Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 90 Part 1.djvu/121

 PUBLIC LAW 94-210—FEB. 5, 1976

90 STAT. 71

section, the Secretary shall, after giving due consideration to such recommendations, prepare and transmit to the Congress his final recommendations with respect to the matters referred to in subsection (b) of this section. REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT r i N A N C I N G

SEC. 505. (a) TIMING.—Any railroad may apply to the Secretary 45 USC 825. following the date of enactment of this Act, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary— (1) for such financial assistance as may be approved by the Secretary; and (2) for financial assistance for facilities rehabilitation and improvement financing, except that the Secretary shall not act finally on any such application until the date of publication of the final standards and designations under section 503(e) of this title. (b) APPLICATION AND DETERMINATION.— (1) Each application for facilities rehabilitation and improvement financing shall set forth—• (A) a description of the proposed facilities rehabilitation and improvement project for which such railroad is seeking financial assistance, and of the current physical condition of such facilities; (B) the classification of each main and branch rail line included in such project, as determined in accordance with the final standards and designations under section 503(e) of this title; (C) the track standard under which each such line has been and is being operated and the leasons therefor, and the safety standards and signal requirements necessary under such standard to prevent loss of life and serious accident or injury at grade crossings; (D) the track standard necessary, in the judgment of such railroad, to provide reliable and comjietitive freight service (and passenger service, where applicable) over each such line, together with such railroad's recommendations as to (i) the most economical method of improving the physical condition of each such line to meet such track standard, (ii) the cost of providing adequate safety standards and signals, and (iii) an economic analysis of the cost of such improvements in condition and in safety standards and signals; (E) such railroad's estimate as to the cost of labor and materials, and the date of completion, and its opinion as to the priority to be accorded such portions of the proposed project as are reasonably divisible; (F) the amount and kind of Federal financial assistance required by such railroad in order to complete the proposed project; and (G) such other information as the Secretary shall by regulation require to assist him in evaluating such application in accordance with this section or for carrying out the purposes of this title. (2) The Secretary shall act upon each such application within 6 months after the date on which all required information is received, except as otherwise provided in subsection (a)(2) of this section. The Secretary may approve any such application if he determines that providing the requested financial assistance is in the public interest. When making such a determination, the Secretary shall consider (A) the availability of funds from other sources at a cost which is reasonable under principles of prudent railroad financial management in light of the railroad's projected rate of return for the project to be financed, (B) the interest of the public in supplementing such other

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