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The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) recently launched a “broad-based effort” to include the short-line tax credit extension in tax legislation that will be considered by Congress during a lame-duck session to run through year’s end, according to a newsletter issued by the association last week.

The 45G tax credit — which expired on Dec. 31, 2009, and has not yet been extended for calendar year 2010 — currently is packaged with other expired or expiring tax credits in a tax extenders bill. The measure passed the House twice and Senate once earlier this year, but “never in identical forms,” according to the ASLRRA. If passed as part of the extenders bill, the short-line tax credit likely would likely be extended through Dec. 31, 2010.

Next year, the ASLRRA plans to lobby Congress for another one-year extension through Dec. 31, 2011, as well as seek a multi-year extension through a surface transportation reauthorization bill or some other measure.

Initially enacted in January 2005, the tax credit enables regionals and short lines to claim a tax credit of 50 cents for every dollar spent on infrastructure improvements, up to a cap of $3,500 per mile of owned or leased track.