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HB714 • 2026

RAILROADS: Requires local railroad companies to remediate or remove blighted or abandoned railroad lines and associated structures

RAILROADS: Requires local railroad companies to remediate or remove blighted or abandoned railroad lines and associated structures

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Tammy Phelps
Last action
2026-03-09
Official status
Pending House Transportation, Highways, and Public Works - Considered 5/5/26
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

RAILROADS: Requires local railroad companies to remediate or remove blighted or abandoned railroad lines and associated structures

RAILROADS: Requires local railroad companies to remediate or remove blighted or abandoned railroad lines and associated structures

What This Bill Does

  • RAILROADS: Requires local railroad companies to remediate or remove blighted or abandoned railroad lines and associated structures

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Draft

Plain English: HCAHB714 4877 4947 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Substitute for Original House Bill No.

  • HCAHB714 4877 4947 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Substitute for Original House Bill No.
  • 714 by Representative Phelps as proposed by the House Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works This document reflects the content of a substitute bill but is not in a bill form; page numbers in this document DO NOT correspond to page numbers in the substitute bill itself.
  • To enact R.S.
  • 33:9131 and R.S.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-09 H

    Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works.

  2. 2026-02-27 H

    First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.

  3. 2026-02-27 H

    Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works.

  4. 2026-02-27 H

    Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

RAILROADS: Requires local railroad companies to remediate or remove blighted or abandoned railroad lines and associated structures

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HLS 26RS-348 ORIGINAL
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 714
BY REPRESENTATIVE PHELPS
RAILROADS: Requires local railroad companies to remediate or remove blighted or
abandoned railroad lines and associated structures
1 AN ACT
2 To enact R.S. 48:390.2, relative to railroad crossings in Caddo Parish; to require the owner
3 of railroad crossings to remove or remediate blighted or abandoned crossings and
4 related structures within one year; to ensure the preservation and upkeep of these
5 crossings, including painting and rust removal, of underpasses; and to provide for
6 related matters.
7 Notice of intention to introduce this Act has been published
8 as provided by Article III, Section 13 of the Constitution of
9 Louisiana.
10 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
11 Section 1. R.S. 48:390.2 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
12 §390.2. Caddo parish railroad crossings; remediation or removal
13 A.(1) Owners of railroad crossings within the parish of Caddo shall have one
14 year from the effective date of this Act to remediate or remove any existing blighted
15 or abandoned railroad crossings and associated structures.
16 (2) Owners of railroad crossings within the parish of Caddo which are found
17 to be blighted or abandoned by local governing authorities after the effective date of
18 this Act shall have one year from the finding or declaration by the local governing
19 authority to remediate or remove any blighted or abandoned railroad crossings and
20 associated structures.
Page 1 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HLS 26RS-348 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 714
1 B. Underpasses of railroad crossings within the parish of Caddo shall be
2 maintained and preserved, including but not limited to painting and rust removal, to
3 prevent them from becoming a blight or nuisance.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 714 Original 2026 Regular Session Phelps
Abstract: Requires the owner of railroad crossings to remove or remediate blighted and
abandoned crossings and related structures and to ensure the preservation and upkeep
of underpasses in Caddo parish.
Proposed law requires owners of blighted and abandoned railroad crossings to remove or
remediate the crossings and related structures within Caddo parish within one year of
enactment of proposed law or within finding or declaration by a local governing authority.
Proposed law requires railroad owners to ensure the preservation and upkeep, including
painting and rust removal, of underpasses in Caddo parish.
(Adds R.S. 48:390.2)
Page 2 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.