§ 20115. User fees

Statutory text

Schedule of Fees.—

The Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe by regulation a schedule of fees for railroad carriers subject to this chapter. The fees—

shall cover the costs of carrying out this chapter (except section 20108(a));

shall be imposed fairly on the railroad carriers, in reasonable relationship to an appropriate combination of criteria such as revenue ton-miles, track miles, passenger miles, or other relevant factors; and

may not be based on that part of industry revenues attributable to a railroad carrier or class of railroad carriers.

Collection Procedures.—

The Secretary shall prescribe procedures to collect the fees. The Secretary may use the services of a department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government or of a State or local authority to collect the fees, and may reimburse the department, agency, or instrumentality a reasonable amount for its services.

Collection, Deposit, and Use.—

The Secretary shall impose and collect fees under this section for each fiscal year before the end of the fiscal year.

Fees collected under this section shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury as offsetting receipts. The fees may be used, to the extent provided in advance in an appropriation law, only to carry out this chapter.

Fees prescribed under this section shall be imposed in an amount sufficient to pay for the costs of activities under this chapter. However, the total fees received for a fiscal year may not be more than 105 percent of the total amount of the appropriations for the fiscal year for activities to be financed by the fees.

Annual Report.—

Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year in which fees are collected under this section, the Secretary shall report to Congress on—

the amount of fees collected during that fiscal year;

the impact of the fees on the financial health of the railroad industry and its competitive position relative to each competing mode of transportation; and

the total cost of Government safety activities for each other competing mode of transportation, including any part of that total cost defrayed by Government user fees.

Not later than 90 days after submitting a report for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress recommendations for corrective legislation if the report includes a finding that—

there has been an impact from the fees on the financial health of the railroad industry or its competitive position relative to each competing mode of transportation; or

there is a significant difference in the burden of Government user fees on the railroad industry and other competing modes of transportation.

Expiration.—

This section expires on September 30, 1995.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

1994
Pub. L. 103–272 § 1(e) · 108 Stat. 745
Enacted · 49 U.S.C. § 20115
(Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 870.)
Source evidence
Code source credit
(Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 870.)
Enacted provision · exact public law section
Section 1. subtitles ii, ii, and v-x of title 49, united states code (a) Certain general and permanent laws of the 49 USC prec. 101 note. United States, related to transportation, are revised, codified, and enacted by subsections (c)–(e) of this section without substantive change as subtitles II, III, and V–X of title 49, United States Code, “Transportation”. Those laws may be cited as “49 U.S.C. ________”. (b) Title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking the table of subtitles at the beginning of the title and substituting the following new table of subtitles: “Subtitle “I. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION “II. OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES “III. GENERAL AND INTERMODAL PROGRAMS “IV. INTERSTATE COMMERCE “V. RAIL PROGRAMS “VI. MOTOR VEHICLE AND DRIVER PROGRAMS “VII. AVIATION PROGRAMS “VIII. PIPELINES “IX. COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION “X. MISCELLANEOUS (c) Title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking subtitle II, except that chapter 31 (comprising sections 3101–3104) of subtitle II is redesignated and restated as chapter 315 (comprising sections 31501–31504) of subtitle VI of title 49, as enacted by subsection (e) of this section. (d) Title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding the following immediately after subtitle I:

1 of 1 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Notes

historicalAndRevision

Historical and Revision Notes
RevisedSection	Source (U.S. Code)	Source (Statutes at Large)
20115(a)	45:447(a)(1), (3).	Oct. 16, 1970, Pub. L. 91–458, 84 Stat. 971, § 216; added Nov. 5, 1990, Pub. L. 101–508, § 10501(a), 104 Stat. 1388–399.
20115(b)	45:447(a)(2).
20115(c)	45:447(b)–(d).
20115(d)	45:447(e).
20115(e)	45:447(f).

In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words “after notice and comment” are omitted as unnecessary because of 5:553.

In subsection (c), the words “beginning on March 1, 1991” are omitted as obsolete.

Credits

(Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 870.)