II 

Calendar No. 711 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2889 

To reauthorize the Surface Transportation Board, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2010 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. 

THUNE, and Mr. DORGAN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 17, 2010 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, with an amendment 

[Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize 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 Reauthorization Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Amendment of title 49, United States Code. 

TITLE I—ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

Sec. 101. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 102. Board members. 

Sec. 103. Establishment of Board as independent agency. 

Sec. 104. Filing fees for certain cases. 

Sec. 105. Repeal of expired and obsolete provisions. 

Sec. 106. Department of Transportation Inspector General authority. 

Sec. 107. Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council. 

TITLE II—AUTHORITY IMPROVEMENTS

Sec. 201. Rail transportation policy update. 

Sec. 202. Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance. 

Sec. 203. Investigative authority. 

Sec. 204. Compilation of complaints. 

Sec. 205. Exempt traffic. 

Sec. 206. Railroad service metrics and performance data. 

Sec. 207. Uniform railroad costing system. 

Sec. 208. Replacement cost study. 

Sec. 209. Rail practices study. 

Sec. 210. Rail car interchange study. 

Sec. 211. Offers of financial assistance. 

Sec. 212. Adverse abandonments. 

Sec. 213. Emergency service orders. 

Sec. 214. Rate agreements. 

Sec. 215. Miscellaneous provisions. 

TITLE III—REGULATORY REFORM

Sec. 301. Paper barriers. 

Sec. 302. Bottleneck and terminal switching rates. 

Sec. 303. Terminal access. 

Sec. 304. Service. 

Sec. 305. Arbitration of certain rail rate, practice, and common carrier service 

expectation disputes. 

Sec. 306. Maximum relief in certain rate cases. 

Sec. 307. Advance rate challenge. 

Sec. 308. Rate review timelines. 

Sec. 309. Revenue adequacy study. 

Sec. 310. Public usage of abandoned rail properties. 

Sec. 311. Transactions. 

Sec. 312. Considerations in consolidations, mergers, and acquisitions. 

Sec. 313. Railroad development. 

Sec. 314. Regulatory reform review. 

TITLE IV—TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS

Sec. 401. Technical corrections to Public Law 110–432. 


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TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 501. Pipeline investigative authority. 

Sec. 502. Carbon dioxide pipelines. 

Sec. 503. Effective dates; effect on existing rate prescriptions. 

1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE. 

2 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

3 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 TITLE I—ADMINISTRATIVE 

9 PROVISIONS 

10 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 Section 705 is amended by striking paragraphs (1) 

12 through (3) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) $37,670,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

14 ‘‘(2) $44,683,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

15 ‘‘(3) $37,857,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

16 ‘‘(4) $41,190,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

17 ‘‘(5) $44,690,000 for fiscal year 2014.’’. 

18 SEC. 102. BOARD MEMBERS. 

19 (a) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 701(b) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘3 members,’’ in paragraph (1) 

21 and inserting ‘‘5 members,’’; 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘2 members’’ in paragraph (1) 

23 and inserting ‘‘3 members’’; and 


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1 (3) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(2) At any given time, at least 3 members of the 

4 Board shall be individuals with professional standing and 

5 demonstrated knowledge in the fields of transportation, 

6 transportation regulation, or economic regulation, and at 

7 least 2 members shall be individuals with professional or 

8 business experience (including agriculture or other rail 

9 customers) in the private sector.’’. 

10 (b) REPEAL OF HOLDOVER LIMITATION.—Section 

11 701(b) is amended by striking ‘‘qualified, but for a period 

12 not to exceed one year.’’ in paragraph (3) and inserting 

13 ‘‘qualified.’’. 

14 (c) REPEAL OF OBSOLETE PROVISION.—Section 

15 701(b) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking paragraph (4) and redesignating 

17 paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), 

18 and (6), respectively; and 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘In the case of an individual 

20 who becomes a member of the Board pursuant to 

21 paragraph (4), or an individual’’ in paragraph (4), 

22 as redesignated, and inserting ‘‘An individual’’. 


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1 SEC. 103. ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD AS INDEPENDENT 

2 AGENCY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 701(a) is amended to 

4 read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD.—The Surface 

6 Transportation Board is an independent establishment of 

7 the United States Government.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—Section 703 

10 is amended— 

11 (A) by striking subsections (a), (c), (f), 

12 and (g); 

13 (B) by redesignating subsections (b), (d), 

14 and (e) as subsections (a), (b), and (c), respec15 tively; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

17 ‘‘(d) SUBMISSIONS AND TRANSMITTALS.—Whenever 

18 the Board submits or transmits any budget estimate, 

19 budget request, supplemental budget estimate, or other 

20 budget information, legislative recommendation, prepared 

21 testimony for congressional hearings, or comment on legis22 lation to the President or to the Office of Management 

23 and Budget, it shall concurrently transmit a copy thereof 

24 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

25 Transportation and the House of Representatives Com26 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure. No officer 


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1 or agency of the United States shall have any authority 

2 to require the Board to submit its budget requests or esti3 mates, legislative recommendations, prepared testimony 

4 for congressional hearings, or comments on legislation to 

5 any officer or agency of the United States for approval, 

6 comments, or review, prior to the submission of such rec7 ommendations, testimony, or comments to the Congress.’’. 

8 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.— 

9 (A) Subchapter II of chapter 7 is amended 

10 by striking section 725. 

11 (B) The table of contents for chapter 7 is 

12 amended by striking the item relating to section 

13 725. 

14 SEC. 104. FILING FEES FOR CERTAIN CASES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 7, as 

16 amended by section 103(b)(2)(A) of this Act, is amended 

17 by inserting after section 724 the following: 

18 ‘‘§ 725. Filing fees 

19 ‘‘The Board may not require a party to pay a filing 

20 fee to bring a formal complaint before the Board that is 

21 greater than the fee provided by section 1914 of title 28 

22 for bringing a civil action in a district court of the United 

23 States.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents for chapter 7 is amended by inserting after the item 

3 relating to section 724 the following: 

‘‘725. Filing fees’’. 

4 SEC. 105. REPEAL OF EXPIRED AND OBSOLETE PROVI5 SIONS. 

6 (a) CONTRACT LIMITATION.—Section 10709 is 

7 amended by striking subsection (h). 

8 (b) AGENT IN D.C.— 

9 (1) Section 723 is amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘in the District of Colum11 bia,’’ in subsection (a); and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘in the District of Colum13 bia’’ in subsection (c). 

14 (2) Section 724(a) is amended by striking ‘‘in 

15 the District of Columbia’’ each place it appears. 

16 SEC. 106. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR 

17 GENERAL AUTHORITY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 7 is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating section 727 as section 728; 

21 and 

22 (2) by inserting after section 726 the following: 

23 ‘‘§ 727. Authority of the Inspector General 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the 

25 Department of Transportation, in accordance with the 


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1 mission of the Inspector General to prevent and detect 

2 fraud and abuse, shall have authority to review only the 

3 financial management, property management, and busi4 ness operations of the Surface Transportation Board, in5 cluding internal accounting and administrative control 

6 systems, to determine compliance with applicable Federal 

7 laws, rules, and regulations. 

8 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—In carrying out this section, the In9 spector General shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) keep the Chairman of the Board and the 

11 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

12 Transportation and the House of Representatives 

13 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

14 fully and currently informed about problems relating 

15 to administration of the internal accounting and ad16 ministrative control systems of the Board; 

17 ‘‘(2) issue findings and recommendations for 

18 actions to address such problems; and 

19 ‘‘(3) report periodically to the Senate Com20 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

21 and the House of Representatives Committee on 

22 Transportation and Infrastructure on any progress 

23 made in implementing actions to address such prob24 lems. 


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1 ‘‘(c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—In carrying out this 

2 section, the Inspector General may exercise authorities 

3 granted to the Inspector General under subsections (a) 

4 and (b) of section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 

5 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

6 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap8 propriated to the Secretary of Transportation for 

9 use by the Inspector General of the Department of 

10 Transportation such sums as may be necessary to 

11 cover expenses associated with activities pursuant to 

12 the authority exercised under this section. 

13 ‘‘(2) REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENT.—In the ab14 sence of an appropriation under this subsection for 

15 an expense referred to in paragraph (1), the Inspec16 tor General and the Board shall have a reimbursable 

17 agreement to cover such expense.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con19 tents for chapter 7 is amended by striking the item relat20 ing to section 701 and inserting the following: 

‘‘727. Authority of the Inspector General 

‘‘728. Definitions’’. 

21 SEC. 107. RAILROAD-SHIPPER TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY 

22 COUNCIL. 

23 Section 726 is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 

2 subsection (a)(2)(A); 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘railroads.’’ in subsection 

4 (a)(2)(B) and inserting ‘‘railroads; and’’; 

5 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (a)(2) 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(C) the ninth voting member shall be a 

8 member-at-large, and may be a representative 

9 of rail labor, a State or local transportation 

10 agency, an academic institution, or other rel11 evant entity selected by the Chairman.’’; 

12 (4) by striking the second sentence of sub13 section (a)(4); and 

14 (5) by striking the first sentence of subsection 

15 (f)(4) and inserting ‘‘The Council shall prepare an 

16 annual report concerning its activities and the re17 sults of Council efforts to resolve railroad and ship18 per issues and shall include in the report at least 

19 one recommendation to the Board stemming from 

20 the Council’s activities and any proposal regarding 

21 regulations or legislation it considers appropriate.’’. 

22 TITLE II—AUTHORITY 

23 IMPROVEMENTS 

24 SEC. 201. RAIL TRANSPORTATION POLICY UPDATE. 

25 Section 10101 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 10101. Rail transportation policy 

2 ‘‘In regulating the railroad industry, it is the policy 

3 of the United States Government to balance the following 

4 objectives: 

5 ‘‘(1) To promote a safe and efficient rail trans6 portation system. 

7 ‘‘(2) To allow, to the maximum extent possible, 

8 competition and the demand for services to establish 

9 reasonable rates for transportation by rail. 

10 ‘‘(3) To protect rail shippers and to maintain 

11 reasonable rates where there is an absence of effec12 tive competition and where rail rates provide reve13 nues that exceed the amount necessary to maintain 

14 and expand the rail system and to attract capital. 

15 ‘‘(4) To foster the continuation and expansion 

16 of a sound rail transportation system while also pre17 serving effective competition among rail carriers and 

18 with other modes to meet the needs of the public 

19 and National defense. 

20 ‘‘(5) To ensure that rail carriers can earn ade21 quate revenues to provide and sustain consistent, ef22 ficient, and reliable transportation services and to 

23 maintain and expand rail infrastructure, equipment, 

24 and technology. 


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1 ‘‘(6) To prohibit predatory pricing and prac2 tices, avoid undue concentrations of market power, 

3 and to prohibit unlawful discrimination. 

4 ‘‘(7) To provide fair and expeditious regulatory 

5 decisions and ensure that the regulatory process is 

6 accessible and cost-effective for all affected parties. 

7 ‘‘(8) To advance the environmental and energy 

8 efficiency advantages of rail transportation and en9 courage energy conservation and environmentally-re10 sponsible practices among rail carriers. 

11 ‘‘(9) To foster intercity and commuter rail pas12 senger service. 

13 ‘‘(10) To encourage fair wages and safe and 

14 suitable working conditions in the railroad indus15 try.’’. 

16 SEC. 202. OFFICE OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE, GOVERNMENTAL 

17 AFFAIRS, AND COMPLIANCE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 7, as 

19 amended by section 106 of this Act, is further amended— 

20 (1) redesignating section 728 (as redesignated 

21 by section 106 of this Act) as section 729; and 

22 (2) by inserting after section 727 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 728. Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Af2 fairs, and Compliance 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall maintain an Of4 fice of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Com5 pliance with authority over public assistance and outreach, 

6 governmental affairs, and compliance. The Office shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) mediate disputes between affected parties; 

8 ‘‘(2) monitor rail carrier operations subject to 

9 the Board’s jurisdiction to ensure that such oper10 ations are in compliance with each rail carrier’s stat11 utory and regulatory responsibilities; 

12 ‘‘(3) act as the Board’s point of contact with 

13 government, public and private parties; 

14 ‘‘(4) facilitate communication among stake15 holders subject to the Board’s jurisdiction; and 

16 ‘‘(5) carry out other duties and powers pre17 scribed by the Board. 

18 ‘‘(b) CUSTOMER ADVOCATE.—The Board shall ap19 point a rail customer advocate who shall report directly 

20 to the Board. The rail customer advocate— 

21 ‘‘(1) shall review or investigate rail customer in22 quiries and complaints; 

23 ‘‘(2) shall serve as a technical advisor to a rail 

24 customer in any appropriate proceeding of the 

25 Board; 


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1 ‘‘(3) shall advise the Board in certain matters, 

2 as appropriate; 

3 ‘‘(4) shall review information regarding the cost 

4 and efficiency of rail transportation; 

5 ‘‘(5) shall carry out other duties and powers 

6 prescribed by the Board; and 

7 ‘‘(6) may participate as a party in a proceeding 

8 of the Board, as appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(c) OMBUDSMAN.—The Board may designate an 

10 employee of the Board to serve as an ombudsman of the 

11 Board in regional or local matters of Board interest, in12 cluding matters related to railroad service, mergers and 

13 acquisitions, or any other matter designated by the 

14 Board.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con16 tents for chapter 7, as amended by section 106 of this 

17 Act, is amended by striking the item relating to section 

18 728 and inserting the following: 

‘‘728.Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance 

‘‘729. Definitions’’. 

19 SEC. 203. INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY. 

20 (a) AUTHORITY TO INITIATE INVESTIGATION.—Sec21 tion 11701(a) is amended by striking ‘‘only on complaint.’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘on the Board’s own initiative or on com23 plaint.’’. 


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1 (b) RATE PROCEEDINGS.—Section 10704(b) is 

2 amended by striking the first sentence and inserting ‘‘The 

3 Board may begin a proceeding under subsection (a)(1) on 

4 its own initiative or upon complaint, except that a pro5 ceeding to determine the reasonableness of the level of a 

6 rate charged by a carrier may only be initiated upon com7 plaint.’’. 

8 SEC. 204. COMPILATION OF COMPLAINTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 704 is amended— 

10 (1) by striking the section heading and insert11 ing the following: 

12 ‘‘§704. Reports’’; 

13 (2) by inserting ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT.—’’ be14 fore ‘‘The Board’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(b) COMPLAINTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) The Board shall establish and maintain a 

18 database of complaints received by the Board. 

19 ‘‘(2) The Board shall post a quarterly report of 

20 formal and informal service complaints received by 

21 the Board during the previous quarter that shall in22 clude— 

23 ‘‘(A) a list of the type of each complaint; 

24 ‘‘(B) the geographic region of the com25 plaint; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the resolution of the complaint, if ap2 propriate. 

3 ‘‘(3) The quarterly report may identify a com4 plainant that submitted an informal complaint only 

5 upon the written consent of the complainant. 

6 ‘‘(4) The report shall be posted on the Board’s 

7 public website.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con9 tents for chapter 7 is amended by striking the item relat10 ing to section 704 and inserting the following: 

‘‘704. Reports’’. 

11 SEC. 205. EXEMPT TRAFFIC. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 10502 is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘the Board, to the maximum ex14 tent consistent with this part, shall’’ in subsection 

15 (a) and inserting ‘‘the Board shall’’; and 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘title.’’ in subsection (d) and in17 serting ‘‘title or to protect shippers from the abuse 

18 of market power.’’. 

19 (b) CURRENT CLASS EXEMPTIONS.—Within 2 years 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Surface Trans21 portation Board shall conclude a study of class exemptions 

22 in effect on the date of enactment of this Act to determine 

23 whether any exemptions should be revoked pursuant to 

24 section 10502(d) of title 49, United States Code. In con25 ducting the study, the Board shall provide public notice 


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1 and opportunity for comment and conduct 1 or more pub2 lic hearings. Upon completion of the study, the Board 

3 shall— 

4 (1) revise any such exemptions as necessary on 

5 the basis of the Board’s findings and conclusions 

6 from the study; and 

7 (2) establish a process for the periodic review, 

8 and revision as necessary, of class exemptions. 

