49 U.S.C. § 1303 — Administrative provisions

Page 185 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 1303 (competitive service) or the priority employment list (excepted service).’’ REFERENCES TO INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION DEEMED TO BE REFERENCES TO SURFACE TRANSPOR- TATION BOARD Pub. L. 104–88, title II, § 205, Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 943, provided that: ‘‘Any reference to the Interstate Com- merce Commission in any other Federal law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of authority, or any document of or pertaining to the Interstate Com- merce Commission or an officer or employee of the Interstate Commerce Commission, is deemed to refer to the Board [Surface Transportation Board], a member or employee of the Board, or the Secretary, as appro- priate.’’ SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD PASSENGER RAIL PROGRAM Pub. L. 117–58, div. B, title II, § 22309, Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 734, provided that: ‘‘The Surface Transportation Board shall— ‘‘(1) establish a passenger rail program with pri- mary responsibility for carrying out the Board’s pas- senger rail responsibilities; and ‘‘(2) hire up to 10 additional full-time employees to assist in carrying out the responsibilities referred to in paragraph (1).’’ INFORMATION SECURITY IMPROVEMENT Pub. L. 115–269, Oct. 16, 2018, 132 Stat. 3763, provided that: ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘STB Information Se- curity Improvement Act’. ‘‘SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS. ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Surface Transportation Board (in this section referred to as the ‘STB’) shall develop a timeline and plan to implement the recommendations of the Inspector General of the Department of Trans- portation in Report No. FI2018002, including improve- ments— ‘‘(1) to identify controls, including risk manage- ment, weakness remediation, and security authoriza- tion; ‘‘(2) to protect controls, including configuration management, user identity and access management, and security training; ‘‘(3) to detect controls, including continuous moni- toring; ‘‘(4) to respond [to] controls, including incident handling and reporting; ‘‘(5) to recover controls for contingency planning; and ‘‘(6) [sic] any additional tools that will improve the implementation of the recommendations. ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 16, 2018], the STB shall submit the plan and timeline developed under subsection (a) to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce of the Senate. ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The STB shall report annually to such Committees on the progress on implementation of the recommendations until the implementation is complete. ‘‘(3) PLAN IMPLEMENTATION.—The STB shall des- ignate an individual to implement the plan developed under subsection (a). ‘‘SEC. 3. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. ‘‘No additional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements of this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise authorized.’’ § 1302. Functions Except as otherwise provided in the ICC Ter- mination Act of 1995, or the amendments made thereby, the Board shall perform all functions that, immediately before January 1, 1996, were functions of the Interstate Commerce Commis- sion or were performed by any officer or em- ployee of the Interstate Commerce Commission in the capacity as such officer or employee. (Added Pub. L. 104–88, title II, § 201(a), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 933, § 702; amended Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(6), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3389; renumbered § 1302, Pub. L. 114–110, § 3(a)(3), Dec. 18, 2015, 129 Stat. 2228.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The ICC Termination Act of 1995, referred to in text, is Pub. L. 104–88, Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 803. For com- plete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1995 Amendment note set out under section 101 of this title and Tables. AMENDMENTS 2015—Pub. L. 114–110 renumbered section 702 of this title as this section. 1996—Pub. L. 104–287 substituted ‘‘January 1, 1996’’ for ‘‘the effective date of such Act’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ABOLITION OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION Interstate Commerce Commission abolished by sec- tion 101 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under sec- tion 1301 of this title. § 1303. Administrative provisions (a) OPEN MEETINGS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall be deemed to be an agency for purposes of section 552b of title 5. (2) NONPUBLIC COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSIONS.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 552b of title 5, a majority of the members may hold a meeting that is not open to pub- lic observation to discuss official agency business if— (i) no formal or informal vote or other official agency action is taken at the meeting; (ii) each individual present at the meet- ing is a member or an employee of the Board; and (iii) the General Counsel of the Board is present at the meeting. (B) DISCLOSURE OF NONPUBLIC COLLABO- RATIVE DISCUSSIONS.—Except as provided under subparagraph (C), not later than 2 business days after the conclusion of a meet- ing under subparagraph (A), the Board shall make available to the public, in a place eas- ily accessible to the public— (i) a list of the individuals present at the meeting; and (ii) a summary of the matters discussed at the meeting, except for any matters the Board properly determines may be with- held from the public under section 552b(c) of title 5. (C) SUMMARY.—If the Board properly deter- mines matters may be withheld from the public under section 555b(c) of title 5, the Board shall provide a summary with as Page 186 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 1304 much general information as possible on those matters withheld from the public. (D) ONGOING PROCEEDINGS.