WASHINGTON — Surface Transportation Board Commissioner W. Douglas Buttrey announced that he will conclude his term on the Board on March 13.
Buttrey was nominated to serve on the Board by President George W. Bush on Nov. 17, 2003, for a five-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2008. On Aug. 28, 2008, Buttrey announced that he would hold over for a period into 2009 for the Board to complete certain pending matters. The Board’s governing statute permits a Board member to serve for up to one year after the end of the Member’s term, unless a successor is appointed.
Since Buttrey’s announcement in August, the Board has held five public meetings and has acted on several pending matters including: issuing the Final EIS and approval of the CN merger with the EJ&E in which Buttrey included an expression noting the necessary mitigation to assure a continued high quality of life for the residents living in suburban Chicago; modifying the simplified standards previously approved by the Board to provide better shipper access to the Board’s rate adjudication processes; modifying the methodology for determining the railroad industry’s cost of capital; re-establishing rail service for a group of shippers in the Pacific Northwest; and approving the largest ever award to shippers in a rate reasonableness case.
“Doug Buttrey’s leadership, judgment and broad experience in transportation and logistics will be greatly missed,” Board Chairman Charles D. Nottingham said. “He is the consummate gentleman and public servant who played a critical role in developing the collegial, impartial and bipartisan atmosphere that has helped the Surface Transportation Board to implement a reform agenda that will continue to advance the public interest far beyond Doug’s tenure.”
