Supporting Statement - Complaints (submitted)

2140-XXXX
January 2014
SUPPORTING STATEMENT – COMPLAINTS
A. Justification:
1. Why the collection is necessary. The Surface Transportation Board is, by statute,
responsible for the economic regulation of common carrier freight railroads and certain other
carriers operating in the United States. Under the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C. §§ 1010116106, and corresponding regulations, the Board has broad authority to hear and act upon
complaints. Shippers and other persons may bring claims for damages against railroads or other
carriers regulated by the Board by filing a complaint before the Board under the procedures set
forth in 49 C.F.R. § 1111 for claims under 49 U.S.C. §§ 10701-10707, 11101-11103, 1170111707 (rail), 14701-14707 (motor, water & intermediaries), and 15901-15906 (pipelines). The
Board’s collection of these complaints enables the Board to meet its statutory duty.
2. How the collection will be used. Persons seeking to file a claim for certain damages
against a railroad or other regulated carrier must file a complaint before the Board. For example,
a shipper may allege that railroads are charging unreasonable rates or that they are engaging in
unreasonable practices. See 49 U.S.C §§ 10701, 10704, 11701, 14701, 15901. The content of
the complaint is outlined in 49 C.F.R. § 1111(a). Upon the filing of a complaint, an adjudicatory
process is initiated similar to claims brought in federal court. The Board uses the information in
the complaint to help it adjudicate the claims raised in the complaint. Complaints are designated
as permanent records, and, accordingly, the Board retains them for 10 years, after which they are
transferred to the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration.
3. Extent of automated information collection. These documents may be e-filed on the
Board’s website, located at www.stb.dot.gov. With limited exceptions (as discussed in response
#10), these documents are publicly available on the Board’s website.
4. Identification of duplication. The information requested does not duplicate any other
information available to the Board or the public. No other federal agency has authority to
adjudicate these complaints, and no other agency collects this information.
5. Effects on small business. This collection does not have a significant economic effect
on a substantial number of small entities. Generally, complaints filed by, or filed against, small
entities are limited in nature. Complaints with the potential to have the largest economic effect
are rate reasonableness complaints, and these complaints are typically filed by large electric
utilities against large railroads.
6. Impact of less frequent collections. Congress provided for several causes of action,
and the Board is charged with adjudicating those causes of action through the complaint process.
Failure to allow regulated carriers, shippers, and other persons to make complaints before the
Board would eliminate the ability of the Board to fulfill its statutory mandate to adjudicate these

cases and would deprive shippers of their right to seek redress when carriers act in violation of a
statute.
7. Special circumstances. No special circumstances apply to this collection.
8. Compliance with 5 C.F.R. § 1320.8. As required, the Board published a notice
providing a 60-day comment period regarding this collection. See 78 Fed. Reg. 23826 (4/22/13).
No comments were received. A 30-day notice was published concurrently with this submission
to Office of Management and Budget (OMB). See 79 Fed. Reg. 2249 (1/13/14).
9. Payments or gifts to respondents. The Board does not provide any payment or gift to
respondents.
10. Assurance of confidentiality. This collection is generally available to the public as
filings on the Board’s website, located at
http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/WebFilingDate?openform. However, some of the
information collected may be protected and treated as confidential. At times, persons filing a
complaint before the Board, or responding to a complaint, may wish to file commercially
sensitive information. To protect such information, parties may mark documents or portions of
documents as “confidential” or “highly confidential” and simultaneously file a motion for a
protective order. 49 C.F.R. § 1104.14. Generally, the Board will issue a protective order
(sometimes with modifications), limiting access to confidential pleadings to parties who
demonstrate a need for the information, and adequately ensuring that the documents will be kept
confidential. In such circumstances, a redacted public version of the document will be posted on
the Board’s website in lieu of the document containing confidential information.
11. Justification for collection of sensitive information. No sensitive information of a
personal nature is requested.
12. Estimation of burden hours for respondents. The following information pertains to
the estimate of burden hours associated with this collection:
(1) Number of respondents: Four respondents filed complaints during Fiscal Year 2012 (FY
2012).
(2) Frequency of response: On occasion. (Five complaints were filed during FY 2012.)
(3) Annual hour burden per respondent and total for all respondents: Based on informal
feedback recently provided by a small sampling (less than five) of respondents, it is
estimated that it takes approximately 467 hours to prepare and file a complaint with the
Board. The resulting total hourly burden for this collection is estimated at 2,335 hours
(estimated hours per complaint (467) X number of FY 2012 complaints (5)).
For respondents, there is no Board-generated record keeping requirement associated with
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this collection.
13. Other costs to respondents: The total annual costs to respondents, or the “non-hour
burden” costs associated with this information collection, will consist of printing, copying,
mailing and messenger costs. Based on informal feedback recently provided by a small sampling
(less than five) of respondents, it is estimated that it will average approximately $1,462 per
complaint filing. (However, the actual costs to respondents will depend on the facts of each
filing situation.) In FY 2012, respondents made 5 filings. When multiplied by the estimated
average non-hourly costs, the total estimated cost for all respondents is, therefore, no more than
$7,310 (estimated “non-hour burden” cost per complaint ($1,462) X number of FY 2012
responses (5)).
14. Estimated costs to the Board: The total annual cost to the Board of this collection is
estimated at $943,828. This estimate is based on a cost study performed by the Board to
determine the cost to the Board of various Board functions. These cost studies are typically used
to determine the various fees set by the Board, including the fees for filing complaints. While the
Board generally sets its fees to capture the total cost of collection to the Board, the Board recently
reduced the fees for filing complaints. Nevertheless, the Board continues to track the full cost for
each type of complaint proceedings, and, therefore, staff is able to derive the estimated total
annual cost to the Board for this collection.
15. Changes in burden hours. This is an existing collection without a control number.
16. Plans for tabulation and publication: Generally, complaints are published on the
Board’s website, located at www.stb.dot.gov. However, as discussed above, when complaints
contain confidential information, only a public, redacted version is published on the Board’s
website.
17. Display of expiration date for OMB approval. There is no form associated with this
collection. When issued, the control number and expiration date for this collection will be
published in the Federal Register.
18. Exceptions to Certification Statement. Not applicable.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods:
Not applicable.

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