—If a discussion under subparagraph (A) directly relates to an ongoing proceeding before the Board, the Board shall make the disclosure under sub- paragraph (B) on the date of the final Board decision. (E) PRESERVATION OF OPEN MEETINGS RE- QUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY ACTION.—Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to limit the applicability of section 552b of title 5 with respect to a meeting of the members other than that described in this paragraph. (F) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this paragraph may be construed— (i) to limit the applicability of section 552b of title 5 with respect to any informa- tion which is proposed to be withheld from the public under subparagraph (B)(ii); or (ii) to authorize the Board to withhold from any individual any record that is ac- cessible to that individual under section 552a of title 5, United States Code. (b) REPRESENTATION BY ATTORNEYS.—Attor- neys designated by the Chairman of the Board may appear for, and represent the Board in, any civil action brought in connection with any function carried out by the Board pursuant to this chapter or subtitle IV or as otherwise au- thorized by law. (c) ADMISSION TO PRACTICE.—Subject to sec- tion 500 of title 5, the Board may regulate the admission of individuals to practice before it and may impose a reasonable admission fee. (d) SUBMISSION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS TO CON- GRESS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Board submits any budget estimate, budget request, supplemental budget estimate, or other budget information, legislative recommendation, prepared testi- mony for a congressional hearing, or comment on legislation to the President or to the Office of Management and Budget, the Board shall concurrently submit a copy of such document to— (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and (B) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa- tives. (2) NO APPROVAL REQUIRED.—No officer or agency of the United States has any authority to require the Board to submit budget esti- mates or requests, legislative recommenda- tions, prepared testimony for congressional hearings, or comments on legislation to any officer or agency of the United States for ap- proval, comments, or review before submitting such recommendations, testimony, or com- ments to Congress. (Added Pub. L. 104–88, title II, § 201(a), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 934, § 703; renumbered § 1303 and amended Pub. L. 114–110, §§ 3(a)(3), (c)(1), 5, Dec. 18, 2015, 129 Stat. 2228–2230.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2015—Pub. L. 114–110, § 3(a)(3), renumbered section 703 of this title as this section. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–110, § 5, amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘For purposes of section 552b of title 5, United States Code, the Board shall be deemed to be an agency.’’ Pub. L. 114–110, § 3(c)(1)(A), (B), redesignated subsec. (b) as (a) and struck out former subsec. (a). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘Chapter 9 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to the Board in the same manner as it does to an independent regulatory agency, and the Board shall be an establishment of the United States Government.’’ Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–110, § 3(c)(1)(B), redesignated subsec. (d) as (b). Former subsec. (b) redesignated (a). Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 114–110, § 3(c)(1)(A), (B), redesig- nated subsec. (e) as (c) and struck out former subsec. (c). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘In the performance of their functions, the members, employ- ees, and other personnel of the Board shall not be re- sponsible to or subject to the supervision or direction of any officer, employee, or agent of any other part of the Department of Transportation.’’ Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 114–110, § 3(c)(1)(C), added subsec. (d). Former subsec. (d) redesignated (b). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 114–110, § 3(c)(1)(B), redesignated subsec. (e) as (c). Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 114–110, § 3(c)(1)(A), struck out subsecs. (f) and (g) which read as follows: ‘‘(f) BUDGET REQUESTS.—In each annual request for appropriations by the President, the Secretary of Transportation shall identify the portion thereof in- tended for the support of the Board and include a state- ment by the Board— ‘‘(1) showing the amount requested by the Board in its budgetary presentation to the Secretary and the Office of Management and Budget; and ‘‘(2) an assessment of the budgetary needs of the Board. ‘‘(g) DIRECT TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The Board shall transmit to Congress copies of budget estimates, requests, and information (including personnel needs), legislative recommendations, prepared testimony for congressional hearings, and comments on legislation at the same time they are sent to the Secretary of Trans- portation. An officer of an agency may not impose con- ditions on or impair communications by the Board with Congress, or a committee or Member of Congress, about the information.’’ § 1304. Reports (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Board shall annu- ally transmit to the Congress a report on its ac- tivities, including each instance in which the Board has initiated an investigation on its own initiative under this chapter or subtitle IV. (b) RATE CASE REVIEW METRICS.— (1) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—The Board shall post a quarterly report of rail rate review cases pending or completed by the Board dur- ing the previous quarter that includes— (A) summary information of the case, in- cluding the docket number, case name, com- modity or commodities involved, and rate review guideline or guidelines used; (B) the date on which the rate review pro- ceeding began; (C) the date for the completion of dis- covery; (D) the date for the completion of the evi- dentiary record; (E) the date for the submission of closing briefs; (F) the date on which the Board issued the final decision; and (G) a brief summary of the final decision; (2) WEBSITE POSTING.—Each quarterly report shall be posted on the Board’s public website.