{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-148.690","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 148.690","heading":"Determination of boundaries of abandoned rights -of-way and abandoned","body":"railroad corridors -- Evaluation of potential for conversion to railtrail.\n(1) The department shall review all formal declarations of railroad right -of-way\nabandonments by the Surfac e Transportation Board or other agency with\njurisdiction and may review former railroad corridors for possible inclusion in the\nstate trails system. The commissioner shall, within three (3) years after the route of\na trail or trail segment included in the system has been located, determine the\nboundaries of the right-of-way to be associated with that trail. Such boundaries shall\nbe established in such a manner that they protect the scenic value of the trail.\n(2) The commissioner is authorized to develop eff ective procedures to assure that,\nwherever practicable, utility rights -of-way, abandoned railroad corridors, or similar\nproperties having value for trail purposes may be made available for such use;\nhowever, the commissioner shall take into consideration t he rights of adjacent\nproperty owners in the development of any such procedures. Other departments of\nstate government having jurisdiction, control over, or information concerning the\nuse, abandonment, or disposition of rights -of-way, railroad corridors, a nd similar\nproperties that may be suitable for trail purposes shall cooperate with the\ncommissioner in the transfer of these rights for trail use. These procedures shall\ninclude, at a minimum, that, for every railroad corridor that is the subject of a\nrequest for federal authority to discontinue service or for federal regulatory\nabandonment, the commissioner shall evaluate the potential of converting that\ncorridor into a railtrail. The commissioner shall cause a preliminary review to be\ncompleted within thi rty (30) days of the publication of the request for federal\nauthority in the Federal Register. The commissioner shall cause a final review to be\ncompleted ninety (90) days after the publication of the request for federal authority\nin the Federal Register. The commissioner shall timely transmit copies of these\nreviews to the Legislative Research Commission and to the Commonwealth's\nRailtrail Development Office in the Department for Local Government as they are\ncompleted. If either review indicates the possibility of converting the corridor into a\nrailtrail, the commissioner may participate in the federal proceeding to request that\nthe corridor be railbanked in accordance with federal law or to request the\nimposition of a public use condition.","path":["KRS Chapter 148"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=1783","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:41Z","sha256":"aa3c7337681269fe8c9fd6f98128c4a3c262a7a67c972992612651a7cbbc9ba5","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-148.680","next":"us-ky/krs-148.700"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}