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>From the Surface Transportation Board, Washington, D.C.
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The Surface Transportation Board announced a public hearing for Thursday,
Dec. 9, 2010, to review existing exemptions from railroad-transportation
regulations for certain commodities, boxcar and intermodal freight.
Beginning in 1979, the STB's
predecessor agency, the Interstate
Commerce Commission, removed the
federal protections requiring
reasonable service and rates from
certain classes of freight,
including certain commodities,
boxcar movements and intermodal
services.
"At the time, most of those
shippers supported the
exemptions," said STB Chairman
Daniel R. Elliott III. "But some
of those same shippers now say
that these exemptions have
outlived their usefulness. This
hearing is a good way to explore
whether those exemptions still
make good policy sense."
The hearing will begin at 9:30
a.m. in the hearing room of the
Board's headquarters located at
395 E Street, S.W., Washington,
D.C. Parties wishing to speak at
the hearing should file with the
Board a notice of intent to
participate, including the topic
and amount of time requested, by
Nov. 30, 2010. Written testimony
will also be accepted until Nov.
30.
The Board's notice announcing the
Dec. 9 hearing was issued to the
public today in the proceeding
entitled Review of Commodity,
Boxcar, and TOFC/COFC Exemptions
( http://www.stb.dot.gov/decisions/readingroom.nsf/WebDecisionID/41097?OpenDocument )
, Docket No. EP 704. That notice
will be published in the Federal
Register and is available for
viewing and downloading on the
agency's website, www.stb.dot.gov.
The website will also have live
video of the public hearing.
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