SF0017 - Railroad regulation-amendments.

 

2001

State of Wyoming

01LSO-0110.E1

ENGROSSED

 

 

 

SENATE FILE NO.  SF0017

 

 

Railroad regulation-amendments.

 

Sponsored by:

 

 

A BILL

 

for

 

 1  AN ACT relating to railroads; amending provisions relating
 2  to the regulation of railroads; amending times for
 3  providing notices as specified; amending penalties;
 4  clarifying provisions; amending archaic language; providing
 5  definitions; amending the apportionment of costs for
 6  railroad crossings as specified; and providing for an
 7  effective date.

 8 

 9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

10 

11         Section 1.  W.S. 37-9-301, 37-9-302, 37-9-304 through
12  37-9-308, 37-10-101(b), 37-10-102(a), 37-10-103 and
13  37-10-104 are amended to read:

14 

15         37-9-301.  Fireguards.

16 

 

Page  1

 

 

 

 1  It shall be the duty of every railroad corporation
 2  operating its line of road, or any part of it, within this
 3  state, upon its right-of-way upon each side of its roadbed,
 4  to maintain annually an effective fireguard upon order of
 5  and satisfactory to specifications set forth by the
 6  department of transportation so as to prevent fire from
 7  spreading to lands adjacent to said the right-of-way. The
 8  fireguards need not be maintained within the limits of any
 9  city or town, nor along that portion of the line of a
10  railroad where the desert or mountainous character of the
11  adjoining land would render such burning impractical or
12  unnecessary.

13 

14         37-9-302.  Fireguards; penalty.

15 

16         (a)  Any railroad corporation failing to comply with
17  the provisions of the preceding section W.S. 37-9-301 shall
18  be liable to pay a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100.00)
19  one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each and every mile,
20  or fractional mile, of such any strips of land as it
21  neglects to treat as directed by the department of
22  transportation upon either side of the line of its road in
23  this state, in each and every year as stated, the same
24  penalty to be collected in any proper action in any court

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 1  of competent jurisdiction, in the name of the state of
 2  Wyoming, and when collected it shall be paid into the
 3  school fund of the county where the cause of action
 4  accrued. The action shall be brought within one (1) year
 5  next after it the violation of W.S. 37-9-301 occurs.

 6 

 7         (b)  The penalty imposed under subsection (a) of this
 8  section applies to any railroad corporation failing to
 9  comply with W.S. 37-9-202.

10 

11         37-9-304.  Fences and cattle guards; generally.

12 

13         (a)  All railway corporations, owning or operating a
14  line of railway within the state, shall construct, maintain
15  and keep in repair on each side of the track thereof, a
16  sufficient fence conforming to the provisions of W.S.
17  11-28-102, so connected with suitable cattle guards at all
18  public road crossings as to prevent stock from getting on
19  the railroad track of said the corporation., and such fence
20  when of barb wire to consist of four (4) wires securely
21  fastened to posts set not more than thirty-two (32) feet
22  apart, with stays not more than ten (10) feet apart. Such
23  The fence shall be constructed within nine (9) months after
24  the completion of any railroad track or any part thereof;

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 1  provided, that railway corporations shall not be required
 2  to construct and maintain a fence within the boundaries of
 3  any incorporated city or town.

 4 

 5         (b)  Any corporation failing to comply with this
 6  section is subject to a fine of not less than one hundred
 7  dollars ($100.00) nor more than seven hundred fifty dollars
 8  ($750.00) for each day during which a violation continues.
 9  Each county in which there is a failure to comply with this
10  section shall constitute a separate violation.  This
11  penalty shall be prosecuted and collected pursuant to the
12  provisions of W.S. 37-9-302.

13 

14         (c)  No fine shall be assessed under subsection (b) of
15  this section against a corporation that has on file with
16  the department of transportation an approved plan for fence
17  construction, reconstruction and maintenance so long as the
18  corporation is in full compliance with the terms and
19  conditions of the approved plan.

