HBA-LJP H.B. 1125 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1125 By: Swinford Land & Resource Management 4/6/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, a railroad right-of-way is reserved to any railroad company to the extent of one hundred feet on each side of a road that crosses over or extends through any land granted or that may be granted to the railroad company by the legislature. When a railroad company receives permission from the federal Surface Transportation Board to abandon a rail line, the right-of-way and all improvements are typically sold to a salvage company. The right-of-way often crosses private property, and owners of property adjacent to the rights-of-way have expressed concern over the use of such property after the abandonment. House Bill 1125 provides for the ownership, transfer, and sale of the title to a right-of-way and easements regarding the right-of-way after the abandonment of a railroad right-of-way. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Railroad Commission of Texas in SECTION 2 of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 1125 amends V.T.C.S. to provide that the title to railroad right-of-way that is considered abandoned vests in the servient owner free from the easement in the right-of-way held by the railroad company if the railroad company only had an easement or reverts to the holder of the reversion if the railroad company held only a reversionary fee title to the right-of-way. The bill provides that a railroad right-of-way is considered abandoned and the railroad company's easement of reversionary fee title in the right-of-way is extinguished on a specified date. The bill requires, no later than the 45th day after the day the right-of-way is considered abandoned, the railroad company abandoning the right-of-way to comply with filing and publication notice requirements. The bill requires the Railroad Commission of Texas (commission), no later than the 45th after the date the railroad company files the abandonment notice, to: _certify whether the state holds an easement in the abandoned right-of-way, if the railroad company holds a reversionary fee title; and _notify the railroad company of any state proposal to acquire a portion of the right-of-way in which the railroad retains a nonreversionary fee title. When a railroad company holds a reversionary fee title, the bill provides that if the railroad company does not complete the filing requirements with the commission or if the commission fails to certify whether this state holds an easement in the abandoned right-of-way, then the easement vests in this state on the 90th day after the date the right-of-way is considered abandoned. The bill sets forth provisions regarding the authorization of the state to use a certified easement only for railroad or motor vehicle purposes if the state provides at least two years written notice to the owner of the fee title before the date the state proposes to begin to use the easement. The bill sets forth provisions regarding the transfer of a nonreversionary fee title in the right-of-way from a railroad company to a state agency or to a person other than a state agency after the 61st day after the date the railroad company receives notice from the commission of the proposal of the state to acquire the nonreversionary fee title. The bill requires that the person who is the fee title owner of an acquired railroad right-of-way to permit and not interfere with occupancy under an existing easement agreement, lease, license, or other agreement under which a political entity, public utility, pipeline operator, or communications company of this state has been granted the right to occupy or otherwise use the right-ofway. The bill provides that any personal property of the railroad company is considered abandoned that remains on the reversionary right-of-way after the first anniversary of the day the right-of-way is considered abandoned, notwithstanding any other agreements. The bill provides that a person to whom ownership of the railroad right-of-way reverts is not liable for any act or omission of another person that occurred in connection with the right-of-way before the reversion. The bill sets forth provisions regarding the authorization of the sale to specified entities and persons of a fee title of a nonreversionary right-of-way located in a county with a population of 250,000 or less that is considered abandoned and is leased to a tenant who owns a building, structure, or other substantial improvement on the right-of-way. If it cannot be determined whether a railroad company has a nonreversionary right-of-way fee title to a railroad right-of-way that is considered abandoned, then the bill provides that the title to the abandoned right-of-way passes to the landowner adjacent to the right-of-way up to the center line of the right-of-way. The bill requires the commission to adopt rules necessary to implement this Act not later than the 180th day after the effective date of this Act. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.