49 USC 24904 - Northeast Corridor planning

View all text of Chapter 249 [§ 24901 - § 24911]

§ 24904. Northeast Corridor planning

(a)Northeast Corridor Service Development Plan.—

(1)In general.—Not later than March 31, 2022, the Northeast Corridor Commission established under section 24905 (referred to in this section as the “Commission”) shall submit a service development plan to Congress.

(2)Contents.—The plan required under paragraph (1) shall—

(A) identify key state-of-good-repair, capacity expansion, and capital improvement projects planned for the Northeast Corridor;

(B) provide a coordinated and consensus-based plan covering a 15-year period;

(D) provide a delivery-constrained strategy that identifies—

(i) capital investment phasing;

(ii) an evaluation of workforce needs; and

(iii) strategies for managing resources and mitigating construction impacts on operations; and

(E) include a financial strategy that identifies funding needs and potential funding sources.

(3)Updates.—The Commission shall update the service development plan not less frequently than once every 5 years.

(b)Northeast Corridor Capital Investment Plan.—

(1)In general.—Not later than November 1 of each year, the Commission shall—

(A) develop an annual capital investment plan for the Northeast Corridor; and

(B) submit the capital investment plan to—

(i) the Secretary of Transportation;

(ii) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and

(iii) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.

(2)Contents.—The plan required under paragraph (1) shall—

(A) reflect coordination across the entire Northeast Corridor;

(B) integrate the individual capital plans developed by Amtrak, States, and commuter authorities in accordance with the cost allocation policy developed and approved under section 24905(c);

(D) notwithstanding section 24902(b), document the projects and programs being undertaken to advance the service objectives and capital investments identified in the Northeast Corridor service development plan developed under subsection (a), and the asset condition needs identified in the Northeast Corridor asset management plans, after considering—

(i) the benefits and costs of capital investments in the plan;

(ii) project and program readiness;

(iii) the operational impacts; and

(iv) Federal and non-Federal funding availability;

(E) categorize capital projects and programs as primarily associated with 1 of the categories listed under section 24319(c)(2)(C);

(F) identify capital projects and programs that are associated with more than 1 category described in subparagraph (E); and

(G) include a financial plan that identifies—

(i) funding sources and financing methods;

(ii) the status of cost sharing agreements pursuant to the cost allocation policy developed under section 24905(c);

(iii) the projects and programs that the Commission expects will receive Federal financial assistance; and

(iv) the eligible entity or entities that the Commission expects—(I) to receive the Federal financial assistance referred to in clause (iii); and(II) to implement each capital project.

(3)Review and coordination.—The Commission shall require that the information described in paragraph (2) be submitted in a timely manner to allow for a reasonable period of review by, and coordination with, affected agencies before the Commission submits the capital investment plan pursuant to paragraph (1).

(c)Failure To Develop a Capital Investment Plan.—If a capital investment plan has not been developed by the Commission for a given fiscal year, then the funds assigned to the Northeast Corridor account established under section 24317(b) for that fiscal year may be spent only on capital projects and programs contained in the Commission’s capital investment plan for the prior fiscal year.

(d)Northeast Corridor Capital Asset Management System.—

(1)In general.—Amtrak and other infrastructure owners that provide or support intercity rail passenger transportation along the Northeast Corridor shall develop an asset management system and use and update such system, as necessary, to develop submissions to the Northeast Corridor capital investment plan described in subsection (b).

(2)Features.—The system required under paragraph (1) shall develop submissions that—

(A) are consistent with the transit asset management system (as defined in section 5326(a)(3)); and

(B) include—

(i) an inventory of all capital assets owned by the developer of the plan;

(ii) an assessment of condition of such capital assets;

(iii) a description of the resources and processes that will be necessary to bring or to maintain such capital assets in a state of good repair; and

(iv) a description of changes in the condition of such capital assets since the submission of the prior version of the plan.

(e)Definition of Northeast Corridor.—In this section, the term “Northeast Corridor” means the main line between Boston, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia, and the Northeast Corridor branch lines connecting to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Spuyten Duyvil, New York, including the facilities and services used to operate and maintain those lines.

(Added Pub. L. 114–94, div. A, title XI, § 11306(a)(2), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1658; amended Pub. L. 117–58, div. B, title II, § 22301, Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 714.)