II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1248

To transfer to the Secretary of Transportation the functions of the Interstate

Commerce Commission.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 15 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. DANFORTH (for himself, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. CHAFEE), introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on

Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To transfer to the Secretary of Transportation the functions

of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Interstate Commerce

5 Efficiency and Safety Improvement Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to promote fiscal respon8 sibility by transferring the functions of the Interstate

9 Commerce Commission to the Department of Transpor10 tation and to advance safety on the highways of the
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1 United States by consolidating the regulation of motor

2 carrier safety in the Department of Transportation.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this Act, the term—

5 (1) ‘‘Commission’’ means the Interstate Com6 merce Commission;

7 (2) ‘‘function’’ means a function, power, or

8 duty; and

9 (3) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Trans10 portation.

11 SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY TO SECRETARY OF

12 TRANSPORTATION.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are transferred to the Sec14 retary, effective October 1, 1993, all functions of the Com15 mission.

16 (b) AUTHORITY OF OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND

17 BUDGET.—The Director of the Office of Management and

18 Budget, in consultation with the Commission and the Sec19 retary, may make such determinations as may be nec20 essary with regard to the functions transferred by this

21 Act, and to make such additional incidental dispositions

22 of assets, liabilities, contracts, property, and records, as

23 may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

24 The unobligated funds of the Commission shall not be

25 transferred to the Department of Transportation in order
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1 to carry out the transfer of functions under this Act, and

2 the number of fulltime employee positions within the De3 partment of Transportation shall not be increased as a

4 result of such transfer of functions.

5 (c) JOINT PLANNING FOR TRANSFER.—The Chair6 man of the Commission and the Secretary shall, beginning

7 as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this

8 Act, jointly plan for the orderly transfer of functions

9 under this Act.

10 (d) INTERIM USE OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE COM11 MISSION PERSONNEL.—Prior to October 1, 1993, and

12 with the consent of the Commission, the Secretary may

13 use the services of officers, employees, and other personnel

14 of the Commission under such terms and conditions as

15 will reasonably facilitate the orderly transfer of functions

16 under this Act.

17 SEC. 5. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—All orders, determinations, rules,

19 regulations, permits, contracts, certificates, licenses, and

20 privileges—

21 (1) which have been issued, made, granted, or

22 allowed to become effective by any agency or official

23 thereof, or by a court of competent jurisdiction, in

24 the performance of any function which is transferred
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1 by this Act to the Secretary from the Commission;

2 and

3 (2) which are in effect immediately before the

4 transfer of functions by this Act,

5 shall continue in effect according to their terms until

6 modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or revoked in

7 accordance with law by the Secretary or any other duly

8 authorized official, by any court of competent jurisdiction,

9 or by operation of law.

10 (b) CONTINUATION OF PROCEEDINGS.—The transfer

11 of functions by this Act shall not affect any proceedings,

12 including rulemaking proceedings, or any application for

13 any license, permit, or certificate, pending before the Com14 mission immediately before the transfer takes effect. Such

15 proceedings and applications shall be continued at the De16 partment of Transportation. Orders shall be issued in such

17 proceedings, and appeals shall be taken therefrom, as if

18 this Act had not been enacted; and orders issued in any

19 such proceedings shall continue in effect until modified,

20 terminated, superseded, or revoked by the Secretary of

21 Transportation, by a court of competent jurisdiction, or

22 by operation of law. Nothing in this subsection shall be

23 deemed to prohibit the discontinuance or modification of

24 any such proceeding under the same terms and conditions

25 and to the same extent that such proceeding could have
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1 been discontinued or modified if this Act had not been

2 enacted.

3 (c) EFFECT ON PENDING CIVIL ACTIONS.—Except

4 as provided in subsection (e)—

5 (1) the transfer of any function under this Act

6 shall not affect any civil action relating to such func7 tion which is commenced prior to the date the trans8 fer takes effect; and

9 (2) in all such actions, proceedings shall be had,

10 appeals taken, and judgments rendered, in the same

11 manner and effect as if this Act had not been

12 enacted.

13 (d) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No action or

14 other proceeding commenced by or against any officer in

15 that officer’s official capacity as an officer of the Commis16 sion shall abate by reason of the transfer of any function

17 under this Act. No cause of action by or against the Com18 mission, or by or against any officer thereof in that offi19 cer’s official capacity, shall abate by reason of the transfer

20 of any function under this Act.

21 (e) JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISION.—If im22 mediately before the transfer of functions by this Act the

23 Commission or any officer thereof in that officer’s official

24 capacity is a party to an action relating to a function

25 transfer by this Act, then such action shall be continued
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1 with the Secretary or other appropriate official of the De2 partment of Transportation substituted or added as a

3 party.

4 (f) REFERENCES.—With respect to any function

5 transferred by this Act and performed on or after the ef6 fective date of the transfer, reference in any Federal law

7 to the Interstate Commerce Commission or the Commis8 sion (insofar as such term refers to the Interstate Com9 merce Commission), or to any officer or office thereof,

10 shall be deemed to refer to the Department of Transpor11 tation, or other official or component of the Department

12 of Transportation in which such function vests.

13 (g) EXERCISE OF FUNCTIONS BY SECRETARY.—In

14 the exercise of any function transferred by this Act, the

15 Secretary shall have the same authority as that vested in

16 the Commission with respect to such function immediately

17 preceding its transfer, and actions of the Secretary shall

18 have the same force and effect as when exercised by the

19 Commission. Orders and actions of the Secretary in the

20 exercise of the functions transferred under this Act shall

21 be subject to judicial review to the same extent and in

22 the same manner as if such orders and actions had been

23 by the Commission in the exercise of such functions imme24 diately preceding their transfer. Any statutory require25 ments relating to notice, hearings, actions upon the
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1 record, or administrative review that apply to any func2 tions transferred by this Act shall apply to the exercise

3 of such functions by the Secretary.

4 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

5 No later than March 31, 1994, the Secretary shall

6 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report

7 on the functions transferred from the Commission to the

8 Department of Transportation under this Act. The report

9 shall include—

10 (1) an assessment of benefits compared to costs

11 associated with each of these functions, both with re12 spect to persons affected directly and to the public

13 generally;

14 (2) recommendations for the elimination of

15 functions identified as redundant, or substantially

16 the same as functions or services which are per17 formed by the Department of Transportation or

18 other public or private organizations prior to the

19 transfer of functions under this Act; and

20 (3) recommendations to modify or eliminate

21 those functions that do not provide substantial eco22 nomic or safety benefits to the general public.
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1 SEC. 7. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

2 (a) EXECUTIVE LEVEL PAY RATES.—(1) Section

3 5314 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by strik4 ing ‘‘Chairman, Interstate Commerce Commission.’’.

5 (2) Section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is

6 amended by striking ‘‘Members, Interstate Commerce

7 Commission.’’.

8 (b) TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.—Sections 10301

9 through 10308 of title 49, United States Code, are

10 repealed.

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

12 this section shall become effective on October 1, 1993.

Æ