STB proposes rule changes for rail rate cases

Following public comment and stakeholder input on a June 2016 advanced notice of proposed rulemaking, the Surface Transportation Board has proposed rules to “help improve and expedite” cases involving litigation over railroad rates.    The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has proposed rule changes to “help improve and expedite” cases involving litigation over railroad rates, the board said in a statement.
   The changes were proposed as a means of implementing Section 11 of the STB Reauthorization Act of 2015, which required the agency to consider how procedures for expediting court litigation might be applied to rate reasonableness complaints.
   The latest rules follow a public comment period for an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) filed last June by the STB, the board said.
   Consistent with the ANPRM, the proposed rules focused on improving efficiency during the period before a complaint is filed, as well as discovery, evidentiary submissions, and final briefing.
   The rules would establish a 70-day “pre-complaint” period, in which the complainant would notify the defendant of the rate and movement it intends to challenge and during which mandatory mediation would occur, require service of the complainant’s and the defendant’s initial discovery requests, and establish a requirement that parties meet and confer prior to the filing of a motion to compel.
   In addition, the STB would standardize certain practices with respect to evidentiary submissions, and establish a new practice of appointing an STB staff person to serve as a liaison for each case and assist the parties in technical and procedural matters, particularly in discovery.
   The board is seeking public comments on the proposed changes, including potential modifications or alternatives, all of which will be considered by the STB before a final rule is drafted.