rate bureaus

rate bureaus Sec. 208. (a) Effective 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, section 5a of the Interstate Commerce Act (49 U.S.C. 5b) is amended in paragraph (1) (A) thereof by striking out “part I, II, or III” and inserting in lieu thereof “part I (other than a common carrier by railroad), part II, or part III”. (b) Part I of the Interstate Commerce Act is amended by inserting after section 5a thereof a new section 5b as follows: “agreements between carriers subject to part i “Sec. 5b. (1) As used in this sect ion, the term— “(a) ‘affiliate’ means any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control or ownership with, any other person, and as used in this subdivision, the term (i) ‘control’ has the same meaning as in section 1(3) (b) of this part; and (ii) ‘ownership’ refers to equity holdings of 5 per centum or more in any business entity; “(b) ‘antitrust laws’ means the Act of July 2, 1890, as amended (15 U.S.C. 1, et seq.), the Act of October 15, 1914, as amended (15 U.S.C. 12, et seq.), the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41, et seq.), sections 73 and 74 of the Act of August 27, 1894, as amended (15 U.S.C. 8 and 9), and chapter 592 of the Act of June 19, 1936, as amended (15 U.S.C. 13, 13a, 13b, 21a); and “(c) ‘carrier’ means any common carrier by railroad subject to part I of this Act. 90 STAT. 43 “(2) Any carrier which is a party to an agreement, between or among two or more carriers, relating to rates, fares, classification, divisions, allowances, or charges (including charges between carriers and compensation paid or received for the use of facilities and equipment), or rules and regulations pertaining thereto, or procedures for the joint consideration, initiation, or establishment thereof, shall, under such rules and regulations as the Commission shall prescribe, apply to the Commission for approval of such agreement. The Commission shall, by order, approve any such agreement if approval thereof is not prohibited by paragraph (4) or (5) and if it finds that, by reason of furtherance of the national transportation policy declared in this Act, the relief provided in paragraph (8) should apply with respect to the making and carrying out of such agreement; otherwise the application shall lie denied. No such approval shall be granted or continued (a) if any of the terms and conditions which are prescribed under the last sentence of this paragraph are violated or not complied with, or (b) unless the Commission receives a verified written statement (and any written supplement or addendum thereto requested by the Commission) setting forth, with respect to each carrier which is a party to such agreement (i) its name, (ii) the mailing address and telephone number of its headquarter’s office, (iii) the names of each of its affiliates, (iv) the names, addresses, and affiliations of each of its officers and directors and of each person who, together with any affiliate, owns or controls any debt, equity, or security interest in it having a value of $1,000,000 or more, and (v) such other information as the Commission directs to lie included. The approval of the Commission shall be granted only upon such terms and conditions as the Commission determines are necessary to enable its approval to be granted in accordance with the standard set forth in this paragraph. “(3) Each conference, bureau, committee, or other organization established or continued pursuant to any agreement approved by the Commission under the provisions of this section shall maintain such accounts, records, files, and memoranda and shall submit to the Commission such reports, as may lie prescribed by the Commission. All such accounts, records, files, and memoranda shall be subject to inspection by the Commission or its duly authorized representatives. The Commission may conduct investigations, make reports, issue subpoenas, conduct hearings, require the production of relevant documents, records, and property, copy and verify the correctness of information subject to inspection, and take depositions (a) to determine whether any such conference, bureau, committee, or other organization, or any carrier which is a party to any such agreement, has acted or is acting in compliance with the provisions of this section, regulations issued under this section, and the public interest, (b) to determine whether any such organization or carrier is inhibiting an efficient utilization of transportation resources or has established practices which are inconsistent with efficient, flexible, and economic operation, and (c) for such other purposes as the Commission considers appropriate. “(4) The Commission shall not approve under this section any agreement which it finds is an agreement with respect to a pooling, division, or other matter or transaction to which section 5 of this part is applicable. “(5) (a) The Commission shall not approve under this section any agreement which establishes a procedure for the determination of any matter through joint consideration, unless it finds that under the agreement there is accorded to each party the free and unrestrained right to take independent action, without fear of any sanction or retal-90 STAT. 44iatory action, at any time before or after any determination arrived at through such procedure. In no event shall any conference, bureau, committee, or other organization established or continued pursuant to any agreement approved by the Commission under the provisions of this section— “(i) permit participation in agreements with respect to, or any voting on, single-line rates, allowances, or charges established by any carrier; “(ii) permit any carrier to participate in agreements with respect to, or to vote on, rates, allowances, or charges relating to any particular