[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 240 (Thursday, December 15, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-30845]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: December 15, 1994]
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INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION
49 CFR Parts 1312 and 1314
[Ex Parte No. 444]
Electronic Filing of Tariffs
AGENCY: Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).
ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The ICC proposes to amend parts 1312 and 1314 of its
regulations to retain the status quo with respect to the rules for
filing electronic and printed tariffs, and to terminate the Ex Parte
No. 444 proceeding. This action will codify in the regulations the
tariff filing rules which have been in effect for the past five years
as a result of the partial stay of the Commission's 1989 decision in Ex
Parte No. 444.1 The revisions we propose will continue the
application of part 1314 to rail tariffs, for which rail interests have
expressed a preference, and will continue the application of part 1312
to motor (and other non-rail) tariffs, for which motor interests have
expressed a preference.
\1\Electronic Filing of Tariffs, 5 I.C.C.2d 279 (1989); 54 FR
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6403 and 9052 (1989).
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DATES: Comments are due on January 14, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Send comments (an original and 10 copies) referring to Ex
Parte No. 444 to: Interstate Commerce Commission, Office of the
Secretary, Case Control Branch, 1201 Constitution Ave., N.W.,
Washington, DC 20423.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James W. Greene, (202) 927-5602, or
Thomas A. Mongelli, (202) 927-5150. TTD for the hearing impaired: (202)
927-5721.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a decision served April 1, 1994, in this
proceeding, the Commission announced its intention to proceed with the
development of an electronic tariff filing (ETF) system, and to
establish a negotiated rulemaking (Reg-Neg) committee to review the
matter and recommend appropriate ETF regulations to the Commission.
Steps were taken to establish the Reg-Neg committee, and public
comments were requested on the Commission's initial membership
selections. However, before our review of the comments was finalized,
legislative proposals were presented to largely eliminate motor carrier
tariff filing, and to eliminate or significantly reduce the
Commission's Fiscal Year 1995 appropriation. With those circumstances,
the Commission postponed all further action to establish the ETF Reg-
Neg Committee.2 On August 24, 1994, the ``Trucking Industry
Regulatory Reform Act of 1994'' (TIRRA) was enacted, which
significantly reduced motor carrier tariff filing requirements, and the
Commission's Fiscal Year 1995 appropriation was subsequently reduced by
31%.
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\2\Electronic Filing of Tariffs, Ex Parte No. 444 (ICC served
August 11, 1994).
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With the enactment of TIRRA, the need for ETF in any form is
greatly diminished, and in light of the more limited remaining ICC
tariff filing requirements, it is unnecessary to utilize the Reg-Neg
process for ETF regulations.
The major reason for establishing the Reg-Neg Committee was to
provide an opportunity for the different transportation modes
(primarily rail and motor), and their customers, to agree on the ETF
regulations that should be adopted by the Commission. With the
enactment of TIRRA and the elimination of the tariff filing requirement
for independently determined rates of motor carriers of property (other
than household goods carriers), much of the need for the Committee and
ETF no longer exists. Additionally, it is possible that further changes
to tariff filing requirements will be made if the recommendations in
the Commission's TIRRA report3 are adopted. In light of these
factors, and the Commission's extremely limited financial resources,
the Commission has decided to terminate the ETF Reg-Neg Committee.
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\3\Ex Parte No. 522, Study of Interstate Commerce Commission
Regulatory Responsibilities, issued October 25, 1994.
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Further, we do not believe it is prudent to invest significant
resources in the development of new regulations for either printed or
electronically-filed tariffs at this time. We, therefore, propose to
modify our tariff filing regulations to designate part 1314 as
applicable only for rail tariffs and part 1312 as applicable for other
(non-rail) tariffs, and to terminate the Ex Parte No. 444 proceeding.
This action will codify the status quo that has existed since 1989.
The Ex Parte No. 444 proceeding has a long history. In October
1987, the Commission proposed to replace its detailed tariff publishing
regulations with simpler tariff ``standards'' to facilitate ETF.4
In early 1989, the Commission did eliminate the detailed tariff
regulations formally applicable to printed tariffs and authorized the
filing of electronic tariffs.5 However, the Commission declined to
prescribe standards for data exchange, because the private sector had
already invested significant resources in such projects, and because
continued development through the marketplace, rather than government
regulation, was considered to be preferable. ETF design was left to the
individual carriers, provided that carriers complied with the statutory
rate disclosure requirements, and data interchange capability was not
mandated.
