18apr01...0664h

2001 SESSION

01-0506

03/09

HOUSE BILL 413

COMMITTEE: Public Works and Highways

ANALYSIS

This bill eliminates provisions that:

I. Require the department of transportation to retain title to certain rail properties.

II. Exclude the railroad bed and right-of-way lying within the corridor from transfers of certain rail properties by the commissioner of transportation.

III. Distribute to the Federal Railroad Administrator the proceeds from the sale of certain rail properties by the commissioner of transportation.

This bill is a request of the department of transportation.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

18apr01...0664h

01-0506

03/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

114:1 Purchase of Rail Property; Title. Amend RSA 228:60-b, II to read as follows:

II. The state of New Hampshire, acting through the commissioner with the approval of governor and council, may match any verifiable bona fide offer made for any rail properties within the limits of funds available to the commissioner for this purpose. In the event that the property offered for sale to the commissioner is to be purchased for other transportation purposes, including recreational trails, funds for such purchase shall be identified and provided by the state agency or political subdivision requesting the commissioner to acquire the property. [The department of transportation] The state or a political subdivision thereof shall retain title to all land purchased under the right of first refusal. Cooperative use and management agreements with state agencies or political subdivisions providing acquisition funds shall be executed for parcels acquired with other than department of transportation funds. In the event that all or any part of the parcel so acquired is needed for transportation of goods or services of any kind or for any other purpose deemed necessary by the commissioner, the contributing entity shall be entitled to a refund of contribution or replacement land as determined by RSA 4:40. Any such right of first refusal shall be offered in writing to the commissioner who shall notify such railroad corporation in writing of acceptance or rejection of such an offer within 90 calendar days of receipt of such offer.

114:2 Disposition of Acquired or Abandoned Rail Properties. Amend RSA 228:67 to read as follows:

228:67 Disposition of Acquired or Abandoned Rail Properties. Whenever the commissioner determines that certain acquired or abandoned rail properties owned by the state pursuant to RSA 228:60-a, II; 228:60-a, VI; 228:60-b; or any other means are no longer needed, [he] the commissioner may transfer or sell such rail properties[, excluding the railroad bed and right-of-way lying within a corridor,] to any other state department or agency, or political subdivision of the state, which will utilize such properties for public purposes and, if no state department or agency, or political subdivision, wants such properties, the commissioner may sell them, in accordance with RSA 4:40 with the proceeds from the sale [distributed to the Federal Railroad Administrator, Department of Transportation, in accordance with the grant agreement for the federal share of the participation in the original purchase of the rail properties. The balance shall be] deposited into the special fund established in RSA 228:68. Such transfer or sale shall require approval of the long range capital planning and utilization committee and the governor and council. [For the purpose of this section, "corridor" shall mean from the point of origin of railroad tracks or bed and right-of-way to the point of terminus within the state, excluding spur lines and sidings which are incidental to the main line.]

114:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

(Approved: June 26, 2001)

(Effective Date: August 25, 2001)