interline movement, unless such carrier can practicably participate in such movement; or “(iii) permit, provide for, or establish any procedure for joint consideration or any joint action to protest or otherwise seek the suspension of any rate or classification filed by a carrier of the same mode pursuant to section 15(7) of this part where such rate or classification is established by independent action. As used in clause (i) of this subdivision, a single-line rate, allowance, or charge is one that is proposed by a single carrier applicable only over its own line and as to which the service (exclusive of terminal services provided by switching, drayage, or other terminal carriers or agencies) can be performed by such carrier. “(b) The limitations set forth in subdivision (a) shall not be applicable to— “(i) general rate increases or decreases, if the agreements accord the shipping public, under specified procedures, adequate notice of at least 15 days of such proposals and an opportunity to present comments thereon, in writing or otherwise, prior to the filing with the Commission of the tariffs containing such increases or decreases, or “(ii) broad tariff changes if such changes are of general application or substantially general application throughout a territory or territories within which such changes are to be applicable. In any proceeding in which it is alleged that a carrier voted or agreed upon a rate, allowance, or charge, in violation of the provisions of this section, the party alleging such violation shall have the burden of showing that such vote or agreement occurred. A showing of parallel behavior is not, by itself, sufficient to satisfy such burden. “(6) (a) The Commission is authorized, upon complaint or upon its own initiative without complaint, to investigate and determine whether any agreement previously approved by it under this section, or terms and conditions upon which such approval was granted, is not or are not in conformity with the standards set forth in paragraph (2) and with the public interest, and whether any such terms and conditions are not necessary or whether any additional or modified terms and conditions are necessary for purposes of conformity with such standard. After any such investigation the Commission shall, by order, terminate or modify its approval of such an agreement if it finds such action necessary to insure conformity with such standard, and shall modify the terms and conditions upon which such approval was granted to the extent it finds necessary to insure conformity with such standard or to the extent to which it finds such terms and conditions not necessary to insure such conformity. The effective date of any order terminating or modifying approval, or modifying terms and conditions, shall be postponed for such period as the Commission determines to be reasonably necessary to avoid undue hardship. 90 STAT. 45 “(b) The Commission shall periodically, but not less than once every 3 years, review each agreement which the Commission has by order approved under this section to determine whether such agreement, or any conference, bureau, committee, or other organization established or continued pursuant to such agreement, still conforms with the standard set forth in paragraph (2) and the public interest, and to evaluate the success and effect upon the consuming public and the national rail freight transportation system of such agreement and organization. The Commission shall report to the President and to the Congress on the results of such reviews, as part of its annual report pursuant to section 21. If the Commission makes a determination that any such agreement or organization is no longer in conformity with such standard, the Commission shall by order terminate or suspend its approval thereof. “(7) No order shall be entered under this section except after interested parties have been afforded a reasonable opportunity for a hearing. “(8) Parties to any agreement approved by the Commission under this section and other persons are, if the approval of such agreement is no prohibited by paragraph (4) or (5), hereby relieved from the operation of the antitrust laws with respect to the making of such agreement, and with respect to the carrying out of such agreement in conformity with its provisions and in conformity with the terms and conditions prescribed by the Commission. “(9) Any action of the Commission under this section (a) in approving an agreement, (b) in denying an application for such approval, (c) in terminating or modifying such approval, (d) in prescribing the terms and conditions upon which such approval is to be granted, or (e) in modifying such terms and conditions, shall be construed as having effect solely with reference to the applicability of the relief provisions of paragraph (8). “(10) The Federal Trade Commission, in consultation with the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, shall periodically prepare an assessment of, and shall report to the Commission on (a) any possible anticompetitive features of (i) any agreements approved or submitted for approval under this section, and (ii) any conferences, bureaus, committees, or other organizations operating under such agreements, and (b) possible ways to eliminate or alleviate any such anticompetitive features, effects, or aspects in a manner that will further the goals of the national transportation policy and this Act. The Commission shall make such reports available to the public. “(11) Any conference, bureau, committee, or other organization established or continued pursuant to any agreement approved by the Commission under this section shall make a final disposition with respect to any rule, rate, or charge docketed with such organization within 120 days after such proposal is docketed.”.