Railroad crossings: permit applications: review.

Senator Laird's railroad crossing legislation establishes new application requirements and creates an expedited review process for qualifying projects under the Public Utilities Commission's jurisdiction. The bill requires railroad crossing applications to include detailed location descriptions, scaled plans showing crossing features, vicinity maps, grade profiles, and applicable safety measures.

The legislation introduces an expedited review pathway for "exempt" railroad crossing applications - those deemed to have clear public benefit and no valid protests. For these cases, the Commission must implement a streamlined approval process that maintains public notice requirements and opportunities for stakeholder input. The process requires notification to railroads, transit agencies, and local transportation authorities while preserving public comment periods on proposed resolutions.

The measure also modifies the Commission's procedural rules by excluding exempt railroad crossing applications from standard requirements for commissioner assignment and administrative law judge oversight. It maintains existing provisions for categorizing proceedings and managing ex parte communications, with specific requirements for documenting and disclosing communications between decision-makers and interested parties.