I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2047

To authorize appropriations for the Surface Transportation Board, to enhance 

rail transportation competition, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 3, 2005

Mr. BAKER (for himself, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. BOUSTANY, 

Mr. REHBERG, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. 

HOOLEY, Mr. BERRY, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. MELANCON, Mr. POMEROY, and 

Ms. HERSETH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for the Surface Transportation 

Board, to enhance rail transportation competition, and 

for other purposes.

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; AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, 

4 UNITED STATES CODE. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Railroad Competition Improvement and Reauthorization 

7 Act of 2005’’. 
2

•HR 2047 IH 

1 (b) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES

2 CODE.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever 

3 in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

4 of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other 

5 provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to 

6 a section or other provision of title 49, United States 

7 Code. 

8 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF RAIL TRANSPORTATION POL9 ICY. 

10 Section 10101 is amended—

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

12 ‘‘In regulating’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(b) PRIMARY OBJECTIVES.—The primary objectives 

15 of the rail transportation policy of the United States are 

16 as follows: 

17 ‘‘(1) To maintain consistent and efficient rail 

18 transportation service for shippers, including the 

19 timely provision of rail cars requested by shippers. 

20 ‘‘(2) To promote effective competition among 

21 rail carriers at origins and destinations. 

22 ‘‘(3) To maintain reasonable rates in the ab23 sence of effective competition.’’. 

24 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR RATE QUOTES. 

25 Section 11101(a) is amended—
3

•HR 2047 IH 

1 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; 

2 (2) by redesignating the second and third sen3 tences as paragraph (3) and indenting accordingly; 

4 and 

5 (3) by inserting a new paragraph (2) as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) Upon the request of a shipper, a rail carrier 

7 shall establish a rate for transportation and provide serv8 ice requested by the shipper between any two points on 

9 the system of that carrier where traffic originates, termi10 nates, or may reasonably be interchanged. A carrier shall 

11 establish a rate and provide service upon such request 

12 without regard to—

13 ‘‘(A) the location of the movement on the rail 

14 system, including terminal areas; 

15 ‘‘(B) whether the rate established is for part of 

16 a movement between a point of origin and a destina17 tion; 

18 ‘‘(C) whether the shipper has made arrange19 ments for transportation for any other part of that 

20 movement; or 

21 ‘‘(D) any other contract the shipper has with 

22 any rail carrier for part or all of its transportation 

23 needs over the route of movement.’’. 
4

•HR 2047 IH 

1 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BE2 TWEEN CLASS I, CLASS II, AND CLASS III RAIL 

3 CARRIERS. 

4 Section 10901 is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(e)(1) The Board may not issue a certificate author7 izing an activity described in subsection (a), or exempt a 

8 person, class of persons, or a transaction or service from 

9 the applicability of this section with respect to such an 

10 activity under section 10502, if the activity involves a 

11 transfer of interest in a line of railroad, from a Class I 

12 rail carrier to a Class II rail carrier or Class III rail car13 rier and the activity directly or indirectly would—

14 ‘‘(A) restrict the ability of the Class II or Class 

15 III rail carrier to interchange traffic with other rail 

16 carriers; or 

17 ‘‘(B) restrict competition of rail carriers in the 

18 region affected by the activity in a manner that 

19 would violate antitrust laws of the United States. 

20 ‘‘(2) Any party to an activity described in paragraph 

21 (1) that was authorized by the Board within the 10-year 

22 period preceding the date of enactment of this subsection, 

23 and any rail shipper affected by such an activity, may re24 quest that the Board review the activity to determine 

25 whether the activity has resulted in a restriction described 

26 in paragraph (1)(A) or (B). If, upon review of the activity, 
5

•HR 2047 IH 

1 the Board determines that the activity resulted in such 

2 a restriction, the Board shall declare the restriction to be 

3 unlawful and terminate the restriction unless the Board 

4 finds that the termination of the restriction would materi5 ally impair the ability of an affected rail carrier to provide 

6 service to the public or would otherwise be inconsistent 

7 with the public interest. 

8 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘antitrust laws’ has 

9 the meaning given that term in subsection (a) of the first 

10 section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)), except that 

11 such term also means section 5 of the Federal Trade Com12 mission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that section 5 

13 applies to unfair methods of competition.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. RECIPROCAL SWITCHING. 

