Session of 1999
HOUSE BILL No. 2234
By Committee on Transportation
2-3
9 AN ACT relating to railroads; concerning short-line railroads; defining;
10 granting certain powers to the state corporation commission.
11
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
13 Section 1. (a) As used in this section:
14 (1) "Commission" means the state corporation commission;
15 (2) "person" means any natural person, partnership, firm, association,
16 corporation or other legal entity;
17 (3) "short-line railroad" means any railroad with less than 100 miles
18 of intrastate mainline track and shall not include any class I railroad as
19 that term is used and applied in federal law.
20 (b) Any person seeking rail service from a short-line railroad, who is
21 aggrieved by any unjust, unreasonable, unreasonably inefficient or insuf-
22 ficient, unduly preferential, discriminatory or inadequate practice, act or
23 service may file a complaint with the commission. If after investigation
24 and hearing it is found that any practice, act or service complained of is
25 unjust, unreasonable, unreasonably inefficient or insufficient, unduly
26 preferential, unjustly discriminatory or inadequate, the commission shall
27 have the power to substitute therefor such other practices, acts or service,
28 and to make such order respecting any such changes in such practices,
29 acts or service as are just and reasonable. The commission may, if it finds
30 that the short-line railroad has grossly neglected the public needs for
31 transportation and such neglect has resulted in a substantially negative
32 impact on the economy of the state of Kansas, require the short-line
33 railroad to lease all or any part of its railroad lines to another railroad
34 operator at lease rates and terms approved by the commission.
35 (c) Hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the Kansas ad-
36 ministrative procedures act.
37 Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
38 publication in the statute book.