(a) The authority and any utility required to remove a utility facility or to relocate any utility facility may, by agreement, provide for the respective amounts of the cost to be borne by each. The authority may, without prejudice to its rights under Section 185506, advance the cost of removal or relocation, and, if the authority advances that cost, it is the duty of the utility to move its facilities as soon as reasonably possible so as not to delay high-speed rail construction. In the case of any utility that is not financially able to bear the costs of removal or relocation, the authority may by agreement provide for the work to be done on condition that the utility’s portion of the costs be repaid to the authority over a period of time not exceeding 10 years.

(b) Either party may maintain an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for an adjudication as to the obligations and costs to be borne by each party under any contract entered into by the parties at any time within four years after the cause of action first arose. The cause of action shall be deemed to arise at the time of the completion by the utility of the removal or relocation in question, or at the time of a breach of the agreement by either party, whichever occurs first. The filing of a claim with a state agency shall not be deemed a condition precedent to the maintenance by the utility of an action under this subdivision.

Terms Used In California Public Utilities Code 185505

  • Authority: means the High-Speed Rail Authority. See California Public Utilities Code 185012
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • High-speed rail: means intercity passenger rail service that utilizes an alignment and technology that makes it capable of sustained speeds of 200 miles per hour or greater. See California Public Utilities Code 185012
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Public Utilities Code 17
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Public Utilities Code 10

(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 35, Sec. 7. (SB 85) Effective June 27, 2013.)

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