9 SEC. 206. RAILROAD SERVICE METRICS AND PERFORM10 ANCE DATA. 

11 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Within 2 years 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Surface Trans13 portation Board shall require Class I railroad carriers and 

14 other railroad carriers, as appropriate, to regularly report 

15 railroad service metrics and other performance data as 

16 prescribed by the Board. The metrics and data may in17 clude transportation cycle times and transit times and 

18 variations in such times, average train speed, and terminal 

19 dwell time by type of traffic and by geographic area and 

20 other metrics, as determined by the Board. 

21 (b) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Board shall ensure that 

22 metrics submitted pursuant to this section and data and 

23 deemed confidential by the Board are appropriately pro24 tected. 


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1 SEC. 207. UNIFORM RAILROAD COSTING SYSTEM. 

2 (a) STUDY.—Within 180 days after the date of enact3 ment of this Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall 

4 initiate a proceeding to examine the Uniform Railroad 

5 Costing System. The examination shall consider matters 

6 deemed appropriate by the Board. 

7 (b) UPDATE.—Within 3 years after the date of enact8 ment of this Act, the Board shall update, revise, or replace 

9 the System and any related reporting of financial and op10 erating information by rail carriers as deemed appropriate 

11 by the Board based on the examination required by sub12 section (a). 

13 (c) INTERIM REPORT.—Within 18 months after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall submit an 

15 interim report on its progress on the proceeding to the 

16 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor17 tation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

18 Transportation and Infrastructure. 

19 (d) MOVEMENT-SPECIFIC ADJUSTMENTS.—Until the 

20 Board updates, revises, or replaces the system pursuant 

21 to subsection (b), or thereafter at the discretion of the 

22 Board, parties may make reasonable movement-specific 

23 adjustments to the variable costs calculated by the System 

24 in full stand-alone cost rate challenges. 

25 (e) MATERIAL CHANGE ADJUSTMENTS.—If the Sys26 tem is materially changed pursuant to subsection (b), the 


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1 Board shall develop a one-time adjustment factor to be 

2 used to adjust the variable costs in rate prescriptions de3 termined under the changed procedures to equal those 

4 that would have been obtained under the prior procedures, 

5 and will apply this adjustment factor, upon request, in 

6 rate prescriptions that are in effect as of the date of enact7 ment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 208. REPLACEMENT COST STUDY. 

9 (a) STUDY.—Within 180 days after the date of enact10 ment of this Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall 

11 initiate a study to review the use of a replacement cost 

12 approach to value the assets of rail facilities. The review 

13 shall include matters deemed appropriate by the Board, 

14 but shall include, at a minimum, consideration of the fea15 sibility, effectiveness, and appropriateness of using a re16 placement cost approach in Board proceedings where re17 placement costs may be relevant. In conducting the study, 

18 the Board shall provide public notice and opportunity for 

19 comment and conduct one or more public hearings. The 

20 Board shall complete the study within 2 years after its 

21 initiation. 

22 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 180 days after 

23 completion of the study, the Board shall provide a report 

24 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

25 Transportation and the House of Representatives ComVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:46 Dec 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2889.RS S2889

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1 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure on its find2 ings. 

3 SEC. 209. RAIL PRACTICES STUDY. 

4 (a) STUDY.—Within 180 days after the date of enact5 ment of this Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall 

6 initiate a study of rail practices, including switching, sur7 charges, penalties, demurrage, and accessorial charges. In 

8 conducting the study, the Board shall provide public notice 

9 and opportunity for comment and conduct one or more 

10 public hearings. 

11 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 180 days after 

12 completion of the study, the Board shall provide a report 

13 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

14 Transportation and the House of Representatives Com15 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure on its find16 ings. 

17 SEC. 210. RAIL CAR INTERCHANGE STUDY. 

18 (a) STUDY.—Within 180 days after the date of enact19 ment of this Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall 

20 initiate a study of rail interchange rules, including car 

21 service, interchange, and other operating rules adopted 

22 and administered by the Association of American Rail23 roads and the effect of those rules on the national rail 

24 system. In conducting the study, the Board shall provide 


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1 public notice and opportunity for comment and conduct 

2 one or more public hearings. 

3 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 180 days after 

4 completion of the study, the Board shall provide a report 

5 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

6 Transportation and the House of Representatives Com7 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure on its find8 ings. 

9 SEC. 211. OFFERS OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 

10 Section 10904 is amended— 

11 (1) by striking so much of subsection (d) as 

12 precedes paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(d)(1) Unless the Board, within 15 days after the 

14 expiration of the 4-month period described in subsection 

15 (c), finds that one or more financially responsible persons 

16 (including a governmental authority) have offered finan17 cial assistance and established a reasonable likelihood of 

18 freight rail service, public transportation, or intercity rail 

19 passenger transportation over that part of the railroad line 

20 to be abandoned or over which all rail transportation is 

21 to be discontinued, abandonment or discontinuance may 

22 be carried out in accordance with section 10903.’’; and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘30 days’’ in subsection 

24 (f)(1)(A) and inserting ‘‘60 days’’. 


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1 SEC. 212. ADVERSE ABANDONMENTS. 

2 Section 10903 is amended— 

3 (1) by striking so much of subsection (a) as 

4 precedes paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(a)(1) An application relating to the abandonment 

6 of or discontinuance of operation of all rail transportation 

7 over any part of a railroad line shall be filed with the 

8 Board. An abandonment or discontinuance may be carried 

9 out only as authorized under this chapter.’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘When a rail carrier providing 

11 transportation subject to the jurisdiction of the 

12 Board under this part files an application, the appli13 cation’’ in subsection (a)(2) and inserting ‘‘An appli14 cation filed under this section’’; 

15 (3) by striking ‘‘rail carrier’s’’ in subsection 

16 (a)(2)(A); 

17 (4) by striking ‘‘(C)(i)’’ in subsection (a)(2)(C) 

18 and inserting ‘‘(C) if filed by a rail carrier, (i)’’; and 

19 (5) by striking ‘‘The rail carrier shall—’’ in 

20 subsection (a)(3) and inserting ‘‘The applicant 

21 shall—’’. 

22 SEC. 213. EMERGENCY SERVICE ORDERS. 

23 Section 11123(c)(1) is amended by striking the sec24 ond sentence and inserting ‘‘Action by the Board under 

25 subsection (a) of this section may be extended in 90-day 


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1 increments until the Board finds that the emergency has 

2 ended.’’. 

3 SEC. 214. RATE AGREEMENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 10706 is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘§ 10706. Rate agreements 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any proceeding in which it is 

8 alleged that a carrier was a party to an agreement, con9 spiracy, or combination in violation of the Sherman Act 

10 (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et 

11 seq.), sections 73 and 74 of the Wilson Tariff Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 8 and 9), or the Act of June 19, 1936 (15 U.S.C. 

13 13, 13a, 13b, and 21a) or of any similar State law, proof 

14 of an agreement, conspiracy, or combination may not be 

15 inferred from evidence that two or more rail carriers acted 

16 together with respect to an interline rate or related matter 

17 and that a party to such action took similar action with 

18 respect to a rate or related matter on another route or 

19 traffic. 

20 ‘‘(b) INADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE.—In any proceeding 

21 in which such a violation is alleged, evidence of a discus22 sion or agreement between or among such rail carrier and 

23 one or more other rail carriers, or of any rate or other 

24 action resulting from such discussion or agreement, shall 

25 not be admissible if the discussion or agreement concerned 


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1 an interline movement of the rail carrier, and the discus2 sion or agreement would not, considered by itself, violate 

3 the laws referred to in subsection (a). 

4 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION BY COURT.—In any such pro5 ceeding before a jury, the court shall determine whether 

6 the requirements of subsection (b) are satisfied before al7 lowing the introduction of any such evidence.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con9 tents for chapter 107 is amended by striking the item re10 lating to section 10706 and inserting the following: 

‘‘10706. Rate agreements’’. 

11 SEC. 215. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

12 (a) SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE.—Section 10701(d)(3) 

13 is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(3) The Board shall maintain a simplified and expe15 dited method for determining the reasonableness of chal16 lenged rates in those cases in which a full stand-alone cost 

17 presentation is too costly, given the value of the case.’’. 

18 (b) EXPEDITIOUS HANDLING.—Section 10704(d) is 

19 amended by striking the first sentence and inserting ‘‘The 

20 Board shall maintain procedures to ensure expeditious 

21 handling of challenges to the reasonableness of railroad 

22 rates.’’. 


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1 TITLE III—REGULATORY 

2 REFORM 

3 SEC. 301. PAPER BARRIERS. 

4 (a) INTERCHANGE COMMITMENT DEFINED.—Section 

5 10102 is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

7 (10) as paragraphs (5) through (11), respectively; 

8 and 

9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(4) ‘interchange commitment’ means a con12 tractual agreement between two or more rail carriers 

13 subject to the jurisdiction of the Board reached as 

14 part of a sale or lease of a rail line for which the 

15 approval of the Board is required under chapter 109 

16 or 113 of this part, which limits the incentive or the 

17 ability of the purchaser or tenant rail carrier to 

18 interchange traffic with a rail carrier other than the 

19 seller or lessor rail carrier;’’. 

20 (b) AUTHORIZING AN ACQUISITION OR OPERATION

21 TRANSACTION.— 

22 (1) Section 10901(c) is amended by adding at 

23 the end thereof ‘‘The Board may not issue a certifi24 cate authorizing an acquisition or operation trans25 action under subsection (a)(4) that includes interVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:46 Dec 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2889.RS S2889

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1 change commitments or other mechanisms restrict2 ing the purchaser’s or tenant’s ability to interchange 

3 with any other carrier unless such commitments or 

4 mechanisms are reasonable and in the public inter5 est.’’. 

6 (2) Section 10902(c) is amended by adding at 

7 the end thereof ‘‘The Board may not issue a certifi8 cate authorizing an acquisition or operation trans9 action under this section that includes interchange 

10 commitments or other mechanisms restricting the 

11 purchaser’s or tenant’s ability to interchange with 

12 any other carrier unless such commitments or mech13 anisms are reasonable and in the public interest.’’. 

14 (3) Section 11323 is amended by adding at the 

15 end thereof the following: 

16 ‘‘(d) The Board may not authorize an acquisition or 

17 operation transaction under this section that includes 

18 interchange commitments or other mechanisms restricting 

19 the purchaser’s or tenant’s ability to interchange with any 

20 other carrier unless such commitments or mechanisms are 

21 reasonable and in the public interest.’’. 

22 (c) RIGHTS AND REMEDIES OF PERSONS INJURED

23 BY INTERCHANGE COMMITMENTS.—Chapter 117 is 

24 amended by adding at end thereof the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 11708. Interchange commitments: rights and rem2 edies 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall maintain a 

4 process to allow persons to challenge existing interchange 

5 commitments as contrary to other provisions of this part. 

6 The Attorney General and the Secretary of Transportation 

7 may participate in such proceedings. 

8 ‘‘(b) ACCESS TO INTERCHANGE COMMITMENTS.— 

9 After the filing of a complaint or petition, the Board shall 

10 provide affected persons access, upon request, to existing 

11 and proposed interchange commitments, subject to condi12 tions protecting the confidentiality of those agreements. 

13 ‘‘(c) REDRESS AUTHORITY.—The Board shall take 

14 appropriate action to address any conflict between an 

15 interchange commitment and the provisions of this part. 

16 ‘‘(d) PURCHASE AUTHORITY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (5), if the Board finds that— 

19 ‘‘(A) an interchange commitment is found 

20 to be in violation of this part, and 

21 ‘‘(B) the purchaser or tenant rail carrier 

22 and the seller or lessor rail carrier cannot bring 

23 the interchange commitment into compliance 

24 with this part within a reasonable period of 

25 time, 


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1 the Board may require, upon application by the pur2 chaser or tenant rail carrier, the elimination of the 

3 interchange commitment at a price paid by the pur4 chaser or tenant rail carrier not less than the terms 

5 established under paragraph (2). 

6 ‘‘(2) TERMS.—In the case of an interchange 

7 commitment subject to elimination under paragraph 

8 (1), the Board shall determine the fair market value 

9 of an interchange commitment by considering— 

10 ‘‘(A) any credits, payments, expenses, or 

11 other income paid and due from the inter12 change commitment to the seller or lessor rail 

13 carrier; 

14 ‘‘(B) reasonable financial hardships of the 

15 purchaser or tenant rail carrier due to unrea16 sonable terms, if any, of the interchange agree17 ment; and 

18 ‘‘(C) other relevant factors as determined 

19 by the Board. 

20 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—The Board 

21 shall require protections consistent with the require22 ments of section 11326(a) for rail labor employees 

23 who are affected by an action under this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(4) PURCHASER PRECONDITIONS.—Any pur25 chaser or tenant rail carrier that buys out an interVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:46 Dec 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2889.RS S2889

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1 change commitment under this subsection may de2 termine preconditions, such as payment of a subsidy, 

3 which must be met by shippers in order to obtain 

4 service over such lines, but such rail carrier must 

5 notify the shippers on the line of its intention to im6 pose such preconditions. 

7 ‘‘(5) EXCEPTION.—If the Board requires the 

8 elimination of an interchange commitment under 

9 paragraph (1), and the purchaser or tenant rail car10 rier or the seller or lessor rail carrier demonstrates 

11 that the sale or lease agreement containing the 

12 interchange commitment that contains a provision 

13 governing the manner in which the agreement may 

14 be terminated, the Board shall permit the agreement 

15 to be terminated in accordance with that provision. 

16 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

17 ‘‘(A) PURCHASER OR TENANT RAIL CAR18 RIER.—The term ‘purchaser or tenant rail car19 rier’ means a Class II or Class III rail carrier 

20 that purchases or leases a rail line that is sub21 ject to terms of an interchange commitment. 

22 ‘‘(B) SELLER OR LESSOR RAIL CARRIER.— 

23 The term ‘seller or lessor rail carrier’ means a 

24 Class I rail carrier that leased or sold a rail line 

25 subject to terms of an interchange commitment. 


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1 ‘‘(e) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF PRO2 CEEDING.—The Board shall complete any proceeding 

3 under this section within 180 days after the close of the 

4 administrative record.’’. 

5 (d) RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT

6 FINANCING.— 

7 (1) Section 502(b)(1) of the Railroad Revital8 ization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 

9 U.S.C. 822(b)(1)) is amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon in 

11 subparagraph (B); 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘facilities.’’ in subpara13 graph (C) and inserting ‘‘facilities; or’’; and 

14 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(D) provide financial assistance to pur17 chase or lease a rail line subject to terms estab18 lished by the Surface Transportation Board 

19 under section 11708(d) of title 49, United 

20 States Code.’’. 

21 (2) Section 502 of that Act (45 U.S.C. 822) is 

22 amended— 

23 (A) by adding at the end of subsection (e) 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) INTEREST RATE REDUCTION.—Subject to 

2 the availability of funds authorized by subsection 

3 (k), the Secretary may reduce the interest to be paid 

4 on direct loans provided to a Class II or Class III 

5 rail carrier for the purpose of subsection 

6 (b)(1)(D).’’; 

7 (B) in subsection (f)(1)— 

8 (i) by inserting ‘‘or private insurance, 

9 including bond insurance,’’ after ‘‘in part 

10 credit risk’’; and 

11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or insurance, includ12 ing bond insurance,’’ after ‘‘authority and 

13 credit risk’’; 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘amounts.’’ in subsection 

15 (f)(3) and inserting ‘‘amounts or, at the discre16 tion of the Secretary, in a series of payments 

17 over the term of the loan. If insurance, includ18 ing bond insurance, is used, the policy premium 

19 shall be paid before the loan is disbursed.’’; and 

20 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for pur23 poses of carrying out subsection (e)(3) such funds as may 

24 be necessary for fiscal years 2010 through 2014.’’. 


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1 (e) INTERCHANGE COMMITMENT RELIEF GRANTS.— 

2 Chapter 201 is amended by adding at end thereof the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘§ 20168. Interchange commitment relief grants 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon application, the Secretary 

6 of Transportation, in consultation with the Surface Trans7 portation Board, may make grants available to assist any 

8 Class III rail carrier providing transportation subject to 

9 the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board with 

10 the credit risk premium of a direct loan or loan guarantee 

11 made for the purposes of section 502(b)(1)(D) of the Rail12 road Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 

13 (45 U.S.C. 822(b)(1)(D)). 

14 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary of Transpor15 tation— 

16 ‘‘(1) shall award grants only to applicants with 

17 financial need; and 

18 ‘‘(2) may approve a grant under this section 

19 only as part of an application for a Railroad Reha20 bilitation and Improvement Financing loan or loan 

21 guarantee. 

