Opinion ID: 2116706
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Decree by Court or Act of Congress

Text: Having determined that § 912 applies to the abandonment and reversion of the right-of-way, this court must then determine if the statutory requisites were met. We adopt the test used in Vieux: [i]n order for reversionary rights to vest under § 912, the railroad must 1) cease. `use and occupancy' of the rights of way and 2) abandonment must be `declared or decreed' by a court of competent jurisdiction or a congressional act. Vieux, 906 F.2d at 1337. There is no dispute that the railroad has ceased to use or occupy the right-of-way as required by the statute. The issue lies with the second part of the test. The Landowners contend that Congress has delegated its authority to supervise and regulate railroad abandonments to the I.C.C. and that the I.C.C.'s authorization of abandonment falls within § 912 as an Act of Congress. [8] Legislative history makes it clear that Congress intended that any reversion or forfeiture of the rights-of-ways must be decided by a court or special act of Congress. During House debate, Representative Christopherson of South Dakota, a manager for the bill, explained the amendment which required abandonment to be declared or decreed by a court of competent jurisdiction or by act of Congress. The text of the Congressional Record reads as follows: MR. GARD. The objection which was in my mind was that without any process by anybody, except the proof of the matter of abandonment, the title to this land vested in some subdivision which was outside a municipality, and simply because a man might own a piece of ground contiguous to this abandoned land, by virtue of the ownership and no other action he became entitled to this abandoned land. It seems to me there ought to be some approval by some one who has charge of the land rather than have the automatic addition to the man's own land. MR. CHRISTOPHERSON. This does not do that automatically. The bill was originally drawn so that it would automatically do it, but by the suggestion of the department there was a committee amendment which has been submitted by the committee and which I will readwhether by forfeiture or by abandonment by said railroad company declared or decreed by a court of competent jurisdiction or by act of Congress. With that amendment the parties would either have to go into court and get a decree declaring the land forfeited in a competent court or by a special act of Congress. We should also bear in mind that this does not operate upon any railroad lands, excepting those that have been granted by the Government for railroad purposes alone, ... Cong.R.House 8046 (May 31, 1920) (emphasis added). The legislative history indicates that Congress did not intend to delegate its abandonment authority to the I.C.C. We adopt the reasoning of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Vieux: [T]he I.C.C. approval of abandonment, even in formal abandonment proceedings, is only a determination that under its Congressional mandate, cessation of service would not hinder I.C.C.'s purposes. It is not a determination that the railroad has abandoned its lines. Lastly, the only remedy for an illegal abandonment, that is one that is not approved by the I.C.C., is an injunction brought by the I.C.C., the U.S. or a state government. Thus, a railroad could abandon without any involvement from the I.C.C., if there is no injunctive action brought and if a court decrees that the railroad has abandoned the line. The I.C.C. regulations and process determine what effects an abandonment will have and what the railroad must do to counteract those effects before it abandons, but they do not determine that an abandonment has actually occurred. (citations omitted) Vieux, 906 F.2d at 1339. See, State by Wash. Wildlife Preservation v. State, 329 N.W.2d 543 (Minn.1983), cert. denied, 463 U.S. 1209, 103 S.Ct. 3540, 77 L.Ed.2d 1390 (1983). We agree with the trial court that the right-of-way in the present case was not legally abandoned until the trial court so decreed.