§10501 General Jurisdiction

Summary

Gives the Board power over rail carrier transportation when it is only by railroad, or by railroad combined with water if the move is under the same control and is one continuous shipment. That power covers things like rates, classifications, rules (for example car service and interchange), practices, routes, services, and facilities. It also covers building, buying, running, abandoning, or closing spur, industrial, team, switching, or side tracks and related facilities, even if those tracks are entirely inside one State. The Board’s authority only applies to transportation in the United States in these cases: moves within or between States as part of the interstate rail network; between a State and a U.S. territory or possession; between two U.S. territories or within the same territory; through a foreign country between U.S. places; or between the United States and a foreign country. Local governmental authority — meaning the local government as defined in federal law, and anyone it hires to provide transit — and public transportation by rail (as defined in federal transit law) are generally not under the Board’s control. A solid-waste rail transfer facility is also generally excluded except where other rules apply. Even so, local governments must follow federal safety rules, federal rules about employee representation for collective bargaining, and federal employment, retirement, annuity, and unemployment provisions. The Board can take jurisdiction over local rail transit under certain authority only if the local provider meets the standards that governed rail carriers right before January 1, 1996. The ICC Termination Act of 1995 does not change who is covered by the Railway Labor Act, the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, or the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.