22 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

24 Transportation for grants under this section $37,500,000 

25 for fiscal years 2010 through 2014.’’. 


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1 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (1) The table of contents for chapter 117 is 

3 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec4 tion 11707 the following: 

‘‘11708. Interchange commitments: rights and remedies’’. 

5 (2) The table of contents for chapter 201 is 

6 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec7 tion 20167 the following: 

‘‘20168. Interchange commitment relief grants’’. 

8 SEC. 302. BOTTLENECK AND TERMINAL SWITCHING RATES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 107 is 

10 amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 

11 ‘‘§ 10710. Bottleneck and terminal switching rates 

12 ‘‘(a) A Class I rail carrier, or other rail carrier as 

13 deemed appropriate by the Board, that provides a rate for 

14 transportation between an origin and destination either as 

15 a single line movement or as part of an interline movement 

16 and over which the carrier has market dominance pursu17 ant to section 10707 shall, upon the reasonable request 

18 of a rail customer, establish a bottleneck rate for the pur19 pose of providing transportation over a bottleneck segment 

20 located between such an origin and destination pursuant 

21 to this section. If the rail carrier contends that the trans22 portation is not subject to market dominance under that 

23 section, the rail carrier shall seek an expedited determina24 tion of that issue from the Board. 


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1 ‘‘(b) Such a carrier shall establish such a rate and 

2 provide service upon such request without regard to 

3 whether the shipper has made arrangements for transpor4 tation for any other part of that movement. 

5 ‘‘(c)(1) If the Board determines, under section 10707 

6 of this title, that such a rail carrier has market dominance 

7 between the origin and destination, the bottleneck rate es8 tablished for transportation pursuant to this section must 

9 be reasonable. 

10 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than one year after the date of en11 actment of the Surface Transportation Board Reauthor12 ization Act of 2009, the Board shall establish and main13 tain standards for determining whether a bottleneck rate 

14 established by a rail carrier is reasonable for purposes of 

15 this section and establish a simplified and expedited meth16 od for determining the reasonableness of challenged bottle17 neck rates. In developing those standards the Board shall 

18 consider rail carriers’ need to earn adequate revenues to 

19 provide and sustain consistent, efficient, and reliable 

20 transportation services and to maintain the national rail 

21 system. 

22 ‘‘(B) In developing the standards, the Board shall in23 clude, as part of a reasonable rate— – 


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1 ‘‘(i) operating costs, including any additional 

2 labor costs, of providing the requested transpor3 tation service over the bottleneck segment; 

4 ‘‘(ii) maintenance costs associated with pro5 viding the requested transportation service; 

6 ‘‘(iii) additional capital and investment costs re7 quired to perform the requested transportation serv8 ice over the bottleneck segment; 

9 ‘‘(iv) a reasonable return on embedded capital 

10 used for the requested transportation service over 

11 the bottleneck segment sufficient to meet the rail 

12 carrier’s cost of capital or, if such cost is not avail13 able, the rail industry cost of capital; 

14 ‘‘(v) a reasonable contribution, to the extent ap15 propriate, to that carrier’s network infrastructure 

16 costs of the non-bottleneck segment of the route of17 fered by the incumbent rail carrier that is sufficient, 

18 along with other traffic on the segment, to maintain 

19 the non-bottleneck segment; and 

20 ‘‘(vi) any other contributing factors appropriate 

21 to meet the consideration in subparagraph (A). 

22 ‘‘(d) In any proceeding in which a rail customer chal23 lenges a bottleneck rate established under this section as 

24 unreasonable, the burden of proof that the rate is reason25 able shall be on the rail carrier. 


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1 ‘‘(e) In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘bottleneck rate’ means a rate 

3 for transportation over a bottleneck segment. 

4 ‘‘(2) The term ‘bottleneck segment’ means the 

5 rail facilities, including rail facilities located entirely 

6 in terminal areas, between an origin on the carrier’s 

7 system and an interchange or between a destination 

8 on the carrier’s system and an interchange. 

9 ‘‘(3) The term ‘interchange’ means an inter10 change on such a rail carrier’s system that exists on 

11 the date of the shipper’s request for a rate covered 

12 by this section that— 

13 ‘‘(A) is practicable and would not signifi14 cantly adversely affect such rail carrier’s net15 work efficiency; and 

16 ‘‘(B) would not significantly impair service 

17 to other customers of such rail carrier.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) The table of contents for chapter 107 is 

20 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec21 tion 10709 the following: 

‘‘10710. Bottleneck and terminal switching rates’’. 

22 (2) Section 10705(a)(2)(A) is amended by in23 serting ‘‘10710,’’ after ‘‘under section’’. 

24 SEC. 303. TERMINAL ACCESS. 

25 Section 11102 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 11102. Use of terminal facilities 

2 ‘‘(a) For a Class I rail carrier, or other rail carrier 

3 as deemed appropriate by the Board, providing transpor4 tation over which the rail carrier has market dominance 

5 pursuant to section 10707 in a terminal area, the Board 

6 may require the rail carrier to make its terminal facilities, 

7 including mainline tracks for a reasonable distance outside 

8 of that terminal, available for use by another rail carrier 

9 for such transporation. 

10 ‘‘(b) The Board may only require that a rail carrier 

11 take such action under subsection (a) if the Board finds 

12 that such action— 

13 ‘‘(1) would be practicable and would not signifi14 cantly adversely affect the operations of the terminal 

15 or facility owned by such rail carrier or rail carriers 

16 otherwise entitled to use the terminal or facilities; 

17 ‘‘(2) would not significantly adversely affect the 

18 network efficiency of such rail carrier or rail carriers 

19 otherwise entitled to use the terminal or facilities; 

20 ‘‘(3) would not significantly impair service to 

21 other customers of such rail carrier or other rail car22 riers entitled to use the terminal or facilities; 

23 ‘‘(4) is necessary to promote the efficient oper24 ation of the railroad system and improve rail service; 

25 and 

26 ‘‘(5) is in the public interest. 


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1 ‘‘(c) The rail carriers required to make facilities avail2 able or provide service pursuant to subsection (a) are re3 sponsible for establishing reasonable conditions and com4 pensation for the use of the facilities. The compensation 

5 shall be paid or adequately secured before a rail carrier 

6 may begin to use the facilities of another rail carrier. 

7 ‘‘(d)(1) Not later than one year after the date of en8 actment of the Surface Transportation Board Reauthor9 ization Act of 2009, the Board shall establish and main10 tain standards for determining whether compensation is 

11 reasonable for purposes of this section and establish a sim12 plified and expedited method for determining the reason13 ableness of challenged compensation rates. 

14 ‘‘(2) In developing such standards, the Board shall 

15 consider rail carriers’ need to earn adequate revenues to 

16 provide and sustain consistent, efficient, and reliable 

17 transportation services and to maintain the national rail 

18 system. 

19 ‘‘(e) In developing the standards required by sub20 section (d), the Board shall include, as part of a reason21 able compensation— – 

22 ‘‘(1) operating costs, including any additional 

23 labor costs, of providing the requested usage; 

24 ‘‘(2) maintenance costs associated with pro25 viding the requested usage; 


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1 ‘‘(3) additional capital and investment costs re2 quired to perform the requested usage; 

3 ‘‘(4) a reasonable return on embedded capital 

4 employed for the requested usage of terminal facili5 ties sufficient to meet the rail carrier’s cost of cap6 ital or, if such cost is not available, the rail industry 

7 cost of capital; 

8 ‘‘(5) a reasonable contribution, to the extent ap9 propriate, to that carrier’s network infrastructure 

10 costs of the route beyond the terminal facilities and 

11 main line tracks made available for the requested 

12 usage, that is sufficient, along with other traffic on 

13 the route and mainline track, to maintain the route 

14 beyond the terminal facilities and mainline tracks 

15 made available for the requested usage; and 

16 ‘‘(6) any other contributing factors appropriate 

17 to meet the considerations in subsection (d)(2). 

18 ‘‘(g) A rail carrier whose terminal facilities are re19 quired to be used by another rail carrier under this section 

20 is entitled to recover compensation from the other rail car21 rier for damages sustained as the result of compliance 

22 with the requirement in a civil action. 

23 ‘‘(h) In any proceeding in which a rail carrier chal24 lenges a compensation rate established under this section 

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1 sonable shall be on the rail carrier whose terminal facilities 

2 are required to be used by the other rail carrier. 

3 ‘‘(i) If the Board requires that a rail carrier take such 

4 an action under subsection (a), the Board shall provide 

5 for the protection of the interests of employees affected 

6 thereby, consistent with the level of protection under sec7 tion 10902 of this title. 

8 ‘‘(j) The Board shall complete any proceeding under 

9 this section within 180 days after the closing of the evi10 dentiary record. The Board may extend the deadline in 

11 incremental 30-day periods if it issues a decision dem12 onstrating why such an extension is necessary.’’. 

13 SEC. 304. SERVICE. 

14 Section 11101 is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub16 section (g); and 

17 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(f) The Board shall, by regulation, require rail car20 riers to publish reasonable common carrier service expec21 tation ranges. These may include ranges for normal car 

22 cycle times, transit times, switching frequency, and other 

23 service components as determined by the Board to be ap24 propriate.’’. 


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1 SEC. 305. ARBITRATION OF CERTAIN RAIL RATE, PRACTICE, 

2 AND COMMON CARRIER SERVICE EXPECTA3 TION DISPUTES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 117, as amended by sec5 tion 301, is further amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘§ 11709. Arbitration of certain rail rate, practice, 

8 and common carrier service disputes 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after en10 actment of the Surface Transportation Board Reauthor11 ization Act of 2009, the Board shall promulgate regula12 tions to establish a binding arbitration process to resolve 

13 rail rate, practice, and common carrier service expectation 

14 complaints subject to the jurisdiction of the Board. 

15 ‘‘(b) COVERED DISPUTES.—The binding arbitration 

16 process— 

17 ‘‘(1) shall apply to disputes involving rates, 

18 practices, and common carrier service expectations 

19 subject to the jurisdiction of the Board; 

20 ‘‘(2) shall not apply to disputes to obtain the 

21 grant, denial, stay or revocation of any license, au22 thorization or exemption, to prescribe for the future 

23 any conduct, rules, or results of general, industry24 wide applicability, or to enforce labor protective con25 ditions; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) shall not apply to disputes solely between 

2 2 or more rail carriers. 

3 ‘‘(c) ARBITRATION PROCEDURES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) The Board— 

5 ‘‘(A) may make the binding arbitration 

6 process available only to the relevant parties— 

7 ‘‘(i) after the filing of a formal com8 plaint; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) upon petition by a party at the 

10 conclusion of any informal dispute resolu11 tion process provided by the Board for a 

12 complaint subject to this section; 

13 ‘‘(B) with respect to rate disputes, may 

14 make the binding arbitration process available 

15 only to the relevant parties if the rail carrier 

16 has market dominance, as determined under 

17 section 10707 of this title; and 

18 ‘‘(C) shall determine whether to pursue the 

19 binding arbitration process no later than 30 

20 days after the filing of a petition or formal 

21 complaint. 

22 ‘‘(2) Initiation of the binding arbitration proc23 ess shall preclude the Board from separately review24 ing a complaint or dispute related to the same rate, 


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1 practice, or common carrier service expectation in a 

2 covered dispute involving the same parties. 

3 ‘‘(3) In resolving disputes involving the reason4 ableness of a rail carrier’s rates, the arbitrator shall 

5 consider the Board’s methodologies for setting max6 imum lawful rates, giving due consideration to the 

7 need for differential pricing to permit a rail carrier 

8 to collect adequate revenues within the meaning of 

9 section 10704(a)(2) of this title. 

10 ‘‘(4) In resolving disputes involving common 

11 carrier service expectations, the arbitrator shall con12 sider service expectations as published pursuant to 

13 section 11101(f). 

14 ‘‘(d) ARBITRATION DECISIONS.—Any decision 

15 reached in an arbitration process under this section 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) be consistent with subtitle IV of this title; 

18 ‘‘(2) be in writing and shall contain findings of 

19 fact and conclusions; 

20 ‘‘(3) have no precedential effect in any other or 

21 subsequent arbitration dispute; and 

22 ‘‘(4) be binding upon the parties. 

23 ‘‘(e) TIMELINES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) The arbitrator shall be selected within 14 

2 days after the Board’s decision to initiate arbitra3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(2) The evidentiary process of the arbitration 

5 process shall be completed within 90 days after the 

6 date of initiation of the arbitration process, unless a 

7 party requests an extension and the arbitrator 

8 grants it. 

9 ‘‘(3) The arbitrator shall issue a decision within 

10 30 days after the close of the evidentiary record. 

11 ‘‘(4) The Board may extend any of the 

12 timelines in this subsection upon the agreement of 

13 all parties in the dispute. 

14 ‘‘(f) ARBITRATORS.—Arbitration under this section 

15 shall be conducted by an arbitrator selected from a roster, 

16 maintained by the Board, of persons with transportation, 

17 economic regulation, professional or business experience, 

18 including agriculture, in the private sector. If the parties 

19 cannot mutually agree on an arbitrator, the parties shall 

20 select an arbitrator from the roster by alternately striking 

21 names from the roster until only 1 name remains. The 

22 parties shall share the costs of the arbitration equally. 

23 ‘‘(g) RELIEF.— 

24 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION.—A decision under this sec25 tion may award the payment of damages or rate preVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:46 Dec 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2889.RS S2889

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1 scriptive relief, but the value of the award may not 

2 exceed $250,000 per year and the award may not 

3 cover a total time period of more than 2 years. 

4 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—The board shall periodically re5 view the amount in paragraph (1) and adjust it as 

6 necessary to reflect inflation. 

7 ‘‘(h) BOARD REVIEW.—If a party appeals an arbitra8 tor’s decision to the Board, the Board may review the deci9 sion under this section to determine if— 

10 ‘‘(1) the decision is consistent with subtitle IV 

11 of this title as applied by the Board; or 

12 ‘‘(2) if the award limitation in subsection (g).’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con14 tents for chapter 117 is amended by adding at the end 

15 following: 

‘‘11709. Arbitration of certain rail rate, practice, and common carrier service 

disputes’’. 

16 SEC. 306. MAXIMUM RELIEF IN CERTAIN RATE CASES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall revise the max18 imum amount of rate relief available to railroad shippers 

19 in cases brought pursuant to the methods developed under 

20 section 10701(d)(3) of title 49, United States Code, as 

21 that section existed as of the date of enactment of this 

22 Act, to be as follows— 

23 (1) $1,500,000 in a rate case brought using the 

24 Board’s ‘‘three-benchmark’’ procedure; and 


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1 (2) $10,000,000 in a rate case brought using 

2 the Board’s ‘‘simplified stand-alone cost’’ procedure. 

3 (b) PERIODIC REVIEW.—The Board shall periodically 

4 review the amounts established by subsection (a) and re5 vise them as appropriate. 

6 SEC. 307. ADVANCE RATE CHALLENGE. 

7 The Surface Transportation Board may consider the 

8 reasonableness of a rate quoted by a rail carrier up to 

9 1 year before the date on which the rate is to take effect. 

10 SEC. 308. RATE REVIEW TIMELINES. 

11 In stand-alone cost rate challenges, the Surface 

12 Transportation Board shall comply with the following 

13 timelines unless it extends them, after a request from any 

14 party or in the interest of due process: 

15 (1) For discovery, 150 days after the date on 

16 which the challenge is initiated. 

17 (2) For development of the evidentiary record, 

18 155 days after that date. 

19 (3) For submission of parties’ closing briefs, 60 

20 days after that date. 

21 (4) For a final Board decision, 180 days after 

22 the date on which the parties submit closing briefs. 

23 SEC. 309. REVENUE ADEQUACY STUDY. 

24 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall initiate a 


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1 study to provide further guidance on how it will apply its 

2 revenue adequacy constraint. In conducting the study the 

3 Board shall provide public notice and opportunity for com4 ment and conduct 1 or more public hearings. 

5 SEC. 310. PUBLIC USAGE OF ABANDONED RAIL PROP6 ERTIES. 

7 Section 10905 is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘other forms of mass transpor9 tation,’’ and inserting ‘‘public transportation,’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘the properties may be sold,’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘the Board may require that the prop12 erties be sold,’’; 

13 (3) by striking ‘‘only under conditions’’ and in14 serting ‘‘pursuant to conditions, including the 

15 amount of compensation,’’; and 

16 (4) by striking ‘‘The conditions may include a 

17 prohibition on any such disposal’’ and inserting ‘‘At 

18 a minimum, the Board shall prohibit any disposal of 

19 such properties’’. 

