I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 141
To authorize appropriations for the Surface Transportation Board, to enhance
railroad competition, to protect collective bargaining agreements, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 3, 2001
Mr. OBERSTAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To authorize appropriations for the Surface Transportation
Board, to enhance railroad competition, to protect collec-
tive bargaining agreements, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Surface Transpor-
tation Board Reform Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I—RAILROAD COMPETITION
Sec. 101. Clarification of rail transportation policy.
Sec. 102. Fostering rail to rail competition.
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Sec. 103. Simplified relief process for small captive grain shippers.
Sec. 104. Competitive rail service in terminal areas.
Sec. 105. Simplified standards for market dominance.
Sec. 106. Revenue adequacy determinations.
Sec. 107. Rail carrier service quality performance reports.
TITLE II—PROTECTION OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
AGREEMENTS
Sec. 201. Scope of authority.
Sec. 202. Employee protection.
TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS
Sec. 301. Effect of mergers on local communities and rail passenger transpor-
tation.
Sec. 302. Use of facilities by commuter authorities.
Sec. 303. Side tracks.
Sec. 304. Public availability of water carrier tariffs.
TITLE IV—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
Sec. 401. Authorization of appropriations.
TITLE I—RAILROAD
COMPETITION
SEC. 101. CLARIFICATION OF RAIL TRANSPORTATION POL-
ICY.
Section 10101 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before
‘‘In regulating’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) PRIMARY OBJECTIVES.—The primary objectives
of the rail transportation policy of the United States shall
be—
‘‘(1) to ensure effective competition among rail
carriers at origin and destination;
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‘‘(2) to maintain reasonable rates in the ab-
sence of effective competition;
‘‘(3) to maintain consistent and efficient rail
transportation service to shippers, including the
timely provision of railcars requested by shippers;
and
‘‘(4) to ensure that smaller carload and inter-
modal shippers are not precluded from accessing rail
systems due to volume requirements.’’.
SEC. 102. FOSTERING RAIL TO RAIL COMPETITION.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF RATE.—Section 11101(a) of
title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after
the first sentence the following: ‘‘Upon the request of a
shipper, a rail carrier shall establish a rate for transpor-
tation and provide service requested by the shipper be-
tween any two points on the system of that carrier where
traffic originates, terminates, or may reasonably be inter-
changed. A carrier shall establish a rate and provide serv-
ice upon such request without regard to—
‘‘(1) whether the rate established is for only
part of a movement between an origin and a destina-
tion;
‘‘(2) whether the shipper has made arrange-
ments for transportation for any other part of that
movement; or
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‘‘(3) whether the shipper currently has a con-
tract with any rail carrier for part or all of its trans-
portation needs over the route of movement.
‘‘If such a contract exists, the rate established by the car-
rier shall not apply to transportation covered by the con-
tract.’’.
(b) REVIEW OF REASONABLENESS OF RATES.—Sec-
tion 10701(d) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para-
graph (4); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(3) A shipper may challenge the reasonableness of
any rate established by a rail carrier in accordance with
section 11101(a) or with subsection (c) of this section.
The Board shall determine the reasonableness of the rate
so challenged without regard to—
‘‘(A) whether the rate established is for only
part of a movement between an origin and a destina-
tion;
‘‘(B) whether the shipper has made arrange-
ments for transportation for any other part of that
movement; or
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‘‘(C) whether the shipper currently has a con-
tract with a rail carrier for any part of the rail traf-
fic at issue, provided that the rate prescribed by the
Board shall not apply to transportation covered by
such a contract.’’.
SEC. 103. SIMPLIFIED RELIEF PROCESS FOR SMALL CAP-
TIVE GRAIN SHIPPERS.
(a) LIMITATION
ON FEES.—Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the Surface Transportation Board
shall not impose fees in excess of $1,000 for services col-
lected from an eligible facility in connection with rail max-
imum rate complaints under part 1002 of title 49, Code
of Federal Regulations.
(b) SIMPLIFIED RATE AND SERVICE RELIEF.—Sec-
tion 10701 of title 49, United States Code, is amended
by adding at the end thereof the following:
‘‘(e) SIMPLIFIED RATES AND SERVICES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, a rail carrier may not charge a rate
for shipments from or to an eligible facility which
results in a revenue-to-variable cost percentage,
using system average costs, for the transportation
service to which the rate applies that is greater than
180 percent.
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‘‘(2) ACCEPTANCE
OF
REQUESTS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, a rail carrier
shall accept all requests for grain service from an el-
igible facility up to a maximum of 110 percent of
the grain carloads shipped from or to the facility in
the immediately preceding calendar year. If, in a
majority of instances, a rail carrier does not in any
45-day period, supply the number of grain cars so
ordered by an eligible facility or does not initiate
service within 30 days of the reasonably specified
loading date, the eligible facility may request that an
alternative rail carrier provide the service using the
tracks of the original carrier. If the alternative rail
carrier agrees to provide such service, and such serv-
ice can be provided without substantially impairing
the ability of the carrier whose tracks reach the fa-
cility to use such tracks to handle its own business,
the Board shall order the alternative carrier to com-
mence service and to compensate the other carrier
for the use of its tracks. The alternative carrier shall
provide reasonable compensation to the original car-
rier for the use of the original carrier’s tracks.
‘‘(3) CANCELLATION
PENALTIES.—A carrier
may accept car orders under paragraph (2) subject
to reasonable penalties for service requests that are
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canceled by the requester. If the carrier fills such or-
ders more than 15 days after the reasonably speci-
fied loading date, the carrier may not assess a pen-
alty for canceled car orders.
