Direct loans and loan guarantees under this section shall not be used for railroad operating expenses.
The Secretary may provide a direct loan or loan guarantee under this section for a project described in paragraph (1)(E) only during the 4-year period beginning on
The aggregate unpaid principal amounts of obligations under direct loans and loan guarantees made under this section shall not exceed $35,000,000,000 at any one time. Of this amount, not less than $7,000,000,000 shall be available solely for projects primarily benefiting freight railroads other than Class I carriers. The Secretary shall not establish any limit on the proportion of the unused amount authorized under this subsection that may be used for 1 loan or loan guarantee.
The Secretary shall require interest to be paid on a direct loan made under this section at a rate not less than that necessary to recover the cost of making the loan.
The Secretary shall not make a loan guarantee under this section if the interest rate for the loan exceeds that which the Secretary determines to be reasonable, taking into consideration the prevailing interest rates and customary fees incurred under similar obligations in the private capital market.
In lieu of or in combination with appropriations of budget authority to cover the costs of direct loans and loan guarantees as required under section 661c(b)(1) of title 2, including the cost of a modification thereof, the Secretary may accept on behalf of an applicant for assistance under this section a commitment from a non-Federal source, including a State or local government or agency or public benefit corporation or public authority thereof, to fund in whole or in part credit risk premiums and modification costs with respect to the loan that is the subject of the application or modification. In no event shall the aggregate of appropriations of budget authority and credit risk premiums described in this paragraph with respect to a direct loan or loan guarantee be less than the cost of that direct loan or loan guarantee.
Credit risk premiums under this subsection shall be paid to the Secretary before the disbursement of loan amounts (and in the case of a modification, before the modification is executed), to the extent appropriations are not available to the Secretary to meet the costs of direct loans and loan guarantees, including costs of modifications thereof.
Not later than 30 days after the date that the Secretary receives an application under this section, or additional information and material under paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall provide the applicant written notice as to whether the application is complete or incomplete.
Not later than 60 days after the date the Secretary notifies an applicant that an application is complete under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide the applicant written notice as to whether the Secretary has approved or disapproved the application.
In order to enable compliance with the time limit under subparagraph (A), the Office of Management and Budget shall take any action required with respect to the application within that 60-day period.
The Secretary shall implement procedures and measures to economize the time and cost involved in obtaining an approval or a disapproval of an application for a direct loan or loan guarantee under this subchapter.
The Secretary shall establish a repayment schedule requiring payments to commence not later than 5 years after the date of substantial completion.
Interest shall accrue as of the date of disbursement, and shall be amortized over the remaining term of the loan beginning at the time the payments begin.
If at any time after the date of substantial completion the obligor is unable to pay the scheduled loan repayments of principal and interest on a direct loan provided under this section, the Secretary, subject to subparagraph (B), may allow, for a maximum aggregate time of 1 year over the duration of the direct loan, the obligor to add unpaid principal and interest to the outstanding balance of the direct loan.
With respect to a direct loan provided by the Secretary under this section, any excess revenues that remain after satisfying scheduled debt service requirements on the project obligations and direct loan and all deposit requirements under the terms of any trust agreement, bond resolution, or similar agreement securing project obligations may be applied annually to prepay the direct loan without penalty.
The direct loan may be prepaid at any time without penalty from the proceeds of refinancing from non-Federal funding sources.
Subject to paragraph (2) and as soon as practicable after substantial completion of a project, the Secretary, after notifying the obligor, may sell to another entity or reoffer into the capital markets a direct loan for the project if the Secretary determines that the sale or reoffering has a high probability of being made on favorable terms.
In making a sale or reoffering under paragraph (1), the Secretary may not change the original terms and conditions of the secured loan without the prior written consent of the obligor.
Except as provided in paragraph (2), a direct loan provided by the Secretary under this section shall not be subordinated to the claims of any holder of project obligations in the event of bankruptcy, insolvency, or liquidation of the obligor.
The Secretary may impose limitations for the waiver of the nonsubordination requirement under this paragraph if the Secretary determines that such limitations would be in the financial interest of the Federal Government.
Subject to subsection (d) and paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Secretary may enter into a master credit agreement that is contingent on all of the conditions for the provision of a direct loan or loan guarantee, as applicable, under this subchapter and other applicable requirements being satisfied prior to the issuance of the direct loan or loan guarantee.
Section 410(a) of the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), is section 410(a) of Pub. L. 105–134, which is set out as a note under section 24101 of Title 49, Transportation.
A prior section 822, Pub. L. 94–210, title V, § 502,
2015—Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11603(1), substituted “1 of the entities described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), or (6)” for “one railroad”.
Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11603(2), amended par. (6) generally. Prior to amendent, par (6) read as follows: “solely for the purpose of constructing a rail connection between a plant or facility and a second rail carrier, limited option rail freight shippers that own or operate a plant or other facility that is served by no more than a single railroad.”
Subsec. (b)(1)(A). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11604(a)(1), inserted “, and costs related to these activities, including pre-construction costs” after “shops”.
Subsec. (b)(1)(B). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11604(a)(2), substituted “subparagraph (A) or (C);” for “subparagraph (A); or”.
Subsec. (b)(1)(D), (E). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11604(a)(3), (4), added subpars. (D) and (E).
Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11604(c), added par. (3).
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11609(a)(1), inserted “, including projects for the installation of a positive train control system (as defined in section 20157(i) of title 49)” after “public safety”.
Subsec. (c)(2), (3). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11609(a)(2), redesignated pars. (2) and (3) as (3) and (2), respectively.
Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11609(a)(3), inserted “or chapter 227 of title 49” after “section 135 of title 23”.
Subsec. (c)(6) to (9). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11609(a)(4), (5), added par. (6) and redesignated former pars. (6) to (8) as (7) to (9), respectively.
Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11607(a)(1), substituted “In lieu of or in combination with appropriations of budget authority to cover the costs of direct loans and loan guarantees as required under section 661c(b)(1) of title 2, including the cost of a modification thereof, the Secretary may accept on behalf of an applicant for assistance under this section a commitment from a non-Federal source, including a State or local government or agency or public benefit corporation or public authority thereof, to fund in whole or in part credit risk premiums and modification costs with respect to the loan that is the subject of the application or modification.” for “In lieu of or in combination with appropriations of budget authority to cover the costs of direct loans and loan guarantees as required under section 661c(b)(1) of title 2, the Secretary may accept on behalf of an applicant for assistance under this section a commitment from a non-Federal source to fund in whole or in part credit risk premiums with respect to the loan that is the subject of the application.”
Subsec. (f)(2)(D) to (F). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11607(a)(2), inserted “and” at end of subpar. (D), redesignated subpar. (F) as (E), and struck out former subpar. (E) which read as follows: “the size and characteristics of the cohort of which the loan or loan guarantee is a member; and”.
Subsec. (f)(3). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11607(a)(5), added par. (3). Former par. (3) redesignated (4).
Subsec. (f)(4). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11607(a)(4), (6), redesignated par. (3) as (4) and substituted “amounts (and in the case of a modification, before the modification is executed), to the extent appropriations are not available to the Secretary to meet the costs of direct loans and loan guarantees, including costs of modifications thereof” for “amounts”.
Pub. L. 114–94, § 11607(a)(3), struck out par. (4). Text read as follows: “In order to maintain sufficient balances of credit risk premiums to adequately protect the Federal Government from risk of default, while minimizing the length of time the Government retains possession of those balances, the Secretary shall establish cohorts of loans. When all obligations attached to a cohort of loans have been satisfied, credit risk premiums paid for the cohort, and interest accrued thereon, which were not used to mitigate losses shall be returned to the original source on a pro rata basis. A cohort may include loans and loan guarantees. The Secretary shall not establish any limit on the proportion of a cohort that may be used for 1 loan or loan guarantee.”
Subsec. (g)(1). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11606(a), substituted “the lesser of—” for “35 years from the date of its execution;” and added subpars. (A) and (B).
Subsec. (h)(2). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11609(b), inserted “, if applicable” after “project”.
Subsec. (h)(4). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11604(b), added par. (4).
Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11605(a), amended subsec. (i) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “Not later than 90 days after receiving a complete application for a direct loan or loan guarantee under this section, the Secretary shall approve or disapprove the application.”
Subsec. (j)(1). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11606(b)(1), substituted “5 years after the date of substantial completion” for “the sixth anniversary date of the original loan disbursement”.
Subsec. (j)(3), (4). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11606(b)(2), added pars. (3) and (4).
Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11606(c), added subsec. (k).
Subsec. (l). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11606(d), added subsec. (l).
Subsec. (m). Pub. L. 114–94, § 11608, added subsec. (m).
2008—Subsec. (g)(1). Pub. L. 110–432 substituted “35 years” for “25 years”.
2005—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–59, § 9003(b), reenacted heading without change and amended text of subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The Secretary may provide direct loans and loan guarantees to State and local governments, government sponsored authorities and corporations, railroads, and joint ventures that include at least 1 railroad.”
Subsec. (c)(7), (8). Pub. L. 109–59, § 9003(c), added pars. (7) and (8).
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 109–59, § 9003(d), substituted “$35,000,000,000” for “$3,500,000,000” and “$7,000,000,000” for “$1,000,000,000” and inserted at end “The Secretary shall not establish any limit on the proportion of the unused amount authorized under this subsection that may be used for 1 loan or loan guarantee.”
Subsec. (f)(2)(A). Pub. L. 109–59, § 9003(f)(2), substituted “amount of collateral offered, if any;” for “amount of collateral offered;”.
Subsec. (f)(2)(E), (F). Pub. L. 109–59, § 9003(e)(1)–(3), added subpar. (E) and redesignated former subpar. (E) as (F).
Subsec. (f)(4). Pub. L. 109–59, § 9003(e)(4), inserted at end “A cohort may include loans and loan guarantees. The Secretary shall not establish any limit on the proportion of a cohort that may be used for 1 loan or loan guarantee.”
Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 109–59, § 9003(f)(1), designated existing provisions as par. (1), redesignated former pars. (1) to (3) as subpars. (A) to (C) of par. (1), respectively, and added pars. (2) and (3).
Subsecs. (i), (j). Pub. L. 109–59, § 9003(g), added subsecs. (i) and (j).
Amendment by Pub. L. 114–94 effective
Pub. L. 109–59, title IX, § 9003(j),