20 SEC. 311. TRANSACTIONS. 

21 Section 11325 is amended— 

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’ in subsection 

23 (a) and redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as 

24 subparagraphs (A) through (C); 


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1 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(2) The Board may extend the time limits specified 

4 in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section when more 

5 time is necessary to complete the environmental review 

6 process.’’; and 

7 (3) by striking ‘‘a transaction other than the 

8 merger or control of at least two Class I railroads, 

9 as defined by the Board, which the Board has deter10 mined to be of regional or national transportation 

11 significance,’’ in subsection (c) and inserting ‘‘the 

12 merger or control of one Class I railroad and at 

13 least one Class II railroad, as defined by the Board, 

14 or if it involves a merger or control transaction, 

15 other than a transaction subject to subsection (b), 

16 which the Board has determined to be of regional or 

17 national transportation significance,’’. 

18 SEC. 312. CONSIDERATIONS IN CONSOLIDATIONS, MERG19 ERS, AND ACQUISITIONS. 

20 Section 11324 is amended— 

21 (1) by striking paragraph (5) of subsection (b) 

22 and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(5) the effect of the proposed transaction on 

24 competition among rail carriers in the affected re25 gion or in the national rail system.’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

2 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 

3 (3) by striking ‘‘Board,’’ in subsection (d) and 

4 inserting ‘‘Board, subject to subsection (e)’’; and 

5 (4) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(e) In considering whether to approve, deny, or ap8 prove with conditions a transaction covered under sub9 sections (b) or (d) of this section, the Board may take 

10 into account any potentially significant effects of the 

11 transaction on— 

12 ‘‘(1) public health, safety, and the environment; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(2) intercity rail passenger transportation and 

15 commuter rail passenger transportation, as defined 

16 by section 24102 of this title.’’. 

17 SEC. 313. RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT. 

18 Section 10907(h) is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(h) If a purchasing carrier under this section pro20 poses to sell or abandon all or any portion of a purchased 

21 railroad line within 5 years after the date of sale under 

22 this section, such purchasing carrier shall offer the right 

23 of first refusal with respect to such line or portion thereof 

24 to the carrier which sold such line under this section. The 

25 offer shall be made at a price equal to the sum of the 


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1 price paid by such purchasing carrier to such selling car2 rier for such line or portion thereof and the fair market 

3 value (less deterioration) of any improvements made, as 

4 adjusted to reflect inflation.’’. 

5 SEC. 314. REGULATORY REFORM REVIEW. 

6 (a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the United 

7 States shall undertake a review of the regulatory changes 

8 made by this Act. The review shall include— 

9 (1) a review of the Surface Transportation 

10 Board’s progress in implementing the provisions of 

11 this Act; 

12 (2) an assessment of the impact on the rail 

13 transportation system of the regulatory changes 

14 made by this Act; and 

15 (3) a specific analysis of the impact on railroad 

16 operations, rates, competition, service, revenues, 

17 maintenance, and investment resulting from the im18 plementation of sections 11102 and 10710 of title 

19 49, United States Code, as amended and added, re20 spectively, by this Act. 

21 (b) CONSULTATION.—In conducting this review, the 

22 Comptroller General shall solicit input from the railroads, 

23 railroad shippers, railroad non-profit employee labor orga24 nizations, the Federal Railroad Administration, and other 

25 entities, as appropriate. 


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1 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Decem2 ber 31, 2013, the Comptroller General shall transmit a 

3 report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

4 and Transportation and the House of Representatives 

5 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure con6 taining the results of the review required by this section 

7 and any appropriate recommendations. 

8 TITLE IV—TECHNICAL 

9 CORRECTIONS. 

10 SEC. 401. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO PUBLIC LAW 110– 

11 432. 

12 (a) The title of Public Law 110–432 is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘Federal Railroad Safety Administration’’ and in14 serting ‘‘Federal Railroad Administration’’. 

15 (b) The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Rail 

16 Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is amended— 

17 (1) in the item relating to section 201 by strik18 ing ‘‘Pedestrian crossing safety’’ and inserting ‘‘Pe19 destrian safety at or near railroad passenger sta20 tions’’; and 

21 (2) in the item relating to section 403 by strik22 ing ‘‘Track inspection time study’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘Study and rulemaking on track inspection time; 

24 rulemaking on concrete crossties’’. 


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1 (c) Section 2(a)(1) of the Rail Safety Improvement 

2 Act of 2008 is amended by inserting a comma after ‘‘rail3 road tracks at grade’’. 

4 (d) Section 102(a)(6) of the Rail Safety Improvement 

5 Act of 2008 is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(6) Improving the safety of railroad bridges, 

7 tunnels, and related infrastructure to prevent acci8 dents, incidents, injuries, and fatalities caused by 

9 catastrophic and other failures of such infrastruc10 ture.’’. 

11 (e) Section 108(f)(1) of the Rail Safety Improvement 

12 Act of 2008 is amended by striking ‘‘requirements for rec13 ordkeeping and reporting for Hours of Service of Railroad 

14 Employees’’ and inserting ‘‘requirements for record keep15 ing and reporting for hours of service of railroad employ16 ees’’. 

17 (f) Section 201 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

18 of 2008 is amended— 

19 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘PE20 DESTRIAN CROSSING SAFETY’’ and in21 serting ‘‘PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AT OR 

22 NEAR RAILROAD PASSENGER STA23 TIONS’’; 

24 (2) by striking ‘‘strategies and methods to pre25 vent pedestrian accidents, incidents, injuries, and faVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:46 Dec 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2889.RS S2889

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1 talities at or near passenger stations, including’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘strategies and methods to prevent train3 related accidents, incidents, injuries, and fatalities 

4 that involve a pedestrian at or near a railroad pas5 senger station, including’’; and 

6 (3) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘at railroad 

7 passenger stations’’. 

8 (g) Section 206(a) of the Rail Safety Improvement 

9 Act of 2008 is amended by striking ‘‘Public Service An10 nouncements’’ and inserting ‘‘public service announce11 ments’’. 

12 (h) Section 403 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

13 of 2008 is amended— 

14 (1) in the section heading by striking 

15 ‘‘TRACK INSPECTION TIME STUDY’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘STUDY AND RULEMAKING ON 

17 TRACK INSPECTION TIME; RULE18 MAKING ON CONCRETE CROSSTIES’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) in subsection (d)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘CROSS TIES’’ in the sub22 section heading and inserting ‘‘CROSSTIES’’; 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘cross ties’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘crossties’’; and 


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1 (C) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘cross 

2 tie’’ and inserting ‘‘crosstie’’. 

3 (i) Section 405 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

4 of 2008 is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘cell phones’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘cellular telephones’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (d) by striking ‘‘Secretary of 

8 Transportation’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’. 

9 (j) Section 411(a) of the Rail Safety Improvement 

10 Act of 2008 is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘5101(a)’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘5105(a)’’; and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘5101(b)’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘5105(b)’’. 

15 (k) Section 412 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

16 of 2008 is amended by striking ‘‘Secretary of Transpor17 tation’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’. 

18 (l) Section 414 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

19 of 2008 is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘parts 171.8, 

21 173.115,’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 171.8, 173.115,’’; 

22 and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘part 1520.5’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘section 1520.5’’. 


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1 (m) Section 416 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

2 of 2008 is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Transportation’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

5 (2) in paragraphs (3) and (4), by striking 

6 ‘‘Federal Railroad Administration’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

8 (3) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘subsection’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘section’’. 

10 (n) Section 417(c) of the Rail Safety Improvement 

11 Act of 2008 is amended by striking ‘‘each railroad’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘each railroad carrier’’. 

13 (o) Section 503 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

14 of 2008 is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘rail acci16 dents’’ and inserting ‘‘rail passenger accidents’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘pas19 senger’, ‘rail passenger accident’, and ‘rail passenger car20 rier’ have the meaning given those terms by section 1139 

21 of title 49, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—Out of funds appropriated pursuant 

23 to section 20117(a)(1)(A) of title 49, United States Code, 

24 there shall be made available to the Secretary of Transpor25 tation $500,000 for fiscal year 2009 to carry out this secVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:46 Dec 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2889.RS S2889

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1 tion. Amounts made available pursuant to this subsection 

2 shall remain available until expended.’’. 

3 (p) Section 206(a) of the Passenger Rail Investment 

4 and Improvement Act of 2008 is amended by inserting 

5 ‘‘of this division’’ after ‘‘302’’. 

6 (q) Section 211 of the Passenger Rail Investment and 

7 Improvement Act of 2008 is amended— 

8 (1) by inserting ‘‘of this division’’ after 

9 ‘‘101(c)’’ in subsection (d); and 

10 (2) by inserting ‘‘of this division’’ after 

11 ‘‘101(d)’’ in subsection (e). 

12 (r) Section 1139 is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘phone 

14 number’’ and inserting ‘‘telephone number’’; 

15 (2) in subsection (a)(2) by striking ‘‘post trau16 ma communication with families’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘post-trauma communication with families’’; 

18 (3) in subsection (h)(1)(A) by striking ‘‘inter19 state’’; 

20 (4) in subsection (h)(2)(A)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘interstate or intrastate’’; 

22 and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘26105‘‘ and inserting 

24 ‘‘26106(b)(4)’’; 


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1 (5) in subsection (j)(1) by striking ‘‘(other than 

2 subsection (g))’’ and inserting ‘‘(other than sub3 sections (g) and (k))’’; and 

4 (6) in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (j) 

5 by striking ‘‘railroad passenger accident’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘rail passenger accident’’. 

7 (s) Section 10909(b) is amended by striking ‘‘Clean 

8 Railroad Act of 2008,’’ and inserting ‘‘Clean Railroads 

9 Act of 2008,’’. 

10 (t) Section 20109(c)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘the 

11 railroad shall promptly arrange’’ and inserting ‘‘the rail12 road carrier shall promptly arrange’’. 

13 (u) Section 20120(a) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (2)(G), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at 

15 the end; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (5)(B) by striking ‘‘Adminis17 trative Hearing Officer or Administrative Law 

18 Judge’’ and inserting ‘‘administrative hearing officer 

19 or administrative law judge’’. 

20 (v) Section 20151(d)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘to 

21 drive around a grade crossing gate’’ and inserting ‘‘to 

22 drive through, around, or under a grade crossing gate’’. 

23 (w) Section 20152(b) is amended by striking ‘‘Class 

24 II and Class III rail carriers’’ and inserting ‘‘Class II and 

25 III railroad carriers’’. 


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1 (x) Section 20156 is amended— 

2 (1) in subsection (c) by inserting a comma after 

3 ‘‘In developing its railroad safety risk reduction pro4 gram’’; and 

5 (2) in subsection (g)(1) by striking ‘‘non-profit’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘nonprofit’’. 

7 (y) Section 20157(a)(1) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘Class I railroad carrier’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘Class I railroad’’; and 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘parts 171.8, 173.115, and 

11 173.132’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 171.8, 173.115, 

12 and 173.132’’. 

13 (z) Section 20158(b)(3) is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘20156(e)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘20156(e)’’. 

15 (aa) Section 20159 is amended by striking ‘‘the Sec16 retary’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary of Transportation’’. 

17 (bb) Section 20160 is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘or with re19 spect to’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by striking ‘‘or with 

21 respect to’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to’’. 

22 (cc) Section 20162(a)(3) is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘railroad compliance with Federal standards’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘railroad carrier compliance with Federal standards’’. 


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1 (dd) Section 20164(a) is amended by striking ‘‘the 

2 Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2008’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008’’. 

4 (ee) Section 21102(c)(4) is amended by re-desig5 nating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (B) 

6 and (C), respectively. 

7 (ff) Section 22106(b) is amended by striking ‘‘inter8 est thereof’’ and inserting ‘‘interest thereon’’. 

9 (gg) Section 24105(e) of title 49, United States Code, 

10 is amended by striking ‘‘section 301 of the Passenger Rail 

11 Investment and Improvement Act of 2008’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘section 24406’’. 

13 (hh) Section 24302(a)(3) is amended by striking ‘‘5 

14 individuals’’ and inserting ‘‘4 individuals’’. 

15 (ii) Section 24316 is amended by striking subsection 

16 (g). 

17 (jj) The item relating to section 24316 in the table 

18 of contents for chapter 243 is amended by striking ‘‘to 

19 assist families of passengers’’ and inserting ‘‘to address 

20 needs of families of passengers’’. 

21 (kk) Section 24402 is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘22506’’ in subsection (d) and 

23 inserting ‘‘22706’’; 

24 (2) by striking ‘‘22504(a)(5)’’ in subsection (e) 

25 and inserting ‘‘22705(a)(5)’’; 


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1 (3) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(e) AMTRAK ELIGIBILITY.—Amtrak may be the re4 cipient of a grant under this section if Amtrak has entered 

5 into a cooperative agreement with 1 or more applicants 

6 to carry out 1 or more projects on a State rail plan’s list 

7 of rail capital projects developed under section 

8 22705(a)(5) of this title. For such a grant, Amtrak may 

9 not use Federal funds authorized under section 101(a) or 

10 (c) of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement 

11 Act of 2008 to fulfill the non-Federal share requirements 

12 under subsection (g) of this section.’’; 

13 (4) by striking ‘‘AND EARLY SYSTEMS WORK

14 AGREEMENTS’’ in the heading of subsection (f); 

15 (5) by striking ‘‘A metropolitan planning orga16 nization, State transportation department, or other 

17 project sponsor’’ in subsection (i)(1) and inserting 

18 ‘‘An applicant’’; and 

19 (6) by striking subsection (k) and inserting the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(k) SMALL CAPITAL PROJECTS.—The Secretary 

22 shall make not less than 5 percent annually available from 

23 the amounts appropriated under section 24406 beginning 

24 in fiscal year 2009 for grants for capital projects eligible 

25 under this section not exceeding $2,000,000, including 


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1 costs eligible under section 209(d) of the Passenger Rail 

2 Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. For grants 

3 awarded under this subsection, the Secretary may waive 

4 requirements of this section, including State rail plan re5 quirements, as appropriate.’’. 

6 (ll) Section 24403(b)(1) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘oversee the construction of such projects’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘for activities to award and oversee the implementation 

9 of such projects’’. 

10 (mm) Section 24405(b)(2) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘43 16 U.S.C. 151’’ and inserting ‘‘45 U.S.C. 151’’. 

12 (nn) Section 24702(a) is amended by striking ‘‘not 

13 included in the national rail passenger transportation sys14 tem’’. 

15 (oo) Section 24706 is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘a discontinuance under section 

17 24704 or’’ in subsection (a)(1); 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘section 24704 or’’ in subsection 

19 (a)(2); and 

20 (3) by striking ‘‘section 24704 or’’ under sub21 section (b). 

22 (pp) Section 24709 is amended by striking ‘‘The Sec23 retary of the Treasury and the Attorney General,‘‘ and 

24 inserting ‘‘The Secretary of Homeland Security,’’. 

25 (qq) Section 24905(f)(1) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘freight 

2 carriers’’ and inserting ‘‘freight railroad carriers’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) in subparagraph (F) by striking ‘‘rail labor’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘representatives of nonprofit employee 

6 labor organizations representing railroad employ7 ees’’. 

8 (rr) Section 26106(e)(4) is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘22506’’ and inserting ‘‘22706’’. 

10 TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

11 SEC. 501. PIPELINE INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY. 

12 Section 15901(a) is amended by striking ‘‘only on 

13 complaint.’’ and inserting ‘‘on the Board’s own initiative 

14 or on complaint.’’. 

15 SEC. 502. CARBON DIOXIDE PIPELINES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 15301(a) is amended by 

17 striking ‘‘gas, or oil.’’ and inserting ‘‘oil, or natural or arti18 ficial gases that are used primarily as a fuel or for other 

19 energy purposes.’’. 

20 (b) PIPELINE STUDY.—Not later than 18 months 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

22 General shall submit a study to the Senate Committee on 

23 Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of 

24 Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infra25 structure that analyzes the Federal and State regulatory 


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1 framework to support the development of pipelines for the 

2 purposes of the capture, transportation, and sequestration 

3 of carbon dioxide. The study shall examine the Federal 

4 permitting process for new carbon dioxide pipelines, the 

5 regulatory process for access, siting, eminent domain, and 

6 rate regulation. In conducting the study, the Comptroller 

7 General shall consult with the Surface Transportation 

8 Board, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and 

9 other entities as appropriate. 

