[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4924 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4924
To provide for certain requirements of the Surface Transportation Board
and any State, political subdivision, or qualified private organization
requesting interim recreational use of an abandoned railway right-of-
way, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 8, 2025
Mr. Graves (for himself, Ms. Foxx, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Alford, Ms.
Hageman, and Mr. Onder) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for certain requirements of the Surface Transportation Board
and any State, political subdivision, or qualified private organization
requesting interim recreational use of an abandoned railway right-of-
way, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Rails to Trails Landowner Rights
Act''.
SEC. 2. INTERIM USE OF RAILROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY.
Section 8 of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1247) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (d)--
(A) by striking ``The Secretary of Transportation''
and inserting ``(1) The Secretary of Transportation'';
and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) To be eligible for the treatment described in this
subsection, a State, political subdivision, or qualified private
organization shall--
``(A) provide notice to--
``(i) the owners of any property upon which the
railroad right-of-way crosses, or is adjacent to the
land subject to the right-of-way; and
``(ii) any unit of local government with
jurisdiction over any property upon which the railroad
right-of-way crosses;
``(B) not later than 30 days after intervening in an
abandonment proceeding under this subsection, receive signed
approval from each owner described in subparagraph (A)(i) for
the proposed interim use;
``(C) disclose the legal status of the occupancy for the
right-of-way;
``(D) with respect to any proposed agreement under this
subsection--
``(i) ensure that any agreement reached under this
subsection requires the State, political subdivision,
or qualified private organization party to such
agreement to compensate the owners of property upon
which such right-of-way crosses for any additional cost
attributed to the interim use, with a minimum
compensation level at fair market value of such
property, including costs imposed on affected
landowners due to the required movement of existing
infrastructure and lost development opportunities;
``(ii) provide to the Board such assurances as the
Board may require, that the State, political
subdivision, or qualified private organization has the
financial resources to provide compensation as
described under clause (i); and
``(iii) ensure that any agreement reached under
this subsection requires the trail sponsor to continue
all right-of-way maintenance responsibilities in
perpetuity or until the right-of-way returns to active
rail service; and
``(E) create an online publicly accessible portal to
disclose the information described in subparagraph (A) through
(D).
``(3) Before issuing a notice for interim trail use described in
this subsection, and after the approval has been provided under
paragraph (2)(B), the Board shall--
``(A) provide for a public notice and comment period
beginning not less than 90 days before a certification is
awarded under this subsection;
``(B) review the width of any applicable easement and
consider narrowing an easement if it such width is not
necessary for the corridor to potentially be returned to
service as a rail corridor;
``(C) not later than 10 days after the completion of the
requirements under subparagraph (A), carry out a cost-benefit
analysis of the full impact of the interim use of the railway
that considers--
``(i) the impact on--
``(I) safety;
``(II) health;
``(III) security;
``(IV) privacy;
``(V) biosecurity;
``(VI) food security; and
``(VII) economic impact on owners described
in paragraph (2)(A)(i) and other local
communities; and
``(ii) the likelihood that the corridor will return
to use as rail service if such a consideration was not
taken into account in such analysis.
``(4) Any cost incurred carrying out the requirements of paragraph
(3)(B) shall be borne by the State, political subdivision, or qualified
private organization proposing the interim railway use and the Board
shall not incur any such expenses until funding for carrying out such
activities is received from the trail sponsor.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the
Board may contract with an independent third party to conduct a cost-
benefit analysis required to be carried out under subsection
(d)(3)(B).''.
SEC. 3. PERIODIC REVIEW OF RAILS-TO-TRAILS CORRIDORS.
The Surface Transportation Board shall--
(1) periodically review rails-to-trails corridors described
in section 8(d) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C.
1247(d)); and
(2) make recommendations to relevant congressional
committees on maintenance requirements of the trail sponsor and
consider requests of landowners and trail sponsors to narrow
the width of the easement for a corridor.
SEC. 4. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of the Interior shall establish
an advisory committee to recommend maintenance requirements for trail
sponsors under the program described in section 8(d) of the National
Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1247(d)) and any agreement reached under
such program.
(b) Membership.--The advisory committee established under
subsection (a) shall be composed of 11 members appointed by the
Secretary not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this
Act. The members of the committee shall be as follows:
(1) 6 members selected from landowners along existing
trails created under such program.
(2) 3 members representing rail carriers.
(3) 2 members that are trail sponsors under such program.
(c) Compensation; Travel Expenses.--
(1) Compensation.--Members of the committee established
under subsection (a) shall not receive compensation from the
Secretary in carrying out the duties of the committee under
this section.
(2) Travel expenses.--Travel expenses incurred by a member
of the committee in carrying out the duties of the committee
under this section shall not be eligible for Federal
reimbursement.
(d) Report to Secretary.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the committee established under subsection (a)
shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives a report containing the recommendations described under
subsection (a).
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