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Sub. S. B. No. 116 As Reported by the House Public Utilities CommitteeAs Reported by the House Public Utilities Committee
128th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2009-2010 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Goodman, Patton, Miller, D., Sawyer, Cates, Faber, Gibbs, Harris, Hughes, Miller, R., Morano, Schiavoni, Seitz, Turner, Wagoner, Wilson, Fedor, Kearney, Smith
A BILL
To amend sections 4905.54, 4905.57, 4907.23,
4907.472, 4909.28, 4909.29, 4955.21, 4955.36, and
5561.16; to enact new section 4955.22 and section
4907.081; and to repeal section 4955.22 of the
Revised Code to authorize the Public Utilities
Commission to hear complaints regarding a
railroad's failure to properly sustain certain
areas near its tracks and to authorize forfeiture
for noncompliance and to update certain provisions
of law governing railroads.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 4905.54, 4905.57, 4907.23, 4907.472,
4909.28, 4909.29, 4955.21, 4955.36, and 5561.16 be amended and new
section 4955.22 and section 4907.081 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 4905.54. (A) Every public utility or railroad and every
officer of a public utility or railroad shall comply with every
order, direction, and requirement of the public utilities
commission made under authority of this chapter and Chapters
4901., 4903., 4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923. of the Revised Code,
so long as they remain in force. Except as otherwise specifically
provided in sections 4905.83, 4905.95, 4919.99, 4921.99, and
4923.99 of the Revised Code, the public utilities commission may
assess a the following:
(1) A forfeiture of not more than ten thousand dollars for
each violation or failure against a public utility or railroad
that violates a provision of those chapters or that after due
notice fails to comply with an order, direction, or requirement of
the commission that was officially promulgated;
(2) A forfeiture of not more than two thousand five hundred
dollars for each violation or failure against a public utility or
railroad that violates section 4955.20, 4955.21, 4955.36, or
5561.16 of the Revised Code or that after due notice fails to
comply with an order, direction, or requirement of the commission
that was officially promulgated. Each
(B) Each day's continuance of the violation or failure under
this section is a separate offense. All
(C) All forfeitures collected under this section shall be
credited to the general revenue fund, except as follows:
(1) Other than a forfeiture collected as provided in division
(C)(2) of this section, each forfeiture collected for violating
sections 4955.20, 4955.21, 4955.36, and 5561.16 of the Revised
Code shall be credited to the grade crossing protection fund
created by section 4907.472 of the Revised Code.
(2) In the case of a violation of section 5561.16 of the
Revised Code related to a state highway or extension thereof, the
forfeiture shall be credited to the general revenue fund.
Sec. 4905.57. Except as otherwise specifically provided in
sections 4905.83, 4905.96, 4919.99, 4921.99, and 4923.99 of the
Revised Code, actions to recover forfeitures provided for in this
chapter and Chapters 4901., 4903., 4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923.
of the Revised Code shall be prosecuted in the name of the state
and may be brought in the court of common pleas of any county in
which the public utility or railroad is located. Such actions
shall be commenced and prosecuted by the attorney general when he
is directed to do so by upon the request of the public utilities
commission. Moneys recovered by such actions shall be deposited in
the state treasury to the credit of the general revenue fund,
except as follows:
(A) Other than moneys recovered as provided in division (B)
of this section, the moneys recovered for violating sections
4955.20, 4955.21, 4955.36, and 5561.16 of the Revised Code shall
be credited to the grade crossing protection fund created by
section 4907.472 of the Revised Code.
(B) In the case of a violation of section 5561.16 of the
Revised Code related to a state highway or extension thereof, all
moneys recovered by an action under this section shall be
deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund.
Sec. 4907.081. If a complaint is filed pursuant to sections
4905.04 and 4907.08 of the Revised Code with the public utilities
commission alleging a railroad's violation of section 4955.20 or
4955.36 of the Revised Code, the staff of the commission shall
contact the railroad and may meet to review the complaint.
Sec. 4907.23. Whenever an accident attended with loss of
human life occurs within this state upon the line of any railroad,
or on the depot grounds or yards of any railroad, such railroad
shall give immediate notice of such accident to the public
utilities commission.
In case of such accident, the commission, if it deems the
public interest requires it, shall cause an investigation to be
made forthwith, which shall be held in the locality of the
accident, unless for greater convenience of those concerned, the
commission orders such investigation held at some other place.
Such investigation may be adjourned from place to place as is
necessary and convenient. The commission shall give reasonable
notice to an officer, division engineer, roadmaster, or
station
agent track supervisor of the company of the time and place of the
investigation.
