Rail coalition urges Trump to appoint new STB members

The board is authorized to have five members, but currently stands with just two – Acting Chair Ann Begeman and Vice Chair Deb Miller.    More than 70 chief executive officers of major companies and trade associations that belong to the Rail Customer Coalition, an organization representing a majority of the volumes of traffic shipped by freight rail, have signed a letter addressed to President Donald Trump, urging him to appoint new members and a Chair to the Surface Transportation Board (STB).
   The board is authorized to have five members, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, each with a five-year term of office. However, it currently stands with just two members – Acting Chair Ann Begeman and Vice Chair Deb Miller.
   In its five-page letter, dated Jan. 16, the Rail Customer Coalition says that rail customers “need a fully-staffed STB committed to moving forward on freight rail policy reforms that will streamline overly burdensome regulatory procedures and promote greater competition in the rail sector.
   “We must be sure that the STB is fully staffed and comprised of members that will make decisions based on current economic realities and founded on free market solutions,” the letter reads in part. “In addition, it is imperative both for railroads and for their customers to have confidence that the STB is a fair and unbiased arbiter of disputes. Therefore, we strongly discourage naming rail industry veterans to the Board, especially as Chair.”
   The letter was signed by top executives with dozens of major U.S. companies, including Shell Oil Company, The Dow Chemical Company and KraftHeinz Company; as well as officials with various trade associations, including the Alliance for Rail Competition, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the National Association of Chemical Distributors.
   The STB is an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency in charge of resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers.
   In addition to jurisdiction over railroad rate and service issues and rail restructuring transactions, such as mergers, line sales, line construction, and line abandonments, it has authority to investigate rail service matters deemed to be of regional and national significance.
   It’s membership was expanded from three to five members under the Surface Board Transportation Act of 2015, but currently has just the two sitting members and no nominations.