The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is an independent federal agency that serves as an adjudicatory board. The board was created in 1996 following the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), and absorbed regulatory powers relevant to the railroad industry previously under the ICC's purview.[1]
The STB has broad economic regulatory oversight of railroads in the United States, including matters related to the construction, acquisition, and abandonment of rail lines, carrier mergers, and interchange of traffic between carriers. The board is composed of five members nominated by the President, each subject to Senate confirmation. Since 2021, Democrat Martin J. Oberman has served as chair of the STB.
Since its founding, various legislation has been introduced in Congress pertaining to the STB's functions. In 2015, the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act was passed, which expanded the Board from three to five members.[2] The passage of the legislation transformed the STB, which had been "administratively aligned" with the Department of Transportation while still decisionally independent, into an entirely independent federal agency.
In response to concerns regarding increasing corporate concentration in the rail industry, the STB has considered proposals intended to encourage rail competition. In 2016, a proposal was made to establish "reciprocal switching rules" to require railroads to create arrangements where shippers would be able to access competing carriers in lieu of other options. In 2022, Chairman Oberman expressed support for reciprocal switching rules, arguing they would address shippers' complaints and encourage industry competition.[3]
Agency authority
The STB has the authority to regulate rates, service, construction, acquisition, and abandonment of rail lines, carrier mergers, as well as interchange of traffic.
The STB also has oversight of pipeline carriers, intercity bus carriers, moving van companies, trucking companies involved in collective activities, and water carriers engaged in non-contiguous domestic trade. The Board has wide discretion, through its exemption authority from federal, state, and local laws, to implement transportation regulation.
Performance and policy goals
The Board provides a forum for the resolution of surface-transportation disputes and other matters within its jurisdiction. It has the authority to limit or remove regulatory requirements where appropriate.[4]
Organizational structure and members
The Board is composed of five members nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate for five-year terms. The Board's chairman is designated by the President from among the members. As its chief executive, the chairman coordinates and organizes the agency's work and acts as its representative in legislative matters and in relations with other governmental bodies.
Martin J. Oberman, chairman of the Surface Transportation Board since 2021
The current chairman is Democrat Martin J. Oberman, who was nominated to the STB by President Donald Trump in 2018 and confirmed by the Senate and sworn in in January 2019. Oberman was chosen by President Joe Biden to serve as chairman of the STB in January 21, 2021, succeeding Ann Begeman, who had been Chairman and Acting Chairman between January 2017 and January 2021.
The vice chairman represents the Board and assumes the chairman's duties as appropriate. Additionally, the vice chairman oversees matters involving the admission, discipline, and disbarment of non-attorney Board practitioners. The current vice chairman is Robert E. Primus, appointed February 1, 2021, succeeding Oberman in the board's annual rotation of that position.
Martin J. Oberman was confirmed to the Board on January 3, 2019, by a voice vote in the United States Senate.[5] He was designated chairman of the board by President Joe Biden on January 21, 2021.[5]
Karen J. Hedlund was confirmed on December 16, 2021, as a member of the Board.
Patrick Fuchs was confirmed to the Board on January 2, 2019, by a voice vote in the United States Senate.
Michelle Schultz and Robert E. Primus were confirmed to two newly-created seats on the board on November 18, 2020, both by voice vote.[8] Schultz's term runs for five years from the day of entering office. Primus' term runs until December 31, 2027.[7] Hedlund was named as vice chair on January 9, 2023.[6]
Assisting the Board in carrying out its responsibilities is a staff of 117 (FY2018) with experience in economics, law, accounting, transportation analysis, finance and administration.[9]
Past members
Linda J. Morgan April 28, 1994 – December 31, 2003
Gus A. Owen 1995 – 1998
J.J. Simmons III January 1, 1996 – end of 1996
William Clyburn, Jr. 1998 – 2001
Wayne Burkes February 22, 1999 – December 31, 2002
Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance
The Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance serves as the agency's principal point of contact with Congress, state and local governments, the media, industry stakeholders and the general public. This office includes the Rail Customer and Public Assistance Program, where Board staff solves problems in ways ranging from a simple answer to a telephone inquiry to lengthy informal dispute resolution efforts between railroads and shippers.[11]
Office of Economics
The Office of Economics analyzes rate cases, conducts economic and financial analyses of the railroad industry, and audits Class I railroads.
The Office of the Managing Director handles administrative matters such as personnel, budget and information technology.
Office of Proceedings
The Office of Proceedings (OP) is the office with primary responsibility for developing the public record in formal cases (or proceedings) filed with the STB, making recommendations regarding the resolution of issues presented in those cases, and preparing the decisions issued by the Board.
The Office of Proceedings is a legal office, consisting almost entirely of attorneys and paralegal specialists, responsible for the majority of the cases at the STB. The office applies the Interstate Commerce Act, as amended by the ICC Termination Act of 1995, as well as the Board's own regulations.[12] In carrying out its responsibilities, the Office of Proceedings obtains and applies any necessary input from economic, financial, operational, environmental, and other legal staff experts throughout the agency.
The Office of Proceedings includes a clearance unit responsible for tabulating votes on STB cases and recording the official outcome of those votes, and a recordations unit that enters data about a filing's primary and secondary documents into the STB Recordations database, which is accessible to the public on the STB web site.
Office of General Counsel
The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) responds to questions on a variety of legal issues. However, its primary mission is two-fold: to defend the STB's decisions in court and to assess the defensibility of agency decisions that might be challenged in court. Unlike most Federal agencies, the STB has independent litigating authority (49 U.S.C.§ 703(d)). Under the Hobbs Act, when an STB order or decision is challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals, both the STB (represented by the agency's own attorneys) and the United States (represented by U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys) must be named as "respondents" (defendants), and both have authority to appear in court in such cases.[13] STB and DOJ attorneys, in most cases, jointly defend the agency's decisions, with the STB's attorneys preparing written briefs (in consultation with DOJ attorneys) and presenting oral arguments on behalf of the Federal Government.
In performing defensibility assessments, OGC attorneys meet with other STB staff to discuss cases before draft decisions are prepared. Defensibility assessments are key to issuing sound decisions that are less likely to be challenged and, if challenged, are more likely to be upheld.
References
^ abICC rides into the sunset Trains April 1996 page 18
