News & Analysis as of

Preemption Railroads

Jackson Lewis P.C.

9th Circuit Holds California Paid Sick Leave Does Not Apply to Rail Workers

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California’s Healthy Workplace, Healthy Family Act (the Act) requiring most employers to provide paid sick leave for covered employees went into effect in 2015. However, in 2017 and 2021, two separate California federal...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Supreme Court - December 15, 2021

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Viking River Cruises v. Angie Moriana, No. 20-1573: This case, involving the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and the California Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), presents the following question: Whether the FAA requires...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Normal Operation of Railcars in Transit/Applicability of Clean Water Act Discharge Prohibition: U.S. Surface Transportation Board...

The United States Surface Transportation Board (“STB”) instituted a Declaratory Order proceeding on February 19th that will address whether 49 U.S.C. 10501(b): . . . preempts the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) discharge...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Railroads Seek to Avoid a Patchwork Quilt of Regulatory Requirements

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• The Clean Water Act imposes permitting obligations on "point sources." • Should those obligations apply to railroad cars, which move freely from state to state? • The U.S. railroad industry has asked the Surface...more

Nilan Johnson Lewis PA

She’s Been Working (And Winning) on the Railroad

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In 1908, Congress enacted the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) to protect and compensate railroad employees injured on the job. While the railroad industry and overall employee protections (workers compensation, etc.)...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Railroad/Hazardous Materials Transportation: Federal Appellate Court Addresses Constitutional/Preemption Challenge to California...

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Court”) addressed in a September 13th opinion a judicial challenge to California Senate Bill 84 (“SB 84”) which requires railroads to collect fees from customers...more

Littler

Court Rules Federal Railway Unemployment Insurance Act Completely Preempts Massachusetts Sick Leave Law

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On August 10, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) completely preempts the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law (ESTL). ...more

Miller Starr Regalia

When “Tigers Eat Their Young” – Federal Preemption Of CEQA In Context Of Railroad Projects Will Continue To Present Complex Issues...

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On April 30, 2018, the United States Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari filed in North Coast Railroad Authority v. Friends of the Eel River, U.S. Supreme Ct. Case No. 17-915, which presented this issue: ...more

Downey Brand LLP

Update: SCOTUS Declines Review of Friends of the Eel River CEQA Preemption Decision

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The United States Supreme Court will not be taking up the California Supreme Court’s July 2017 decision in the Friends of the Eel River case. In that decision, authored by Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye, the California Supreme...more

Nossaman LLP

STB Preempts a City's Effort to Force a Railroad to Reinstall a Grade Crossing

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In a recent preemption decision, the Surface Transportation Board (“STB”) rejected a city’s attempt to mandate that a railroad reinstall a grade crossing. The STB’s order appears to call into question the enforceability of...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Rail Blocked Crossing Statute Upheld, Departing From Overwhelming Precedent

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Many states and municipalities have (or used to have) laws that limit the amount of time a railroad may block a traffic intersection. Time and again, courts have determined that these laws are preempted by either the...more

Miller Starr Regalia

Fifth District Holds Cap-And-Trade Program Compliance Supports Refinery Project EIR’s Conclusion That GHG Emissions Are Less Than...

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In a lengthy, partially published opinion filed November 21, 2017, the Fifth District Court of Appeal addressed four CEQA challenges asserted by plaintiffs and appellants (“AIR”) to the sufficiency of Kern County’s 2014 Final...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Faceoff with Federal Government Possibly Looming Following California Supreme Court CEQA Ruling; Cal High Speed Rail Project Also...

In July 2017, the California Supreme Court determined the federal Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 (49 U.S.C. § 10101 et seq.) (“ICCTA”) does not preempt the application of the California Environmental...more

Perkins Coie

CA Supreme Court Holds CEQA Not Preempted by Federal Rail Transportation Law for Projects Carried Out by State Agencies

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The California Supreme Court has issued its decision in Friends of the Eel River v. North Coast Railroad, an important case regarding preemption of state environmental law by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Calif. High Court: U.S. Rail Law Doesn't Categorically Pre-empt CEQA on Public Entity Projects - Decision Sets Up Showdown with...

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The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Cal. Pub. Res. Code §21000 et seq., imposes significant procedural and substantive requirements on private and public projects throughout the state. However, even a state law...more

Holland & Knight LLP

STB Finds Arkansas City's Effort to Create New At-Grade Rail Crossing is Pre-empted

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The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has found that efforts by the city of Ozark, Ark., to force the reinstallation of a highway-rail at-grade crossing are pre-empted by federal law....more

Downey Brand LLP

“Self-Governance,” Not “Regulation”: California Supreme Court Rules No Federal Preemption of CEQA under ICCTA for State-Owned Rail...

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On July 27, the California Supreme Court released its long-awaited decision in Friends of the Eel River v. North Coast Railroad Authority (S222472), resolving a split among the State’s courts of appeal—but arguably...more

Miller Starr Regalia

California Supreme Court Holds CEQA Applies to State Entity’s Railroad Project on State-Owned Rail Line As Act of...

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On July 7, 2017, the California Supreme Court filed its 69-page opinion, written by Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye and joined by five other justices, in Friends of the Eel River v. North Coast Railroad Authority, et al. (2017)...more

Downey Brand LLP

The California Supreme Court Has a Banner Week, Hearing Argument in Three CEQA and Land Use Cases

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On May 3–4, 2017, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments in three cases with significant implications for California land use law. Below we summarize the main issue(s) argued in each matter and possible outcomes....more

Pillsbury - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real...

Ninth Circuit Rules Surface Transportation Board Has Exclusive Jurisdiction Over Certain Railroad Repair Work

On November 23, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a unanimous ruling that the Surface Transportation Board has exclusive jurisdiction over “railroad repair work done at the direction of a federally...more

Beveridge & Diamond PC

First Circuit Court of Appeals Clarifies Limited Deference to Surface Transportation Board Views on Railroad Preemption

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In two companion decisions released in October, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, considered the extent to which federal preemption of state and local laws applies to railroad operations involving the...more

Nossaman LLP

Recent Surface Transportation Board Preemption Decisions of Note

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In the last several months, the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) has issued a number of decisions further defining the scope of federal preemption. As the primary agency tasked with the economic regulation of the...more

Gray Reed

What is Your Texas Legislature Doing for You Today?

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The Texas legislature has been busy on energy. House Bill 40, similar to House Bills 539 and 540, steamrolled through the House of Representatives last week by a vote of 122 to 18. Reminds us of A L pitchers not...more

Stoel Rives LLP

California Supreme Court To Resolve Appellate Court Split on Federal Preemption in Railroad Regulation

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On December 10, 2014, the California Supreme Court granted petition for review in Friends of the Eel River v. North Coast Railroad Authority to resolve a split between the First and Third District Courts of Appeal. (230...more

Perkins Coie

California Supreme Court Poised To Decide Key CEQA Questions: The Court’s Lineup For 2015

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The California Supreme Court’s involvement in CEQA cases has been relatively limited since he statute’s enactment in 1970, with the court taking  review of at most one or two appellate court decisions a year.  The last two...more

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