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

A Railtrail Development Office is hereby created within the Department for Local

Government. The Department for Local Government shall ensure that the office has the

necessary expertise to carry out the requirements imposed upon it by this section. Among

other railtrail functions and duties which may be assigned to it, the Railtrail Development

Office shall carry on at least the following responsibilities:

(1) The office shall monitor the proceedings of the United States Department of

Transportation's Surfa ce Transportation Board and shall disseminate to interested

entities in Kentucky information regarding those proceedings of interest to railtrail

conversion or policy in the Commonwealth. If a railroad applies to the Surface

Transportation Board for authority to discontinue service over or abandon a railroad

corridor in the Commonwealth, the office shall immediately notify those political

subdivisions through which the corridor passes and any interested state agency of

the proceedings and the potential for trail development of the corridor. Notice shall

also be sent to the county judge/executive of each county through which the

proposed abandonment passes, who shall distribute copies of the notice to each

member of the chief legislative body of the county go vernment at the next regularly

scheduled meeting of that legislative body. The office shall also send a copy of the

notice to each soil and water conservation district through which the abandonment

passes. If time is of the essence and it appears that the corridor is a suitable

candidate for conversion to a railtrail and that no other railtrail interested entity will

be participating in the federal proceeding, the office shall take those steps necessary

to cause a railbanking or public use condition to be i mposed in the federal

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

regarding an abandoned or about -to-be-abandoned railroad corridor, including any

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

Transportation Cabinet. While this subsection does not confer upon the office any

powers beyond those that it may ordinarily possess, every entity of state government

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

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.