CURE Praises U.S. Senate on Passage of STB Reauthorization.
For Immediate Release:
June 18, 2015
Contact: Ann Warner
202.465.8716
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Consumers United for Rail Equity (CURE) today congratulated the U.S. Senate for passing legislation reauthorizing the Surface Transportation Board for the first time since the agency was created in 1995.
“The Surface Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act of 2015 (S.808), is the first railroad reform measure since the Interstate Commerce Commission was replaced with the STB,” said CURE President David Sauer, who is chief operating officer and senior vice president of Dakota Gasification Company (Dakota Gas), Bismarck ND, a subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative.
The Senate vote comes on the heels of a study released by the National Academy of Science’s Transportation Research Board (TRB) concluding that Federal economic regulation of the U.S. freight railroad regulation has not kept pace with the industry’s transformation. “The TRB study confirms what rail shippers have long asserted: economic regulation of the nation’s freight railroads must be modernized to take into account the changes in both railroads and shippers,” Sauer added.
S. 808 would improve how the STB works by making it a more timely, efficient, and equitable regulatory agency. The bill, introduced by Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) on March 19, would expand the membership of the STB to five members from its current three person structure and provide needed improvements in Federal oversight of freight railroads.
“CURE looks forward to consideration of this measure in the House,” said Ann Warner, CURE interim executive director.
ABOUT CURE
CURE is a national coalition representing freight rail shippers. Through a growing coalition of industries and associations, CURE is working to educate the public on the impacts to consumers from railroad practices.
The mission of CURE, and its successor organization, is to obtain changes in Federal law and policy that will provide all freight shippers with reliable rail service at competitive prices.
###
