§11325 Consolidation, merger, and acquisition of control: procedure

Summary

The Board must publish a notice in the Federal Register within 30 days after an application is filed. If the application is incomplete, the Board must reject it by then. A rejection is final. The notice must say which type of case it is: a merger or control of two or more Class I railroads (as the Board defines), a transaction the Board considers regionally or nationally important, or another kind of covered transaction. For a Class I railroad merger or control, people may file written comments within 45 days after the notice. Copies must go to the Attorney General and the Secretary of Transportation, who have 15 days after getting the comments to decide if they will join the case and, if so, to send preliminary comments by the end of that 15-day period. The Board will require competing or related applications by the 90th day after notice. Hearings must end within 1 year after notice, and the Board must issue a final decision within 90 days after the hearings end. For regionally or nationally significant transactions, comments are due in 30 days, competing filings by day 60, hearings end by day 180, and the final decision is due 90 days after hearings end. For other transactions, comments are due in 30 days, hearings end by day 105, and the final decision is due 45 days after hearings end.