RAIL FUNDING AND FINANCE OPTIONS



RAIL FUNDING AND FINANCE OPTIONS

New York State’s Rail Capital Improvement Programs

Section 14-d of the New York State Transportation Law authorizes the Commissioner of Transportation to enter into contracts with private corporations, other state Agencies, Public Authorities, political subdivisions of the State, and other States, among others entities listed, for the purpose of maintaining and improving rail transportation services. (NYS Transportation Law, 14-d, 1, b) Thus, the Commissioner is explicitly authorized to fund capital improvements on any rail transportation facilities, whether it is government or privately owned. The Commissioner is also authorized to acquire any rail transportation facilities for the purpose of rail transportation services, but is not required to do so prior to funding capital improvements.

The State of New York generally provides State funds for rail capital improvements through the following four programs:

Rail Service Preservation Program

The Rail Service Preservation Program is a multi-year freight and passenger rail funding program passed by the State Legislature. Funds are appropriated from general state revenues annually. The current program is a $100 m program five years in length. Beginning in State FY 2005 (1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006), $20 m is available for capital projects and other railroad freight and passenger service preservation contracting each year. Since 2003, funding from this program has been used for the annual subsidy which NYSDOT pays to Amtrak for operation of Adirondack service between Albany and Montreal, QUE. The balance of the annual appropriation is available to fund freight and passenger capital improvements. There is no local match requirement for this program.

 

Link to Application Guidelines (.pdf)

 

Link to Application Form (.wpd)

Rebuild and Renew New York Transportation Bond Act of 2005

The $2.9 billion Rebuild and Renew New York Transportation Bond Act of 2005 was passed by the voters of New York State in the November 2005 election. The Governor and the Legislature signed a Memorandum of Understanding which established their agreement on “…the portion of the State Highway and Bridge, Rail and Ports, Aviation, MTA, non-MTA Transit, and Canal programs to be funded through …” the bond act. (NYS 2005 MOU) The bond act allocates $27 m to rail and port projects each year for five years. The projects funded in the initial 2 years of the program were included in the MOU. For years 3 through 5 of the program, the MOU requires that NYSDOT develop formal procedures to invite applications from eligible recipients, specifies application evaluation criteria, and requires notification to the Governor and the Legislature of those projects which the Department proposes to add to the Appendix D project list. A 10% local match is required for projects funded by the bond program.

 

Link to Application Guidelines (.pdf)

Link to Application Form (.wpd)

 

Industrial Access Program

The Industrial Access Program was established by Chapter 54 of the Laws of 1985 for the purpose of providing State funding for necessary road and bridge improvements which facilitate economic development and result in the creation and/or retention of jobs. Under the Laws of 1998, projects which provide rail access were made eligible. (NYSDOT Website, IAP)

The Industrial Access Program is a combination 60% grant and 40% loan program, up to a maximum of $1M, with a five year repayment period; a ten year repayment period is permitted if the total IAP project costs are over $1M. If the total award is in excess of $2M, there are provisions to make the entire award a grant with no repayment required. The regulations governing the Industrial Access Program are contained in Title 17, New York Code of Rules and Regulations, Part 36.

 

Link to IAP info

 

Multi-Modal Program

The Multi-Modal Program is authorized by Section 14-k of NYS Transportation Law. This program provides funds for capital improvements to rail freight & passenger facilities, port facilities, aviation facilities, local roads and bridges, and fixed ferry facilities. Funds are generated through sale of bonds by the New York Thruway Authority or the New York State Dormitory Authority, depending on the authorization language, and are appropriated each year by the State Legislature. There are no specific dollar amounts set aside on a modal basis and the value of rail-related projects varies per year, but usually is a small percentage of the total program. The annual appropriation of Multi-Modal Program is actually divided into three separate groups: funds controlled by the State Senate; funds controlled by the State Assembly, and funds controlled by the Governor. Projects funded from this program must be nominated by the Governor or members of the Legislature. NYSDOT evaluates nominated projects for compliance with the eligibility criteria, but has no role in project selection. There is no requirement for a local match in this program.

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