10 SEC. 503. EFFECTIVE DATES; EFFECT ON EXISTING RATE 

11 PRESCRIPTONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

13 (b), this Act shall take effect on the date of enactment. 

14 (b) SECTION 214.—The amendments made by sec15 tion 214 shall take effect 2 years after the date of enact16 ment of this Act. 

17 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Surface Transportation 

19 Board Reauthorization Act of 2009’’. 

20 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

21 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Amendment of title 49, United States Code. 

TITLE I—ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

Sec. 101. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 102. Board members. 

Sec. 103. Establishment of Board as independent agency. 

Sec. 104. Filing fees for certain cases. 


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Sec. 105. Repeal of expired and obsolete provisions. 

Sec. 106. Department of Transportation Inspector General authority. 

Sec. 107. Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council. 

TITLE II—AUTHORITY IMPROVEMENTS

Sec. 201. Rail transportation policy update. 

Sec. 202. Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance. 

Sec. 203. Investigative authority. 

Sec. 204. Compilation of complaints. 

Sec. 205. Exempt traffic. 

Sec. 206. Railroad service metrics and performance data. 

Sec. 207. Uniform railroad costing system. 

Sec. 208. Replacement cost study. 

Sec. 209. Rail practices study. 

Sec. 210. Rail car interchange study. 

Sec. 211. Offers of financial assistance. 

Sec. 212. Adverse abandonments. 

Sec. 213. Emergency service orders. 

Sec. 214. Rate agreements. 

Sec. 215. Miscellaneous provisions. 

TITLE III—REGULATORY REFORM

Sec. 301. Paper barriers. 

Sec. 302. Bottleneck and terminal switching rates. 

Sec. 303. Terminal access. 

Sec. 304. Service. 

Sec. 305. Arbitration of certain rail rate, practice, and common carrier service 

expectation disputes. 

Sec. 306. Maximum relief in certain rate cases. 

Sec. 307. Advance rate challenge. 

Sec. 308. Rate review timelines. 

Sec. 309. Revenue adequacy study. 

Sec. 310. Public usage of abandoned rail properties. 

Sec. 311. Transactions. 

Sec. 312. Considerations in consolidations, mergers, and acquisitions. 

Sec. 313. Railroad development. 

Sec. 314. Regulatory reform review. 

TITLE IV—TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS

Sec. 401. Technical corrections to Public Law 110–432. 

TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 501. Pipeline investigative authority. 

Sec. 502. Carbon dioxide pipelines. 

Sec. 503. Effective dates. 

1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE. 

2 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

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


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1 an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other provi2 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section 

3 or other provision of title 49, United States Code. 

4 TITLE I—ADMINISTRATIVE 

5 PROVISIONS 

6 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 Section 705 is amended by striking paragraphs (1) 

8 through (3) and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(1) $40,370,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

10 ‘‘(2) $47,518,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

11 ‘‘(3) $40,834,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

12 ‘‘(4) $44,315,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

13 ‘‘(5) $47,971,000 for fiscal year 2014.’’. 

14 SEC. 102. BOARD MEMBERS. 

15 (a) MEMBERSHIP.—Section 701(b) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘3 members,’’ in paragraph (1) 

17 and inserting ‘‘5 members,’’; 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘2 members’’ in paragraph (1) 

19 and inserting ‘‘3 members’’; and 

20 (3) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(2) At any given time, at least 3 members of the 

23 Board shall be individuals with professional standing and 

24 demonstrated knowledge in the fields of transportation, 

25 transportation regulation, or economic regulation, and at 


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1 least 2 members shall be individuals with professional or 

2 business experience (including agriculture or other rail cus3 tomers) in the private sector.’’. 

4 (b) REPEAL OF HOLDOVER LIMITATION.—Section 

5 701(b) is amended by striking ‘‘qualified, but for a period 

6 not to exceed one year.’’ in paragraph (3) and inserting 

7 ‘‘qualified.’’. 

8 (c) REPEAL OF OBSOLETE PROVISION.—Section 

9 701(b) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking paragraph (4) and redesignating 

11 paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), 

12 and (6), respectively; and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘In the case of an individual who 

14 becomes a member of the Board pursuant to para15 graph (4), or an individual’’ in paragraph (4), as re16 designated, and inserting ‘‘An individual’’. 

17 SEC. 103. ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD AS INDEPENDENT 

18 AGENCY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 701(a) is amended to read 

20 as follows: 

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD.—The Surface 

22 Transportation Board is an independent establishment of 

23 the United States Government.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—Section 703 

2 is amended— 

3 (A) by striking subsections (a), (c), (f), and 

4 (g); 

5 (B) by redesignating subsections (b), (d), 

6 and (e) as subsections (a), (b), and (c), respec7 tively; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

9 ‘‘(d) SUBMISSIONS AND TRANSMITTALS.—Whenever 

10 the Board submits or transmits any budget estimate, budget 

11 request, supplemental budget estimate, or other budget in12 formation, legislative recommendation, prepared testimony 

13 for congressional hearings, or comment on legislation to the 

14 President or to the Office of Management and Budget, it 

15 shall concurrently transmit a copy thereof to the Senate 

16 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and 

17 the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation 

18 and Infrastructure. No officer or agency of the United 

19 States shall have any authority to require the Board to sub20 mit its budget requests or estimates, legislative rec21 ommendations, prepared testimony for congressional hear22 ings, or comments on legislation to any officer or agency 

23 of the United States for approval, comments, or review, 

24 prior to the submission of such recommendations, testi25 mony, or comments to the Congress.’’. 


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1 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.— 

2 (A) Subchapter II of chapter 7 is amended 

3 by striking section 725. 

4 (B) The table of contents for chapter 7 is 

5 amended by striking the item relating to section 

6 725. 

7 SEC. 104. FILING FEES FOR CERTAIN CASES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 7, as 

9 amended by section 103(b)(2)(A) of this Act, is amended 

10 by inserting after section 724 the following: 

11 ‘‘§ 725. Filing fees 

12 ‘‘The Board may not require a party to pay a filing 

13 fee to bring a formal complaint before the Board that is 

14 greater than the fee provided by section 1914 of title 28 

15 for bringing a civil action in a district court of the United 

16 States.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

18 for chapter 7 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

19 to section 724 the following: 

‘‘725. Filing fees’’. 

20 SEC. 105. REPEAL OF EXPIRED AND OBSOLETE PROVI21 SIONS. 

22 (a) CONTRACT LIMITATION.—Section 10709 is amend23 ed by striking subsection (h). 

24 (b) AGENT IN D.C.— 

25 (1) Section 723 is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘in the District of Colum2 bia,’’ in subsection (a); and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘in the District of Colum4 bia’’ in subsection (c). 

5 (2) Section 724(a) is amended by striking ‘‘in 

6 the District of Columbia’’ each place it appears. 

7 SEC. 106. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR 

8 GENERAL AUTHORITY. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 7 is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating section 727 as section 728; 

12 and 

13 (2) by inserting after section 726 the following: 

14 ‘‘§ 727. Authority of the Inspector General 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the De16 partment of Transportation, in accordance with the mission 

17 of the Inspector General to prevent and detect fraud and 

18 abuse, shall have authority to review only the financial 

19 management, property management, and business oper20 ations of the Surface Transportation Board, including in21 ternal accounting and administrative control systems, to 

22 determine compliance with applicable Federal laws, rules, 

23 and regulations. 

24 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—In carrying out this section, the In25 spector General shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) keep the Chairman of the Board and the 

2 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans3 portation and the House of Representatives Com4 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure fully 

5 and currently informed about problems relating to 

6 administration of the internal accounting and ad7 ministrative control systems of the Board; 

8 ‘‘(2) issue findings and recommendations for ac9 tions to address such problems; and 

10 ‘‘(3) report periodically to the Senate Committee 

11 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the 

12 House of Representatives Committee on Transpor13 tation and Infrastructure on any progress made in 

14 implementing actions to address such problems. 

15 ‘‘(c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—In carrying out this 

16 section, the Inspector General may exercise authorities 

17 granted to the Inspector General under subsections (a) and 

18 (b) of section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

19 U.S.C. App.). 

20 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap22 propriated to the Secretary of Transportation for use 

23 by the Inspector General of the Department of Trans24 portation such sums as may be necessary to cover exVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:46 Dec 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2889.RS S2889

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1 penses associated with activities pursuant to the au2 thority exercised under this section. 

3 ‘‘(2) REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENT.—In the ab4 sence of an appropriation under this subsection for 

5 an expense referred to in paragraph (1), the Inspector 

6 General and the Board shall have a reimbursable 

7 agreement to cover such expense.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

9 for chapter 7 is amended by striking the item relating to 

10 section 701 and inserting the following: 

‘‘727. Authority of the Inspector General 

‘‘728. Definitions’’. 

11 SEC. 107. RAILROAD-SHIPPER TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY 

12 COUNCIL. 

13 Section 726 is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in sub15 section (a)(2)(A); 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘railroads.’’ in subsection 

17 (a)(2)(B) and inserting ‘‘railroads; and’’; 

18 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (a)(2) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(C) the ninth voting member shall be a 

21 member-at-large, and may be a representative of 

22 rail labor, a State or local transportation agen23 cy, an academic institution, or other relevant en24 tity selected by the Chairman.’’; 


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1 (4) by striking the second sentence of subsection 

2 (a)(4); and 

3 (5) by striking the first sentence of subsection 

4 (f)(4) and inserting ‘‘The Council shall prepare an 

5 annual report concerning its activities and the results 

6 of Council efforts to resolve railroad and shipper 

7 issues and shall include in the report at least one rec8 ommendation to the Board stemming from the Coun9 cil’s activities and any proposal regarding regula10 tions or legislation it considers appropriate.’’. 

11 TITLE II—AUTHORITY 

12 IMPROVEMENTS 

13 SEC. 201. RAIL TRANSPORTATION POLICY UPDATE. 

14 Section 10101 is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘§ 10101. Rail transportation policy 

16 ‘‘In regulating the railroad industry, it is the policy 

17 of the United States Government to balance the following 

18 objectives: 

19 ‘‘(1) To promote a safe and efficient rail trans20 portation system. 

21 ‘‘(2) To allow, to the maximum extent possible, 

22 competition and the demand for services to establish 

23 reasonable rates for transportation by rail. 

24 ‘‘(3) To protect rail shippers and to maintain 

25 reasonable rates where there is an absence of effective 


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1 competition and where rail rates provide revenues 

2 that exceed the amount necessary to maintain and ex3 pand the rail system and to attract capital. 

4 ‘‘(4) To foster the continuation and expansion of 

5 a sound rail transportation system while also pre6 serving effective competition among rail carriers and 

7 with other modes to meet the needs of the public and 

8 National defense. 

9 ‘‘(5) To ensure that rail carriers can earn ade10 quate revenues to provide and sustain consistent, effi11 cient, and reliable transportation services and to 

12 maintain and expand rail infrastructure, equipment, 

13 and technology. 

14 ‘‘(6) To prohibit predatory pricing and prac15 tices, avoid undue concentrations of market power, 

16 and to prohibit unlawful discrimination. 

17 ‘‘(7) To provide fair and expeditious regulatory 

18 decisions and ensure that the regulatory process is ac19 cessible and cost-effective for all affected parties. 

20 ‘‘(8) To advance the environmental and energy 

21 efficiency advantages of rail transportation and en22 courage energy conservation and environmentally-re23 sponsible practices among rail carriers. 

24 ‘‘(9) To foster intercity and commuter rail pas25 senger service. 


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1 ‘‘(10) To encourage fair wages and safe and suit2 able working conditions in the railroad industry.’’. 

3 SEC. 202. OFFICE OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE, GOVERNMENTAL 

4 AFFAIRS, AND COMPLIANCE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 7, as 

6 amended by section 106 of this Act, is further amended— 

7 (1) redesignating section 728 (as redesignated by 

8 section 106 of this Act) as section 729; and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 727 the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 728. Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Af11 fairs, and Compliance 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall maintain an Of13 fice of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Com14 pliance with authority over public assistance and outreach, 

15 governmental affairs, and compliance. The Office shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) mediate disputes between affected parties; 

17 ‘‘(2) monitor rail carrier operations subject to 

18 the Board’s jurisdiction to ensure that such oper19 ations are in compliance with each rail carrier’s stat20 utory and regulatory responsibilities; 

21 ‘‘(3) act as the Board’s point of contact with gov22 ernment, public and private parties; 

23 ‘‘(4) facilitate communication among stake24 holders subject to the Board’s jurisdiction; and 


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1 ‘‘(5) carry out other duties and powers pre2 scribed by the Board. 

3 ‘‘(b) CUSTOMER ADVOCATE.—The Board shall appoint 

4 a rail customer advocate who shall report directly to the 

5 Board. The rail customer advocate— 

6 ‘‘(1) shall review or investigate rail customer in7 quiries and complaints; 

8 ‘‘(2) shall serve as a technical advisor to a rail 

9 customer in any appropriate proceeding of the Board; 

10 ‘‘(3) shall advise the Board in certain matters, 

11 as appropriate; 

12 ‘‘(4) shall review information regarding the cost 

13 and efficiency of rail transportation; 

14 ‘‘(5) shall carry out other duties and powers pre15 scribed by the Board; and 

16 ‘‘(6) may participate as a party in a proceeding 

17 of the Board, as appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(c) OMBUDSMAN.—The Board may designate an em19 ployee of the Board to serve as an ombudsman of the Board 

20 in regional or local matters of Board interest, including 

21 matters related to railroad service, mergers and acquisi22 tions, or any other matter designated by the Board.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

24 for chapter 7, as amended by section 106 of this Act, is 


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1 amended by striking the item relating to section 728 and 

2 inserting the following: 

‘‘728. Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance 

‘‘729. Definitions’’. 

3 SEC. 203. INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY TO INITIATE INVESTIGATION.—Sec5 tion 11701(a) is amended by striking ‘‘only on complaint.’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘on the Board’s own initiative or on com7 plaint.’’. 

8 (b) RATE PROCEEDINGS.—Section 10704(b) is amend9 ed by striking the first sentence and inserting ‘‘The Board 

10 may begin a proceeding under subsection (a)(1) on its own 

11 initiative or upon complaint, except that a proceeding to 

12 determine the reasonableness of the level of a rate charged 

13 by a carrier may only be initiated upon complaint.’’. 

14 SEC. 204. COMPILATION OF COMPLAINTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 704 is amended— 

16 (1) by striking the section heading and inserting 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘§704. Reports ’’; 

19 (2) by inserting ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT.—’’ before 

20 ‘‘The Board’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(b) COMPLAINTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) The Board shall establish and maintain a 

24 database of complaints received by the Board. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The Board shall post a quarterly report of 

2 formal and informal service complaints received by 

3 the Board during the previous quarter that shall in4 clude— 

5 ‘‘(A) a list of the type of each complaint; 

6 ‘‘(B) the geographic region of the complaint; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(C) the resolution of the complaint, if ap9 propriate. 

10 ‘‘(3) The quarterly report may identify a com11 plainant that submitted an informal complaint only 

12 upon the written consent of the complainant. 

13 ‘‘(4) The report shall be posted on the Board’s 

14 public website.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

16 for chapter 7 is amended by striking the item relating to 

17 section 704 and inserting the following: 

‘‘704. Reports’’. 

18 SEC. 205. EXEMPT TRAFFIC. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 10502 is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘the Board, to the maximum ex21 tent consistent with this part, shall’’ in subsection (a) 

22 and inserting ‘‘the Board shall’’; and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘title.’’ in subsection (d) and in24 serting ‘‘title or to protect shippers from the abuse of 

25 market power.’’. 


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1 (b) CURRENT CLASS EXEMPTIONS.—Within 2 years 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Surface Trans3 portation Board shall conclude a study of class exemptions 

4 in effect on the date of enactment of this Act to determine 

5 whether any exemptions should be revoked pursuant to sec6 tion 10502(d) of title 49, United States Code. In conducting 

7 the study, the Board shall provide public notice and oppor8 tunity for comment and conduct 1 or more public hearings. 

9 Upon completion of the study, the Board shall— 

10 (1) revise any such exemptions as necessary on 

11 the basis of the Board’s findings and conclusions from 

12 the study; and 

13 (2) establish a process for the periodic review, 

14 and revision as necessary, of class exemptions. 