15 Section 11102(c) is amended—

16 (1) in paragraph (1)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘may require’’ in the first 

18 sentence and inserting ‘‘shall require’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘may establish’’ in the sec20 ond sentence and inserting ‘‘shall establish’’; 

21 and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(3) In making any finding under paragraph (1), the 

25 Board shall not require that there be evidence of anti-
6

•HR 2047 IH 

1 competitive conduct by a rail carrier from which access 

2 is sought.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. AREAS OF INADEQUATE RAIL COMPETITION. 

4 (a) DESIGNATION AND REMEDIES.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 105 is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 10503. Areas of inadequate rail competition 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall designate any 

9 State or substantial part of a State as an area of inad10 equate rail competition after finding that—

11 ‘‘(1) the State or substantial part of the State 

12 encompasses rail shipping origins and destinations 

13 that are served exclusively by one Class I railroad; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(2) persons that ship by rail or receive rail 

16 shipments in the State or substantial part of the 

17 State—

18 ‘‘(A) pay rates for the rail shipments that 

19 exceed the rates necessary to yield recovery by 

20 the rail carrier of 180 percent of revenue-vari21 able costs, as determined under standards ap22 plied in the administration of section 10707(d); 

23 or 

24 ‘‘(B) have experienced competitive dis25 advantage in the marketplace or other economic 
7

•HR 2047 IH 

1 adversity because of high cost or poor quality of 

2 rail service in the State or substantial part of 

3 the State. 

4 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIC COMMODITIES.—An area of inad5 equate rail competition may be composed of the facilities 

6 of a group of shippers or receivers of one or more specific 

7 commodities within a geographic area. 

8 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZED PETITIONERS.—A Governor of a 

9 State, an Attorney General of a State, a Member of Con10 gress, and the Rail Customer Advocate of the Department 

11 of Transportation are authorized to petition the Board for 

12 a designation of a State or substantial part of a State 

13 as an area of inadequate rail competition. 

14 ‘‘(d) ACTIONS.—Upon designating a State or sub15 stantial part of a State as an area of inadequate rail com16 petition, the Board shall resolve, not later than 60 days 

17 after the date of the designation, the conditions described 

18 in subsection (a) that justify the designation. In taking 

19 such action, the Board shall not require rates lower than 

20 those necessary to yield recovery of 180 percent of rev21 enue-variable costs. In addition to providing other rem22 edies authorized by law, the Board may order any of the 

23 following actions: 
8

•HR 2047 IH 

1 ‘‘(1) Provision of reciprocal switching and ac2 cess to tracks of another rail carrier beyond the lim3 its specified in section 11102(a). 

4 ‘‘(2) Haulage transportation of railroad cars by 

5 a rail carrier to or from facilities that such carrier 

6 physically serves on behalf of another rail carrier, 

7 for a fee prescribed by the Board. 

8 ‘‘(3) Regarding rates on any rail segments 

9 within or connected to the area of inadequate rail 

10 competition on which rail service is susceptible to 

11 delay or interruption due to traffic congestion, expe12 dited final offer arbitration under section 11708(e). 

13 ‘‘(4) Expedited review, under guidelines estab14 lished under section 10701(d)(3), of the reasonable15 ness of—

16 ‘‘(A) increases in rates or other charges; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(B) new transportation service tariffs. 

19 ‘‘(5) Expedited review of whether a rate violates 

20 the prohibition against discriminatory rates con21 tained in section 10741, without regard to sub22 section (b)(2) of such section. 

23 ‘‘(e) PROCEDURES.—(1) In the case of a petition for 

24 an order for reciprocal switching or access to tracks of 

25 another rail carrier under subsection (d)(1), the Board 
9

•HR 2047 IH 

1 may not require that there be evidence of anticompetitive 

2 conduct by a rail carrier as a prerequisite for ordering 

3 such action. 

4 ‘‘(2) In the case of a petition for expedited review 

5 of rates under subsection (d)(4) or final offer arbitration 

6 of rates under subsection (d)(3)—

7 ‘‘(A) the Board or arbitrator or arbitrators 

8 shall accord, with respect to rail transportation of a 

9 specific commodity, significant persuasive weight to 

10 evidence comparing—

11 ‘‘(i) rates charged for rail transportation of 

12 various quantities of that commodity within the 

13 area of inadequate rail competition; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) rates charged for rail transportation 

15 of similar quantities of that commodity or any 

16 similar commodity or commodities in areas 

17 where there is competition among rail carriers 

18 for shipments of such commodity or commod19 ities; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the Board or arbitrator or arbitrators 

21 shall not apply any method for determining the rea22 sonableness of rail rates which involves the costs of 

23 a hypothetical competitor. 

