148.690 Determination of boundaries of abandoned rights-of-way and abandoned railroad corridors -- Evaluation of potential for conversion to railtrail. (1) The department shall review all formal declarations of railroad right-of-way abandonments by the Surface Transportation Board or other agency with jurisdiction and may review former railroad corridors for possible inclusion in the state trails system. The commissioner shall, within three (3) years after the route of a trail or trail segment included in the system has been located, determine the boundaries of the right-of-way to be associated with that trail. Such boundaries shall be established in such a manner that they protect the scenic value of the trail. (2) The commissioner is authorized to develop effective procedures to assure that, wherever practicable, utility rights-of-way, abandoned railroad corridors, or similar properties having value for trail purposes may be made available for such use; however, the commissioner shall take into consideration the rights of adjacent property owners in the development of any such procedures. Other departments of state government having jurisdiction, control over, or information concerning the use, abandonment, or disposition of rights-of-way, railroad corridors, and similar properties that may be suitable for trail purposes shall cooperate with the commissioner in the transfer of these rights for trail use. These procedures shall include, at a minimum, that, for every railroad corridor that is the subject of a request for federal authority to discontinue service or for federal regulatory abandonment, the commissioner shall evaluate the potential of converting that corridor into a railtrail. The commissioner shall cause a preliminary review to be completed within thirty (30) days of the publication of the request for federal authority in the Federal Register. The commissioner shall cause a final review to be completed ninety (90) days after the publication of the request for federal authority in the Federal Register. The commissioner shall timely transmit copies of these reviews to the Legislative Research Commission and to the Commonwealth's Railtrail Development Office in the Department for Local Government as they are completed. If either review indicates the possibility of converting the corridor into a railtrail, the commissioner may participate in the federal proceeding to request that the corridor be railbanked in accordance with federal law or to request the imposition of a public use condition. Effective: July 15, 2010 History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 117, sec. 73, effective July 15, 2010. -- Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 47, sec. 76, effective June 26, 2007. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 338, sec. 5, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 373, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1998. -- Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 288, sec. 10.