15 SEC. 206. RAILROAD SERVICE METRICS AND PERFORMANCE 

16 DATA. 

17 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Within 2 years 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Surface Trans19 portation Board shall require Class I railroad carriers and 

20 other railroad carriers, as appropriate, to regularly report 

21 railroad service metrics and other performance data as pre22 scribed by the Board. The metrics and data may include 

23 transportation cycle times and transit times and variations 

24 in such times, average train speed, and terminal dwell time 


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1 by type of traffic and by geographic area and other metrics, 

2 as determined by the Board. 

3 (b) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Board shall ensure that 

4 metrics and other performance data submitted pursuant to 

5 this section and deemed confidential by the Board are ap6 propriately protected. 

7 SEC. 207. UNIFORM RAILROAD COSTING SYSTEM. 

8 (a) STUDY.—Within 180 days after the date of enact9 ment of this Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall 

10 initiate a proceeding to examine the Uniform Railroad 

11 Costing System. The examination shall consider matters 

12 deemed appropriate by the Board. 

13 (b) UPDATE.—Within 3 years after the date of enact14 ment of this Act, the Board shall update, revise, or replace 

15 the System and any related reporting of financial and oper16 ating information by rail carriers as deemed appropriate 

17 by the Board based on the examination required by sub18 section (a). 

19 (c) INTERIM REPORT.—Within 18 months after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall submit an 

21 interim report on its progress on the proceeding to the Sen22 ate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

23 and the House of Representatives Committee on Transpor24 tation and Infrastructure. 


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1 (d) MOVEMENT-SPECIFIC ADJUSTMENTS.—Until the 

2 Board updates, revises, or replaces the system pursuant to 

3 subsection (b), or thereafter at the discretion of the Board, 

4 parties may make reasonable movement-specific adjust5 ments to the variable costs calculated by the System in full 

6 stand-alone cost rate challenges. 

7 (e) MATERIAL CHANGE ADJUSTMENTS.—If the System 

8 is materially changed pursuant to subsection (b), the Board 

9 shall develop a one-time adjustment factor to be used to ad10 just the variable costs in rate prescriptions determined 

11 under the changed procedures to equal those that would have 

12 been obtained under the prior procedures, and will apply 

13 this adjustment factor, upon request, in rate prescriptions 

14 that are in effect as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 SEC. 208. REPLACEMENT COST STUDY. 

16 (a) STUDY.—Within 180 days after the date of enact17 ment of this Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall 

18 initiate a study to review the use of a replacement cost ap19 proach to value the assets of rail facilities. The review shall 

20 include matters deemed appropriate by the Board, but shall 

21 include, at a minimum, consideration of the feasibility, ef22 fectiveness, and appropriateness of using a replacement cost 

23 approach in Board proceedings where replacement costs 

24 may be relevant. In conducting the study, the Board shall 

25 provide public notice and opportunity for comment and 


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1 conduct 1 or more public hearings. The Board shall com2 plete the study within 2 years after its initiation. 

3 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 180 days after 

4 completion of the study, the Board shall provide a report 

5 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans6 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

7 Transportation and Infrastructure on its findings. 

8 SEC. 209. RAIL PRACTICES STUDY. 

9 (a) STUDY.—Within 180 days after the date of enact10 ment of this Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall 

11 initiate a study of rail practices, including switching, sur12 charges, penalties, demurrage, and accessorial charges. In 

13 conducting the study, the Board shall provide public notice 

14 and opportunity for comment and conduct 1 or more public 

15 hearings. 

16 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 180 days after 

17 completion of the study, the Board shall provide a report 

18 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans19 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

20 Transportation and Infrastructure on its findings. 

21 SEC. 210. RAIL CAR INTERCHANGE STUDY. 

22 (a) STUDY.—Within 180 days after the date of enact23 ment of this Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall 

24 initiate a study of rail interchange rules, including car 

25 service, interchange, and other operating rules adopted and 


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1 administered by the Association of American Railroads and 

2 the effect of those rules on the national rail system. In con3 ducting the study, the Board shall provide public notice and 

4 opportunity for comment and conduct one or more public 

5 hearings. 

6 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 180 days after 

7 completion of the study, the Board shall provide a report 

8 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans9 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

10 Transportation and Infrastructure on its findings. 

11 SEC. 211. OFFERS OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. 

12 Section 10904 is amended— 

13 (1) by striking so much of subsection (d) as pre14 cedes paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(d)(1) Unless the Board, within 15 days after the ex16 piration of the 4-month period described in subsection (c), 

17 finds that one or more financially responsible persons (in18 cluding a governmental authority) have offered financial 

19 assistance and established a reasonable likelihood of freight 

20 rail service, public transportation, or intercity rail pas21 senger transportation over that part of the railroad line to 

22 be abandoned or over which all rail transportation is to 

23 be discontinued, abandonment or discontinuance may be 

24 carried out in accordance with section 10903.’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘30 days’’ in subsection (f)(1)(A) 

2 and inserting ‘‘60 days’’. 

3 SEC. 212. ADVERSE ABANDONMENTS. 

4 Section 10903 is amended— 

5 (1) by striking so much of subsection (a) as pre6 cedes paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(a)(1) An application relating to the abandonment 

8 of or discontinuance of operation of all rail transportation 

9 over any part of a railroad line shall be filed with the 

10 Board. An abandonment or discontinuance may be carried 

11 out only as authorized under this chapter.’’; 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘When a rail carrier providing 

13 transportation subject to the jurisdiction of the Board 

14 under this part files an application, the application’’ 

15 in subsection (a) (2) and inserting ‘‘An application 

16 filed under this section’’; 

17 (3) by striking ‘‘rail carrier’s’’ in subsection 

18 (a)(2)(A); 

19 (4) by striking ‘‘(C)(i)’’ in subsection (a)(2)(C) 

20 and inserting ‘‘(C) if filed by a rail carrier, (i)’’; and 

21 (5) by striking ‘‘The rail carrier shall—’’ in sub22 section (a)(3) and inserting ‘‘The applicant shall—’’. 

23 SEC. 213. EMERGENCY SERVICE ORDERS. 

24 Section 11123(c)(1) is amended by striking the second 

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1 section (a) of this section may be extended in 90-day incre2 ments until the Board finds that the emergency has ended.’’. 

3 SEC. 214. RATE AGREEMENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 10706 is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘§ 10706. Rate agreements 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any proceeding in which it is 

8 alleged that a carrier was a party to an agreement, con9 spiracy, or combination in violation of the Sherman Act 

10 (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.), 

11 sections 73 and 74 of the Wilson Tariff Act (15 U.S.C. 8 

12 and 9), or the Act of June 19, 1936 (15 U.S.C. 13, 13a, 

13 13b, 21a) or of any similar State law, proof of an agree14 ment, conspiracy, or combination may not be inferred from 

15 evidence that two or more rail carriers acted together with 

16 respect to an interline rate or related matter and that a 

17 party to such action took similar action with respect to a 

18 rate or related matter on another route or traffic. 

19 ‘‘(b) INADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE.—In any proceeding in 

20 which such a violation is alleged, evidence of a discussion 

21 or agreement between or among such rail carrier and one 

22 or more other rail carriers, or of any rate or other action 

23 resulting from such discussion or agreement, shall not be 

24 admissible if the discussion or agreement concerned an 

25 interline movement of the rail carrier, and the discussion 


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1 or agreement would not, considered by itself, violate the 

2 laws referred to in subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION BY COURT.—In any such pro4 ceeding before a jury, the court shall determine whether the 

5 requirements of subsection (b) are satisfied before allowing 

6 the introduction of any such evidence.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

8 for chapter 107 is amended by striking the item relating 

9 to section 10706 and inserting the following: 

‘‘10706. Rate agreements’’. 

10 SEC. 215. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

11 (a) SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE.—Section 10701(d)(3) is 

12 amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(3) The Board shall maintain a simplified and expe14 dited method for determining the reasonableness of chal15 lenged rates in those cases in which a full stand-alone cost 

16 presentation is too costly, given the value of the case.’’. 

17 (b) EXPEDITIOUS HANDLING.—Section 10704(d) is 

18 amended by striking the first sentence and inserting ‘‘The 

19 Board shall maintain procedures to ensure expeditious han20 dling of challenges to the reasonableness of railroad rates.’’. 

21 TITLE III—REGULATORY 

22 REFORM 

23 SEC. 301. PAPER BARRIERS. 

24 (a) INTERCHANGE COMMITMENT DEFINED.—Section 

25 10102 is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (10) 

2 as paragraphs (5) through (11), respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(4) ‘interchange commitment’ means a contrac6 tual agreement between two or more rail carriers sub7 ject to the jurisdiction of the Board reached as part 

8 of a sale or lease of a rail line for which the approval 

9 of the Board is required under chapter 109 or 113 of 

10 this part, which limits the incentive or the ability of 

11 the purchaser or tenant rail carrier to interchange 

12 traffic with a rail carrier other than the seller or les13 sor rail carrier;’’. 

14 (b) AUTHORIZING AN ACQUISITION OR OPERATION

15 TRANSACTION.— 

16 (1) Section 10901(c) is amended by adding at 

17 the end thereof ‘‘The Board may not issue a certificate 

18 authorizing an acquisition or operation transaction 

19 under subsection (a)(4) that includes interchange 

20 commitments or other mechanisms restricting the 

21 purchaser’s or tenant’s ability to interchange with 

22 any other carrier unless such commitments or mecha23 nisms are reasonable and in the public interest.’’. 

24 (2) Section 10902(c) is amended by adding at 

25 the end thereof ‘‘The Board may not issue a certificate 


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1 authorizing an acquisition or operation transaction 

2 under this section that includes interchange commit3 ments or other mechanisms restricting the purchaser’s 

4 or tenant’s ability to interchange with any other car5 rier unless such commitments or mechanisms are rea6 sonable and in the public interest.’’. 

7 (3) Section 11323 is amended by adding at the 

8 end thereof the following: 

9 ‘‘(d) The Board may not authorize an acquisition or 

10 operation transaction under this section that includes inter11 change commitments or other mechanisms restricting the 

12 purchaser’s or tenant’s ability to interchange with any 

13 other carrier unless such commitments or mechanisms are 

14 reasonable and in the public interest.’’. 

15 (c) RIGHTS AND REMEDIES FOR INTERCHANGE COM16 MITMENTS.—Chapter 117 is amended by adding at end 

17 thereof the following: 

18 ‘‘§ 11708. Interchange commitments: rights and rem19 edies 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall maintain a proc21 ess to allow affected persons to challenge existing inter22 change commitments as contrary to other provisions of this 

23 part. The Attorney General and the Secretary of Transpor24 tation may participate in such proceedings. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ACCESS TO INTERCHANGE COMMITMENTS.—After 

2 the filing of a complaint or petition, the Board shall pro3 vide affected persons access, upon request, to existing and 

4 proposed interchange commitments, subject to conditions 

5 protecting the confidentiality of those agreements. 

6 ‘‘(c) REDRESS AUTHORITY.—The Board shall take ap7 propriate action to address any conflict between an inter8 change commitment and the provisions of this part. 

9 ‘‘(d) PURCHASE AUTHORITY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (5), if the Board finds that— 

12 ‘‘(A) an interchange commitment is found 

13 to be in violation of this part, and 

14 ‘‘(B) the purchaser or tenant rail carrier 

15 and the seller or lessor rail carrier cannot bring 

16 the interchange commitment into compliance 

17 with this part within a reasonable period of 

18 time, 

19 the Board may require, upon application by the pur20 chaser or tenant rail carrier, the elimination of the 

21 interchange commitment at a price paid by the pur22 chaser or tenant rail carrier not less than the terms 

23 established under paragraph (2). 

24 ‘‘(2) TERMS.—In the case of an interchange com25 mitment subject to elimination under paragraph (1), 


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1 the Board shall determine the fair market value of an 

2 interchange commitment by considering— 

3 ‘‘(A) any credits, payments, expenses, or 

4 other income paid and due from the interchange 

5 commitment to the seller or lessor rail carrier; 

6 ‘‘(B) reasonable financial hardships of the 

7 purchaser or tenant rail carrier due to unreason8 able terms, if any, of the interchange agreement; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(C) other relevant factors as determined by 

11 the Board. 

12 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—The Board shall 

13 require protections consistent with the requirements of 

14 section 11326(a) for rail labor employees who are af15 fected by an action under this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(4) PURCHASER PRECONDITIONS.—Any pur17 chaser or tenant rail carrier that buys out an inter18 change commitment under this subsection may deter19 mine preconditions, such as payment of a subsidy, 

20 which must be met by shippers in order to obtain 

21 service over such lines, but such rail carrier must no22 tify the shippers on the line of its intention to impose 

23 such preconditions. 

24 ‘‘(5) EXCEPTION.—If the Board requires the 

25 elimination of an interchange commitment under 


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1 paragraph (1), and the purchaser or tenant rail car2 rier or the seller or lessor rail carrier demonstrates 

3 that the sale or lease agreement containing the inter4 change commitment contains a provision governing 

5 the manner in which the agreement may be termi6 nated, the Board shall permit the agreement to be ter7 minated in accordance with that provision. 

8 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

9 ‘‘(A) PURCHASER OR TENANT RAIL CAR10 RIER.—The term ‘purchaser or tenant rail car11 rier’ means a Class II or Class III rail carrier 

12 that purchases or leases a rail line that is subject 

13 to terms of an interchange commitment. 

14 ‘‘(B) SELLER OR LESSOR RAIL CARRIER.— 

15 The term ‘seller or lessor rail carrier’ means a 

16 Class I rail carrier that leased or sold a rail line 

17 subject to terms of an interchange commitment. 

18 ‘‘(e) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF PROCEEDING.— 

19 The Board shall complete any proceeding under this section 

20 within 180 days after the close of the administrative 

21 record.’’. 

22 (d) RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT

23 FINANCING.— 


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1 (1) Section 502(b)(1) of the Railroad Revitaliza2 tion and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 U.S.C. 

3 822(b)(1)) is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon in 

5 subparagraph (B); 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘facilities.’’ in subpara7 graph (C) and inserting ‘‘facilities; or’’; and 

8 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(D) provide financial assistance to pur11 chase or lease a rail line subject to terms estab12 lished by the Surface Transportation Board 

13 under section 11708(d) of title 49, United States 

14 Code.’’. 

15 (2) Section 502 of that Act (45 U.S.C. 822) is 

16 amended— 

17 (A) by adding at the end of subsection (e) 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(3) INTEREST RATE REDUCTION.—Subject to 

20 the availability of funds authorized by subsection (k), 

21 the Secretary may reduce the interest to be paid on 

22 direct loans provided to a Class II or Class III rail 

23 carrier for the purpose of subsection (b)(1)(D).’’; 

24 (B) in subsection (f)(1)— 


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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘or private insurance, 

2 including bond insurance,’’ after ‘‘in part 

3 credit risk’’; and 

4 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or insurance, includ5 ing bond insurance,’’ after ‘‘authority and 

6 credit risk’’; 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘amounts.’’ in subsection 

8 (f)(3) and inserting ‘‘amounts or, at the discre9 tion of the Secretary, in a series of payments 

10 over the term of the loan. If insurance, including 

11 bond insurance, is used, the policy premium 

12 shall be paid before the loan is disbursed.’’; and 

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

14 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for pur16 poses of carrying out subsection (e)(3) such funds as may 

17 be necessary for fiscal years 2010 through 2014.’’. 

18 (e) INTERCHANGE COMMITMENT RELIEF GRANTS.— 

19 Chapter 201 is amended by adding at end thereof the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘§ 20168. Interchange commitment relief grants 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon application, the Secretary 

23 of Transportation, in consultation with the Surface Trans24 portation Board, may make grants available to assist any 

25 Class III rail carrier providing transportation subject to 


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1 the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board with 

2 the credit risk premium of a direct loan or loan guarantee 

3 made for the purposes of section 502(b)(1)(D) of the Rail4 road Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (45 

5 U.S.C. 822(b)(1)(D)). 

6 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary of Transpor7 tation— 

8 ‘‘(1) shall award grants only to applicants with 

9 financial need; and 

10 ‘‘(2) may approve a grant under this section 

11 only as part of an application for a Railroad Reha12 bilitation and Improvement Financing loan or loan 

13 guarantee. 

