B.C.D. 16-01 

EMPLOYER STATUS DETERMINATION 

Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) 

January 21, 2016 

This is a determination of the Railroad Retirement Board concerning the status of 

the Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) as an employer under the Railroad 

Retirement Act ( 45 U.S.C. §231 et ~.) and the Railroad Unemployment 

Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. §351 et seq.). The status of SLSI under the Acts has not 

been previously considered. 

SLSI was incorporated by the American Short Line and Regional Railroad 

Association (BA# 7301) (ASLRRA) on September 18, 2015 . ASLRRA is a 

covered employer under the Acts with service creditable from January 1, 1917. 

Keith T. Borman, Vice President and General Counsel of ASLRRA, provided 

information regarding SLSI's organization and operations. Mr. Borman stated that 

ASLRRA founded SLSI to advance safety within the Class II and Class III railroad 

industry, and SLSI's bylaws state the mission of SLSI is "to provide leadership to 

enhance the safety culture and safety conformance of short line and regional 

railroads through assessment, education and training." Legal, accounting, grant 

management, and other support services for SLSI will be provided by current 

employees of ASLRRA, and SLSI' s offices will be located within the offices of 

ASLRRA. 

SLSI' s bylaws require that the Board of Directors consist of at least four members, 

consisting of three ASLRRA officers (the President, Vice Chairman, and Chair of 

the Safety Training Committee of ASLRRA) who must be employed by ASLRRA 

member railroads, and the Executive Director of SLSI. Mr. Borman anticipated 

that the Executive Director would initially be SLSI's only employee, and would be 

selected by the other Board members from candidates recommended by the 

President of ASLRRA. This Executive Director was expected to begin work for 

SLSI beginning January 1, 2016. The initial Board of SLSI consists of seven 

Directors (including the Executive Director), five of whom are covered employees 

under the Acts according to Mr. Borman. A majority of the current Board of 

Directors may vote to increase or decrease the number of Directors, but may not 

eliminate any of the four minimum ex officio members. 

Section l(a)(l) of the Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. § 231(a)(l)), insofar as 

relevant here, defines a covered employer as: 

BA # 7535
2 

(iv) any railroad association, traffic assoc1at10n, tariff bureau, 

demurrage bureau, weighing and inspection bureau, 

collection agency and any other association, bureau, agency, 

or organization which is controlled and maintained wholly 

or principally by two or more employers as defined in 

paragraph (i), (ii), or (iii) of this subdivision and which is 

engaged in the performance of services in connection with 

or incidental to railroad transportation. 

Section l(a) of the RIBA (45 U.S.C. § 351) contains essentially the same 

definition, as does section 3231 of the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (26 U.S.C.§ 

3231). Section 202.7 of the Board's regulations (20 CFR §202.7) states that service 

or operation of equipment or facilities is in connection with railroad transportation 

when such service or operation is reasonably directly related, functionally or 

economically, to the performance of obligations which a company or person or 

companies or persons have undertaken as a common carrier by railroad, or to the 

receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer in transit, refrigeration or icing, storage, or 

handling of property transported by railroad. 

While SLSI is not itself a carrier by railroad, its bylaws and corporate filings 

indicate SLSI is an association or organization which is controlled and maintained 

principally by the ASLRRA and its member railroads, all of whom are covered 

employers under the Acts. SLSI is also engaged in the improvement of rail safety 

within the Class II and Class III railroad industry, which service is functionally 

directly related to the performance of obligations undertaken by those Class II and 

Class III railroads as common carriers by railroad. As a result, the Board finds that 

SLSI is a covered employer within the meaning of Section l(a)(l)(iv) of the 

Railroad Retirement Act and Section 1 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance 

Act effective January 1, 2016. Cf. Rev. Ruling 82-100, 1982-1 C.B. 155, wherein 

the IRS ruled that a company became an employer subject to taxes under the 

Railroad Retirement Tax Act on the date it hired employees to perform functions 

directly related to its carrier operations. 

JlB II P.-i--

wa1ter A. Barrows