24 ‘‘(3) In the case of a petition for expedited review, 

25 under subsection (d)(4), of an increase of a rate or other 
10

•HR 2047 IH 

1 charge or the imposition of a new service tariff by a rail 

2 carrier—

3 ‘‘(A) the rail carrier shall have the burden of 

4 proving the reasonableness of the increase or tariff 

5 charge; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the Board shall consider any evidence 

7 comparing—

8 ‘‘(i) the increased rate or other charge, or 

9 the tariff charge; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) corresponding rates, other charges, or 

11 new service tariff charges, respectively, imposed 

12 for rail transportation in areas where there is 

13 a significant level of competition among the rail 

14 carriers.’’. 

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec16 tions at the beginning of chapter 105 is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘10503. Areas of inadequate rail competition.’’.

18 (b) STUDY ON AREAS OF INADEQUATE RAIL COM19 PETITION.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact20 ment of this Act, the Rail Customer Advocate of the De21 partment of Transportation shall—

22 (1) review the process under section 10503 for 

23 challenging and remedying conditions adversely af24 fecting rail shippers of agricultural and forestry 

25 commodities and products, including commodities 
11

•HR 2047 IH 

1 and products shipped by rail in annual volumes of 

2 1500 rail cars or less, in areas of inadequate rail 

3 competition; and 

4 (2) report the results of the study, together 

5 with any recommendations that the Rail Customer 

6 Advocate may have for improving the process, to 

7 Congress. 

8 SEC. 7. RAIL SERVICE. 

9 (a) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Surface Transportation 

10 Board shall, within 7 days after receipt by the Board or 

11 any Member or staff of the Board of a complaint from 

12 a customer about rail service, post on the Board’s Internet 

13 Web site a description of the complaint, including informa14 tion identifying the railroad or railroads providing the 

15 service that is the subject of the complaint, the general 

16 geographic area of the customer’s movement, the date 

17 upon which the service problem occurred and the date no18 tice of the complaint was made to the Board or any Mem19 ber or staff of the Board. The Internet posting shall iden20 tify the rail customer only upon the written consent of the 

21 rail customer. Not later than 5 days after the date the 

22 complaint is resolved, the Board shall update the informa23 tion posted on the Board’s Internet Web site to indicate 

24 that the complaint has been resolved, the means of its res25 olution, and the date of its resolution. 
12

•HR 2047 IH 

1 (b) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

2 March 15, 2006, and annually thereafter, the Surface 

3 Transportation Board shall transmit to Congress a report 

4 regarding the service complaints received by the Board, 

5 or any Member or staff of the Board, in the previous cal6 endar year for each Class I railroad. The report shall in7 clude a description of each service complaint, including in8 formation identifying the railroad in question, the geo9 graphic area of the customer’s movements, the date upon 

10 which the service problem occurred, the date notice of the 

11 service complaint was made to the Board or any Member 

12 or staff of the Board, and the date and nature of the reso13 lution of the complaint. The report shall be posted on the 

14 Board’s Internet Web site. 

15 (c) TIME LIMITS ON PETITIONS FOR INJUNCTIVE

16 RELIEF.—Section 721(b)(4) is amended by adding at the 

17 end the following: ‘‘Where a complaint is filed and injunc18 tive or similar relief is sought within 20 days after the 

19 publication of a new or revised rail rate, rule, or practice, 

20 based on an allegation of unlawfulness other than an alle21 gation that a rate level is not reasonable within the mean22 ing of section 10701(d), the Board shall determine, based 

23 on applicable law, not later than 90 days after receiving 

24 the request for injunctive or similar relief, whether or not 

25 to grant such relief. If the moving party establishes that 
13

•HR 2047 IH 

1 the rule or practice involved in the complaint is unlawful 

2 per se, there shall be a strong presumption of irreparable 

3 harm regardless of the availability of monetary relief. The 

4 Board shall not deny injunctive or similar relief based in 

5 whole or in part on the absence of irreparable harm due 

6 to the availability of adequate monetary relief unless mon7 etary damages have been awarded to the complaining 

8 party.’’. 