14 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Transpor16 tation for grants under this section $7,500,000 for fiscal 

17 years 2010 through 2014.’’. 

18 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) The table of contents for chapter 117 is 

20 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec21 tion 11707 the following: 

‘‘11708. Interchange commitments: rights and remedies’’. 

22 (2) The table of contents for chapter 201 is 

23 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec24 tion 20167 the following: 

‘‘20168. Interchange commitment relief grants’’. 


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1 SEC. 302. BOTTLENECK AND TERMINAL SWITCHING RATES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 107 is 

3 amended by adding at the end thereof the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 10710. Bottleneck and terminal switching rates 

5 ‘‘(a) A Class I rail carrier, or other rail carrier as 

6 deemed appropriate by the Board, that provides a rate for 

7 transportation between an origin and destination either as 

8 a single line movement or as part of an interline movement 

9 and over which the carrier has market dominance pursuant 

10 to section 10707 shall, upon the reasonable request of a rail 

11 customer, establish a bottleneck rate for the purpose of pro12 viding transportation over a bottleneck segment located be13 tween such an origin and destination pursuant to this sec14 tion. If the rail carrier contends that the transportation is 

15 not subject to market dominance under that section, the rail 

16 carrier shall seek an expedited determination of that issue 

17 from the Board. 

18 ‘‘(b) Such a carrier shall establish such a rate and pro19 vide service upon such request without regard to whether 

20 the shipper has made arrangements for transportation for 

21 any other part of that movement. 

22 ‘‘(c)(1) If the Board determines, under section 10707 

23 of this title, that such a rail carrier has market dominance 

24 between the origin and destination, the bottleneck rate es25 tablished for transportation pursuant to this section must 

26 be reasonable. 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than one year after the date of enact2 ment of the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization 

3 Act of 2009, the Board shall establish and maintain stand4 ards for determining whether a bottleneck rate established 

5 by a rail carrier is reasonable for purposes of this section 

6 and establish a simplified and expedited method for deter7 mining the reasonableness of challenged bottleneck rates. In 

8 developing those standards the Board shall consider rail 

9 carriers’ need to earn adequate revenues to provide and sus10 tain consistent, efficient, and reliable transportation serv11 ices and to maintain the national rail system. 

12 ‘‘(B) In developing the standards, the Board shall in13 clude, as part of a reasonable rate— 

14 ‘‘(i) operating costs, including any additional 

15 labor costs, of providing the requested transportation 

16 service over the bottleneck segment; 

17 ‘‘(ii) maintenance costs associated with pro18 viding the requested transportation service; 

19 ‘‘(iii) additional capital and investment costs re20 quired to perform the requested transportation service 

21 over the bottleneck segment; 

22 ‘‘(iv) a reasonable return on embedded capital 

23 used for the requested transportation service over the 

24 bottleneck segment sufficient to meet the rail carrier’s 


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1 cost of capital or, if such cost is not available, the rail 

2 industry cost of capital; 

3 ‘‘(v) a reasonable contribution, to the extent ap4 propriate, to that carrier’s network infrastructure 

5 costs of the non-bottleneck segment of the route offered 

6 by the incumbent rail carrier that is sufficient, along 

7 with other traffic on the segment, to maintain the 

8 non-bottleneck segment; and 

9 ‘‘(vi) any other contributing factors appropriate 

10 to meet the consideration in subparagraph (A). 

11 ‘‘(d) In any proceeding in which a rail customer chal12 lenges a bottleneck rate established under this section as un13 reasonable, the burden of proof that the rate is reasonable 

14 shall be on the rail carrier. 

15 ‘‘(e) In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘bottleneck rate’ means a rate for 

17 transportation over a bottleneck segment. 

18 ‘‘(2) The term ‘bottleneck segment’ means the rail 

19 facilities, including rail facilities located entirely in 

20 terminal areas, between an origin on the carrier’s sys21 tem and an interchange or between a destination on 

22 the carrier’s system and an interchange. 

23 ‘‘(3) The term ‘interchange’ means an inter24 change on such a rail carrier’s system that exists on 


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1 the date of the shipper’s request for a rate covered by 

2 this section that— 

3 ‘‘(A) is practicable and would not signifi4 cantly adversely affect such rail carrier’s net5 work efficiency; and 

6 ‘‘(B) would not significantly impair service 

7 to other customers of such rail carrier.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (1) The table of contents for chapter 107 is 

10 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec11 tion 10709 the following: 

‘‘10710. Bottleneck and terminal switching rates’’. 

12 (2) Section 10705(a)(2)(A) is amended by insert13 ing ‘‘10710,’’ after ‘‘under section’’. 

14 SEC. 303. TERMINAL ACCESS. 

15 Section 11102 is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘§ 11102. Use of terminal facilities 

17 ‘‘(a) For a Class I rail carrier, or other rail carrier 

18 as deemed appropriate by the Board, providing transpor19 tation over which the rail carrier has market dominance 

20 pursuant to section 10707 in a terminal area, the Board 

21 may require the rail carrier to make its terminal facilities, 

22 including mainline tracks for a reasonable distance outside 

23 of that terminal, available for use by another rail carrier 

24 for such transporation. 


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1 ‘‘(b) The Board may only require that a rail carrier 

2 take such action under subsection (a) if the Board finds 

3 that such action— 

4 ‘‘(1) would be practicable and would not signifi5 cantly adversely affect the operations of the terminal 

6 or facility owned by such rail carrier or rail carriers 

7 otherwise entitled to use the terminal or facilities; 

8 ‘‘(2) would not significantly adversely affect the 

9 network efficiency of such rail carrier or rail carriers 

10 otherwise entitled to use the terminal or facilities; 

11 ‘‘(3) would not significantly impair service to 

12 other customers of such rail carrier or other rail car13 riers entitled to use the terminal or facilities; 

14 ‘‘(4) is necessary to promote the efficient oper15 ation of the railroad system and improve rail service; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(5) is in the public interest. 

18 ‘‘(c) The rail carriers required to make facilities avail19 able or provide service pursuant to subsection (a) are re20 sponsible for establishing reasonable conditions and com21 pensation for the use of the facilities. The compensation 

22 shall be paid or adequately secured before a rail carrier 

23 may begin to use the facilities of another rail carrier. 

24 ‘‘(d)(1) Not later than one year after the date of enact25 ment of the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization 


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1 Act of 2009, the Board shall establish and maintain stand2 ards for determining whether compensation is reasonable 

3 for purposes of this section and establish a simplified and 

4 expedited method for determining the reasonableness of 

5 challenged compensation rates. 

6 ‘‘(2) In developing such standards, the Board shall 

7 consider rail carriers’ need to earn adequate revenues to 

8 provide and sustain consistent, efficient, and reliable trans9 portation services and to maintain the national rail system. 

10 ‘‘(e) In developing the standards required by subsection 

11 (d), the Board shall include, as part of a reasonable com12 pensation— 

13 ‘‘(1) operating costs, including any additional 

14 labor costs, of providing the requested usage; 

15 ‘‘(2) maintenance costs associated with providing 

16 the requested usage; 

17 ‘‘(3) additional capital and investment costs re18 quired to perform the requested usage; 

19 ‘‘(4) a reasonable return on embedded capital 

20 employed for the requested usage of terminal facilities 

21 sufficient to meet the rail carrier’s cost of capital or, 

22 if such cost is not available, the rail industry cost of 

23 capital; 

24 ‘‘(5) a reasonable contribution, to the extent ap25 propriate, to that carrier’s network infrastructure 


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1 costs of the route beyond the terminal facilities and 

2 main line tracks made available for the requested 

3 usage, that is sufficient, along with other traffic on 

4 the route and mainline track, to maintain the route 

5 beyond the terminal facilities and mainline tracks 

6 made available for the requested usage; and 

7 ‘‘(6) any other contributing factors appropriate 

8 to meet the considerations in subsection (d)(2). 

9 ‘‘(g) A rail carrier whose terminal facilities are re10 quired to be used by another rail carrier under this section 

11 is entitled to recover compensation from the other rail car12 rier for damages sustained as the result of compliance with 

13 the requirement in a civil action. 

14 ‘‘(h) In any proceeding in which a rail carrier chal15 lenges a compensation rate established under this section 

16 as unreasonable, the burden of proof that the rate is reason17 able shall be on the rail carrier whose terminal facilities 

18 are required to be used by the other rail carrier. 

19 ‘‘(i) If the Board requires that a rail carrier take such 

20 an action under subsection (a), the Board shall provide for 

21 the protection of the interests of employees affected thereby, 

22 consistent with the level of protection under section 10902 

23 of this title. 

24 ‘‘(j) The Board shall complete any proceeding under 

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1 dentiary record. The Board may extend the deadline in in2 cremental 30-day periods if it issues a decision dem3 onstrating why such an extension is necessary.’’. 

4 SEC. 304. SERVICE. 

5 Section 11101 is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection 

7 (g); and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following: 

9 ‘‘(f) The Board shall, by regulation, require rail car10 riers to publish reasonable common carrier service expecta11 tion ranges. These may include ranges for normal car cycle 

12 times, transit times, switching frequency, and other service 

13 components as determined by the Board to be appropriate.’’. 

14 SEC. 305. ARBITRATION OF CERTAIN RAIL RATE, PRACTICE, 

15 AND COMMON CARRIER SERVICE EXPECTA16 TION DISPUTES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 117, as amended by sec18 tion 301, is further amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘§ 11709. Arbitration of certain rail rate, practice, 

21 and common carrier service disputes 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after en23 actment of the Surface Transportation Board Reauthoriza24 tion Act of 2009, the Board shall promulgate regulations 

25 to establish a binding arbitration process to resolve rail 


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1 rate, practice, and common carrier service expectation com2 plaints subject to the jurisdiction of the Board. 

3 ‘‘(b) COVERED DISPUTES.—The binding arbitration 

4 process— 

5 ‘‘(1) shall apply to disputes involving rates, 

6 practices, and common carrier service expectations 

7 subject to the jurisdiction of the Board; 

8 ‘‘(2) shall not apply to disputes to obtain the 

9 grant, denial, stay or revocation of any license, au10 thorization or exemption, to prescribe for the future 

11 any conduct, rules, or results of general, industry12 wide applicability, or to enforce labor protective con13 ditions; and 

14 ‘‘(3) shall not apply to disputes solely between 2 

15 or more rail carriers. 

16 ‘‘(c) ARBITRATION PROCEDURES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) The Board— 

18 ‘‘(A) may make the binding arbitration 

19 process available only to the relevant parties— 

20 ‘‘(i) after the filing of a formal com21 plaint; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) upon petition by a party at the 

23 conclusion of any informal dispute resolu24 tion process provided by the Board for a 

25 complaint subject to this section; 


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1 ‘‘(B) with respect to rate disputes, may 

2 make the binding arbitration process available 

3 only to the relevant parties if the rail carrier has 

4 market dominance, as determined under section 

5 10707 of this title; and 

6 ‘‘(C) shall determine whether to pursue the 

7 binding arbitration process no later than 30 

8 days after the filing of a petition or formal com9 plaint. 

10 ‘‘(2) Initiation of the binding arbitration process 

11 shall preclude the Board from separately reviewing a 

12 complaint or dispute related to the same rate, prac13 tice, or common carrier service expectation in a cov14 ered dispute involving the same parties. 

15 ‘‘(3) In resolving disputes involving the reason16 ableness of a rail carrier’s rates, the arbitrator shall 

17 consider the Board’s methodologies for setting max18 imum lawful rates, giving due consideration to the 

19 need for differential pricing to permit a rail carrier 

20 to collect adequate revenues within the meaning of 

21 section 10704(a)(2) of this title. 

22 ‘‘(4) In resolving disputes involving common 

23 carrier service expectations, the arbitrator shall con24 sider service expectations as published pursuant to 

25 section 11101(f). 


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1 ‘‘(d) ARBITRATION DECISIONS.—Any decision reached 

2 in an arbitration process under this section shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) be consistent with subtitle IV of this title; 

4 ‘‘(2) be in writing and shall contain findings of 

5 fact and conclusions; 

6 ‘‘(3) have no precedential effect in any other or 

7 subsequent arbitration dispute; and 

8 ‘‘(4) be binding upon the parties. 

9 ‘‘(e) TIMELINES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) The arbitrator shall be selected within 14 

11 days after the Board’s decision to initiate arbitration. 

12 ‘‘(2) The evidentiary process of the arbitration 

13 process shall be completed within 90 days after the 

14 date of initiation of the arbitration process, unless a 

15 party requests an extension and the arbitrator grants 

16 it. 

17 ‘‘(3) The arbitrator shall issue a decision within 

18 30 days after the close of the evidentiary record. 

19 ‘‘(4) The Board may extend any of the timelines 

20 in this subsection upon the agreement of all parties 

21 in the dispute. 

22 ‘‘(f) ARBITRATORS.—Arbitration under this section 

23 shall be conducted by an arbitrator selected from a roster, 

24 maintained by the Board, of persons with transportation, 

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1 cluding agriculture, in the private sector. If the parties can2 not mutually agree on an arbitrator, the parties shall select 

3 an arbitrator from the roster by alternately striking names 

4 from the roster until only 1 name remains. The parties shall 

5 share the costs of the arbitration equally. 

6 ‘‘(g) RELIEF.— 

7 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION.—A decision under this section 

8 may award the payment of damages or rate prescrip9 tive relief, but the value of the award may not exceed 

10 $250,000 per year and the award may not cover a 

11 total time period of more than 2 years. 

12 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—The board shall periodically re13 view the amount in paragraph (1) and adjust it as 

14 necessary to reflect inflation. 

15 ‘‘(h) BOARD REVIEW.—If a party appeals an arbitra16 tor’s decision to the Board, the Board may review the deci17 sion under this section to determine if— 

18 ‘‘(1) the decision is consistent with subtitle IV of 

19 this title as applied by the Board; or 

20 ‘‘(2) if the award limitation in subsection (g).’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

22 for chapter 117 is amended by adding at the end following: 

‘‘11709. Arbitration of certain rail rate, practice, and common carrier service disputes’’. 


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1 SEC. 306. MAXIMUM RELIEF IN CERTAIN RATE CASES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall revise the max3 imum amount of rate relief available to railroad shippers 

4 in cases brought pursuant to the methods developed under 

5 section 10701(d)(3) of title 49, United States Code, as that 

6 section existed as of the date of enactment of this Act, to 

7 be as follows— 

8 (1) $1,500,000 in a rate case brought using the 

9 Board’s ‘‘three-benchmark’’ procedure; and 

10 (2) $10,000,000 in a rate case brought using the 

11 Board’s ‘‘simplified stand-alone cost’’ procedure. 

12 (b) PERIODIC REVIEW.—The Board shall periodically 

13 review the amounts established by subsection (a) and revise 

14 them as appropriate. 

15 SEC. 307. ADVANCE RATE CHALLENGE. 

16 The Surface Transportation Board may consider the 

17 reasonableness of a rate quoted by a rail carrier up to 1 

18 year before the date on which the rate is to take effect. 

19 SEC. 308. RATE REVIEW TIMELINES. 

20 In stand-alone cost rate challenges, the Surface Trans21 portation Board shall comply with the following timelines 

22 unless it extends them, after a request from any party or 

23 in the interest of due process: 

24 (1) For discovery, 150 days after the date on 

25 which the challenge is initiated. 


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1 (2) For development of the evidentiary record, 

2 155 days after that date. 

3 (3) For submission of parties’ closing briefs, 60 

4 days after that date. 

5 (4) For a final Board decision, 180 days after 

6 the date on which the parties submit closing briefs. 

7 SEC. 309. REVENUE ADEQUACY STUDY. 

8 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

9 Act, the Surface Transportation Board shall initiate a 

10 study to provide further guidance on how it will apply its 

11 revenue adequacy constraint. In conducting the study the 

12 Board shall provide public notice and opportunity for com13 ment and conduct 1 or more public hearings. 

14 SEC. 310. PUBLIC USAGE OF ABANDONED RAIL PROP15 ERTIES. 

16 Section 10905 is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘other forms of mass transpor18 tation,’’ and inserting ‘‘public transportation,’’; 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘the properties may be sold,’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘the Board may require that the properties 

21 be sold,’’; 

22 (3) by striking ‘‘only under conditions’’ and in23 serting ‘‘pursuant to conditions, including the 

24 amount of compensation,’’; and 


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1 (4) by striking ‘‘The conditions may include a 

2 prohibition on any such disposal’’ and inserting ‘‘At 

3 a minimum, the Board shall prohibit any disposal of 

4 such properties’’. 

