PRINTER'S NO. 683
No. 640 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, MADIGAN, AFFLERBACH, DAWIDA AND
RHOADES, MARCH 2, 1989
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MARCH 2, 1989
AN ACT
1 Authorizing the Department of Environmental Resources to acquire
2 and develop abandoned railroad rights-of-way for public
3 recreational trail use; requiring the Department of
4 Transportation to coordinate certain acquisitions of rights-
5 of-way with the Department of Environmental Resources;
6 providing a limitation on the liability of persons who
7 provide property for public recreational trail use; and
8 making an appropriation.
9 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 hereby enacts as follows:
11 Section 1. Short title.
12 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Rails to
13 Trails Act.
14 Section 2. Definitions.
15 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
16 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
17 context clearly indicates otherwise:
18 "Department." The Department of Environmental Resources of
19 the Commonwealth.
20 Section 3. Rails to trails program.
21 There is established within the department the Pennsylvania
1 Rails to Trails Program, the purpose of which is to acquire and
2 develop abandoned railroad rights-of-way for public recreational
3 trail use. The rights-of-way shall be acquired pursuant to this
4 act.
5 Section 4. Acquisition of land.
6 (a) Restrictions.--The department or any municipality is
7 authorized to acquire, by gift or purchase, fee simple absolute
8 title or any lesser interest in land, including easements, for
9 the development purposes of the Pennsylvania Rails to Trails
10 Program as provided in this section, with the following
11 restrictions:
12 (1) The department's or municipality's power of eminent
13 domain shall be limited to curing defects in title.
14 (2) Abandoned railroad rights-of-way acquired under this
15 act shall not be subject to the evaluation, selection and
16 acquisition procedures provided for in this act.
17 (b) Acceptance of title.--For purposes of the Pennsylvania
18 Rails to Trails Program, the department may:
19 (1) Accept title, including nonmarketable title, to
20 abandoned railroad rights-of-way purchased or leased by or
21 donated to the department and to any areas abutting the
22 rights-of-way which are needed for the construction of trail-
23 user support facilities.
24 (2) Accept title to abandoned railroad rights-of-way
25 conveyed by quitclaim deed through purchase, dedication,
26 gift, grant or settlement.
27 (c) Easements over land acquired.--Easements and rights-of-
28 way upon, over, under, across or along any land, the fee title
29 of which has been acquired, may be granted by the department so
30 long as the use of the easement or right-of-way does not
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1 interfere with the purposes of this act.
2 (d) Transfer of trails to local governmental agencies.--The
3 department may transfer any recreational trail, easement or
4 right-of-way to a local governmental agency having jurisdiction
5 over the area in which the recreational trail, easement or
6 right-of-way is located for recreational purposes in a manner
7 consistent with department rules and regulations.
8 Section 5. Powers and duties of department.
9 The department shall:
10 (1) Promulgate all rules and regulations necessary to
11 effectively carry out the purposes of this act, including
12 rules and regulations relating to acquisition, development
13 and use of recreational trails.
14 (2) Publish and distribute appropriate maps of
15 recreational trails, including recommended extensions of
16 recreational trails.
17 (3) Establish access routes and related primitive
18 public-use facilities, which will not substantially interfere
19 with the nature and purposes of a trail, along recreational
20 trails.
21 (4) Evaluate existing and potential abandoned railroad
22 rights-of-way to identify the corridors which are suitable
23 for acquisition for recreational trail use and compile lists
24 of suitable corridors, ranking them in order of priority for
25 acquisition; and, for this purpose, devise a method of
26 evaluation which includes, but is not limited to,
27 consideration of the following:
28 (i) Current and future recreational need.
29 (ii) Potential for local sharing in the acquisition,
30 development, operation or maintenance of abandoned rail
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1 corridors.
2 (iii) Costs of acquisition, development, operation
3 and maintenance.
4 (iv) Time of availability of rights-of-ways.