20 

21         37-9-305.  Fences and cattle guards; liability for
22  damages.

23 

 

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 1  Any corporation operating a railway and failing to fence
 2  the same and to construct and maintain suitable cattle
 3  guards as required by the preceding section W.S. 37-9-304,
 4  shall be liable to the owner or owners of any livestock
 5  killed or injured by reason of its failure to construct or
 6  keep in repair such the fence or cattle guard in the manner
 7  provided in the preceding section W.S. 37-9-304, for the
 8  full amount of the damage sustained by the owner on account
 9  thereof and to make a prima facie case for recovery, it
10  shall only be necessary for such the owner to prove the
11  loss or injury to his property; provided, that no
12  corporation operating a railroad shall be liable for any
13  damage occasioned by the willful act of the owner or of his
14  agent or employees or for stock killed or injured on public
15  road crossings unless negligence on the part of such the
16  corporation, its agents, servants or employees can be
17  shown.

18 

19         37-9-306.  Injury to stock; definitions.

20 

21  For the purpose of this act article the terms "livestock"
22  and "stock" shall include all classes of horses, asses,
23  mules, neat cattle, sheep, and swine, buffalo, beefalo,
24  llamas and other domesticated animals.

 

Page  5

 

 

 

 1 

 2         37-9-307.  Injury to stock; notice to owner; procedure
 3  if owner unknown.

 4 

 5  Any such railroad corporation injuring or killing any
 6  livestock, by running any engine, car or cars, over or
 7  against any such the livestock, shall within ten (10) days
 8  thereafter, immediately notify the owner or owners, of such
 9  livestock, so killed or injured, of the fact; provided,
10  that if the ownership of such stock so killed or injured,
11  is unknown, such corporation shall file in the office of
12  the county clerk of the county in which such livestock was
13  so killed or injured, a brand inspector or the department
14  of transportation, giving a full description, including the
15  number, classes and brands, of such the livestock, naming
16  the locality where such the stock was so killed or
17  injured.; and such corporation shall also cause a notice of
18  the injuring or killing of any such livestock to be
19  immediately posted up in a conspicuous place on the station
20  house or section house which is nearest to the place of
21  killing or injuring, which notice shall specify the date
22  and place of such injury or killing, the kind and number of
23  animals killed or injured, the color and brands or marks of
24  such animals, and the owner's name, if known. The carcass

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 1  of any animal so killed shall not be buried until three (3)
 2  days after the posting of such notice. A copy of the notice
 3  so posted shall, in all cases, be immediately mailed by the
 4  section foreman to the owner of such animal, if such owner
 5  be known to him, and this notice shall be in addition to
 6  that named in the first part of this section. It shall be
 7  the responsibility of the corporation to retrieve the
 8  animal injured or killed after identification and
 9  notification, and dispose of the animal within ten (10)
10  days from the date of notification.

11 

12         37-9-308.  Injury to stock; owner to make sworn
13  statement of value.

14 

15  Any person or persons owning any livestock which shall be
16  is killed or injured, in the manner set forth in the first
17  section of this act W.S. 37-9-307, within six (6) months
18  thirty (30) days after the said person or persons is, or
19  are, notified of the said killing or injuring, as provided
20  in the second section of this act W.S. 37-9-307, shall
21  furnish within sixty (60) days the corporation having so
22  killed or injured the livestock, through its nearest agent,
23  sworn evidence of the value of said the livestock.

24 

 

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 1         37-10-101.  Highway crossing protection account
 2  established; purposes of account; use in connection with
 3  federal funds.

 4 

 5         (b)  "Public highways" As used in W.S. 37-235.1
 6  through 37-235.5 shall be defined this act:

 7 

 8              (i)  "Public highways" means as specified in W.S.
 9  31-12(k) 24-1-101, but shall not include private roads;

10 

11              (ii)  "This act" means W.S. 37-10-101 through
12  37-10-105.

