Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §7229, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 398, §8, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

§7229.__Maintenance charges for private crossings

1.__Municipal officers.__In a municipality in which a private way is crossed by a railroad, the municipal officers may act as agents for a railroad corporation in collecting maintenance and insurance charges from those property owners using that crossing.__ This section does not authorize a municipality to assess or levy these charges or to use its taxing power to collect these charges.

2.__Exception for current property owners.__Railroad corporations may not collect maintenance and insurance charges from property owners who, on or before the effective date of this subsection, use rights-of-way on private crossings that existed prior to the effective date of this subsection.

SUMMARY

This bill prohibits railroad corporations from collecting maintenance and insurance fees from property owners using rights- of-way on private crossings prior to the effective date of this bill.