SF 23 (LSB 1879XS (2) 91)

SENATE FILE 23

BY  SHIPLEY

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the payment of costs by railroad track owners and railroad corporations for certain railroad construction, maintenance, and other related projects.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 312.2, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  The treasurer of state shall before making the allotments in subsection 1 credit annually to the highway grade crossing safety fund the sum of seven hundred thousand dollars, credit annually from the road use tax fund the sum of nine hundred thousand dollars to the highway railroad grade crossing surface repair fund, credit monthly to the primary road fund the dollars yielded from an allotment of sixty-five hundredths of one percent of all road use tax funds for the express purpose of carrying out section 307.24, subsection 5, section 313.4, subsection 2, and section 307.45, and credit annually to the primary road fund the sum of five hundred thousand dollars to be used for paying expenses incurred by the state department of transportation other than expenses incurred for extensions of primary roads in cities. All unobligated funds provided by this subsection, except those funds credited to the highway grade crossing safety fund, shall at the end of each year revert to the road use tax fund. Funds in the highway grade crossing safety fund shall not revert to the road use tax fund except to the extent they exceed five hundred thousand dollars at the end of any biennium. The cost of each highway railroad grade crossing repair project shall be allocated in the following manner:
   a.  Twenty percent of the project cost shall be paid by the railroad company.
   b.  Twenty percent of the project cost shall be paid by the highway authority having jurisdiction of the road crossing the railroad.
   c.  Sixty percent of the project cost shall be paid from the highway railroad grade crossing surface repair fund.
    Sec. 2.  Section 327F.13, subsection 7, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   7.  This section only applies to a location where a close-clearance warning device is required to be placed pursuant to rules of the department when funds are available from the department to reimburse the owner of the railroad track for the cost of the close-clearance warning device, including cost of installation.  The owner of the railroad track is responsible for costs associated with placing warning devices under this section.
    Sec. 3.  Section 327G.11, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   327G.11  Private farm crossings.
   When a person owns farmland on both sides of a railway, or when a railway runs parallel with a public highway thereby separating a farm from such highway, the corporation owning or operating the railway, on request of the owner of the farmland, shall construct and maintain a safe and adequate farm crossing or roadway across the railway and right-of-way at such reasonable place as the owner of the farmland may designate. A private farm crossing established or installed pursuant to this section shall be used solely for farming or agricultural purposes.  The railroad corporation is responsible for costs associated with constructing and maintaining the farm crossing.
    Sec. 4.  Section 327G.15, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  Wherever a railway track crosses or shall hereafter cross a highway, street or alley, the railway corporation owning such track and the The department, in the case of primary highways crossed by railway tracks, the board of supervisors of the county in which such a crossing is located, in the case of secondary roads crossed by railway tracks, or the city council of the city in which a crossing is located, in the case of streets and alleys located crossed by railway tracks within a city, may agree with the railroad corporation owning such tracks upon the location, manner, vacation, physical structure, and characteristics and maintenance of the crossing and flasher lights or gate arm signals at the crossing and allocation of costs thereof. The department shall become a party to the agreement if grade crossing safety funds are to be used. Up to seventy-five percent of the maintenance cost of flasher lights or gate arm signals at the crossing and an unlimited portion of the cost of installing flasher lights or gate arm signals at the crossing may be paid from the grade crossing safety fund.
   2.  Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, The construction of a crossing and the installation and maintenance of flasher lights or gate signals installed or ordered to be installed before July 1, 1973, shall be assumed wholly by the railroad corporation.
    Sec. 5.  Section 327G.15, subsection 3, Code 2025, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 6.  Section 327G.24, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   327G.24  Removal of tracks from crossings.
   Upon consummation of an abandonment of a railway line authorized under 49 U.S.C. §10903 adopted as of a specific date by rule by the department, or upon interim use of railroad rights-of-way to establish appropriate trails pursuant to 16 U.S.C. §1247(d) adopted as of a specific date by rule by the department, if the railway tracks adjacent to a crossing have been removed, but the railway tracks in the crossing have not been removed, the city, county, or other jurisdiction having authority over the highway, street, or alley containing the crossing may remove the tracks from the crossing. However, this section shall not be construed as reducing the obligation or liability of a railway railroad corporation to remove the railway tracks from the crossing.  The railroad corporation is responsible for all costs associated with removing railway tracks from crossings including all costs incurred by a city, county, or other jurisdiction with authority that removes railway tracks.
    Sec. 7.  Section 327G.30, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  If a grade crossing surface of a railroad track and a highway, street, or alley shall require repairs or maintenance, the costs for the maintenance may be paid as provided in section 312.2, subsection 2 shall be assumed wholly by the railroad corporation that owns the track.
    Sec. 8.  Section 327G.30, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2025, are amended by striking the subsections.
    Sec. 9.  Section 327G.81, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   A Other than as provided in subsection 1A, a person, including a state agency or political subdivision of the state, who acquires a railroad right-of-way after July 1, 1979, for a purpose other than farming has all of the following responsibilities concerning that right-of-way:
    Sec. 10.  Section 327G.81, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  1A.  A railroad corporation that transfers a railroad right-of-way to a person who is not a railroad corporation is responsible for the costs associated with the construction and repair of the fence on each side of the property, private crossings as provided for in section 327G.11, drainage as delineated in chapter 468, subchapter V, and overhead, underground, or multiple crossings in accord with section 327G.12. All such construction and repair shall be completed by the railroad corporation prior to the transfer of the right-of-way, unless a different schedule is agreed to by the person acquiring the right-of-way.
    Sec. 11.  REPEAL.  Sections 327G.19 and 327G.29, Code 2025, are repealed.
    Sec. 12.  TRANSFER OF REMAINING MONEYS.  There is transferred from the highway grade crossing safety fund established under section 327G.19 and highway railroad grade crossing surface repair fund established under section 327G.29 to the road use tax fund created in section 312.1 all unencumbered or unobligated moneys remaining on the effective date of this Act.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Current law requires the owner of a railroad track to place certain warning devices (Code section 327F.13 —— close-clearance warning devices; Code section 327G.15 —— signals and gate arms at railway and highway crossings at grade). Railroad corporations are required to, among other things, construct and maintain private farm crossings (Code section 327G.11); construct crossings that intersect highways at grade (Code section 327G.15); remove unused crossings that intersect highways (Code section 327G.24); and maintain certain improvements along the railroad track rights-of-way (Code section 327G.81). A railroad corporation is eligible to agree with the department of transportation (DOT) and the local government entity with jurisdiction over the relevant area about certain costs, and the DOT must assist with the project by paying a portion of the cost for the work, if moneys are available, from the highway railroad grade crossing surface repair fund.
   This bill requires the owner of a railroad track or a railroad corporation, as applicable, to bear the cost of the responsibilities detailed in the bill without assistance from the DOT or another governmental entity.
   The bill requires a railroad corporation that transfers a railroad right-of-way to a person who is not a railroad corporation to pay the costs associated with the related right-of-way improvements prior to the transfer, or on a schedule agreed to by the transferee.
   The bill strikes or repeals all provisions relating to the highway grade crossing safety fund and the highway railroad grade crossing surface repair fund. Any moneys remaining in the repealed funds are transferred to the road use tax fund.