‘‘(4) DAMAGES.—A rail carrier that fails to
provide service under the requirements of paragraph
(2) is liable for damages to an eligible facility that
does not have access to an alternative carrier, in-
cluding lost profits, attorney’s fees, and any other
consequences attributable to the carrier’s failure to
provide the ordered service. A claim for such damage
may be brought in an appropriate United States
District Court or before the Board.
‘‘(5) TIMETABLE FOR BOARD PROCEEDING.—
The Board shall conclude any proceeding brought
under this subsection no later than 180 days from
the date a complaint is filed.
‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FACILITY.—The term ‘eli-
gible facility’ means a shipper facility that—
‘‘(i) is the origin or destination for not
more than 4,000 carloads annually of
grain as defined in section 3(g) of the
United States Grain Standards Act (7
U.S.C. 75(g));
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‘‘(ii) is served by a single rail carrier
at its origin;
‘‘(iii) has more than 60 percent of the
facility’s inbound or outbound grain and
grain product shipments (excluding the de-
livery of grain to the facility by producers),
measured by weight or bushels moved via
a rail carrier in the immediately preceding
calendar year; and
‘‘(iv) the rate charged by the rail car-
rier for the majority of shipments of grain
and grain products from or to the facility,
excluding premium for special service pro-
grams, results in a revenue-to-variable cost
percentage, using system average costs, for
the transportation to which the rate ap-
plies that is equal to or greater than 180
percent.
‘‘(B) REASONABLE
COMPENSATION.—The
term ‘reasonable compensation’ shall mean an
amount no greater than the total shared costs
of the original carrier and the alternative car-
rier incurred, on a usage basis, for the provision
of service to an eligible facility. If the carriers
are unable to agree on compensation terms
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within 15 days after the facility requests service
from the alternative carrier, the alternative car-
rier or the eligible facility may request the
Board to establish the compensation and the
Board shall establish the compensation within
45 days after such request is made.
‘‘(C) 
ORIGINAL
CARRIER.—The 
term
‘original carrier’ means a rail carrier which pro-
vides the only rail service to an eligible facility
using its own tracks or provides such service
over an exclusive lease of the tracks serving the
eligible facility.
‘‘(D) ALTERNATIVE CARRIER.—The term
‘alternative carrier’ means a rail carrier that is
not an original carrier to an eligible facility.’’.
SEC. 104. COMPETITIVE RAIL SERVICE IN TERMINAL
AREAS.
(a) TRACKAGE RIGHTS.—Section 11102(a) of title
49, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘may’’ in the first sentence and
inserting ‘‘shall’’;
(2) by inserting after ‘‘business.’’ the following:
‘‘In making this determination, the Board shall not
require evidence of anticompetitive conduct by the
rail carrier from which access is sought.’’; and
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(3) by striking ‘‘may’’ in the next-to-last sen-
tence and inserting ‘‘shall’’.
(b) RECIPROCAL SWITCHING.—Section 11102(c)(1)
of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘may’’ in the first sentence and
inserting ‘‘shall’’;
(2) by inserting after ‘‘service.’’ the following:
‘‘In making this determination, the Board shall not
require evidence of anticompetitive conduct by the
rail carrier from which access is sought.’’; and
(3) by striking ‘‘may’’ in the last sentence and
inserting ‘‘shall’’.
SEC. 105. SIMPLIFIED STANDARDS FOR MARKET DOMI-
NANCE.
Section 10707(d)(1)(A) of title 49, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the fol-
lowing: ‘‘The Board shall not consider evidence of product
or geographic competition in making a market dominance
determination under this section.’’.
SEC. 106. REVENUE ADEQUACY DETERMINATIONS.
(a) 
RAIL
TRANSPORTATION
POLICY.—Section
10101(a)(3) of title 49, United States Code (as so redesig-
nated by section 101 of this Act), is amended by striking
‘‘revenues, as determined by the Board;’’ and inserting
‘‘revenues;’’.
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(b) STANDARDS FOR RATES.—Section 10701(d)(2)
of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking
‘‘revenues, as established by the Board under section
10704(a)(2) of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘revenues’’.
(c) REVENUE ADEQUACY DETERMINATIONS.—Sec-
tion 10704(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)’’;
and
(2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3).
SEC. 107. RAIL CARRIER SERVICE QUALITY PERFORMANCE
REPORTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of subtitle I of title 49,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end
thereof the following:
‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—PERFORMANCE REPORTS
‘‘§ 541. Rail carrier service quality performance re-
ports
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation
shall require, by regulation, each rail carrier to submit a
monthly report to the Secretary, in such uniform format
as the Secretary may by regulation prescribe, containing
information about—
‘‘(1) its on-time performance;
‘‘(2) its car availability deadline performance;
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‘‘(3) its average train speed;
‘‘(4) its average terminal dwell time;
‘‘(5) the number of its cars loaded (by major
commodity group); and
‘‘(6) such other aspects of its performance as a
rail carrier as the Secretary may require.
‘‘(b) INFORMATION FURNISHED TO STB; THE PUB-
LIC.—The Secretary shall furnish a copy of each report
required under subsection (a) to the Surface Transpor-
tation Board no later than the next business day following
its receipt by the Secretary, and shall make each such re-
port available to the public.
‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—The Sec-
retary shall transmit to the Congress an annual report
based upon information received by the Secretary under
this section.
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the definitions
in section 10102 apply.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal-
ysis for chapter 5 of subtitle I of title 49, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the fol-
lowing:
‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—PERFORMANCE REPORTS
‘‘541. Rail carrier service quality performance reports.’’.