the funds set aside to carry out this section pursuant to subsection (e)(1) shall be apportioned to the States in accordance with the formula set forth in section 104(b)(3)(A) as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of the MAP–21, and 50 percent of such funds shall be apportioned to the States in the ratio that total public railway-highway crossings in each State bears to the total of such crossings in all States. Notwithstanding paragraph (1), each State shall receive a minimum of one-half of 1 percent of the funds apportioned under paragraph (1). The Federal share payable on account of any project financed with funds set aside to carry out this section shall be 100 percent of the cost thereof. the progress being made to implement the railway-highway crossings program authorized under this section; and the effectiveness of the improvements made as a result of such implementation. the costs of the various treatments employed by the State to implement the railway-highway crossings program; and the effectiveness of such treatments, as measured by the accident experience at the locations that received such treatments. Not later than 30 days after the Federal Highway Administration’s acceptance of each report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1), the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration shall make such report available to the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. Funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section may be used to provide a local government with funds to be used on a matching basis when State funds are available which may only be spent when the local government produces matching funds for the improvement of railway-highway crossings. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section and subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a State may, from sums available to the State under this section, make incentive payments to local governments in the State upon the permanent closure by such governments of public at-grade railway-highway crossings under the jurisdiction of such governments. A State may not make an incentive payment under paragraph (1) to a local government with respect to the closure of a crossing unless the railroad owning the tracks on which the crossing is located makes an incentive payment to the government with respect to the closure. the amount of the incentive payment paid to the government with respect to the crossing by the railroad concerned under paragraph (2); or $100,000. A local government receiving an incentive payment from a State under paragraph (1) shall use the amount of the incentive payment for transportation safety improvements. In carrying out projects under this section, a State shall take into account bicycle safety. Not more than 8 percent of funds apportioned to a State to carry out this section may be used by the State for compilation and analysis of data in support of activities carried out under subsection (g). Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 or within 6 months of a new crossing becoming operational, whichever occurs later, each State shall report to the Secretary of Transportation current information, including information about warning devices and signage, as specified by the Secretary, concerning each previously unreported public crossing located within its borders. On a periodic basis beginning not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and on or before September 30 of every year thereafter, or as otherwise specified by the Secretary, each State shall report to the Secretary current information, including information about warning devices and signage, as specified by the Secretary, concerning each public crossing located within its borders. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Office of Motor Carriers within the Federal Highway Administration shall cooperate and work, on a continuing basis, with the National Association of Governors’ Highway Safety Representatives, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, and Operation Lifesaver, Inc., to improve compliance with and enforcement of laws and regulations pertaining to railroad-highway grade crossings. how the Department of Transportation worked with the entities referred to in paragraph (1) to improve the awareness of the highway and commercial vehicle safety and law enforcement communities of regulations and safety challenges at railroad-highway grade crossings; and how resources are being allocated to better address these challenges and enforce such regulations. to promote grade crossing safety and reduce risk at high risk railroad-highway grade crossings; and to reduce the number of grade crossings while maintaining the reasonable mobility of the American people and their property, including emergency access. Effective programs to reduce the number of unneeded and unsafe railroad-highway grade crossings require the partnership of Federal, State, and local officials and agencies, and affected railroads. Promotion of a balanced national transportation system requires that highway planning specifically take into consideration grade crossing safety. The Secretary shall encourage each State to make progress toward achievement of the purposes of this subsection.” The Secretary of Transportation shall enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to carry out demonstration projects in Lincoln, Nebraska, Wheeling, West Virginia, and Elko, Nevada, for the relocation of railroad lines from the central area of the cities in conformance with the methodology developed under proposals submitted to the Secretary by the respective cities. The cities shall (1) have a local agency with legal authority to relocate railroad facilities, levy taxes for such purpose, and a record of prior accomplishment; and (2) have a current relocation plan for such lines which has a favorable benefit-cost ratio involving and having the unanimous approval of three or more class 1 railroads in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the two class 1 railroads in Wheeling, West Virginia, and Elko, Nevada, and multicivic, local, and State agencies, and which provides for the elimination of a substantial number of the existing railway-road conflict points within the city. The Secretary of Transportation shall enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to carry out a demonstration project in Lafayette, Indiana, for relocation of railroad lines from the central area of the city. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this paragraph $360,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975 . The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out a demonstration project for the elimination or protection of certain public ground-level rail-highway crossings in, or in the vicinity of, Springfield, Illinois. The Secretary of Transportation shall enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to carry out demonstration projects in Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico, for the relocation of railroad lines from the central area of the cities in conformance with the methodology developed under proposals submitted to the Secretary by the Brownsville Navigation District, providing for the construction of an international bridge and for the elimination of a substantial number of existing railway-road conflict points within the cities. The Secretary of Transportation shall enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to carry out a demonstration project in East Saint Louis, Illinois, for the relocation of rail lines between Thirteenth and Forty-third Streets, in accordance with methodology approved by the Secretary. The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out a demonstration project for the relocation of rail lines in the vicinity of Carbondale, Illinois. The Secretary of Transportation shall enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to carry out a demonstration project in New Albany, Indiana, for the elimination of the existing rail loop and relocation of rail lines to a location between Vincennes Street and East Eighth Street, in accordance with methodology approved by the Secretary. The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out demonstration projects for the construction of an overpass at the rail-highway grade crossing on Cottage Grove Avenue between One Hundred Forty-second Street and One Hundred Thirty-eighth Street in the village of Dolton, Illinois, and the construction of an overpass at the rail-highway grade crossing at Vermont Street and the Rock Island Railroad tracks in the city of Blue Island, Illinois. The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out a demonstration project for the elimination of the ground level railroad highway crossing on United States Route 69 in Greenville, Texas. The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out a demonstration project in Anoka, Minnesota, for the construction of an underpass at the Seventh Avenue and County Road 7 railroad-highway grade crossing. The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out a demonstration project in Metairie, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, for the relocation or grade separation of rail lines whichever he deems most feasible in order to eliminate certain grade level railroad highway crossings. The Secretary of Transportation shall enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to carry out a demonstration project in Augusta, Georgia, for the relocation of railroad lines and for the purpose of eliminating highway railroad grade crossings. The Secretary of Transportation shall enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to carry out a demonstration project in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, for the relocation of railroad lines for the purpose of eliminating highway railroad grade crossings. The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out a demonstration project in Sherman, Texas, for the relocation of rail lines in order to eliminate the ground level railroad crossing at the crossing of the Southern Pacific and Frisco Railroads with Grand Avenue-Roberts Road. The Secretary of Transportation shall enter into such arrangements as may be necessary to carry out a demonstration project in Hammond, Indiana, for the relocation of railroad lines for the purposes of eliminating highway railroad grade crossings. The Federal share payable on account of such projects shall be the Federal share provided in section 120(a) of title 23 , United States Code. [sic] except those railroad-highway crossings segments which are already engaged in or have completed the preparation of the plans, specifications and estimates (PS&E) for the construction of the segment involved shall retain the Federal share as specified in subsection [sic] 163(n) [this subsection] as amended by section 134 of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1978 [ section 134 of Pub. L. 95–599 , title I, Nov. 6, 1978 , 92 Stat. 2709 ]. Repealed. Pub. L. 104–66, title I, § 1121(e) , Dec. 21, 1995 , 109 Stat. 724 .] There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section (other than subsection ( l )), not to exceed $15,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974 , $25,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975 , and $50,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976 , $6,250,000, for the period beginning July 1, 1976 , and ending September 30, 1976 , $26,400,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977 , and $51,400,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978 , $70,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1979 , and $90,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1980 , $100,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1981 , and $100,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1982 , and $50,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1983 , and $50,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1984 , and $50,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1985 , and $50,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1986 , and $15,000,000 per fiscal year for each of fiscal years 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, except that not more than two-thirds of all funds authorized and expended under authority of this section in any fiscal year shall be appropriated out of the Highway Trust fund. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any project which is not under construction, according to the Secretary of Transportation, by September 30, 1985 , shall not be eligible for additional funds under this authorization. The Secretary, in cooperation with State highway departments and local officials, shall conduct a full and complete investigation and study of the problem of providing increased highway safety by the relocation of railroad lines from the central area of cities on a nationwide basis, and report to the Congress his recommendations resulting from such investigation and study not later than July 1, 1975 , including an estimate of the cost of such a program. Funds authorized to carry out section 307 of title 23 , United States Code, are authorized to be used to carry out the investigation and study required by this subsection.” For the Federal-aid primary system in rural areas, out of the Highway Trust Fund, $680,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974 , $700,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975 , and $700,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976 . For the Federal-aid secondary system in rural areas, out of Highway Trust Fund, $390,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974 , $400,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975 , and $400,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976 . For the Federal-aid urban system, out of the Highway Trust Fund, $780,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974 , $800,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975 , and $800,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976 . For the extensions of the Federal-aid primary and secondary systems in urban areas, out of the Highway Trust Fund $290,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974 , $300,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975 , and $300,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976 .”