5 SEC. 311. TRANSACTIONS. 

6 Section 11325 is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’ in subsection 

8 (a) and redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as 

9 subparagraphs (A) through (C); 

10 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(2) The Board may extend the time limits specified 

13 in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section when more 

14 time is necessary to complete the environmental review 

15 process.’’; and 

16 (3) by striking ‘‘a transaction other than the 

17 merger or control of at least two Class I railroads, as 

18 defined by the Board, which the Board has deter19 mined to be of regional or national transportation 

20 significance,’’ in subsection (c) and inserting ‘‘the 

21 merger or control of one Class I railroad and at least 

22 one Class II railroad, as defined by the Board, or if 

23 it involves a merger or control transaction, other than 

24 a transaction subject to subsection (b), which the 


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1 Board has determined to be of regional or national 

2 transportation significance,’’. 

3 SEC. 312. CONSIDERATIONS IN CONSOLIDATIONS, MERG4 ERS, AND ACQUISITIONS. 

5 Section 11324 is amended— 

6 (1) by striking paragraph (5) of subsection (b) 

7 and inserting the following: 

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

9 competition among rail carriers in the affected region 

10 or in the national rail system.’’; 

11 (2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

12 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 

13 (3) by striking ‘‘Board,’’ in subsection (d) and 

14 inserting ‘‘Board, subject to subsection (e)’’; and 

15 (4) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(e) In considering whether to approve, deny, or ap18 prove with conditions a transaction covered under sub19 sections (b) or (d) of this section, the Board may take into 

20 account any potentially significant effects of the transaction 

21 on— 

22 ‘‘(1) public health, safety, and the environment; 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(2) intercity rail passenger transportation and 

2 commuter rail passenger transportation, as defined by 

3 section 24102 of this title.’’. 

4 SEC. 313. RAILROAD DEVELOPMENT. 

5 Section 10907(h) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(h) If a purchasing carrier under this section pro7 poses to sell or abandon all or any portion of a purchased 

8 railroad line within 5 years after the date of sale under 

9 this section, such purchasing carrier shall offer the right 

10 of first refusal with respect to such line or portion thereof 

11 to the carrier which sold such line under this section. The 

12 offer shall be made at a price equal to the sum of the price 

13 paid by such purchasing carrier to such selling carrier for 

14 such line or portion thereof and the fair market value (less 

15 deterioration) of any improvements made, as adjusted to 

16 reflect inflation.’’. 

17 SEC. 314. REGULATORY REFORM REVIEW. 

18 (a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the United 

19 States shall undertake a review of the regulatory changes 

20 made by this Act. The review shall include— 

21 (1) a review of the Surface Transportation 

22 Board’s progress in implementing the provisions of 

23 this Act; 


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1 (2) an assessment of the impact on the rail 

2 transportation system of the regulatory changes made 

3 by this Act; and 

4 (3) a specific analysis of the impact on railroad 

5 operations, rates, competition, service, revenues, 

6 maintenance, and investment resulting from the im7 plementation of sections 11102 and 10710 of title 49, 

8 United States Code, as amended and added, respec9 tively, by this Act. 

10 (b) CONSULTATION.—In conducting this review, the 

11 Comptroller General shall solicit input from the railroads, 

12 railroad shippers, railroad non-profit employee labor orga13 nizations, the Federal Railroad Administration, and other 

14 entities, as appropriate. 

15 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than December 

16 31, 2013, the Comptroller General shall transmit a report 

17 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans18 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

19 Transportation and Infrastructure containing the results of 

20 the review required by this section and any appropriate rec21 ommendations. 


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1 TITLE IV—TECHNICAL 

2 CORRECTIONS. 

3 SEC. 401. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO PUBLIC LAW 110– 

4 432. 

5 (a) The title of Public Law 110–432 is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘Federal Railroad Safety Administration’’ and in7 serting ‘‘Federal Railroad Administration’’. 

8 (b) The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Rail 

9 Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is amended— 

10 (1) in the item relating to section 201 by strik11 ing ‘‘Pedestrian crossing safety’’ and inserting ‘‘Pe12 destrian safety at or near railroad passenger sta13 tions’’; and 

14 (2) in the item relating to section 403 by strik15 ing ‘‘Track inspection time study’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘Study and rulemaking on track inspection time; 

17 rulemaking on concrete crossties’’. 

18 (c) Section 2(a)(1) of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

19 of 2008 is amended by inserting a comma after ‘‘railroad 

20 tracks at grade’’. 

21 (d) Section 102(a)(6) of the Rail Safety Improvement 

22 Act of 2008 is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(6) Improving the safety of railroad bridges, 

24 tunnels, and related infrastructure to prevent acciVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:46 Dec 19, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00112 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2889.RS S2889

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1 dents, incidents, injuries, and fatalities caused by cat2 astrophic and other failures of such infrastructure.’’. 

3 (e) Section 108(f)(1) of the Rail Safety Improvement 

4 Act of 2008 is amended by striking ‘‘requirements for rec5 ordkeeping and reporting for Hours of Service of Railroad 

6 Employees’’ and inserting ‘‘requirements for record keeping 

7 and reporting for hours of service of railroad employees’’. 

8 (f) Section 201 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

9 of 2008 is amended— 

10 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘PEDES11 TRIAN CROSSING SAFETY.’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AT OR NEAR 

13 RAILROAD PASSENGER STATIONS.’’; 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘strategies and methods to pre15 vent pedestrian accidents, incidents, injuries, and fa16 talities at or near passenger stations, including—’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘strategies and methods to prevent 

18 train-related accidents, incidents, injuries, and fatali19 ties that involve a pedestrian at or near a railroad 

20 passenger station, including—’’; and 

21 (3) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘at railroad 

22 passenger stations’’. 

23 (g) Section 206(a) of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

24 of 2008 is amended by striking ‘‘Public Service Announce25 ments’’ and inserting ‘‘public service announcements’’. 


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1 (h) Section 403 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

2 of 2008 is amended— 

3 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘TRACK 

4 INSPECTION TIME STUDY.’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘STUDY AND RULEMAKING ON TRACK 

6 INSPECTION TIME; RULEMAKING ON 

7 CONCRETE CROSSTIES.’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (d)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘CROSS TIES’’ in the sub10 section heading and inserting ‘‘CROSSTIES’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘cross ties’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘crossties’’; and 

13 (C) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘cross tie’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘crosstie’’. 

15 (i) Section 405 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

16 of 2008 is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘cell phones,’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘cellular telephones,’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (d) by striking ‘‘of Transpor20 tation’’. 

21 (j) Section 411(a) of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

22 of 2008 is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘5101(a)’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘5105(a)’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘5101(b)’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘5105(b)’’. 

3 (k) Section 412 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

4 of 2008 is amended by striking ‘‘of Transportation’’. 

5 (l) Section 414 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

6 of 2008 is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘parts’’ and in8 serting ‘‘sections’’; and 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘part 1520.5’’ and inserting ‘‘sec10 tion 1520.5’’. 

11 (m) Section 416 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

12 of 2008 is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘of Transportation’’; 

14 (2) in paragraphs (3) and (4), by striking ‘‘Fed15 eral Railroad Administration’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec16 retary’’; and 

17 (3) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘subsection’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘section’’. 

19 (n) Section 417(c) of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

20 of 2008 is amended by striking ‘‘each railroad’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘each railroad carrier’’. 

22 (o) Section 503 of the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

23 of 2008 is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘rail accidents,’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘rail passenger accidents,’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘pas3 senger’, ‘rail passenger accident’, and ‘rail passenger car4 rier’ have the meaning given those terms by section 1139 

5 of title 49, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—Out of funds appropriated pursuant 

7 to section 20117(a)(1)(A) of title 49, United States Code, 

8 there shall be made available to the Secretary of Transpor9 tation $500,000 for fiscal year 2009 to carry out this sec10 tion. Amounts made available pursuant to this subsection 

11 shall remain available until expended.’’. 

12 (p) Section 206(a) of the Passenger Rail Investment 

13 and Improvement Act of 2008 is amended by inserting ‘‘of 

14 this division’’ after ‘‘302’’. 

15 (q) Section 211 of the Passenger Rail Investment and 

16 Improvement Act of 2008 is amended— 

17 (1) by inserting ‘‘of this division’’ after ‘‘101(c)’’ 

18 in subsection (d); and 

19 (2) by inserting ‘‘of this division’’ after ‘‘101(d)’’ 

20 in subsection (e). 

21 (r) Section 1139 is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘phone num23 ber’’ and inserting ‘‘telephone number’’; 

24 (2) in subsection (a)(2) by striking ‘‘post trau25 ma’’ and inserting ‘‘post-trauma’’; 


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1 (3) in subsections (h)(1)(A) and (h)(2)(A) by 

2 striking ‘‘interstate’’; 

3 (4) in subsections (h)(1)(B) and (h)(2)(B)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘interstate or intrastate’’; 

5 and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘26105’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘26106(b)(4)’’; 

8 (5) in subsection (j)(1) by striking ‘‘(other than 

9 subsection (g))’’ and inserting ‘‘(other than sub10 sections (g) and (k))’’; and 

11 (6) in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (j) 

12 by striking ‘‘railroad passenger accident’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘rail passenger accident’’. 

14 (s) Section 10909(b) is amended by striking ‘‘Rail15 road’’ and inserting ‘‘Railroads’’. 

16 (t) Section 20109 is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘the railroad shall promptly ar18 range’’ in subsection (c)(1) and inserting ‘‘the rail19 road carrier shall promptly arrange’’; 

20 (2) by inserting ‘‘subsection’’ after ‘‘under’’ in 

21 subsection (d)(2)(A)(i); and 

22 (3) by inserting ‘‘section’’ after ‘‘set forth in’’ in 

23 subsection (d)(2)(A)(iii). 

24 (u) Section 20120(a) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2)(G), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (5)(B) by striking ‘‘Adminis4 trative Hearing Officer or Administrative Law 

5 Judge’’ and inserting ‘‘administrative hearing officer 

6 or administrative law judge’’. 

7 (v) Section 20151(d)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘to 

8 drive around a grade crossing gate’’ and inserting ‘‘to drive 

9 through, around, or under a grade crossing gate’’. 

10 (w) Section 20152(b) is amended by striking ‘‘rail car11 riers’’ and inserting ‘‘railroad carriers’’. 

12 (x) Section 20156 is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (c) by inserting a comma after 

14 ‘‘In developing its railroad safety risk reduction pro15 gram’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (g)(1) by striking ‘‘non-profit’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘nonprofit’’. 

18 (y) Section 20157(a)(1) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘Class I railroad carrier’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘Class I railroad’’; and 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘parts’’ and inserting ‘‘sections’’. 

22 (z) Section 20158(b)(3) is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘20156(e)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘20156(e)’’. 

24 (aa) Section 20159 is amended by inserting ‘‘of Trans25 portation’’ after ‘‘the Secretary’’. 


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1 (bb) Section 20160 is amended— 

2 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘or with re3 spect to’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A) by striking ‘‘or with 

5 respect to’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to’’. 

6 (cc) Section 20162(a)(3) is amended by striking ‘‘rail7 road compliance with Federal standards’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘railroad carrier compliance with Federal standards’’. 

9 (dd) Section 20164(a) is amended by striking ‘‘Rail10 road Safety Enhancement Act of 2008,’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008,’’. 

12 (ee) Section 21102(c)(4) is amended by re-designating 

13 subparagraphs (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

14 respectively. 

15 (ff) Section 22106(b) is amended by striking ‘‘interest 

16 thereof’’ and inserting ‘‘interest thereon’’. 

17 (gg) Section 24105(e) of title 49, United States Code, 

18 is amended by striking ‘‘section 301 of the Passenger Rail 

19 Investment and Improvement Act of 2008’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘section 24406’’. 

21 (hh) Section 24302(a)(3) is amended by striking ‘‘5 

22 individuals’’ and inserting ‘‘4 individuals’’. 

23 (ii) Section 24316 is amended by striking subsection 

24 (g). 


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1 (jj) The item relating to section 24316 in the table of 

2 contents for chapter 243 is amended by striking ‘‘to assist 

3 families of passengers’’ and inserting ‘‘to address needs of 

4 families of passengers’’. 

5 (kk) Section 24402 is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘22506’’ in subsection (d) and 

7 inserting ‘‘22706’’; 

8 (2) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(e) AMTRAK ELIGIBILITY.—Amtrak may be the re11 cipient of a grant under this section if Amtrak has entered 

12 into a cooperative agreement with 1 or more applicants to 

13 carry out 1 or more projects on a State rail plan’s list of 

14 rail capital projects developed under section 22705(a)(5) of 

15 this title. For such a grant, Amtrak may not use Federal 

16 funds authorized under section 101(a) or (c) of the Pas17 senger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 to 

18 fulfill the non-Federal share requirements under subsection 

19 (g) of this section.’’; 

20 (4) by striking ‘‘AND EARLY SYSTEMS WORK

21 AGREEMENTS’’ in the heading of subsection (f); 

22 (5) by striking ‘‘A metropolitan planning orga23 nization, State transportation department, or other 

24 project sponsor’’ in subsection (i)(1) and inserting 

25 ‘‘An applicant’’; and 


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1 (6) by striking subsection (k) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(k) SMALL CAPITAL PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall 

4 make not less than 5 percent annually available from the 

5 amounts appropriated under section 24406 beginning in 

6 fiscal year 2009 for grants for capital projects eligible under 

7 this section not exceeding $2,000,000, including costs eligi8 ble under section 209(d) of the Passenger Rail Investment 

9 and Improvement Act of 2008. For grants awarded under 

10 this subsection, the Secretary may waive requirements of 

11 this section, including State rail plan requirements, as ap12 propriate.’’. 

13 (ll) Section 24403(b)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘over14 see the construction of such projects.’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

15 activities to award and oversee the implementation of such 

16 projects.’’. 

17 (mm) Section 24702(a) is amended by striking ‘‘not 

18 included in the national rail passenger transportation sys19 tem’’. 

20 (nn) Section 24706 is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘a discontinuance under section 

22 24704 or or’’ in subsection (a)(1); 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘section 24704 or’’ in subsection 

24 (a)(2); and 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘section 24704 or’’ in subsection 

2 (b). 

3 (oo) Section 24709 is amended by striking ‘‘The Sec4 retary of the Treasury and the Attorney General,‘‘ and in5 serting ‘‘The Secretary of Homeland Security,’’. 

6 (pp) Section 24905(f)(1) is amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘freight car8 riers’’ and inserting ‘‘freight railroad carriers’’; and 

9 (2) in subparagraph (F) by striking ‘‘rail 

10 labor;’’ and inserting ‘‘representatives of nonprofit 

11 employee labor organizations representing railroad 

12 employees;’’. 

13 (rr) Section 26106(e)(4) is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘22506’’ and inserting ‘‘22706’’. 

15 TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

16 SEC. 501. PIPELINE INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY. 

17 Section 15901(a) is amended by striking ‘‘only on 

18 complaint.’’ and inserting ‘‘on the Board’s own initiative 

19 or on complaint.’’. 

20 SEC. 502. CARBON DIOXIDE PIPELINES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 15301(a) is amended by 

22 striking ‘‘gas, or oil.’’ and inserting ‘‘oil, or natural or arti23 ficial gases that are used primarily as a fuel or for other 

24 energy purposes.’’. 


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1 (b) PIPELINE STUDY.—Not later than 18 months after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

3 shall submit a study to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

4 Science, and Transportation and the House of Representa5 tives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that 

6 analyzes the Federal and State regulatory framework to 

7 support the development of pipelines for the purposes of the 

8 capture, transportation, and sequestration of carbon diox9 ide. The study shall examine the Federal permitting process 

10 for new carbon dioxide pipelines, the regulatory process for 

11 access, siting, eminent domain, and rate regulation. In con12 ducting the study, the Comptroller General shall consult 

13 with the Surface Transportation Board, the Federal Energy 

14 Regulatory Commission, and other entities as appropriate. 

15 SEC. 503. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

17 (b), this Act shall take effect on the date of enactment. 

18 (b) SECTION 214.—The amendments made by section 

19 214 shall take effect 2 years after the date of enactment of 

20 this Act. 


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Calendar No. 711 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2889 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Surface Transportation Board, 

and for other purposes 

DECEMBER 17, 2010 

Reported with an amendment 


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