SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

• STB Statutes
• Key Railroad Legislation
• STB Regulations
• STB Reports (Bound Volumes 1-7)

The ICC Termination Act of 1995

The STB is the successor agency to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).  Effective January 1, 1996, the ICC was abolished pursuant to the ICC Termination Act of 1995 (ICCTA).  Under ICCTA, many of the ICC’s functions—particularly regarding economic regulation of the freight rail industry—were transferred to the newly established STB.  The ICC’s motor carrier (trucking) functions, including matters relating to licensing and insurance of such carriers and the movement of household goods, were transferred to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, an agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

The Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 2015

In 2015, Congress enacted the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 2015 (STB Reauthorization Act), the first major legislation affecting the STB since the passage of ICCTA. The STB Reauthorization Act modified various aspects of the agency’s administration and functions.  Most notably, the Act made the STB a wholly independent agency, no longer part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and changed the composition of the STB from three to five members.  In addition, the Act:

• Allows a majority of STB Board Members to meet in private to discuss agency matters, subject to certain rules and procedures;
• Gives the STB authority to investigate issues of national or regional significance and requires the Board to establish regulations governing such investigations;
• Directs the STB to modify its voluntary arbitration process, including increases in the maximum damage awards;
• Shortens timelines applicable to large rate case proceedings, including time limits for discovery and development of the evidentiary record;
• Directs the Comptroller General of the United States (the head of the United States General Accountability Office) to begin a study of rail transportation contract proposals containing multiple origin-to-destination movements;
• Requires STB preparation and publication of a rate case methodology report, as well as various other reports that must be issued quarterly.  (These quarterly reports can be accessed here.)