Edwin Kessler, et al v. STB, No. 09-1161 (D.C. Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePetitioners sought review of an order of the Surface Transportation Board ("STB") granting BNSF Railway Co. ("BNSF") an exemption from the procedures in the Interstate Commerce Act ("ICA"), 49 U.S.C. 10903-10904, for abandoning a rail line. At issue was whether the STB's decision to exempt the middle segment of the Chickasha Line from the procedures set out in section 10904 was arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion and whether the STB's decision was inconsistent with the agency's own regulations under 49 C.F.R. 1152.50(d)(3). The court held that it was not arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion for the STB to exempt the middle segment from section 10904 where there was no shipper in the middle segment and abandonment of that section could adversely affect only shippers located in the eastern and western segments. The court also held that it would give deference to the STB's interpretation of its own regulation.
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