SECTION 8. Surplus railroad-related materials and equipment; offer to freight railroads operating on in-state tracks owned by the commonwealth

Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the secretary of transportation may offer and convey surplus rail and other track material, surplus rail-related equipment, such as signals, and surplus railroad bridge materials to freight railroads operating on tracks in the commonwealth to which they have rights and to the freight railroads operating on in-state tracks owned by the commonwealth. Working in concert with the Massachusetts Railroad Association, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation shall design and implement a fair, reasonable and orderly system to distribute the surplus assets; provided, however, that the department may change that system, as needed, in order to improve it in any way consistent with the objectives of the reuse program. The assets shall only be conveyed to a railroad which has demonstrated an impending need for the assets at a specific in-state location. The secretary shall cause to be created and published periodically a list of surplus rail assets which may be made available through the department or from department projects and from Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority projects to the freight railroad companies operating in the commonwealth.