U.S. Code » Title 49 » Subtitle SUBTITLE IV— INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION › Part PART A— RAIL › Chapter CHAPTER 107— RATES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— GENERAL AUTHORITY

49 U.S.C. § 10704

Authority and criteria: rates, classifications, rules, and practices prescribed by Board

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(a)(1) When the Board, after a full hearing, decides that a rate charged or collected by a rail carrier for transportation subject to the jurisdiction of the Board under this part, or that a classification, rule, or practice of that carrier, does or will violate this part, the Board may prescribe the maximum rate, classification, rule, or practice to be followed. The Board may order the carrier to stop the violation. When a rate, classification, rule, or practice is prescribed under this subsection, the affected carrier may not publish, charge, or collect a different rate and shall adopt the classification and observe the rule or practice prescribed by the Board.(2) The Board shall maintain and revise as necessary standards and procedures for establishing revenue levels for rail carriers providing transportation subject to its jurisdiction under this part that are adequate, under honest, economical, and efficient management, for the infrastructure and investment needed to meet the present and future demand for rail services and to cover total operating expenses, including depreciation and obsolescence, plus a reasonable and economic profit or return (or both) on capital employed in the business. The Board shall make an adequate and continuing effort to assist those carriers in attaining revenue levels prescribed under this paragraph. Revenue levels established under this paragraph should—(A) provide a flow of net income plus depreciation adequate to support prudent capital outlays, assure the repayment of a reasonable level of debt, permit the raising of needed equity capital, and cover the effects of inflation; and(B) attract and retain capital in amounts adequate to provide a sound transportation system in the United States.(3) On the basis of the standards and procedures described in paragraph (2), the Board shall annually determine which rail carriers are earning adequate revenues.(b) The Board may begin a proceeding under this section only on complaint. A complaint under subsection (a) of this section must be made under section 11701 of this title, but the proceeding may also be in extension of a complaint pending before the Board.(c) In a proceeding to challenge the reasonableness of a rate, the Board shall make its determination as to the reasonableness of the challenged rate—(1) within 9 months after the close of the administrative record if the determination is based upon a stand-alone cost presentation; or(2) within 6 months after the close of the administrative record if the determination is based upon the methodology adopted by the Board pursuant to section 10701(d)(3).(d)(1) The Board shall maintain procedures to ensure the expeditious handling of challenges to the reasonableness of railroad rates. The procedures shall include appropriate measures for avoiding delay in the discovery and evidentiary phases of such proceedings and exemption or revocation proceedings, including appropriate sanctions for such delay, and for ensuring prompt disposition of motions and interlocutory administrative appeals.(2)(A) Except as provided under subparagraph (B), in a stand-alone cost rate challenge, the Board shall comply with the following timeline:(i) Discovery shall be completed not later than 150 days after the date on which the challenge is initiated.(ii) The development of the evidentiary record shall be completed not later than 155 days after the date on which discovery is completed under clause (i).(iii) The closing brief shall be submitted not later than 60 days after the date on which the development of the evidentiary record is completed under clause (ii).(iv) A final Board decision shall be issued not later than 180 days after the date on which the evidentiary record is completed under clause (ii).(B) The Board may extend a timeline under subparagraph (A) after a request from any party or in the interest of due process.(Added Pub. L. 104–88, title I, § 102(a), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 810; amended Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(23), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3390; Pub. L. 114–110, §§ 11(b), 16, Dec. 18, 2015, 129 Stat. 2233, 2238.)Editorial NotesPrior Provisions

A prior section 10704, Pub. L. 95–473, Oct. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 1373; Pub. L. 96–296, § 13(b), July 1, 1980, 94 Stat. 803; Pub. L. 96–448, title II, § 205(b), Oct. 14, 1980, 94 Stat. 1906; Pub. L. 97–261, § 9(b), Sept. 20, 1982, 96 Stat. 1109; Pub. L. 99–521, § 7(b), Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2994, related to authority and criteria for rates, classifications, rules, and practices prescribed by Interstate Commerce Commission, prior to the general amendment of this subtitle by Pub. L. 104–88, § 102(a). See sections 10704, 13701, and 15503 of this title.

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 114–110, § 16, inserted “for the infrastructure and investment needed to meet the present and future demand for rail services and” after “management,” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 114–110, § 11(b), designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted “The Board shall maintain procedures to ensure the expeditious handling of challenges to the reasonableness of railroad rates.” for “Within 9 months after January 1, 1996, the Board shall establish procedures to ensure expeditious handling of challenges to the reasonableness of railroad rates.”, and added par. (2).

