FOR RELEASE
Contact: Dennis Watson
04/16/2003 (Wednesday)
(202) 565-1596
No. 03-17
FIRS 1 (800) 877-8339
www.stb.gov


Surface Transportation Board Provides Schedule of Appearances & Time Allocations, Instructions for Public & Media Attendance at April 22 Public Hearing


Surface Transportation Board (Board) Chairman Roger Nober today provided a schedule of speakers' appearances and respective time allocations, and instructions for public and media attendance, at the Board's April 22, 2003 public hearing concerning the Board's processing of railroad rate challenges in small cases that are not suitable for handling under the Board's constrained market pricing (CMP) procedures.



As publicly announced on March 27, 2003 (see Surface Transportation Board "News" release 03-14 issued that date), and as modified on April 1, 2003 (see Surface Transportation Board "News" release 03-15 issued that date), the hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, April 22, in Room 760, the Board's hearing room, on the 7th Floor at the agency's headquarters in the Mercury Building, 1925 K Street, N.W. (on the northeast corner of the intersection of 20th and K Sts.), Washington, D.C.



MATTER AT ISSUE:

The Board is holding the April 22 public hearing regarding Rail Rate Challenges in Small Cases, STB Ex Parte No. 646, to provide a forum for shippers, railroads, and other interested parties to express their views and to offer proposals for the handling of small cases involving challenges to the reasonableness of railroad rates that are not suitable for handling under the Board's CMP procedures.



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUBLIC AND MEDIA ATTENDANCE:

• There will be no reserved seating. Given the following procedures, please plan to arrive early enough to be seated no later than 9:45 a.m.

• Please enter the Mercury Building's main entrance at 1925 K Street (on the northeast corner of the intersection of 20th and K Sts.). All visitors must be cleared through security in the Board's Suite 100 (on the 1st Floor, at the top of the ramp to the left of the main lobby) prior to being escorted to the hearing room.

• For security reasons, be prepared to produce photo identification (such as a driver's license), pass through a metal detector, and submit to an inspection of all briefcases, handbags, etc.

• Quiet laptops and tape recorders may be brought into the hearing room, but absolutely no provision will be made for the connection of personal computers to Board telephone lines.

• Cellular telephone use is not permitted in the hearing room, or in the rear anteroom. Cellular phones may only be used outside the hearing room.

• The Board's hearing room complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act, and persons needing such accommodation should contact Beverly Ledbetter, in the Board's Section of Facilities Management, at (202) 565-1709, by the close of business on Monday, April 21, 2003.



SCHEDULE OF APPEARANCES

A schedule of speakers' appearances and time allocations (subject to slight change as the situation warrants) is attached. As the Board Members have read and are familiar with the written submissions filed previously, the Board requests that speakers not orally present those submissions verbatim during the hearing but, rather, briefly summarize the submissions, augment their content as seen fit, and be prepared to answer questions Board Members may ask from the bench.



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ATTACHMENT



ATTACHMENT: RAIL RATE CHALLENGES IN SMALL CASES, STB EX PARTE
NO. 646

SCHEDULE OF APPEARANCES


Party/Time Allotted

Panel I: Governmental Entities
U.S. Department of Transportation, Paul Samuel Smith / 3 minutes
North Dakota Public Service Commission, North Dakota Grain Dealers Association, and North Dakota Wheat Commission, Tony Clark / 10 minutes

Panel II: Shippers
National Grain and Feed Association, Kendell W. Keith / 12 minutes
American Chemistry Council, (To Be Announced) / 10 minutes
The Fertilizer Institute, Jeffrey O. Moreno / 5 minutes
The National Industrial Transportation League, Jeffrey O. Moreno / 15 minutes

Panel III: Railroads and Rail Labor
Association of American Railroads, Samuel M. Sipe, Jr. / 20 minutes
United Transportation Union - GO 386, (John D. Fitzgerald, General Chairman), Gordon P. MacDougall / 5 minutes