Lawmakers fire shot at STB’s Oct. 30 rail rates rulemaking

Lawmakers fire shot at STBÆs Oct. 30 rail rates rulemaking A group of nine lawmakers from the U.S. heartland fired a shot at the Surface Transportation Board's decision to apply its Oct. 30 rulemaking to all pending rail rate cases before the agency.
   In a Feb. 16 letter to STB Chairman Charles Nottingham, the senators and representatives said they are 'disappointed that the STB has implemented a rule change in a manner that clearly disadvantages captive shippers, particularly Laramie River Station (LRS).'
   More than two years ago, Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Western Fuels filed a complaint with the STB seeking rate relief for service by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad to LRS.
   'It is very troubling that rail customers would spend over two years and millions of dollars to file a rate case under one set of standards, only to have the STB suspend those cases and apply a new set of rules under which the cases must proceed,' the lawmakers wrote.
   'By applying the Oct. 30 rulemaking to the LRS case, the STB forces these customers to bear additional costs, to resubmit further evidence to resolve issues that were already addressed, and to wait for resolution to their case long after the statutory deadline for a decision has passed,' the lawmakers added. 'And for every day of delay before the board issues a decision in these cases, the customers involved must continue to pay exorbitantly high rail rates.'
   The letter was signed by Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.; Amy Klobucher, D-Minn.; Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; Michael Enzi, R-Wyo.; John Thune, R-S.D.; and Craig Thomas, R-Wyo.; and Reps. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D.; and Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.