§4535. Railroad commission acquisition of assets; cooperation with the port of New Orleans
A.(1) All rights and properties of every kind, movable and immovable, corporeal and
incorporeal, including but not limited to lands, servitudes, leases, rails, tracks, locomotives,
equipment, motor vehicles, switch yards, books, records, accounts receivable, monies,
intellectual property, contracts, actions, and the Huey P. Long Bridge, its approaches and
appurtenances and the lands and other things in connection therewith, and all other properties
and assets owned, possessed, or used by the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corporation
on the effective date of this Section are hereby transferred to the railroad commission. No
instruments of transfer need be executed or recorded and no notice of assignment need be
given to third persons, and the transfer of ownership as to all property shall be effective
against third persons upon the effective date of this Section, provided that the railroad
commission and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corporation are authorized to register
a notice of the transfer in the conveyance records of applicable parishes making reference to
this Section.
(2) Upon the effective date of this Section, any pending or unfinished business of the
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corporation shall be taken over and be completed by the
railroad commission.
(3) After the effective date of this Section, whenever the Public Belt Railroad
Commission for the city of New Orleans or the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad
Corporation is a party to or is referred to or designated in any contract, the railroad
commission shall be deemed to be a successor party to that contract and any such reference
or designation shall be deemed to apply to the railroad commission. A provision in a
contract that prohibits, restricts, or requires consent for this substitution and assignment or
provides that it gives rise to a default, claim, defense, right of termination, or other remedy
is ineffective.
B.(1) The railroad commission shall be the successor in every way to the New
Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corporation. All of the obligations and debts of that
corporation are hereby assumed by the railroad commission, including but not limited to the
obligations and debts of the Public Belt Railroad Commission for the city of New Orleans
expressly assumed in writing by that corporation pursuant to the Cooperative Endeavor
Agreement effective February 1, 2018, among the city of New Orleans, the Public Belt
Railroad Commission for the city of New Orleans, the Board of Commissioners of the Port
of New Orleans, and that corporation.
(2) For purposes of this Subsection, legal proceeding includes but is not limited to
any suit, action, incidental demand or action, claim, or any other matter filed or pending
before any court, administrative agency, or other judicial or quasi-judicial body.
(3) For purposes of this Subsection, pleading includes but is not limited to any
petition, application, exception, motion, rule, answer, incidental demand, citation, notice,
return, affidavit, certificate, oath, bond or other security, summons, subpoena, writ,
interrogatory, deposition, court record, and any other pleading or instrument permitted or
required in any legal proceeding.
(4) Any legal proceeding to which the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corporation
is a party and which is pending upon the effective date of this Section, and all pleadings
involved in the legal proceeding, shall retain their effectiveness and shall be continued in the
name of the railroad commission. This provision shall not interrupt or suspend the running
of any prescription or peremption or revive or renew any matter or action. All further legal
proceedings and pleadings in the continuation, disposition, and enforcement of the legal
proceeding shall be in the name of the railroad commission, and the railroad commission
shall be substituted for the original party, whether the original party is the Public Belt
Railroad Commission for the city of New Orleans or the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad
Corporation, without necessity for formal amendment of any pleading.
C. The powers and functions of the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New
Orleans include the formation and ownership of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad
Corporation. The corporation and all properties at any time owned by it and the income
therefrom shall be exempt from any form of taxation in the state of Louisiana. The property
and assets of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corporation, transferred to the railroad
commission by this Section, were acquired by the corporation in direct exchange for
properties transferred by the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans to the city
of New Orleans.
D. The railroad commission, and any of it successors and assigns that operate,
manage, and develop the public belt railroad system, shall be subject to the provisions of all
federal railroad laws to the extent applicable by their terms to the public belt railroad system,
including the Railway Labor Act, the Federal Employers Liability Act, the Railroad
Retirement Act, the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, the Railroad Unemployment Insurance
Act, the Federal Railroad Safety Act, and the Interstate Commerce Act. The railroad
commission shall exercise and perform its powers and functions in cooperation with the
Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans. The railroad commission is a rail
common carrier, and the railroad commission shall possess and retain all rail common carrier
status and obligations under federal laws with respect to the public belt railroad system.
Nothing in this Part is intended or shall be construed to create or impose any rail common
carrier status or obligation on the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans.
When appropriate, the respective officers and employees of the Board of Commissioners of
the Port of New Orleans and the railroad commission are authorized to render support and
services to the other political subdivision within their respective functions. In order to
achieve economy, effectiveness, or coordination of planning, marketing, or operation, subject
to the separation required by this Subsection, the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New
Orleans and the railroad commission may contract with each other by cooperative endeavor
agreement or otherwise coordinate or combine the use of administrative, legal, executive,
financial, marketing, community outreach, and other personnel upon such basis of
compensation and value therefor as may be mutually agreed upon by the political
subdivisions, provided such arrangement shall in no event include employees performing rail
carrier operations. Pursuant to a written agreement, either political subdivision is authorized
to donate the use of public equipment and personnel of the political subdivision upon request
to the other political subdivision for an activity or function the requesting political
subdivision is authorized to exercise.
E. The railroad commission pursuant to Article VI, Section 20 of the Constitution
of Louisiana, may exercise and perform any authorized power and function, including
financing, jointly or in cooperation with the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New
Orleans. Pursuant to Article VI, Sections 19 and 21 of the Constitution of Louisiana, the
railroad commission shall be granted all of the rights, powers, privileges, and immunities
granted to political subdivisions for economic development purposes for the object and
purpose of promoting and expanding the transportation of goods in domestic or international
commerce through or related to and for the benefit of the Port of New Orleans and the public
belt railroad system.
F. The railroad commission and the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New
Orleans may make agreements between themselves to engage jointly in the construction,
finance, acquisition, or improvement of any public port or rail project or improvement, the
promotion and maintenance of any undertaking, or the exercise of any power, provided that
at least one of those political subdivisions is authorized under a provision of general or
special law to perform such activity to exercise such power as may be necessary for
completion of the undertaking. Such arrangements may provide for the joint use of funds,
facilities, or property or any combination thereof necessary to accomplish the purposes of the
agreement, and such agreements may include but are not limited to activities concerning the
construction, finance, acquisition or improvement, or repair and maintenance, of public port
or rail projects or improvements.
G. The railroad commission and the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New
Orleans are authorized to exchange properties of any kind, immovable or movable, corporeal
or incorporeal, when mutually agreed to be in the best interests of the Port of New Orleans.
H. It is intended that the railroad commission and the Board of Commissioners of
the Port of New Orleans will engage in cooperative endeavors with each other to implement
the purposes identified in this Part and other public purposes. Cooperative endeavor
agreements between these political subdivisions that are consistent with the provisions of this
Part shall be presumed to be for a public purpose for both political subdivisions and
presumed not to be in contravention of Article VII, Section 14(A) of the Constitution of
Louisiana.
I. Upon the determination by the board of the railroad commission that the interests
of the railroad commission would best be served, the railroad commission may incorporate
a nonprofit corporation to be solely owned and controlled by it for the purpose of exercising
or supporting a part of the railroad commission's functions.
NOTE: See Acts 2020, No. 359, §§9 and 10 regarding effectiveness and applicability
of cooperative endeavor agreement.