[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2604 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2604

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide that rail agreements 
  and transactions subject to approval by the Surface Transportation 
Board are no longer exempt from the application of the antitrust laws, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2000

 Mr. Dorgan (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide that rail agreements 
  and transactions subject to approval by the Surface Transportation 
Board are no longer exempt from the application of the antitrust laws, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rail Competition Enforcement Act''.

SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF EXEMPTION.

    (a) In General.--Section 10706 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``Board, and the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1, 
        et seq.), the Clayton Act (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 Wilson Tariff Act (15 U.S.C. 8 and 9), and the Act of 
        June 19, 1926 (15 U.S.C. 13, 13a, 13b, 21a) do not apply to 
        parties and other persons with respect to making or carrying 
        out the agreement. However,'' in subsection (a)(2)(A) and 
        inserting ``Board, however'';
            (2) by striking the second sentence of subsection (a)(4);
            (3) by striking ``However, the'' in subsection (a)(4) and 
        inserting ``The'';
            (4) by striking ``Board, and the antitrust laws set forth 
        in paragraph (2) of this subsection do not apply to parties and 
        other persons with respect to making or carrying out the 
        agreement.'' in subsection (a)(5) and inserting ``Board.''; and
            (5) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(e) Application of Antitrust Laws.--
            ``(1) In general.--Nothing in this section exempts a 
        proposed agreement described in subsection (a) from the 
        application of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), the 
        Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.), the Federal Trade 
        Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), section 73 or 74 of the 
        Wilson Tariff Act (15 U.S.C. 8 and 9), or the Act of June 19, 
        1926 (15 U.S.C. 13, 13a, 13b, 21a).
            ``(2) Antitrust analysis to consider impact.--In reviewing 
        any such proposed agreement for the purpose of any provision of 
        law described in paragraph (1), the Board and any other 
        reviewing agency shall take into account, inter alia, the 
        impact of the proposed agreement on shippers and on affected 
        communities.''.
    (b) Combinations.--Section 11321 of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The authority'' in subsection (a) and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in section 11 of the Clayton Act 
        (15 U.S.C. 21(a)), the authority'';
            (2) by striking ``is exempt from the antitrust laws and 
        from all other law,'' and inserting ``is exempt from all other 
        law (except the antitrust laws),''; and
            (3) by adding at the end thereof the following:
    ``(c) Application of Antitrust Laws.--
            ``(1) In general.--Nothing in this section exempts a 
        transaction described in subsection (a) from the application of 
        the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), the Clayton Act (15 
        U.S.C. 12 et seq.), the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
        41 et seq.), section 73 or 74 of the Wilson Tariff Act (15 
        U.S.C. 8 and 9), or the Act of June 19, 1926 (15 U.S.C. 13, 
        13a, 13b, 21a).
            ``(2) Antitrust analysis to consider impact.--In reviewing 
        any such transaction for the purpose of any provision of law 
        described in paragraph (1), the Board and any other reviewing 
        agency shall take into account, inter alia, the impact of the 
        transaction on shippers and on affected communities.''.
    (c) Clayton Act.--
            (1) Application of act.--Section 7 of the Clayton Act (15 
        U.S.C. 18) is amended by striking ``Surface Transportation 
        Board,'' in the last paragraph of that section.
            (2) FTC enforcement.--Section 11(a) of the Clayton Act (15 
        U.S.C. 21(a)) is amended by striking ``title 49, United States 
        Code;'' and inserting ``title 49, United States Code (except 
        for agreements described in section 10706 of that title and 
        transactions described in section 11321 of that title);''.
    (d) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) The heading for section 10706 is amended to read as 
        follows:
``Sec.  10706. Rate agreements''.
            (2) The chapter analysis for chapter 107 of title 49, 
        United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to 
        section 10706 and inserting the following:

``10706. Rate agreements.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by section 2 apply to any agreement or 
transaction submitted to the Surface Transportation Board after 
December 31, 1999.
                                 <all>