Dozens of ships anchored outside of America’s busiest ports, steadily spiking freight rates, and frustrated consumers inheriting both the paralyzing delays and the exorbitant price increases: these have been the painful...more
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has issued a comprehensive decision that will likely forestall years of litigation over the scope of the Clean Water Act's (CWA) application to the interstate rail network. In...more
The Surface Transportation Board reaffirms that its regulatory processes must be followed in order to extinguish a railroad's common carrier obligation. Lack of use of a rail line and removal of tracks are not sufficient...more
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation (“Commerce Committee”) recently held a nomination hearing to fill two vacancies on the Surface Transportation Board (“STB”), the economic regulator of...more
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
On November 16, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit determined that claims arising from the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act (“ICCTA”) can be litigated in the federal courts or at the...more
There was a plenty of rail-related activity during the 114th Congress and the last two years of the Obama Administration. Amtrak and the Surface Transportation Board (STB) were reauthorized with major changes to Amtrak's...more
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
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, towns in the western United States grew and thrived around the railroad. In fact, the railroad tracks often became a central geographic feature within towns, birthing the...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Second leg of California bullet-train line approved: SFGate.com - Jun 27: On June 27, 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation gave its approval for work to begin on the second leg...more