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277.402 Preservation of railroad corridors -- Public policy -- Preliminary
declaration of state railbanking.
(1)
(2)
It is the public policy of this state to preserve railroad corridors for future
railroad use. Toward this end, the Commonwealth recognizes that the salvage
of tracks, ties, signaling equipment, ballast, and other items may indicate an
intent to maximize return on present investment and not an intent to abandon
any underlying easement for railroad or other use and that the obtaining of
federal authority to discontinue service over or abandon a corridor does not
necessarily indicate an intent to relinquish any property interests under state
law. In any civil action to determine the status of a railroad use easement,
ambiguity as to intent shall be resolved in favor of continued preservation of the
corridor.
Any holder of a railroad corridor held by easement or otherwise may preserve
that corridor by filing with the Secretary of State a "Preliminary Declaration of
State Railbanking," concurrently serving a copy of the declaration on the
Transportation Cabinet. The declaration shall state the name of the entity
holding the corridor, a textual description and map of the land area
encompassed by the corridor, and a statement that the entity does not intend
to abandon the corridor described in the declaration. The entity filing the
declaration may at any later time cause that declaration to be withdrawn from
the Secretary of State's files. While a preliminary declaration of state
railbanking is on file with the Secretary of State, the corridor set out in the
declaration shall not, regardless of the status or conclusion of any federal
regulatory proceeding or the salvage of track and other material from the
corridor, be deemed abandoned and shall continue to exist under Kentucky law
and the property encompassed by the corridor shall not revert to any other
form of ownership.
Effective:July 14, 2000
History: Created 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 338, sec. 3, effective July 14, 2000.
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