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United States · Bill · S

S. 1233 (115th)

Rail Shipper Fairness Act of 2017

referredUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

25 May 2017

Last action

25 May 2017 · Introduced

Status

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Sponsors

Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI], Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]

Subjects

Transport

Source updated

11 August 2025

Transport

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Summary

Rail Shipper Fairness Act of 2017 This bill amends federal transportation law to: (1) require rail transportation service to be efficient and reliable based on a shipper's reasonable service requirements, and (2) expand enumerated U.S. transportation policies to provide for and promote the protection of the shipping public. The Surface Transportation Board (STB) may: issue emergency service orders that include rail carrier shipments moving under contract if such shipments are part of a regional service order; and require reports, service plans, or other documents that cover shipments moving under contract. Rail carriers shall be liable for damages or equitable relief as a result of inadequate or deficient service. Civil penalties for rail carriers who violate certain federal requirements are increased from $5,000 to $25,000 per violation. The bill allows shippers to obtain rates to or from any interchange points within 100 miles of two or more rail carriers (i.e., competitive switching). The STB shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to develop a market-based revenue methodology for determining the reasonableness of challenged rail rates. A rail carrier must compute fuel surcharges in accordance with changes in actual fuel prices, rather than using an index. The STB must: (1) suspend collection of rate increases in stand-alone cost cases while a rate case is pending, and (2) replace its revenue adequacy test for rail carriers with a formula for calculating a carrier's cost of capital.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

  1. 25 May 2017

    Introduced

    Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

    Source: IntroReferral

  2. 25 May 2017

    Introduced

    Introduced in Senate

    Source: IntroReferral

Votes

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Versions

Documents

3 official files

Introduced in Senate (text)

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  • Introduced in Senate (text)

    Introduced in Senate · EN · 25 May 2017

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  • Introduced in Senate (PDF)

    Introduced in Senate · EN · 25 May 2017

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

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  • Introduced in Senate

    summary · EN · 25 May 2017

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Sponsors

Related records

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Sources

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