1996—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–287 substituted “January 1, 1996” for “the effective date of the ICC Termination Act of 1995”.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date

Section effective Jan. 1, 1996, except as otherwise provided in Pub. L. 104–88, see section 2 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under section 1301 of this title.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 90 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1979–2024 · leading case: Stern v. Marshall, 131 S. Ct. 2594 (2011).
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Stern v. Marshall, 131 S. Ct. 2594 (2011). · cites it 2× “§18 ; 49 U. S. C. §10704 ; 42 U. S. C. §3612 (b).”
Union Pac. R.R. Co. v. STB, 113 F.4th 823 (8th Cir. 2024). · cites it 8× “See 49 U.S.C. §§ 10704 (a)(1), 10709(c)(1). In the Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 2015, Congress directed the Board to “maintain 1 or more simplified and expedited methods for determining the reasonableness of challenged [rail carrier] rates in those cases…”
Maislin Indus., U. S., Inc. v. Primary Steel, Inc., 497 U.S. 116 (1990). · cites it 2× “V) provides, in part: "When the Commission decides that a rate charged or collected by— "(A) a motor common carrier for providing transportation subject to its jurisdiction under subchapter II of chapter 105 of this title by itself, with another motor common carrier, with a…”
Square D Co. v. Niagara Frontier Tariff Bureau, Inc., 476 U.S. 409 (1986). · cites it 2× “9 (citing 49 U. S. C. § 10704 ); Big D complaint, ¶ 13, App.”
S. Motor Carriers Rate Conf., Inc. v. United States, 471 U.S. 48 (1985). · cites it 2× “49 U. S. C. § 10704 . The Interstate Commerce Act, however, expressly reserves to the States the regulation of common carriers' intrastate rates, even if these rates affect interstate commerce.”
Cent. & S. Motor Freight Tariff Ass'n v. United States, 757 F.2d 301 (D.C. Cir. 1985). · cites it 3× “See 49 U.S.C. §§ 10704 (a)(1), (c)(1), (f), 10708(a)(1) (1982).”
Sec. Servs., Inc. v. Kmart Corp., 511 U.S. 431 (1994). · cites it 2× “[4] When the Commission displaces or finds inapplicable a particular filed rate under other sections of the Act expressly authorizing it to do so, that rate is generally replaced either by a reasonable rate prescribed by the Commission, see 49 U. S. C. § 10704 (b), or by a…”
Iowa Power & Light Co. v. Burlington N., Inc., 647 F.2d 796 (8th Cir. 1981). · cites it 6× “49 U.S.C. § 10704 (a)(2). 24 Burlington Northern challenges the Commission’s cost of service calculations, arguing that its own calculations show the railroad will fail to recover fully allocated costs for the Council Bluffs movement.”
Sw. Bell Tel. Co. v. Oklahoma Corp. Comm'n, 873 P.2d 1001 (Okla. 1994). · cites it 2× “1993); (3) Interstate Commerce Commission [ICC], 49 U.S.C.A. § 10704 (a) (railroad) and 49 U.”
Williams Pipe Line Co., a Delaware Corp. v. Empire Gas Corp., a Missouri Corp., 76 F.3d 1491 (10th Cir. 1996). · cites it 2× “Thus, it is unclear what practice FERC would prescribe, considering the specialized factors it is required to note, 49 U.S.C. §§ 10704 (b)(2)(A), (B), if it did declare *1498 Williams’ practice unreasonable, either in whole or part.”
Nat'l Classification Comm. & Nat'l Motor Freight Traffic Ass'n, Inc. v. United States of Am. & Interstate Com. Comm'n, 765 F.2d 1146 (D.C. Cir. 1985). · cites it 5× “1 49 U.S.C. § 10704 (a)(1), (b)(1) and (b)(2) (1982).”
W. Transp. Co. v. Wilson & Co., Inc. & Wilson Foods Corp., 682 F.2d 1227 (7th Cir. 1982). “See 49 U.S.C. § 10704 (a). If it is not, it violates the statute; and the Commission, either on its own initiative or on complaint, “shall take appropriate action to compel compliance with” the statute.”
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— 49 U.S.C. § 10704(a)(2) — 1 case
Consol. Rail Corp. v. United States, 812 F.2d 1444 (3rd Cir. 1987).
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