Interstate Commerce Commission

Prior post (in part):

ExCon90 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 07, 2019 2:08 pmAs I recall, when the I.C.C. was sunsetted in 1995 all their tariff files, and possibly all records, were sent to the University of Denver, but whether they're accessible to the public for research I don't know. In addition, a lot of law firms that dealt with transportation law had bound volumes of I.C.C. decisions, but I certainly wouldn't volunteer for the job of going through that large a haystack.

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Moderator Edit:
See the full text of US Code Title 49 here: https://www.ferc.gov/legal/maj-ord-reg/ica.pdf

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Original Post:

Sheesh. Reading the full text and adjoining sections... makes you wonder how anything got done before the Staggers Act...

A lot of things didn't. Often by the time a railroad got a yes or no from the I.C.C. it was too late--the traffic had already moved, usually by truck. Some idea may be seen from the fact that sometime--I think in the late 1950's--the Interstate Commerce Act was amended, due to efforts by the railroads, to provide that if the Commission had not rendered approval or disapproval of a rate change after nine months the change would take effect anyway; provided, however, that the railroad could "voluntarily" postpone the proposed effective date if requested by the Commission. One of our attorneys said that amounted to a phone call from the Commission along the lines of "can you grant us an extension, or do you want us to turn you down now?"

ExCon90 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2019 3:32 pm A lot of things didn't. Often by the time a railroad got a yes or no from the I.C.C. it was too late--the traffic had already moved, usually by truck. Some idea may be seen from the fact that sometime--I think in the late 1950's--the Interstate Commerce Act was amended, due to efforts by the railroads, to provide that if the Commission had not rendered approval or disapproval of a rate change after nine months the change would take effect anyway; provided, however, that the railroad could "voluntarily" postpone the proposed effective date if requested by the Commission. One of our attorneys said that amounted to a phone call from the Commission along the lines of "can you grant us an extension, or do you want us to turn you down now?"

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (regulates gas and electric interstate transportation, etc.) has a similar provision that an application not acted upon within a specified time is deemed approved. What FERC does is issuing a "tolling order" which effectively postpones the need to decide indefinitely since the Commission "took action" by issuing the order.

Beautiful ... Doesn't even need a telephone request.

Moderator Note: split from Ticket Question thread in General Discussion: Passenger Rail.