Rails to Trails Landowner Rights Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 4924 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 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 i