Sec. 23-44. Protection from railroad fire hazards. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 23-44. Protection from railroad fire hazards. As to any portion of any railroad right-of-way and contiguous land that may be found by the Commissioner of Transportation to constitute such a fire hazard, the commissioner, upon motion of said commissioner or at the request of the State Forest Fire Warden or of the owner or owners of any land adjoining such portion, shall have power, from time to time, to order the railroad company operating such railroad to furnish a patrol whose duty it shall be to cover such portion of the right-of-way and contiguous land in dry seasons and to extinguish any fires set by the locomotives of such railroad company. The commissioner may also, with the consent of any owner or owners of land bordering upon such right-of-way, require such railroad company to create a fire break meeting specifications established by the State Forest Fire Warden on the land of such owner or owners, such line to be located not more than two hundred feet from the nearest track of such railroad, or to clear the brush and inflammable material from a strip of land whose outer limit shall be not more than two hundred feet from such nearest track. The commissioner may also require each railroad company operating a railroad in this state, between the first day of September and the first day of December in each year, to cause to be cut and destroyed all dead grass and weeds on such portions of the right-of-way of such railroad company as have been found by said commissioner to constitute fire hazards amounting to public menace.

      (1949 Rev., S. 3485; P.A. 75-486, S. 1, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 571, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 01-150, S. 13.)

      History: P.A. 75-486 replaced public utilities commission with public utilities control authority; P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 replaced public utilities control authority with commissioner of transportation, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 01-150 deleted reference to a fire line and its specifications and authorized the commissioner to require a railroad company to create a fire break meeting specifications established by the State Forest Fire Warden and made technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality.

      See Sec. 13b-4b re Commissioner of Transportation's powers relative to railroads.