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147A.250 Railtrail Development Office -- Authority to apply for grants.
A Railtrail Development Office is hereby created within the Department for Local
Government. The Department for Local Government shall ensure that the office has
the necessary expertise to carry out the requirements imposed upon it by this
section. Among other railtrail functions and duties which may be assigned to it, the
Railtrail Development Office shall carry on at least the following responsibilities:
(1) The office shall monitor the proceedings of the United States Department of
Transportation's Surface Transportation Board and shall disseminate to
interested entities in Kentucky information regarding those proceedings of
interest to railtrail conversion or policy in the Commonwealth. If a railroad
applies to the Surface Transportation Board for authority to discontinue service
over or abandon a railroad corridor in the Commonwealth, the office shall
immediately notify those political subdivisions through which the corridor
passes and any interested state agency of the proceedings and the potential
for trail development of the corridor. Notice shall also be sent to the county
judge/executive of each county through which the proposed abandonment
passes, who shall distribute copies of the notice to each member of the chief
legislative body of the county government at the next regularly scheduled
meeting of that legislative body. The office shall also send a copy of the notice
to each soil and water conservation district through which the abandonment
passes. If time is of the essence and it appears that the corridor is a suitable
candidate for conversion to a railtrail and that no other railtrail interested entity
will be participating in the federal proceeding, the office shall take those steps
necessary to cause a railbanking or public use condition to be imposed in the
federal proceeding;
(2) The office shall assist any requesting political subdivision or agency of state
government with assistance on any application to the Surface Transportation
Board regarding an abandoned or about-to-be-abandoned railroad corridor,
including any requests for railbanking or imposition of public use conditions;
(3) The office shall coordinate and promote railtrail development efforts among the
various agencies of state government, including the Department of Parks and
the Transportation Cabinet. While this subsection does not confer upon the
office any powers beyond those that it may ordinarily possess, every entity of
state government shall cooperate with the office to the extent practicable under
the circumstances;
(4) The office shall furnish to requesting political subdivisions assistance in
applying to available federal, state, or local funding sources for funds to be
used for the process of converting railroad corridors into public use trails; and
(5) The office may apply for federal, state, or private grants or other forms of
financial assistance to carry on its mission.
Effective:July 15, 2010
History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 117, sec. 14, effective July 15, 2010. -Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 47, sec. 74, effective June 26, 2007. -- Created
2000 Ky. Acts ch. 338, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000.
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