9 SEC. 8. ARBITRATION OF RAIL DISPUTES. 

10 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 117 is amended by add11 ing the following section after section 11707: 

12 ‘‘§ 11708. Arbitration of rail disputes 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever a dispute arises be14 tween a rail shipper and a rail carrier under this part, 

15 the dispute shall, on request of one party to the dispute, 

16 be submitted to final offer arbitration. 

17 ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF ARBITRATORS.—The rail carrier 

18 or carriers that are parties to arbitration under this sec19 tion shall collectively name one arbitrator, and the rail 

20 shipper or shippers that are parties to the arbitration shall 

21 collectively name one arbitrator. The two arbitrators thus 

22 chosen shall select a third arbitrator from the roster of 

23 arbitrators established under subsection (c). If the arbitra24 tors chosen by the parties fail to name the third arbitrator 

25 within 5 days after their first meeting, such third arbi-
14

•HR 2047 IH 

1 trator shall be named by the Secretary of Transportation 

2 from the roster of arbitrators established under subsection 

3 (c). 

4 ‘‘(c) ROSTER OF ARBITRATORS.—The Secretary of 

5 Transportation shall establish, maintain, and revise as 

6 necessary a roster of arbitrators who—

7 ‘‘(1) are experienced in transportation or eco8 nomic issues; 

9 ‘‘(2) satisfy requirements for neutrality and 

10 other qualification requirements prescribed by the 

11 Secretary; 

12 ‘‘(3) consent to serve as arbitrators under this 

13 section; and 

14 ‘‘(4) are not officers or employees of the United 

15 States. 

16 ‘‘(d) RULES FOR ARBITRATION.—The arbitrators 

17 shall organize and select and make all necessary rules for 

18 conducting hearings. The arbitrators shall give the parties 

19 to the dispute a full and fair hearing, which shall include 

20 an opportunity to present evidence in support of their 

21 claims, and an opportunity to present their case in person, 

22 by counsel, or by other representative as they may elect. 

23 ‘‘(e) COMPENSATION.—Each arbitrator named by ei24 ther party to the arbitration shall be compensated by the 

25 party naming the arbitrator. The third arbitrator chosen 
15

•HR 2047 IH 

1 under subsection (b) by both parties or named by the Sec2 retary of Transportation shall be compensated by the 

3 Board. The Secretary of Transportation shall fix the com4 pensation for all of the arbitrators, and the Board shall 

5 pay each arbitrator’s necessary traveling expenses and ex6 penses actually incurred for subsistence, while serving as 

7 an arbitrator. 

8 ‘‘(f) DECISION.—The decision of the arbitrators shall 

9 be the final offer of one of the parties to the dispute. 

10 ‘‘(g) REVENUE-VARIABLE COST PERCENTAGE.—The 

11 decision may not provide for a rate for transportation by 

12 a rail carrier that would result in a revenue-variable cost 

13 percentage of such transportation that is less than 180 

14 percent, as determined under standards applied in the ad15 ministration of section 10707(d). 

16 ‘‘(h) EFFECTIVE COMPETITION STANDARD.—If the 

17 party requesting arbitration of a dispute under subsection 

18 (a) seeks compensation for damages incurred by the party 

19 as a result of a specific rate or charge imposed by a rail 

20 carrier for the transportation of goods for the party and 

21 the party alleges an amount of damages that does not ex22 ceed $500,000 for any year as a result of the imposition 

23 of the specific rate or charge, the arbitrators, in making 

24 an award on the dispute, shall consider the rates or 

25 charges that are imposed by rail carriers for the transpor-
16

•HR 2047 IH 

1 tation of similar goods under similar circumstances in rail 

2 transportation markets where there is effective competi3 tion, as determined under standards applied by the Board 

4 in the administration of section 10707(a). 

5 ‘‘(i) COPIES OF AWARD.—The arbitrators shall fur6 nish a certified copy of its award to the parties to the 

7 dispute, and shall transmit the original, together with the 

8 paper and proceedings and a transcript of the evidence 

9 taken at the hearings, certified under the hands of at least 

10 a majority of the arbitrators, to the Board, to be filed in 

11 its office. 

