§ 37-9-1301 — Environmental inventory and cleanup after cessation of rail service

Wyoming § 37-9-1301

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming
• Title 37: Public Utilities
• Ch. 9: RAILROADS
• Art. 13: ENVIRONMENTAL INVENTORY AND CLEANUP

Text

(a) Any rail common carrier having annual carrier
operating revenues in excess of ten million dollars
($10,000,000.00), which ceases service on any railroad operating
right-of-way in the state of Wyoming, shall comply with the
requirements of this section. Within sixty (60) days of the
date a rail common carrier ceases service, the carrier shall
file with the Wyoming department of environmental quality a
report certifying that the operating rights-of-way over which
service is ceasing are in compliance with the Wyoming
environmental quality laws or providing a plan to bring the
operating rights-of-way into compliance. The report shall:
(i) Identify any release, leak, discharge or spill
required to be reported under the Wyoming environmental quality
laws which the rail carrier knew or should have known occurred
on the operating rights-of-way over which service is ceasing;
(ii) Describe remedial action, if any, taken in
regard to any such release, leak, discharge or spill reported
pursuant to paragraph (a)(i) of this section by the rail carrier
and whether such action resulted in the operating rights-of-way
complying with the Wyoming environmental quality laws;
(iii) Include, if a release, leak, discharge or spill
has occurred on an operating right-of-way, a sufficient number
of samples and an analysis of the samples to determine whether
or not all such operating rights-of-way are in compliance with
the Wyoming environmental quality laws and shall indicate
whether materials from any leak, discharge or spill could have
entered surface or groundwater. The report shall include an
analysis of the actions required to remediate any impact of a
leak, discharge or spill and to bring the property into
compliance with the Wyoming environmental quality laws.
(iv) Repealed by Laws 1995, ch. 54, § 2.
(b) Within one hundred eighty (180) days of the Wyoming
department of environmental quality's receipt of the report
required by subsection (a) of this section, the Wyoming
department of environmental quality shall review the information
contained in the report and may require additional sampling and
analysis by the rail common carrier of the operating rights-of-
way subject of the report and shall notify the carrier in
writing if the report is acceptable or if additional sampling or
remediation is needed.
(c) Any rail carrier that is required to perform
remediation shall file a progress report with the Wyoming
department of environmental quality within one (1) year of the
date of notification by the department of environmental quality
that the report filed pursuant to subsection (a) of this
section, is acceptable. The progress report shall be filed with
the department annually thereafter until completion. Should new
information be discovered during the period between reports,
that information shall be disclosed in the annual report along
with appropriate proposed modifications. Such modifications
shall be reviewed and approved as provided in subsection (b) of
this section.
(d) Repealed by Laws 1995, ch. 54, § 2.
(e) Repealed by Laws 1995, ch. 54, § 2.
(f) Copies of all reports and documentation required by
this section shall be filed with the Wyoming department of
environmental quality and shall be available to the Wyoming
department of transportation, the Wyoming game and fish
commission, the Wyoming legislative service office, the offices
of the clerks of all counties and the clerks of all
municipalities in which service is ceasing.
(g) Any rail carrier which violates any provision of this
section shall be liable for a penalty of up to ten thousand
dollars ($10,000.00) per day for each violation, to be assessed
in a civil action.
(h) For purposes of this section:
(i) A rail common carrier "ceases service" when the
United States surface transportation board, or any successor
agency, finds or has found that the rail common carrier may
abandon any part of its railroad lines or discontinue the
operation of all rail transportation over any part of its
railroad lines, or when the railroad line is actually abandoned
or service actually discontinued, if the abandonment or
discontinuance is exempt from such a finding under the rules of
the surface transportation board, or any successor agency;
(ii) "Operating right-of-way" includes all property
and facilities directly relating to the carrier's operation as a
rail common carrier;
(iii) "Wyoming environmental quality laws" means the
Wyoming Environmental Quality Act (W.S. 35-11-101 through 35-11-
1428, as may be amended) and all rules and regulations issued
thereunder.