The cost of such investigation shall be certified by the
chairman
chairperson of the commission, and audited and paid by
the state as other expenses. The commission shall keep a record or
file of the proceedings and evidence.
Sec. 4907.472. (A) There is hereby created in the state
treasury the grade crossing protection fund for the purpose of
paying:
(1) The public share of the cost of reducing hazards at
public highway-railway crossings at any location where a railway
and a public highway intersect each other at a common grade, when
such protection is ordered by the public utilities commission
pursuant to section 4907.47, 4907.471, or 4907.49 of the Revised
Code;
(2) The costs incurred by the commission in administering
sections 4907.47 to 4907.476 of the Revised Code.
(B) Moneys for the fund shall be provided from forfeitures
assessed pursuant to section 4905.54 of the Revised Code, the
motor fuel tax levied under section 5735.05 of the Revised Code,
and any federal funds apportioned and allocated to the state for
the reduction of hazards at railroad grade crossings. One hundred
thousand dollars shall be transferred to the fund each month as
provided for in section 5735.23 of the Revised Code, and may be
expended by the commission to pay the public share of the costs
for reducing hazards at railway crossings with highways, roads, or
streets on the state, county, township, or municipal highway and
street systems and the costs incurred by the commission in
administering sections 4907.47 to 4907.476 of the Revised Code,
provided that not more than ten per cent of the amounts thus
transferred each fiscal year may be used for paying such
administrative costs that fiscal year.
Sec. 4909.28. If, upon an investigation under Chapters
4901., 4903., 4905., 4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923., and 4925. of
the Revised Code, the public utilities commission finds that any
existing rate, fare, charge, or classification, any joint rate, or
any regulation or practice affecting the transportation of persons
or property, or service in connection therewith, is unreasonable
or unjustly discriminatory, or that any service is inadequate, it
shall determine and by order fix a reasonable rate, fare, charge,
classification, joint rate, regulation, practice, or service to be
imposed, observed, and followed in the future, in place of that so
found to be unreasonable, unjustly discriminatory, or inadequate.
A certified copy of each such order shall be delivered to an
officer, division engineer, roadmaster, or station agent track
supervisor of the railroad affected, and such order shall of its
own force take effect and become operative thirty days after
service.
All railroads to which such order applies shall make such
changes in their schedules on file as are necessary to conform to
such order, and no change shall thereafter be made by any railroad
in any such rate, fare, or charge, or in any joint rate, without
the approval of the commission.
Sec. 4909.29. Certified copies of all orders, other than
those referred to in section 4909.28 of the Revised Code, of the
public utilities commission shall be delivered to an officer,
division engineer, roadmaster, or station agent track supervisor
of each railroad affected thereby, and shall take effect within
such time thereafter as the commission prescribes.
Sec. 4955.21. The officers having charge of a public
highway, street, or alley intersected by a railroad shall serve a
written notice upon the nearest
station agent or section foreman
division engineer, roadmaster, or track supervisor having charge
of that portion of the railroad where such intersection occurs
that the crossing, approach, or sidewalk described in section
4955.20 of the Revised Code must be built or repaired, setting
forth its kind and extent and the time and manner of constructing
it, as ordered by the legislative authority of the municipal
corporation or board of township trustees.
A railroad company so notified must comply with such notice
within a period of thirty days after receiving it. On failure to
do so, the board or legislative authority may cause such crossing,
approach, or sidewalk to be constructed or repaired as ordered,
and recover the cost of so doing with interest in a civil action
against the railroad company in the name of the board or municipal
corporation file a complaint with the public utilities commission
pursuant to sections 4905.04 and 4907.08 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4955.22. If, pursuant to section 4907.08 of the Revised
Code, the public utilities commission determines that the company
or person having control or management of a railroad is in
violation of section 4955.20, 4955.21, 4955.36, or 5561.16 of the
Revised Code, the commission may order compliance. With respect to
a railroad's violation of section 4955.20 of the Revised Code, the
commission's order shall require the railroad to complete the
necessary construction, repair, or maintenance not later than
forty-five calendar days after the date the railroad receives the
commission's order, unless the railroad can show good cause as to
why it cannot comply with that time period.
Sec. 4955.36. Every railroad company shall destroy or remove
plants, trees, brush, or other obstructive vegetation upon its
right-of-way at each intersection with a public road or highway,
for a distance of six hundred feet or a reasonably safe distance
from the roadway of such public road or highway as shall be
determined by the public utilities commission.
