March 3, 2022 - TRA Newswire -

Who will get over $100 billion in funding for expanding passenger and freight rail? What could it mean for Texas?

Chief Counsel of the Federal Railroad Administration, Allison Ishihara Fultz, is one of the leaders that will have to figure out how to disburse the most funding for rail projects the agency has ever received. Fultz will speak at the 18th Annual Southwestern Rail Conference in Dallas on April 1. Conference details can be found at http://texasrailadvocates.org/2022-southwestern-rail-conference/

The agency will be the ultimate recipient of over $100 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also now referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)

Over the next five years the FRA will take on more new programs and greatly expand existing programs to enhance the nation’s rail network for both freight and passenger rail traffic. $66 billion will come from advanced appropriations and $36 billion in authorized funding. Fultz is the principal legal advisor to the agency and leads FRA’s staff of legal professionals.

Chief Counsel Futz joined the FRA from private practice, where she focused her work on transactional and regulatory matters related to transportation infrastructure projects. She represented public transportation providers, a transit safety oversight agency, State departments of transportation and regional transportation bodies, local governments, and private entities nationwide before numerous federal agencies and state and federal courts.

In her previous position she counseled clients extensively on the acquisition and abandonment of railroad rights-of-way, shared use of rail corridors by freight and passenger operators, rails-to-trails proposals, regulation and contracting for inter-city passenger rail service, infrastructure project development, historic preservation, environmental reporting, agency rulemaking, project procurement, and drafting and negotiation of contracts for railroad construction, operations, and maintenance services.