II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1590

To amend title 49, United States Code, to modify the authority of the

Surface Transportation Board, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 15, 1999

Mr. CRAPO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to modify the authority of the Surface Transportation Board, 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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Surface Transpor5 tation Board Improvement Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. SCOPE OF AUTHORITY; EMPLOYEE PROTECTIVE AR7 RANGEMENTS.

8 (a) SCOPE OF AUTHORITY.—Section 11321 of title

9 49, United States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(a)(1) The authority of the Board under this sub4 chapter is exclusive. A rail carrier or corporation partici5 pating in or resulting from a transaction approved by or

6 exempted by the Board under this subchapter may carry

7 out the transaction, own, and operate property, and exer8 cise control or franchises acquired through the transaction

9 without the approval of a State authority.

10 ‘‘(2) Subject to paragraph (3), a rail carrier, corpora11 tion, or person participating in an approved or exempted

12 transaction described in paragraph (1) is exempt from

13 State and municipal laws to the extent that the laws regu14 late combinations, mergers, or consolidations of rail car15 riers, as necessary to permit that rail carrier, corporation,

16 or person to—

17 ‘‘(A) carry out the transaction; and

18 ‘‘(B) hold, maintain, and operate property, and

19 exercise control or franchises acquired through the

20 transaction.

21 ‘‘(3)(A) If a purchase and sale, a lease, or a corporate

22 consolidation or merger is involved in a transaction de23 scribed in paragraph (1), the carrier, or corporation may

24 carry out the transaction only with the assent of a major25 ity, or the number required under applicable State law,
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1 of the votes of the holders of the capital stock of that cor2 poration entitled to vote.

3 ‘‘(B) To meet the requirements of this paragraph—

4 ‘‘(i) a vote referred to in subparagraph (A)

5 shall occur at a regular meeting, or special meeting

6 called for that purpose, of the stockholders referred

7 to in that subparagraph; and

8 ‘‘(ii) the notice of the meeting shall indicate its

9 purpose.’’; and

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

11 ‘‘(c) The Board shall not, under any circumstances,

12 have the authority under this subchapter to—

13 ‘‘(1) break, modify, alter, override, or abrogate,

14 in whole or in part, any provision of any collective

15 bargaining agreement or implementing agreement

16 made between the rail carrier and an authorized rep17 resentative of the employees of the rail carrier under

18 the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); or

19 ‘‘(2) provide the authority described in para20 graph (1) to any other person, carrier or corpora21 tion.’’.

22 (b) EMPLOYEE PROTECTIVE ARRANGEMENTS.—Sec23 tion 11326 of title 49, United States Code, is amended

24 by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(a)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section,

2 when approval is sought for a transaction under sections

3 11324 and 11325, the Board shall require the rail carrier

4 to provide a fair arrangement at least as protective of the

5 interests of employees who are affected by the transaction

6 as the terms imposed under section 11347 of this title,

7 as in effect on the day before December 29, 1995.

8 ‘‘(2) The arrangement and the order approving a

9 transaction referred to in paragraph (1) shall be subject

10 to the following conditions:

11 ‘‘(A) The employees of the affected rail carrier

12 shall not be in a worse position related to their em13 ployment as a result of the transaction during the

14 6-year period beginning on the date on which the

15 employee is adversely affected by an action taken by

16 the affected rail carrier as a result of the transaction

17 (or if an employee was employed for a lesser period

18 of time by the rail carrier before the action became

19 effective, for that lesser period).

20 ‘‘(B)(i) The rail carrier and the authorized rep21 resentatives of the rail carrier’s employees shall ne22 gotiate under the Railway Labor Act any arrange23 ment regarding the selection of forces or assignment

24 of employees caused by the Board’s order of ap25 proval under sections 11324 or 11325.
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1 ‘‘(ii) Arbitration of the proposed arrangement

2 may only occur if both parties agree to that process.

3 ‘‘(iii) The Board shall not intervene in the ne4 gotiations or arbitration under this subparagraph

5 unless requested to do so by both parties involved.

6 ‘‘(iv) The Board shall not, under any cir7 cumstances, have the authority under this sub8 chapter to—

9 ‘‘(I) break, modify, alter, override, or abro10 gate, in whole or in part, any provision in any

11 collective bargaining agreements or imple12 menting agreements made between the rail car13 rier and an authorized representative of its em14 ployees under the Railway Labor Act; or

15 ‘‘(II) provide the authority described in

16 subclause (I) to any other person, carrier, or

17 corporation.

18 ‘‘(3) Beginning on the date of the enactment of the

19 Surface Transportation Board Improvement Act of 1999,

20 this subsection shall apply to any transaction proposed by

21 a rail carrier under conditions previously imposed by the

22 former Interstate Commerce Commission or the Surface

23 Transportation Board under—

24 ‘‘(A) section 5(2)(f) of the Interstate Commerce

25 Commission Act before October 1, 1978;
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1 ‘‘(B) section 11347 of this title, before Decem2 ber 29, 1995; or

3 ‘‘(C) this section.’’.

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