WASHINGTON — Maine’s congressional delegation is working to save a key source of federal funding for Downeaster train service that would be cut by transportation bills pending in the House and Senate.

As much as $6 million a year could be lost, more than a third of the Downeaster’s annual operating budget, and there is no guaranteed source to replace the federal dollars.

Democratic Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud hope to get a House vote as soon as this week on a proposal to restore the money, but the vote may not happen until after a congressional recess next week.

The passenger rail line between Portland and Boston serves about a half-million people a year, and could be crippled if Congress decides “to pull the rug out from under the Downeaster by taking away this funding,” Pingree said.

She expressed cautious optimism that the funding won’t be cut.

“We definitely have our work cut out for us,” Pingree said in an interview Wednesday. “But I am optimistic the delegation can work together to solve the problem.”

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, is trying to build support in the Senate for a similar push, with backers such as Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. That effort, too, will likely have to wait until the Senate returns from recess.

The problem is that transportation bills in the House and Senate would end Maine’s ability to use money from the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program to help operate the Downeaster.

It isn’t clear whether House Republican leaders will be able to pass their bill, which includes cuts in the general road-repair money granted to most states, including Maine. Michaud, a member of the House Transportation Committee, opposed the bill in committee.

The Senate bill is considered more likely to win bipartisan support.

The money from the air quality program is a crucial part of the Downeaster’s annual operating budget of about $15.1 million, $12 million of which is paid to Amtrak to operate the line.

The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which manages the Downeaster on behalf of Maine, brings in about $8 million a year from sources such as ticket sales and food concessions, leaving about a $7.1 million shortfall.

Depending on the year, the federal money is used to cover $5 million to $6 million of that shortfall. The rest comes from revenue raised by a state-imposed car rental sales tax.

When the Downeaster service began in 2001, it was allowed to use the air quality program money temporarily, on the theory that the train was keeping cars off the road and improving air quality.

In a five-year transportation bill passed in 2005, Maine won an exemption that allowed it to keep using the money for the life of the transportation bill. Congress has not passed a new transportation bill since then.

Pingree noted that Congress recently approved spending $38 million to extend Downeaster service north to Brunswick, and millions of dollars more to improve rail lines in Massachusetts. Now Congress is considering ending a vital source of funding for the service, she said.

Patricia Quinn, executive director of the passenger rail authority, said the state would have to find funding for the Downeaster elsewhere if it could no longer use the federal air quality money — not an easy task, given the current state budget crunch.

The Maine Department of Transportation, which oversees Downeaster funding, is monitoring the situation to see if the congressional delegation can keep the money flowing, said Ted Talbot, a department spokesman. If the federal funding is lost, the department will see if the Maine Legislature could fill the gap, he said.

Only Maine and Oregon have exemptions to use the federal air quality money for rail service subsidies, but other states are seeking more flexibility in how the money can be used, Quinn said. That could make it easier for Maine lawmakers to build support in Congress, she said.

MaineToday Media Washington Bureau Chief Jonathan Riskind can be contacted at 791-6280 or at:

jriskind@mainetoday.com

 

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