2006 Minnesota Statutes

222.50 RAIL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
    Subdivision 1. Creation. There is created the rail service improvement program to provide
assistance for improvement of rail service in the state.
    Subd. 2. Identifying deteriorating rail line. The commissioner shall identify those rail
lines that have deteriorated or are in danger of deteriorating so as to be unable to carry the
speeds and weights necessary to efficiently transport the goods and products moved or sought
to be moved on the lines.
    Subd. 3. Commissioner's powers; rules. The commissioner shall have the power to:
(1) set priorities for the allocation and expenditure of money or in kind contributions
authorized under the rail service improvement program and develop criteria for eligibility and
approval of projects under the program. The criteria shall include the anticipated economic and
social benefits to the state and to the area being served and the economic viability of the project;
(2) negotiate and enter into contracts for rail line rehabilitation or other rail service
improvement;
(3) disburse state and federal money for rail service improvements; and
(4) adopt rules necessary to carry out the purposes of sections 222.46 to 222.54.
    Subd. 4. Contract. The commissioner may negotiate and enter into contracts for the purpose
of rail service improvement and may incorporate funds available from the federal rail service
continuation program. The participants in these contracts shall be railroads, rail users and the
department, and may be political subdivisions of the state and the federal government. In such
contracts, participation by all parties shall be voluntary. The commissioner may provide a portion
of the money required to carry out the terms of any such contract by expenditure from the rail
service improvement account.
    Subd. 5. Contractual conditions. In making any contract pursuant to subdivision 4 the
commissioner may:
(1) stipulate minimum operating standards for rail lines designed to achieve reasonable
transportation service for shippers and to achieve best use of funds invested in rail line
rehabilitation;
(2) require a portion of the total assistance for improving a rail line to be loaned to the
railroad by rail users and require the railroad to reimburse rail users for any loan on the basis of
use of the line and the revenues produced when the line has been improved;
(3) determine the terms and conditions under which all or any portion of state funds allocated
shall be repaid to the department by the railroads. Reimbursement may be made as a portion of
the increased revenue derived from the improved rail line. Any reimbursement received by the
department pursuant to this clause shall be deposited in the rail service improvement account
and shall be appropriated exclusively for rehabilitating other rail lines in the state pursuant to
subdivision 4; and
(4) to the extent not prohibited by federal law or regulation, require that when the railroad
elects to contract for portions of the rehabilitation work or rail service improvement, the railroad
must select a contractor who is experienced in rail rehabilitation work, and must require the
contractor to:
(i) recruit any new workers from the area where the work is to be done; and
(ii) pay workers under the contract wages that are equal to or greater than the wages the
railroad pays its own workers for similar work, but not less than twice the state minimum wage that
state-covered employers are required to pay under section 177.24, subdivision 1, paragraph (b).
    Subd. 6. Grants. The commissioner may approve grants from the rail service improvement
account for payment of up to 50 percent of the nonfederal share of the cost of any rail line project
under the federal rail service continuation program.
    Subd. 7. Expenditures. (a) The commissioner may expend money from the rail service
improvement account for the following purposes:
(1) to make transfers as provided under section 222.57 or to pay interest adjustments on loans
guaranteed under the state rail user and rail carrier loan guarantee program;
(2) to pay a portion of the costs of capital improvement projects designed to improve rail
service including construction or improvement of short segments of rail line such as side track,
team track, and connections between existing lines, and construction and improvement of loading,
unloading, storage, and transfer facilities of a rail user;
(3) to acquire, maintain, manage, and dispose of railroad right-of-way pursuant to the state
rail bank program;
(4) to provide for aerial photography survey of proposed and abandoned railroad tracks for
the purpose of recording and reestablishing by analytical triangulation the existing alignment
of the inplace track;
(5) to pay a portion of the costs of acquiring a rail line by a regional railroad authority
established pursuant to chapter 398A;
(6) to pay the state matching portion of federal grants for rail-highway grade crossing
improvement projects.
(b) All money derived by the commissioner from the disposition of railroad right-of-way or
of any other property acquired pursuant to sections 222.46 to 222.62 shall be deposited in the
rail service improvement account.
    Subd. 8.[Repealed, 1989 c 299 s 11]
History: 1976 c 204 s 5; 1977 c 347 s 36; 1978 c 667 s 9; 1978 c 793 s 67; Ex1979 c 1 s
31-34,45; 1980 c 558 s 2; 1981 c 338 s 3; 1983 c 326 s 2; 1989 c 218 s 1; 1989 c 299 s 6-8; 1992
c 581 s 16; 1994 c 635 art 1 s 20