President Obama has nominated Daniel R. Elliott III as chairman of the Surface Transportation Board. Elliott has been an associate general counsel of the United Transportation Union since 1993, where he has represented the union in numerous proceedings before STB, as well as proceedings before the National Mediation Board, the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Labor. He also has handled litigation for the union in the federal courts in a wide variety of cases.
STB is an economic regulatory agency that Congress charged with the fundamental missions of resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers. The STB is decisionally independent, although it is administratively affiliated with the U.S. Department of Transportation. It was created in the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 and is the successor agency to the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The agency has jurisdiction over railroad rate and service issues and rail restructuring transactions (mergers, line sales, line construction and line abandonments); certain trucking company, moving van and noncontiguous ocean shipping company rate matters; certain intercity passenger bus company structure, financial and operational matters; and rates and services of certain pipelines not regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