When any railroad company fails to destroy or remove such
vegetation after ten-day written notice served on its local agent,
the commission, board of county commissioners, board of township
trustees, or legislative authority of a municipal corporation, in
which the intersection is located, having the care of such road or
highway, shall remove such plants, trees, brush, or other
obstructive vegetation and shall recover the cost of removal from
the responsible railroad company. If the company fails to pay the
amount demanded within thirty days, after such company has been
notified by certified mail at the address to which tax bills are
sent, the commission, board of county commissioners, board of
township trustees, or legislative authority of a municipal
corporation shall certify the amount demanded to the county
auditor of the county in which the work was performed to be
collected as other taxes and assessments and upon collection shall
be credited to the general fund of the public body causing said
work to be performed may file a complaint with the commission
pursuant to sections 4905.04 and 4907.08 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5561.16. Any person, firm, or corporation operating a
railroad for the transportation of passengers, freight, or
express, crossing at grade any street or road, shall construct,
reconstruct, improve, maintain, and repair that portion of the
highway at such crossing and lying between the outside ends of the
ties, and also that portion lying between the tracks, in the case
of two or more tracks, and the cost and expense of this
construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, or repair
shall be borne by said individual, firm, or corporation. Such
construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, or repair
shall be done in accordance with plans, profiles, and
specifications first approved by the director of transportation,
in case of state highways or extensions thereof, or by the county
engineer, in case of county and township roads or extensions
thereof.
Such individual, firm, or corporation, upon being notified by
the director, in case of state highways or extensions thereof, or
the engineer, in case of county or township roads or extensions
thereof, that he the director or engineer has determined that it
is necessary that such individual, firm, or corporation make such
improvement, and being informed of the character thereof in a
general way, shall, within thirty days from receiving such notice,
which shall be served by the sheriff in the same manner as summons
in civil action, prepare and submit to the director or engineer
for his approval, detailed plans and specifications covering such
improvement. The director or engineer may approve such plans and
specifications as submitted, or he the director or engineer may
change such plans and specifications and approve them as changed.
Within thirty days after the approval of such plans by the
director or engineer, such individual, firm, or corporation shall
proceed to make such improvement, in accordance with the plans and
specifications approved, and complete it in a reasonable time.
If such individual, firm, or corporation does not, within the
time limited, prepare and submit for approval such plans and
specifications, or proceed to make such improvement, or, having
proceeded to make such improvement within the time limited, fail
to complete the same within a reasonable time, or proceed to make
such improvement not in accordance with the plans and
specifications so approved, the director or engineer may enter
upon and make such improvement in accordance with the plans and
specifications so approved, or if plans and specifications have
not been submitted and approved, then in accordance with plans and
specifications prepared by the director or engineer.
The costs of making such improvement, including engineering
and inspection, by the director or engineer, shall, in the first
instance, be paid by the director or county out of any
appropriation of the department of transportation or county
available for the construction, reconstruction, improvement,
maintenance, or repair of highways.
Upon the completion of such improvement, the director or
engineer shall certify the amount of the costs, including
engineering and inspection of such improvement, to the attorney
general or prosecuting attorney, for collection by civil action.
The director or engineer, in such certificate to the attorney
general or prosecuting attorney, may set out the amount of the
payments and the time of making the various payments as set out,
as deemed reasonable by the director or engineer.
The prosecuting attorney or attorney general shall proceed to
collect such costs and expenses, in accordance with the
certificate of the director or engineer. Whenever a road or street
is improved where a street, interurban, or other railroad or
railway lies within the improved portion of the roadway, such the
individual, firm, or corporation operating the railroad shall
change the railroad or railway grade shall, in all respects, be
changed to meet the approval of the engineer, unless otherwise
provided for in the grant or franchise by virtue of which such
railroad or railway operates on or occupies said highway. Costs of
such change shall be paid by the company, individual, firm, or
corporation under the law or by the terms of its franchise or
grant, shall be a lien upon the property of such company, and the
proper authorities may provide for the payment of the amount
chargeable against said company, under the law or by the terms of
its franchise or grant, in installments as in the case of other
property owners. Such installments shall bear interest as in other
cases, and the board of county commissioners or other authorities
may issue bonds in anticipation of the collection of such
installments.
The director, engineer, or other proper authority may file a
complaint with the public utilities commission pursuant to
sections 4905.04 and 4907.08 of the Revised Code for any failure
to comply with this section.
Section 2. That existing sections 4905.54, 4905.57, 4907.23,
4907.472, 4909.28, 4909.29, 4955.21, 4955.36, and 5561.16 and
section
4955.22 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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