Rails to Trails Landowner Rights Act

This bill adds new requirements for states, local governments, or private groups that want to use an abandoned railway right-of-way as a recreational trail under the National Trails System Act. It also requires periodic reviews of existing trails and creates an advisory committee on trail maintenance.

Sec. 2, Interim use of railroad rights-of-way: Before a trail can be approved, the requesting entity must notify all property owners whose land the railway crosses or is adjacent to, and any local government with jurisdiction. It must get signed approval from each such property owner within 30 days of intervening in the abandonment process. It must disclose the legal status of the occupancy. Any agreement must require the trail sponsor to compensate those property owners at fair market value for additional costs, including moving infrastructure and lost development opportunities, and must show the Surface Transportation Board it has the money to pay. The agreement must also require the trail sponsor to maintain the right-of-way forever or until rail service returns. The entity must create a public online portal with all this information. Before issuing a notice for interim trail use, the Board must hold a public comment period starting at least 90 days before certification, review the easement width and consider narrowing it if not needed for future rail service, and within 10 days after the comment period do a cost-benefit analysis covering safety, health, security, privacy, biosecurity, food security, economic impact on landowners and communities, and the likelihood the corridor will return to rail use. The trail sponsor must pay all costs of the width review, and the Board cannot spend money on it until the trail sponsor pays.

Sec. 3, Periodic review of rails-to-trails corridors: The Board must periodically review existing trails created under the same law, make recommendations to Congress on maintenance requirements, and consider requests from landowners and trail sponsors to narrow the easement width.

Sec. 4, Advisory committee: The Secretary of the Interior must create an 11-member advisory committee to recommend maintenance requirements for trail sponsors. The committee has 6 members from landowners along existing trails, 3 from rail carriers, and 2 trail sponsors. They get no pay and no federal travel reimbursement. Within 2 years, they must report their recommendations to the House Natural Resources Committee.