13 

14         37-10-102.  Power to close or establish crossings;
15  establishing priority for hazardous crossing locations.

16 

17         (a)  The transportation commission shall have the
18  power and authority to close or establish crossings at
19  grade of public highways as specified, or separations over
20  or under the track or tracks of any railroad corporation or
21  street railway corporation in the state of Wyoming.

22 

 

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 1         37-10-103.  Apportionment of cost of grade crossing
 2  devices and grade separation structures; between railroad
 3  and state, county and city government.

 4 

 5         (a)  With respect to the installation of safety
 6  devices or safety equipment at railroad-highway crossings,
 7  under the direction of the affected railroad, it shall be
 8  the duty of the transportation commission to apportion the
 9  costs and expenses of installing or reconstructing such the
10  crossings and safety devices between the railroads and the
11  department of transportation or the county, city or other
12  governmental entity involved in proportion to the
13  respective benefits to be derived, and to make the
14  apportionment of the costs in accordance with justice; but
15  that in allocating the cost and dividing it among the
16  parties involved, the commission shall limit the amount to
17  be charged against the railroad to a maximum of thirty-
18  three and one-third percent (33 1/3%) of the cost of the
19  total project for installing or reconstructing such
20  crossings and safety devices state and federal rules and
21  regulations.

22 

23         (b)  With respect to the initial installation of grade
24  separation structures at existing railroad public highway

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 1  crossings, a grade separation structure shall be installed
 2  by the railroad at all new railroad crossings of major
 3  public roads or state highways. Other public roads shall be
 4  evaluated by the transportation commission after
 5  notification by the railroad of its intent to cross the
 6  highway. All installations shall be in accordance with
 7  state and federal rules and regulations.

 8 

 9         (c)  With respect to separation structures for roads
10  over or under railroads, the commission shall first
11  determine that all federal sources of funding have been
12  exhausted, and then apportion the remaining costs and
13  expenses of the initial installation of the grade
14  separation structures between the railroad and the
15  department of transportation or the county, city or other
16  governmental entity involved, the apportionment to be based
17  upon the causes resulting in the need for grade separation
18  structures in accordance with justice state and federal
19  rules and regulations. None of the money in the highway
20  crossing protection account shall be used for payment of
21  grade separation structures.

22 

 

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 1         37-10-104.  Apportionment of cost of grade crossing
 2  devices and grade separation structures; administration of
 3  highway crossing protection account.

 4 

 5         (a)  The transportation commission is charged with the
 6  administration of the highway crossing protection program.
 7  In order to compensate for the use of crossings by the
 8  public generally, the commission shall also order that one-
 9  half (1/2) of the part of the cost of installing,
10  reconstructing or improving signals or devices as will not
11  be paid by the railroad corporation, and the balance of the
12  costs will be divided between the state highway crossing
13  protection account and the department of transportation or
14  the city, town, county or other political entity in which
15  the crossing is located in accordance with state and
16  federal rules and regulations. The commission shall fix in
17  each case the amount to be paid from the crossing
18  protection account and the amount to be paid by the
19  department or by the city, town, county or other political
20  entity.

21 

22         (b)  The railroads shall bear all costs of maintaining
23  in good operating condition all such safety crossing
24  warning devices.

 

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 1 

 2         (c)  The governmental agency or city, town, county or
 3  other political entity having jurisdiction over the highway
 4  and the separation structures which crosses over or under
 5  the railroad track or tracks, shall bear all cost of
 6  maintenance of grade its own separation structures. The
 7  railroad corporation shall bear all costs of maintenance of
 8  its own structures over or under a public highway.
 9  Maintenance of joint use structures shall be by agreement
10  between the parties involved.

11 

12         Section 2.  W.S. 37-9-202 is renumbered as 37-9-311.

13 

14         Section 3.  This act is effective July 1, 2001.

15 

16                         (END)

 

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