STB Ends FORR Litigation

Surface Transportation Board has elected to end litigation on the its Final Offer Rate Review (FORR) rule. Chairman Patrick Fuchs said on March 14 he will propose action for the full Board in response to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit decision vacating the rule.

“In fulfilling its overall mission, the Board must eliminate unsound and unduly burdensome regulations while facilitating access to markets on reasonable terms, including streamlined processes,” said Fuchs. “I look forward to working collaboratively with shippers, carriers and the broader public to improve the Board’s adjudications, uphold the law and make the agency more effective and efficient.”

STB issued a final rule in Docket No. EP 755, Final Offer Rate Review, on Dec. 19, 2022, “creating a new procedure for shippers to challenge railroad rates.” Then-Board Member Fuchs and Board Member Michelle Schultz dissented. Union Pacific and the Association of American Railroads appealed the rule.

In an Aug. 20, 2024 decision vacating the Board’s rule, the Eighth Circuit found that the Board “lacked statutory authority to prescribe rates through FORR and that FORR was not consistent with Administrative Procedure Act hearing requirements.” The Board did not seek certiorari, nor did any other party prior to the March 10, 2025 deadline.

Fuchs said he intends to offer a draft action regarding the FORR docket for consideration by the full Board in April 2025, pursuant to the decision by the Eighth Circuit.

Consistent with his objective to “increase transparency at the agency,” Fuchs on Feb. 21 provided an update on recent actions to “facilitate and expedite resolution” of several long-standing Board proceedings. “The agency is working diligently to deliver for the public, and we will build on our intensive efforts to promote transparency, accountability, and collaboration,” said Fuchs. “Along with these actions, the Board has issued dozens of decisions in recent weeks to resolve disputes, facilitate market entry and exit, and otherwise apply the law.”

SEE ALSO: STB’s New Chair Eyes Market Remedies

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