Even if Trump says yes, Obama-era law could sink Gateway rail tunnel

Even if New York and New Jersey can come to an agreement with the Trump administration to pay for a new Hudson River rail tunnel, an Obama-era law threatens to hold up the money.

Both states must obtain certification by April 15, 2019, for their State Safety Oversight programs, which Congress required in a 2012 transportation bill to prevent and mitigate accidents on rail transit systems. Currently, both states remain short of making that goal.

If they fail to meet the deadline, they would be ineligible to not only receive money for the tunnel, but they would also forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in annual federal funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation to support their transit systems.

The tunnel is considered one of the country's most important infrastructure projects. It carries 200,000 passengers a day from New Jersey into New York's Penn Station.

The 108-year-old tunnel sustained significant damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

At some point in the next decade, it may need to be taken out of service for critical repairs, stranding the Amtrak and NJ Transit passengers who depend on it and costing a region that generates $1.3 trillion in economic output — 9 percent of the country's.

But the safety oversight requirement could delay funding for the tunnels, part of what's beomce known as the Gateway Project.

Only three states have achieved certification from the Federal Transit Administration for their safety oversight programs: Ohio, Minnesota and Utah.

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While New Jersey has made some progress toward meeting the law's requirements, New York ranks near the bottom.

In a letter late last week to New York Budget Director Robert Mujica, Federal Transit Administration Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams noted the state's lack of progress.

"We remain deeply concerned that New York is seriously behind in its State Safety

Oversight Agency certification process," she wrote.

The letter also appeared to walk back an agreement reached between the Obama administration and the two states' governors on splitting the cost for the $12.7 billion tunnel project.

But even if the two states are able to reach a new agreement with the Trump administration to pay for the project, any delay in compliance with the safety oversight requirement could delay the funds.

"If a state fails to obtain certification for its (State Safety Oversight) Program by the deadline," the Federal Transit Administration states, the agency "cannot obligate any funds to public transportation agencies throughout that state until certification is achieved."

In addition to any funding for the tunnel, the federal agency could also withhold the annual funding each state counts on to support its transit systems. In New Jersey, that's more than $600 million. In New York, that's more than $1.5 billion.

Joseph Morrissey, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Transportation, said the state has been engaged in an "ongoing dialogue" with federal officials over the requirement.

"We remain confident that the State Safety Oversight program will be recognized as fully compliant well before the April 15, 2019 certification deadline," he said.

A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Transportation couldn't immediately say whether the state would meet the same deadline, citing preparations for a winter storm.

An Amtrak spokesman declined to comment.

In September testimony before a legislative oversight committee in Trenton, John Porcari, the interim executive director of the Gateway Development Corp., gave lawmakers an idea of what would happen if the new tunnel doesn't get built.

He described a "nightmare scenario" that would require shutting down one of two tracks in the existing tunnel, reducing its capacity from 24 trains an hour to six.

"The implications for the region's economy - and New Jersey's economy in particular - would be devastating," Porcari testified. "It's a situation we cannot allow to happen."

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise of improving the nation's infrastructure. It isn't clear if the Gateway tunnel will be part of that. The White House is expected to roll out a more detailed infrastructure proposal in the coming weeks.