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\4\Ex Parte No. 444, Electronic Filing of Tariffs, decision
served October 21, 1987; 52 FR 39549 (1987).
\5\Electronic Filing of Tariffs, 5 I.C.C.2d 279 (1989); 54 FR
6403 and 9052 (1989).
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Subsequently, several parties (primarily motor carrier interests)
asked the Commission to stay its decision, arguing (inter alia) that
the absence of detailed standards for ETF would undermine the orderly
electronic dissemination of tariff information. In contrast, various
railroad interests applauded the agency's action and urged the
Commission to allow carriers to implement ETF immediately.
The Commission granted the stay request,6 but later lifted the
stay (as of November 8, 1989) insofar as it applied to railroad
tariffs.7 The Commission explained that the rail industry was
better prepared to proceed with ETF, and that the experience gained
with rail ETF would be helpful in considering ETF for other modes.
Since this time, as a result of the partial lifting of the stay, the
more general ``standards'' regulations at 49 CFR 1314 have applied to
tariff filings by rail carriers; and the much more specific ``how-to''
regulations at 49 CFR 1312 have applied to non-rail (principally motor)
tariff filings.
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\6\Electronic Filing of Tariffs, 5 I.C.C.2d 1052 (1989); 54 FR
10533 (1989).
\7\Electronic Filing of Tariffs, 6 I.C.C.2d 153 (1989); 54 FR
42959 (1989).
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It appears that the tariff filing rules contained in part 1314 are
working satisfactorily for rail tariffs, and that the rail industry
supports the continuation of those rules. Motor interests (both
carriers and shippers), on the other hand, expressed a strong
preference for the part 1312 rules, and, apparently, continue to
support those rules as they now apply after TIRRA. In these
circumstances, and given the possibility for future regulatory reforms
and limited Commission resources, we believe it is in the public
interest to continue the status quo and terminate this proceeding.
Rail carriers have thus far made only limited use of the electronic
tariff filings authorized in part 1314. There is a small number of
electronic tariffs on file, however, and the Commission recently
granted a rail carrier's special tariff authority request to eliminate
the printed tariff and file only the electronic version,8 thereby
reducing the carrier's publishing costs by an estimated $150,000 per
year. While the regulations in part 1312 do not currently authorize
electronic filing, we will consider special tariff authority requests
if motor (or other) carriers wish to come forward with such proposals.
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\8\Special Tariff Authority No. 93-12 (not printed), served July
25, 1994.
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Regulatory Flexibility
The rules proposed herein will not impose additional burdens on
tariff filers or others; rather they merely codify the rules that are
currently in effect as a result of the partial stay of the Commission's
decision in Ex Parte No. 444, served February 10, 1989 (corrected
decision served March 8, 1989).
Environmental Statement
This action will not significantly affect either the quality of the
human environment or the conservation of energy resources.
List of Subjects
49 CFR Part 1312
Motor carriers, Moving of household goods, Pipelines, Tariffs.
49 CFR Part 1314
Motor carriers, Railroads, Tariffs.
Decided: December 2, 1994.
By the Commission, Chairman McDonald, Vice Chairman Morgan,
Commissioners Simmons and Owen.
Vernon A. Williams,
Secretary.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Commission proposes
to amend chapter X of title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
parts 1312 and 1314, as follows:
PART 1312--REGULATIONS FOR THE PUBLICATION, POSTING AND FILING OF
TARIFFS, SCHEDULES AND RELATED DOCUMENTS
1. The authority citation for part 1312 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 553; 49 U.S.C. 10321, 10762 and 10767.
2. The heading of part 1312 is proposed to be revised to read as
follows:
PART 1312--REGULATIONS FOR THE PUBLICATION, POSTING AND FILING OF
TARIFFS, SCHEDULES AND RELATED DOCUMENTS OF MOTOR, PIPELINE AND
WATER CARRIERS
* * * * *
PART 1314--REGULATIONS FOR THE PUBLICATION, POSTING AND FILING OF
TARIFFS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS
3. The authority citation for part 1314 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 10321, 10708, 10761, and 10762; 5 U.S.C.
553.
4. The heading of part 1314 is proposed to be revised to read as
follows:
PART 1314--REGULATIONS FOR THE PUBLICATION, POSTING AND FILING OF
TARIFFS AND RELATED DOCUMENTS OF RAIL CARRIERS
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 94-30845 Filed 12-14-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7035-01-P
