Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2539 - ICC Termination Act of 1995

(House)
(Shuster (R) Pennsylvania and 3 cosponsors)

The Administration strongly supports the termination of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), and has proposed legislation (H.R. 1436) for this purpose. Eliminating those elements of economic regulation that no longer enhance productivity and competitiveness is a primary Administration priority. However, renaming the ICC and moving its most burdensome regulatory elements to a new Federal entity, as H.R. 2539 would do, accomplishes no genuine deregulation. If H.R. 2539 were presented to the President in the form reported by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Secretaries of Transportation and Labor would recommend that it be vetoed.

The Administration wants to work with Congress to craft legislation that truly abolishes the ICC and substantially reduces the regulatory burdens currently imposed on the transportation industry and the economy as a whole. Accordingly, the Administration urges that the bill be amended to:

• Delete unilateral changes in rail labor protection provisions. The existing standards benefit rail management, labor, and the general public by enabling earners to expeditiously eliminate inefficient operations and make other arrangements to improve service. Any changes to these arrangements should be accomplished through collective bargaining. In addition, rail employee protection provisions should be administered by the Department of Labor, which already administers several similar provisions, rather than by a new entity.
  
  
• Eliminate the proposed Transportation Adjudication Panel. Rather than abolish all non-productive economic regulation currently performed by the ICC, H.R. 2539 simply re-establishes a smaller version of the ICC within the Department of Transportation to continue such regulation. This proposed new entity should not be created, and all of the ICC's existing, non-productive economic regulations affecting the trucking, intercity bus, household goods freight forwarder, broker, pipeline, interstate water carrier, interstate rail passenger, and ferry industries should be eliminated. As the Administration has proposed, enforcement of ICC regulations which continue to serve a useful purpose, such as protection of captive shippers, including many farmers, under the Staggers Act, should be transferred to the Department of Transportation, not a new entity.
  
  
• Delete the extension of antitrust immunity for the railroad and motor-carrier industries. Consumers and rail and motor carriers should be permitted to benefit from the removal of unproductive economic regulatory burdens. This will not occur if rail and motor carriers are permitted to impose artificially high rates on consumers. Price-fixing is not tolerated in the economy as a whole, and should not be permitted in the rail and motor carrier industries.
  
  
• Conform rail merger review standards to those which apply to other industries. Mergers in the railroad industry should be reviewed by the Department of Justice under the same standards which apply to other industries, rather than under a separate standard interpreted by a successor to the ICC.

The Administration supports provisions in H.R. 2539 that would reduce tariff filing requirements, reduce the basis (or shipper under-charge complaints, and provide relief from some unnecessary regulatory requirements.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

H.R. 2539 would affect direct spending and receipts; therefore, it is subject to the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. OMB's preliminary estimate is the changes in both receipts and outlays would be less than $500,000 a year. This estimate is subject to change.