Rail

STB Moves to Shield Rail Infrastructure From State, Local Curbs

The Surface Transportation Board is signaling tighter federal oversight of state and local restrictions affecting rail-served facilities, issuing a policy statement that questions earlier agency decisions on privately owned terminals and rail infrastructure projects.

The STB outlined arguments for treating government or private efforts to seize railroad rights-of-way as categorically preempted, potentially sidestepping detailed case-by-case reviews of operational impacts.

The agency established a two-part test to determine whether regulations nominally targeting rail customers actually restrict common-carrier rail service. Regulators will examine whether facilities receive or tender rail service and whether government actions restrict that service's volume, frequency, timing, configuration or commodity mix.

The statement consolidates existing law while suggesting stronger federal protection for rail infrastructure access. However, the STB stopped short of issuing binding determinations, leaving individual disputes subject to their specific facts and circumstances.