SECTIONS 7551-7557 - California Statutes

PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE

SECTION 7551-7557

7551. Every railroad corporation is granted the right of way for
the location, construction, and maintenance of its necessary works,
and for every necessary adjunct thereto, over any swamp, overflowed,
or other public lands of the State not otherwise disposed of or in
use, not in any case exceeding in length or width that which is
necessary for the construction of such works and adjuncts, or for the
protection thereof, and in no case to exceed 200 feet in width.
These grants do not apply to public lands of the State within the
corporate limits of cities, or within three miles thereof.

7551.1. The Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing
Agency may grant to every railroad corporation whose primary business
is the transportation of passengers the rights-of-way for the
location, construction, and maintenance of its necessary works and
for every necessary adjunct thereto over any portion of highway owned
by the State of California which is not otherwise disposed of or in
use, not in any case exceeding in lenght or width that which is
necessary for the construction of works and adjuncts, or for the
protection thereof, and in no case to exceed 200 feet in width.

7551.3. (a) To ensure that a fair and reasonable price is paid for
public acquisition of railroad rights-of-way, it is the intent of the
Legislature to have railroad rights-of-way valuation procedures and
guidelines developed and adopted for use when state and federal funds
are expended.
(b) The Secretary of Business, Transportation, and Housing, in
collaboration with other public agencies and within existing
resources, shall develop recommended procedures and guidelines for
valuation of railroad rights-of-way.
(c) The recommended procedures and guidelines shall be transmitted
to the Legislature and Governor on or before March 1, 1994.

7552. (a) Every railroad corporation is granted the right, subject
to subdivision (b), to take from any of the lands belonging to the
state, adjacent to the works of the corporation, all materials, such
as wood, stone, and earth, naturally appurtenant thereto, which may
be necessary and convenient for the construction of its works and
adjuncts.
(b) Except as specified in subdivision (c), before a railroad
corporation may take the materials specified in subdivision (a), the
railroad corporation shall enter into an agreement with the
Department of General Services to reimburse the state for the full
value of the removed materials. The agreement shall contain a
provision requiring the railroad corporation to return the land and
timber to the natural state which existed prior to the removal of the
materials, to the extent it is reasonable to do so, if the
Department of General Services determines that requirement to be
appropriate.
(c) A railroad corporation may take the materials specified in
subdivision (a) without previously entering into the agreement
specified in subdivision (b) if the railroad takes these materials
for the purpose of reopening a rail line which was closed due to an
unforseeable or unexpected event. However, within 30 days after
reopening the rail line, the railroad corporation shall enter into an
agreement with the Department of General Services to reimburse the
state for the full value of the removed materials.

7553. When any selection of a right of way, or land for an adjunct
to the works of a railroad corporation, is made by any corporation,
the secretary thereof shall transmit to the State Lands Commission,
the State Controller, and the recorder of the county in which the
selected lands are situate, a plat of the lands so selected, giving
the extent thereof and uses for which the lands are claimed or
desired, duly verified to be correct. If approved, the State Lands
Commission shall so endorse the plat, and issue to the corporation a
permit to use the lands, unless, on petition properly presented to
the court, a review is had and such use prohibited.

7554. If any corporation receiving state lands or appurtenances
thereunder is dissolved, ceases to exist, is discontinued, or the
route or line of its works is so changed as not to cover or cross the
lands selected, or the use of the lands selected is abandoned, the
selected lands revert, and the title is reinvested in the State or
its grantees, free from all such uses.

7555. No railroad corporation may use any street, alley, or
highway, or any of the land, whether covered by water or otherwise,
owned by any city or county, unless the right to do so is granted by
a vote of the governing body of the city or county. If any railroad
corporation operating within a city or county applies to the
governing body of the city or county for a franchise or permit to
cross any such street, alley, or highway, with main, branch, side,
switching, or spur trackage, the governing body of the city or
county, within a reasonable time, shall hold a public hearing upon
the application after reasonable notice to the applicant and to the
public and shall thereafter grant the franchise or permit applied for
upon reasonable terms and conditions unless such governing body
reasonably finds that the grant of the franchise or permit would be
detrimental to the public interest of the city or county. Nothing in
this section imposes any duty upon or limits the authority of, any
city organized and existing pursuant to a freeholder's charter, or
any officer thereof.

7556. The governing body of a county, city and county, or city,
under such regulations, restrictions, and limitations, and upon such
terms and payment of license tax as the county, city and county, or
city may provide, may grant franchises to railroad corporations for
the construction of elevated or underground railroad tracks over,
across, or under the streets and public highways of any such county,
city and county, or city, for a term not exceeding 50 years. Before
granting such franchise there shall be presented to the governing
body a petition signed by the owners of a majority of the landed
property, other than public property, on the line of the elevated
portion applied for.

7556.1. Notwithstanding Section 7556, to railroad corporations
whose primary business is the transportation of passengers, the
governing body of a county, city and county, or city under
regulations, restrictions, and limitations, and upon terms and
payment of a license tax as the county, city and county, or city may
provide, may grant franchises for the construction of elevated or
underground railroad tracks over, across, or under the public streets
and highways of the county, city and county, or city.

7557. Where any railroad or street railroad tracks are located on
property that a public entity is authorized to acquire by eminent
domain for road, highway, boulevard, street, or alley purposes or on
property that a city, county, or municipal water district is
authorized to acquire by eminent domain for the right-of-way of a
public utility that it will construct, complete, and maintain, the
plaintiff may require the relocation or removal of such tracks by
exercise of the power of eminent domain. In such case, the complaint
shall contain a description and map of the location and proposed
location of such tracks.