The Surface Transportation Board has announced the speakers for the Board’s June 10, 2015 public hearing, Rail Transportation of Grain, Rate Regulation Review, Docket No. EP 665 (Sub-No. 1), to explore the issue of making the Board’s rate-case process “more accessible to railroad shippers of grain.”
STB says the purpose of the hearing is “to further examine issues related to the accessibility of rate-complaint procedures for grain shippers, and to provide interested persons and parties the opportunity to comment on modifications to existing procedures and alternative rate-relief methodologies proposed during the public comment period.” The speakers are:
• United States Department of Agriculture: Under Secretary Edward Avalos; Deputy Under Secretary Gary Woodward
• Montana Department of Agriculture: Cort Jensen, Chief Legal Counsel; Benjamin Tiller, Staff Attorney
• Association of American Railroads: Timothy J. Strafford, Counsel; John T. Gray, Senior Vice President, Policy & Economics
• National Grain and Feed Association: Kevin Thompson, Chairman, Rail Shipper/Receiver Committee and Assistant Vice President and Transportation Lead for Cargill Inc.; Bruce Sutherland, Vice President, Michigan Agricultural Commodities; Thomas D. Crowley, President, L.E. Peabody & Associates, Inc.; Thomas W. Wilcox, Principal, GKG Law, P.C.
• Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences: Dr. Richard Schmalensee, Dean Emeritus, MIT Sloan School of Management
• Union Pacific: Louise A. Rinn, Associate General Counsel
• BNSF: John H. Miller, Group Vice President for Agriculture; Jill Mulligan, Associate General Counsel, Regulatory
• CN: Theodore K. Kalick, Senior U.S. Regulatory Counsel
• Norfolk Southern: Patrick J. Simonic, Group Vice President-Agriculture, Fertilizer and Consumer Products; John M. Scheib, General Counsel-Commerce
• CSX Transportation: Timothy McNulty, Assistant Vice President Sales and Marketing
• Canadian Pacific: James Clements, Vice President Strategic Planning and Transportation Services; Charles W. Webster, Counsel
• Alliance for Rail Competition: Terry Whiteside, Registered Practitioner, Whiteside & Associates; G.W. Fauth, III, President, G. W. Fauth & Associates, Inc.; John M. Cutler, Jr., Counsel
• Growth Energy: Chris Bliley, Director, Regulatory Affairs
• Michigan Agri-Business Association: James E. Byrum, President
• TTMS Group: Kevin Kaufman, Managing Partner
• SMART-Transportation Division, General Committee of Adjustment (GO-386): Gordon P. MacDougall, Counsel
The hearing begins at 9:30 am at STB’s Washington, D.C. headquarters in the Patriots Plaza I building, 395 E Street, S.W. A live video broadcast of the hearing will be available at the Board’s website, under “Information Center:/Webcast /Live Video” on the home page.