President Obama and Vice President Biden announced the award of nearly $8 billion in federal funds to initiate the planning and development of high-speed rail corridors around the nation.  Funding had been authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  More than half will be aimed at developing new, large-scale, high-speed rail programs.  California received the largest single share—up to $2.25 billion—for its planned project to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco and points in between with trains running up to 220 miles per hour.  Florida will receive up to $1.25 billion to develop a new high-speed rail corridor between Tampa and Orlando with trains running up to 168 miles per hour.  Approximately $1.1 billion has been allocated to upgrade existing track between Chicago and St. Louis to permit trains to travel at up to 110 miles per hour.  The remaining $3.4 billion is allocated among projects to serve corridors in Madison-Milwaukee-Chicago; Charlotte to Washington, DC; Eugene, OR, to Seattle; Detroit to Chicago; Cleveland to Cincinnati; and in the Northeast.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) heard an oral argument in a case challenging the validity of a mechanism used for nearly 20 years by public transit and commuter operator agencies to acquire active freight rail corridors free of STB oversight.  Since 1991, the Board has authorized agencies operating passenger service to acquire the real estate and physical assets in a rail corridor without taking on the associated common carrier obligation as long as another party remains responsible for conducting freight service on the line.  A group of unions has argued that the Interstate Commerce Act and Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act do not create separate interests in the operating rights and physical plant of a line of railroad, and that acquisition of the physical assets therefore is subject to STB jurisdiction.  If the Board adopts the unions’ arguments and limits or reverses its existing approach, the impact on future transactions by passenger rail agencies to acquire active freight rail lines will be significant.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that it completed its investigation into the fatal September 12, 2008, collision between a passenger commuter train and freight train in Chatsworth, California.  In its synopsis of findings and recommendations, the NTSB recommended that inward- and outward-facing cameras and audio recorders be installed in all controlling locomotive cabs and cab car operating compartments in order to verify that train crew actions are in accordance with safety rules and procedures.  The NTSB recommended that such devices have a minimum 12-hour continuous recording capability, that the recordings be easily accessible for review, and that railroads regularly review such recordings in conjunction with other performance data.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued its final rule, including detailed technical specifications, for implementing positive train control (PTC) on all commuter and intercity passenger rail lines, and a significant subset of freight rail corridors.  PTC is an automated, signal-based system of automatically controlling the movement of trains to prevent collisions and the incursion of trains into restricted zones.  The mandate to install PTC appeared in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, and requires PTC to be installed by December 31, 2015, on each main line over which poison- or toxic-by-inhalation hazardous materials are transported, each main line used for regularly provided intercity or commuter passenger service (subject to certain exceptions), and any additional line of railroad as the FRA may require.  FRA has solicited further comment to address the clarity, certainty, and transparency of the criteria governing relief from the requirement to install PTC.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released its final rule governing the structural capacity of cab cars and multiple-unit locomotives to withstand head-on impacts.  Such cars incorporate an engineer’s cab and passenger compartment for use as the lead car in a passenger consist.  Because trains configured with leading cab cars or multiple-unit locomotives have no traditional locomotive in the lead, the lead car must be able to withstand a head-on collision.  The final rule is based on structural modeling and full-scale field testing and requires the equipment to absorb collision energy and maintain sufficient integrity in crashes of a specified magnitude and speed to protect the interior space of the car.  The final rule applies to cab cars and multiple-unit locomotives in service at speeds not exceeding 125 mph.  The FRA rejected analogous European crashworthiness standards as inapplicable because of the lighter weight and differing collision characteristics used to formulate the European rule.

Firm partners Sarah Rockwell and Lori Potter have both been listed in the “Top 25 Women Lawyers” list for Colorado Super Lawyers 2010.  The Top 25 Women list appears in Colorado Super Lawyers 2010 magazine, which is a section of the Super Lawyers special section of 5280 magazine.

On December 21, 2009, the Department of Transportation issued final rules prescribing air carrier responsibilities in the event of lengthy tarmac delay.  The rules will require U.S. air carriers operating aircraft designed for thirty or more seats to develop and implement contingency plans to address extended delay.  Air carriers generally will have to deplane passengers after three hours and provide food and water after two hours.  The rules also require air carriers to develop and publish customer service plans.

Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell attorneys Steve Kaplan and Lori Potter are highlighted in this article about the Firm’s complex and varied land use practice.

On November 16, 2009, the City of Chicago and Village of Bensenville announced the settlement of litigation over the planned expansion of Chicago O’Hare International Airport.  Under the agreement, Chicago will pay Bensenville $16 million to acquire Village property, will implement a demolition protocol for homes within the Village, and will commit approximately $20 million for sound insulation of schools and homes impacted by airport expansion.  In exchange, Bensenville will dismiss its acquisition- and demolition-related litigation against Chicago.  The settlement thus eliminates one obstacle to the ambitious O’Hare Modernization Plan.

On November 2, 2009, the FAA released its decision rejecting the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority’s application for a mandatory nighttime curfew at the Bob Hope Airport.  The Authority’s application was the first formal request for a curfew under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 (ANCA).  The FAA found that the application failed to satisfy four of six conditions imposed by Congress in ANCA.  Immediately following FAA’s release of the decision, Representative Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) proposed that Congress enact legislation that would authorize a curfew at the airport.