12 ‘‘(j) ASSISTANTS.—The arbitrators may employ and 

13 fix the compensation of such assistants as it considers nec14 essary in carrying on the arbitration proceedings. The 

15 compensation of such assistants, together with their nec16 essary traveling expenses and expenses actually incurred 

17 for subsistence, while so employed, and the necessary ex18 penses of the arbitration panel, shall be paid by the Board. 

19 ‘‘(k) OATHS; SUBPOENAS.—All testimony before ar20 bitrators under this section shall be given under oath or 

21 affirmation, and any arbitrator shall have the power to 

22 administer oaths or affirmations. The arbitrators shall 

23 have the power to require the attendance of witnesses and 

24 the production of such books, papers, contracts, agree25 ments, and documents as may be necessary to a just deter-
17

•HR 2047 IH 

1 mination of the matters submitted to arbitration, and may 

2 request the district court of the United States for the dis3 trict where the arbitration is being conducted to issue the 

4 necessary subpoenas. Any witness appearing before arbi5 trators under this section shall receive the same fees and 

6 mileage reimbursement as witnesses in courts of the 

7 United States, to be paid by the party securing the sub8 poena, or in the case of a subpoena secured by the arbitra9 tors, to be paid by the Board. 

10 ‘‘(l) TIME FOR ISSUANCE OF ARBITRATION DECI11 SION.—The arbitration panel shall issue a final decision 

12 on a dispute under this section not later than 180 days 

13 after the date on which the panel of arbitrators is com14 pleted to resolve the dispute. 

15 ‘‘(m) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of 

17 Transportation shall issue final regulations establishing 

18 procedures for the resolution of disputes submitted for ar19 bitration, in accordance with the requirements of this sec20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(n) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 9.—The following 

22 provisions of title 9, United States Code, shall apply to 

23 an arbitration decision issued in a dispute under this sec24 tion: 
18

•HR 2047 IH 

1 ‘‘(1) Section 9 (relating to confirmation of an 

2 award in an arbitration decision), which shall be ap3 plied as if the parties had entered into an agreement 

4 under title 9 to submit the dispute to the arbitration 

5 and had provided in that agreement for a judgement 

6 of an unspecified court to be entered on the award 

7 made pursuant to the arbitration. 

8 ‘‘(2) Sections 10 and 11 (relating to judicial va9 cation, modification, or correction of an award in an 

10 arbitration decision).’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

13 after the item relating to section 11707 the following:

‘‘11708. Arbitration of rail disputes.’’.

14 SEC. 9. FILING FEES ON PETITIONS FOR CAPTIVE RATE RE15 LIEF. 

16 Section 721 is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON FEES.—The Board may not 

19 charge a fee for the filing of a complaint, protest, or other 

20 request for relief in an amount greater than fees charged 

21 by district courts of the United States for a comparable 

22 filing.’’. 
19

•HR 2047 IH 

1 SEC. 10. IMPROVEMENT OF RATE REASONABLENESS 

2 STANDARD. 

3 Section 10701(d) is amended by adding the following 

4 new paragraphs: 

5 ‘‘(4)(A) Not later than one year after the date of en6 actment of this paragraph, the Board shall adopt a meth7 od for determining the reasonableness of rail rates based 

8 on the railroad’s actual costs, including of a portion of 

9 fixed costs and an adequate return on debt and equity. 

10 The method adopted shall permit a final determination 

11 within 9 months after filing a complaint, shall ensure that 

12 necessary cost and operational information is available to 

13 the complainant, and shall not require excessive litigation 

14 costs. 

15 ‘‘(B) The Board shall not use any method for deter16 mining the reasonableness of rail rates based on the costs 

17 of a hypothetical competitor, except that, in any rate rea18 sonableness proceeding filed before the method required 

19 under subparagraph (A) is adopted, the complaint, upon 

20 the election of the complainant, shall be decided based on 

21 applicable rate standards in effect on the date of the filing, 

22 including small rate guidelines. 

23 ‘‘(C) The Board shall adopt a method under this 

24 paragraph that applies the ‘phasing constraint’ in its ex25 isting rail rate method so that it can be practically admin26 istered without substantial litigation-related costs in any 
20

•HR 2047 IH 

1 proceeding involving a challenge to a rail rate in which 

2 the Board determines that the phasing constraint applies. 

