(The following story by John D. Boyd appeared on The Journal of Commerce website on December 17, 2009.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The major lobbying group for the railroad industry said it has “concerns” about pending legislation to beef up the Surface Transportation Board and order major changes in federal regulation of rail-shipper issues.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved the legislation Dec. 17, with leaders there saying it was balanced between giving rail customers more access to competing carriers while protecting rail finances.
But lawmakers also signaled that some significant amendments could be offered when it reaches the Senate floor.
One of those could be language to strip railroads of a limited antitrust immunity they now enjoy because nearly all economic disputes and merger reviews currently go through the STB. Putting railroads under normal antitrust rules would subject those mergers and some issues to review by the Department of Justice and challenge in federal district courts.
“This bill would be the most significant rewrite of the railroad industry’s regulatory system in the last three decades,” said Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads.
Although he thanked the committee for working with railroads and shippers for months to craft the legislation, “we continue to have concerns about certain provisions in the bill, particularly the nature and scope of the antitrust provision that may be added at a later date,” Hamberger said.
Even as it now stands, he said that “under the bill Class I railroads would be required to open their privately owned and maintained rail networks, and would face vastly expanded government involvement in railroad operations.”