Section 389.585

Title XXV INCORPORATION AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN UTILITIES AND CARRIERS

Chapter 389

Effective - 28 Aug 2013, 2 histories, see footnote   (history) 

  389.585.  Definitions. — As used in sections 389.585 to 389.591, the following terms mean:

  (1) "Crossing", the construction, operation, repair, or maintenance of a facility over, under, or across a railroad right-of-way by a utility when the right-of-way is owned by a land management company and not a railroad or railroad corporation;

  (2) "Direct expenses", includes, but is not limited to, any or all of the following:

  (a) The cost of inspecting and monitoring the crossing site;

  (b) Administrative and engineering costs for review of specifications and for entering a crossing on the railroad's books, maps, and property records and other reasonable administrative and engineering costs incurred as a result of the crossing;

  (c) Document and preparation fees associated with a crossing and any engineering specifications related to the crossing;

  (d) Damages assessed in connection with the rights granted to a utility with respect to a crossing;

  (3) "Facility", any cable, conduit, wire, pipe, casing pipe, supporting poles and guys, manhole, or other material or equipment that is used by a utility to furnish any of the following:

  (a) Communications, communications-related, wireless communications, video, or information services;

  (b) Electricity;

  (c) Gas by piped system;

  (d) Petroleum or petroleum products by piped system;

  (e) Sanitary and storm sewer service;

  (f) Water by piped system;

  (4) "Land management company", an entity that owns, leases, holds by easement, holds by adverse possession or otherwise possesses a corridor which is used for rail transportation purposes and is not a railroad or railroad corporation;

  (5) "Land management corridor", includes one or more of the following:

  (a) A right-of-way or other interest in real estate that is owned, leased, held by easement, held by adverse possession or otherwise possessed by a land management company and not a railroad or railroad corporation; and which is used for rail transportation purposes. "Land management corridor" does not include yards, terminals or stations. "Land management corridor" also does not include railroad tracks or lines which have been legally abandoned;

  (b) Any other interest in a right-of-way formerly owned by a railroad or railroad corporation that has been acquired by a land management company or similar entity and which is used for rail transportation purposes;

  (6) "Notice", a written description of the proposed project. Such notice shall include, at a minimum: a description of the proposed crossing including blueprints or plats, print copies of the engineering specifications for the crossing, a proposed time line for the commencement and completion of work at the crossing, a narrative description of the work to be performed at the crossing, proof of insurance for the work to be done and other reasonable requirements necessary for the processing of an application;

  (7) "Railroad" or "railroad corporation", a railroad corporation organized and operating under chapter 388, or any other corporation, trustees of a railroad corporation, company, affiliate, association, joint stock association or company, firm, partnership, or individual, which is an owner, operator, occupant, lessee, manager, or railroad right-of-way agent acting on behalf of a railroad or railroad corporation;

  (8) "Railroad right-of-way", includes one or more of the following:

  (a) A right-of-way or other interest in real estate that is owned or operated by a land management company and not a railroad or railroad corporation;

  (b) Any other interest in a former railroad right-of-way that has been acquired or is operated by a land management company or similar entity;

  (9) "Special circumstances", includes either or both of the following:

  (a) The characteristics of a segment of a railroad right-of-way not found in a typical segment of a railroad right-of-way that enhance the value or increase the damages or the engineering or construction expenses for the land management company associated with a proposed crossing, or to the current or reasonably anticipated use by a land management company of the railroad right-of-way, necessitating additional terms and conditions or compensation associated with a crossing;

  (b) Variances from the standard specifications requested by the land management company; "Special circumstances" may include, but is not limited to, the railroad right-of-way segment's relationship to other property, location in urban or other developed areas, the existence of unique topography or natural resources, or other characteristics or dangers inherent in the particular crossing or segment of the railroad right-of-way;

  (10) "Telecommunications service", the transmission of information by wire, radio, optical cable, electronic impulses, or other similar means. As used in this definition, "information" means knowledge or intelligence represented by any form of writing, signs, signals, pictures, sounds, or any other symbols;

  (11) "Utility", shall include:

  (a) Any public utility subject to the jurisdiction of the public service commission;

  (b) Providers of telecommunications service, wireless communications, or other communications-related service;

  (c) Any electrical corporation which is required by its bylaws to operate on the not-for-profit cooperative business plan, with its consumers who receive service as the stockholders of such corporation, and which holds a certificate of public convenience and necessity to serve a majority of its customer-owners in counties of the third classification as of August 28, 2003;

  (d) Any rural electric cooperative; and

  (e) Any municipally owned utility.

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(L. 2013 H.B. 331)