Rail board gets full cast as Elliott confirmed

OREANDA-NEWS. June 24, 2015. The US Senate today confirmed former Surface Transportation Board (STB) chairman Dan Elliott to another term on the agency, ending a long period of regulatory uncertainty for the railroad industry.

Elliott's return to the board has not been controversial and he was confirmed in a voice vote. Former labor attorney Elliott, 52, joined STB in 2009 and last year was re-nominated by President Barack Obama to a second five-year term, but his confirmation had languished in the Senate.

STB has been functioning with only two of its three members since Elliott was forced to leave on 31 December because he had not been confirmed for a new term. Acting chairwoman Deb Miller (D) and vice chairwoman Ann Begeman (R) have worked as a two-member board since then, as two members whose votes could cancel each other out.

In May, Elliott told senators he wants to reform board processes and shorten the amount of time it takes to resolve freight rate disputes.

"We are going to have a more careful examination with respect to what is going on in the rail industry," Elliott told the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Shippers' groups have become increasingly concerned about delays of major decisions because Elliott was not present, leaving major cases undecided such as the National Industrial Transportation League's reciprocal switching proposal.