Railroad: includes every commercial, interurban, and other railway, other than a street railway, and each branch or extension of a railway, by any power operated, together with all tracks, bridges, trestles, rights-of-way, subways, tunnels, stations, depots, union depots, yards, grounds, terminals, terminal facilities, structures, and equipment, and all other real estate, fixtures, and personal property of every kind used in connection with a railway owned, controlled, operated, or managed for public service in the transportation of persons or property. See Utah Code 54-2-1
telecommunications facility: means fiber optics or related conduit installed in a crossing. See Utah Code 54-23-102
(a)
Any fiber optic carrier that intends to place a facility across or upon a railroad right-of-way shall submit a request for permission from the railroad prior to placing a facility.
(b)
A request under this Subsection (1) shall:
(i)
be in the railroad form of a completed crossing application;
(ii)
include an engineering design that:
(A)
shows the location of the proposed crossing and the railroad’s property, tracks, and wires that the telecommunications facility will cross; and
(B)
conforms with guidelines published in the most recent edition of the National Electric Safety Code and American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association standards; and
(iii)
include the standard crossing fee specified in Section 54-23-105.
(2)
Unless the railroad provides written or electronic notice to the fiber optic carrier that the proposed crossing is a serious threat to the safe operations of the railroad or to the current or future use of the railroad right-of-way, would violate any federal law or regulation applicable to a public transit district, or would violate an agreement between a public transit district and the federal government, the railroad shall approve the application within 35 calendar days after the receipt of a completed application for a crossing.
(3)
This section applies to:
(a)
any crossing in existence before May 14, 2019, if an agreement concerning the crossing has expired or has been terminated; and
(b)
any crossing commenced on or after May 14, 2019.
(4)
If an applicant that intends to place a facility across or upon a railroad right-of-way at a crossing described in Subsection (3)(a) has paid a collective amount that equals or exceeds the standard crossing fee established under Section 54-23-105 to the railroad during the existence of the crossing, no additional fee may be required.