3 ‘‘(5) Upon a challenge made by a shipper to the rea4 sonableness of any rate established by a rail carrier, the 

5 Board shall determine the reasonableness of the rate with6 out regard to—

7 ‘‘(A) whether the rate is for part of a movement 

8 between a point of origin and a destination; 

9 ‘‘(B) whether the shipper has made arrange10 ments for transportation for any other part of that 

11 movement; or 

12 ‘‘(C) any other contract the shipper has with a 

13 rail carrier for any part of the rail traffic involved.’’. 

14 SEC. 11. RAIL CUSTOMER ADVOCATE. 

15 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 7 is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

17 ‘‘§ 728. Office of Rail Customer Advocacy 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Rail Customer Ad19 vocacy shall be an office in the Department of Transpor20 tation. 

21 ‘‘(b) RAIL CUSTOMER ADVOCATE.—The head of the 

22 Office of Rail Customer Advocacy shall be the Rail Cus23 tomer Advocate, who shall be appointed in the competitive 

24 service by the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation 

25 with the Secretary of Agriculture. 
21

•HR 2047 IH 

1 ‘‘(c) DUTIES AND POWERS OF RAIL CUSTOMER AD2 VOCATE.—The Rail Customer Advocate shall—

3 ‘‘(1) accept rail customer complaints; 

4 ‘‘(2) participate as a party in proceedings of the 

5 Board on petitions for action by the Board regard6 ing the regulation of rail transportation, and may 

7 initiate such an action; 

8 ‘‘(3) collect, compile, and maintain information 

9 regarding the cost and efficiency of rail transpor10 tation; and 

11 ‘‘(4) carry out other duties and powers pre12 scribed by the Board. 

13 ‘‘(d) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—To carry out the 

14 duties and powers under subsection (c), the Rail Customer 

15 Advocate shall have access to information, including data16 bases, of the Board.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec18 tions for chapter 7 is amended by inserting after the item 

19 relating to section 727 the following:

‘‘728. Office of Rail Customer Advocacy.’’.

20 SEC. 12. STUDY OF RAIL TRANSPORTATION COMPETITION. 

21 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 9 months after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans23 portation shall enter into an arrangement with the Na24 tional Academy of Science’s Transportation Research 

25 Board to conduct a comprehensive study of rail carrier 
22

•HR 2047 IH 

1 competition since the enactment of the Staggers Rail Act 

2 of 1980. The study shall include an assessment of—

3 (1) the overall level of rail-to-rail competition in 

4 the rail transportation industry of the United States; 

5 (2) the markets that have limited rail-to-rail 

6 competition; and 

7 (3) the Board’s ability to measure and balance 

8 the railroads’ need to earn a fair return on invested 

9 capital with the captive shippers’ need for fair and 

10 reasonable rates. 

11 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

13 transmit the results of the study conducted under sub14 section (a) to Congress. The report shall include the 

15 Transportation Research Board’s recommendations for 

16 enhancing rail-to-rail competition, particularly in markets 

17 identified as having limited rail-to-rail competition. 

18 SEC. 13. EFFECT OF MERGERS ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES 

19 AND RAIL PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION. 

20 Section 11324 is amended—

21 (1) in subsection (b)—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para23 graph (4); 

24 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

25 paragraph (5) and inserting a semicolon; and 
23

•HR 2047 IH 

1 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraphs: 

3 ‘‘(6) the safety and environmental effects of the 

4 proposed transaction, including the effect on local 

5 communities, and the public interest in enforcing 

6 Federal, State, and local safety and environmental 

7 laws; and 

8 ‘‘(7) the effect of the proposed transaction on 

9 rail passenger transportation.’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘The Board 

11 shall impose conditions under this subsection to 

12 mitigate the effects of the transaction on local com13 munities when such conditions are in the public in14 terest. In imposing such conditions, the Board shall 

15 consider the effect of those conditions on local com16 munities, and shall consider the public interest in 

17 the enforcement of Federal, State, and local safety 

18 and environmental laws.’’ after ‘‘effects are allevi19 ated.’’. 

20 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 Section 705 is amended by striking paragraphs (1) 

22 through (3) and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) $24,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

24 ‘‘(2) $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 
24

•HR 2047 IH 

1 ‘‘(3) $28,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.’’.

Æ