5 (5) Maintain updated lists of abandoned and to-be-
6 abandoned railroad rights-of-way and request information on
7 current and potential railroad abandonments from the
8 Department of Transportation, the Interstate Commerce
9 Commission and railroad companies operating within this
10 Commonwealth. At a minimum, lists shall be updated on a
11 quarterly basis.
12 (6) Provide information, including probable costs of
13 purchase or lease of the corridors, to public and private
14 agencies and organizations concerning abandoned rail
15 corridors which are or will be available for acquisition from
16 railroads or which are or will be available for lease for
17 interim recreational use from the Department of
18 Transportation.
19 (7) Cooperate with municipalities and other appropriate
20 agencies and organizations and, where possible and practical,
21 allocate expenditures among the several regions of this
22 Commonwealth, proportionately based on need, rail line
23 availability, population and other appropriate factors.
24 Section 6. Coordination with Department of Transportation.
25 (a) Method of coordination.--The Department of
26 Transportation and the Department of Environmental Resources
27 shall coordinate their evaluations of potential acquisitions and
28 acquisition priorities with respect to abandoned railroad
29 rights-of-way in order to avoid competing for the same
30 corridors. The Department of Transportation and the Department
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1 of Environmental Resources shall enter into a memorandum of
2 understanding which shall contain a method by which the
3 coordination of evaluations and acquisition priorities is to be
4 accomplished.
5 (b) Interim lease of rights-of-way.--Should the Department
6 of Transportation acquire abandoned rights-of-way for future
7 transportation purposes, it shall lease such rights-of-way to a
8 public agency or private organization for interim public
9 recreational trail use if:
10 (1) The public agency or private organization has
11 requested the right-of-way for interim public recreational
12 trails use.
13 (2) The public agency or private organization agrees in
14 writing to assume all liability and management
15 responsibilities as prescribed by the Department of
16 Transportation.
17 (3) The use of the right-of-way as a recreational trail
18 does not interfere with the ultimate transportation purposes
19 of the property as determined by the Department of
20 Transportation.
21 (c) Transportation use and trail use.--If the Department of
22 Transportation determines that an abandoned railroad right-of-
23 way leased for interim recreational trail use is needed for
24 transportation purposes, the Department of Transportation shall
25 work with the leasing agency to accommodate, when feasible, the
26 existing trail use in conjunction with the transportation use.
27 Section 7. Limitation on liability of persons making land
28 available for trail use.
29 (a) General rule.--An owner or lessee who provides the
30 public with land for use as a trail under this act or who owns
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1 land adjoining any trail developed under this act owes no duty
2 of care to keep the land safe from entry or use by others, or to
3 give warning to persons entering or going on that trail land of
4 any hazardous conditions, structures or activities thereon.
5 (b) Specific limitations or liability.--An owner or lessee
6 who provides the public with land under this act shall not, by
7 providing that trail or land:
8 (1) be presumed to extend any assurance that the land is
9 safe for any purpose;
10 (2) incur any duty of care toward a person who goes on
11 that land; or
12 (3) become liable for any injury to persons or property
13 caused by the act or omission of a person who goes on that
14 land.
15 (c) Exception.--This section shall not apply if there is any
16 charge made or usually made for entering or using the trail or
17 land, or any part thereof, or if any commercial or other
18 activity whereby profit is derived from the patronage of the
19 general public is conducted on the land, or on any part thereof.
20 Section 8. Appropriations.
21 (a) Initial appropriation.--The sum of $3,000,000, or as
22 much thereof, as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the
23 Department of Environmental Resources for the fiscal year July
24 1, 1989, to June 30, 1990, to carry out the provisions of this
25 act.
26 (b) Annual appropriation.--Subsequent to the initial
27 appropriation, the annual appropriation to the department shall
28 include funds necessary to carry out the provisions of this act.
29 The department may accept and expend Federal funds granted for
30 the purposes contained in this act.
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1 Section 9. Effective date.
2 This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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