Opinion ID: 621920
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Rail Embankments

Text: The City’s grading ordinance prohibits slopes steeper than 4:1, meaning for every four feet in distance there cannot be more than a one foot change in height. The current tracks were constructed according to the undisputed industry-standard grades of 3:1 and 2:1, which are steeper. The ICCTA prohibits the City from controlling how railroad track embankments are constructed. The district court found the City’s regulation would directly affect where rail lines could be situated, as well as influence the distance between railroad tracks and the position of track-side equipment. On appeal, the City has not directed us to any evidence that casts doubt on this finding. We have held express preemption to bar a related restriction that regulated the length of time a train might occupy a road crossing. See Elam, 635 F.3d at 807 (Mississippi statute); and Friberg, 267 F.3d at 444 (Texas statute). Those cases instruct that state and local law cannot “govern a railroad’s decisions in the economic realm.” Elam, 635 F.3d at 807. Although we have not 10 Case: 10-11041 Document: 00511744889 Page: 11 Date Filed: 02/01/2012 No. 10-11041 precisely indicated the meaning of “economic” decisions, we have held that they include decisions “pertaining to train length, speed or scheduling.” Friberg, 267 F.3d at 444. A city regulation which dictates the construction design and layout of railroad tracks would frustrate economic decision making. In Friberg, the dispute arose after the railroad lengthened a track and started to utilize a formerly little-used portion of track. Id. at 440-41. We held that in enacting the ICCTA, Congress had functionally forestalled the Texas legislature from influencing business decisions such as increasing the use of certain portions of track. See id. at 444. Similarly here, the ICCTA grants the Board exclusive jurisdiction over the “construction . . . of spur, industrial, team, switching, or side tracks, or facilities,” leaving no room for local regulation. 49 U.S.C. § 10501 (b)(2). If the Board directly regulates the activity, as it does the construction of rail lines, state and local regulation is prohibited. New Orleans & Gulf Coast Ry. Co. v. Barrois, 533 F.3d 321, 332 (5th Cir. 2008). Thus, the ordinances that would apply to the slope or other features of the embankments for the railroad tracks themselves are expressly preempted throughout the 243 acres.