News Release - 11-24NEW "GRANT STAMP" PROCEDURE FOR SOME "DIRECTOR" ORDERS


SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD TO IMPLEMENT "GRANT STAMP" PROCEDURE FOR CERTAIN DECISIONS ISSUED BY DIRECTOR OF ITS OFFICE OF PROCEEDINGS

The federal Surface Transportation Board announced today that, beginning December 15, 2011, the Board will implement a "grant stamp" procedure for certain routine, unopposed decisions issued by the Director of the Board's Office of Proceedings (Director). This new procedure, which was suggested by attorney Fritz Kahn, will streamline the agency's processes, maximize efficient use of its resources, speed service to stakeholders, and better serve the public. The Board's Director has delegated authority to issue decisions ("Director Orders") addressing many routine procedural matters in Board proceedings. Some of these decisions (in matters such as unopposed motions for extensions of time or requests for a procedural schedule to which all parties have agreed) require little, if any, discussion by the Director. In such cases, rather than preparing a separate decision, the Director will apply a stamp to the filed pleading, and the stamped pleading will constitute the Board's decision granting the relief sought. A detailed description of the new procedure and the stamp's format, as well as a pictorial rendition of the stamp, can be found in the Board's decision issued today in Policy Statement on Grant Stamp Procedure in Routine Director Orders, Docket No. EP 709, on the Board's website at www.stb.dot.gov. ###