Surface Transportation Board Improvement Act of 1999

Summary: Revises certain requirements to subject employee protective arrangements to specified conditions.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Surface Transportation Board 
Improvement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. SCOPE OF AUTHORITY; EMPLOYEE PROTECTIVE ARRANGEMENTS.

    (a) Scope of Authority.--Section 11321 of title 49, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
    ``(a)(1) The authority of the Board under this subchapter is 
exclusive. A rail carrier or corporation participating in or resulting 
from a transaction approved by or exempted by the Board under this 
subchapter may carry out the transaction, own, and operate property, 
and exercise control or franchises acquired through the transaction 
without the approval of a State authority.
    ``(2) Subject to paragraph (3), a rail carrier, corporation, or 
person participating in an approved or exempted transaction described 
in paragraph (1) is exempt from State and municipal laws to the extent 
that the laws regulate combinations, mergers, or consolidations of rail 
carriers, as necessary to permit that rail carrier, corporation, or 
person to--
            ``(A) carry out the transaction; and
            ``(B) hold, maintain, and operate property, and exercise 
        control or franchises acquired through the transaction.
    ``(3)(A) If a purchase and sale, a lease, or a corporate 
consolidation or merger is involved in a transaction described in 
paragraph (1), the carrier, or corporation may carry out the 
transaction only with the assent of a majority, or the number required 
under applicable State law, of the votes of the holders of the capital 
stock of that corporation entitled to vote.
    ``(B) To meet the requirements of this paragraph--
            ``(i) a vote referred to in subparagraph (A) shall occur at 
        a regular meeting, or special meeting called for that purpose, 
        of the stockholders referred to in that subparagraph; and
            ``(ii) the notice of the meeting shall indicate its 
        purpose.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) The Board shall not, under any circumstances, have the 
authority under this subchapter to--
            ``(1) break, modify, alter, override, or abrogate, in whole 
        or in part, any provision of any collective bargaining 
        agreement or implementing agreement made between the rail 
        carrier and an authorized representative of the employees of 
        the rail carrier under the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et 
        seq.); or
            ``(2) provide the authority described in paragraph (1) to 
        any other person, carrier or corporation.''.
    (b) Employee Protective Arrangements.--Section 11326 of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting 
the following:
    ``(a)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, when 
approval is sought for a transaction under sections 11324 and 11325, 
the Board shall require the rail carrier to provide a fair arrangement 
at least as protective of the interests of employees who are affected 
by the transaction as the terms imposed under section 11347 of this 
title, as in effect on the day before December 29, 1995.
    ``(2) The arrangement and the order approving a transaction 
referred to in paragraph (1) shall be subject to the following 
conditions:
            ``(A) The employees of the affected rail carrier shall not 
        be in a worse position related to their employment as a result 
        of the transaction during the 6-year period beginning on the 
        date on which the employee is adversely affected by an action 
        taken by the affected rail carrier as a result of the 
        transaction (or if an employee was employed for a lesser period 
        of time by the rail carrier before the action became effective, 
        for that lesser period).
            ``(B)(i) The rail carrier and the authorized 
        representatives of the rail carrier's employees shall negotiate 
        under the Railway Labor Act any arrangement regarding the 
        selection of forces or assignment of employees caused by the 
        Board's order of approval under sections 11324 or 11325.
            ``(ii) Arbitration of the proposed arrangement may only 
        occur if both parties agree to that process.
            ``(iii) The Board shall not intervene in the negotiations 
        or arbitration under this subparagraph unless requested to do 
        so by both parties involved.
            ``(iv) The Board shall not, under any circumstances, have 
        the authority under this subchapter to--
                    ``(I) break, modify, alter, override, or abrogate, 
                in whole or in part, any provision in any collective 
                bargaining agreements or implementing agreements made 
                between the rail carrier and an authorized 
                representative of its employees under the Railway Labor 
                Act; or
                    ``(II) provide the authority described in subclause 
                (I) to any other person, carrier, or corporation.
    ``(3) Beginning on the date of the enactment of the Surface 
Transportation Board Improvement Act of 1999, this subsection shall 
apply to any transaction proposed by a rail carrier under conditions 
previously imposed by the former Interstate Commerce Commission or the 
Surface Transportation Board under--
            ``(A) section 5(2)(f) of the Interstate Commerce Commission 
        Act before October 1, 1978;
            ``(B) section 11347 of this title, before December 29, 
        1995; or
            ``(C) this section.''.