Opinion ID: 480726
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Consideration of Material Evidence

Text: 30 Milwaukee Trustee and IRC assert that the Commission failed to give meaningful consideration to all material evidence presented in Finance Docket No. 30554. See, e.g., Br. of Joint Petitioners at 16, 20. Petitioners fault the ICC for a laundry list of findings taken from 49 U.S.C. Sec. 10101a (1982). Id. at 20. Rather, we find that, in granting Iowa Interstate an exemption to operate, the Commission conducted an exhaustive analysis of the factors entering into its decision. 11 31 This Circuit has repeatedly held that the Commission  'need not explicitly discuss in its decision each factor enumerated' in 49 U.S.C. Sec. 10101a as long as 'the essential basis of the ICC's rationale [is] clear enough so that a court can satisfy itself that the ICC has performed its function ...'. Black v. ICC, 762 F.2d 106, 118 (D.C.Cir.1985) (quoting Alamo Express, Inc. v. ICC, 673 F.2d 852, 860 (5th Cir.1982)). 32 The railroads argue a remand is required because the Commission allegedly overlooked the financial ability of Iowa Interstate in considering whether to grant it an exemption. Br. of Joint Petitioners at 20. Certainly, when the ICC considers applications under sections 10901 and 11301 of the Interstate Commerce Act, one of the critical issues it considers is the financial ability of the applicant to provide essential service to shippers. 12 33 But petitioners proceed on the erroneous assumption that Iowa Interstate applied under the certificate provisions of 49 U.S.C. Sec. 10901. Iowa Interstate applied, rather, under the exemption provisions of section 10505, which dispenses with exhaustive financial scrutiny. 13 This is consistent with the statutory goal of preferring new ventures, albeit somewhat risky ones, to wholesale abandonment. 34 Even if Congress had mandated a finding of solvency, the agency gave proper consideration to Iowa Interstate's financial prospects. In its application, Iowa Interstate projected funding of $6 to $8 million in equity, $8 to $10 million in commercial loans, a $15 million low-interest loan from the IRFA, and up to $4.5 million in temporary financing available from CPAC. Petition at 5. Iowa Interstate attested to the rail experience of its operating officers, the location and number of shippers on the line, and the commodities and volume of traffic which had been and were estimated to be transported. See id. at 10, Exhibit 10. 35 Petitioners assail the Commission for failing to discuss Heartland's uncertain financing or the accuracy of Iowa Interstate's traffic projections in light of existing competition on the line. See Br. of Joint Petitioners at 15-16, 20. But the ICC did address those concerns in its October 1 decision. The Commission rejected petitioners' arguments concerning excess capacity, noting that most of the line operated under temporary exemptions that were due to terminate upon CPAC's disposition of the property. Decision, F.D. No. 30554, at 6. The Commission knew that the financing remained pending, but determined that Heartland's IRFA financing application was not a Commission-regulated transaction and that the merits of that proposal were not material to the exemption issue. Id. at 4. The ICC was thoroughly familiar with the financial deterioration of the Iowa and Milwaukee railroads and understood the strong economic incentive CPAC had to tear up the track for scrap.