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147A.250 Railtrail Development Office -- Authority to apply for grants.

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Page 1 of 1 147A.250 Railtrail Development Office -- Authority to apply for grants. A Railtrail Development Office is hereby created within the Department for Local <br>Government. The Department for Local Government shall ensure that the office has the <br>necessary expertise to carry out the requirements imposed upon it by this section. Among <br>other railtrail functions and duties which may be assigned to it, the Railtrail Development <br>Office shall carry on at least the following responsibilities: <br>(1) The office shall monitor the proceedings of the United States Department of Transportation's Surface Transportation Board and shall disseminate to interested <br>entities in Kentucky information regarding those proceedings of interest to railtrail <br>conversion or policy in the Commonwealth. If a railroad applies to the Surface <br>Transportation Board for authority to discontinue service over or abandon a railroad <br>corridor in the Commonwealth, the office shall immediately notify those political <br>subdivisions through which the corridor passes and any interested state agency of <br>the proceedings and the potential for trail development of the corridor. Notice shall <br>also be sent to the county judge/executive of each county through which the <br>proposed abandonment passes, who shall distribute copies of the notice to each <br>member of the chief legislative body of the county government at the next regularly <br>scheduled meeting of that legislative body. The office shall also send a copy of the <br>notice to each soil and water conservation district through which the abandonment <br>passes. If time is of the essence and it appears that the corridor is a suitable <br>candidate for conversion to a railtrail and that no other railtrail interested entity will <br>be participating in the federal proceeding, the office shall take those steps necessary <br>to cause a railbanking or public use condition to be imposed in the federal <br>proceeding; (2) The office shall assist any requesting political subdivision or agency of state government with assistance on any application to the Surface Transportation Board <br>regarding an abandoned or about-to-be-abandoned railroad corridor, including any <br>requests for railbanking or imposition of public use conditions; (3) The office shall coordinate and promote railtrail development efforts among the various agencies of state government, including the Department of Parks and the <br>Transportation Cabinet. While this subsection does not confer upon the office any <br>powers beyond those that it may ordinarily possess, every entity of state government <br>shall cooperate with the office to the extent practicable under the circumstances; (4) The office shall furnish to requesting political subdivisions assistance in applying to available federal, state, or local funding sources for funds to be used for the process <br>of converting railroad corridors into public use trails; and (5) The office may apply for federal, state, or private grants or other forms of financial assistance to carry on its mission. Effective: July 15, 2010 <br>History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 117, sec. 14, effective July 15, 2010. -- Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 47, sec. 74, effective June 26, 2007. -- Created 2000 Ky. Acts <br>ch. 338, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000.