Board Releases STB Reauthorization Reports. Surface Transportation Board Press Release.
Today the Surface Transportation Board issued reports as part of its implementation of theSTB Reauthorization Act of 2015, P.L. 114-110 (2015).
The Board issued four reports:
–the first quarterly report on rate case review metrics;
–the first quarterly report on formal and informal service complaints;
–the second quarterly report on unfinished regulatory proceedings; and
–a status report for the month of March showing the Board’s progress in implementing the key initiatives of the Reauthorization Act.
The Board also continues to make progress on implementing the Reauthorization Act’s provisions to improve the processing of rate reasonableness cases. The Board began this implementation with rules issued on March 9, 2016, regarding rate case procedural schedules. Pursuant to the Board’s announcement on March 15, 2016, meetings have been scheduled with practitioners, consultants, and stakeholders who have significant experience in rate reasonableness litigation, especially stand-alone cost cases, to share their views and ideas for expediting rate cases. The Board will conduct these meetings in April and will initiate a proceeding by June 15, 2016, in accordance with the Act.
The Board Members continue to hold meetings under the Board’s new collaborative discussion authority established by the Act. In March, the Board and staff members discussed modifying the agency’s existing arbitration rules consistent with the requirements of the Reauthorization Act. A summary of this meeting is posted in the Reauthorization Actsection of the Board’s website. The Board intends to begin rulemakings on both the arbitration rules and its new investigative powers under the Act within the next quarter.
“The reports being transmitted to Congress today show that the Board is aggressively moving forward with the mandates of the STB Reauthorization Act and making steady progress on its key objectives,” said STB Chairman Daniel R. Elliott.
To view the STB’s status reports, and other reports required under the Reauthorization Act as they become available, click here. To read the full text of the STB Reauthorization Act of 2015, click here.
###
