SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

The Surface Transportation Board today announced that, effective August 1, 2025, it has combined its two legal offices, the Office of Proceedings (OP) and the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), into one Office of Chief Counsel.  The Board combined these offices to streamline and improve drafting and review procedures, which will benefit the Board and the public.  The Board also issued a decision today granting interim delegations to the Office of Chief Counsel.

Previously, the Board had two legal offices:  the OGC, which provided legal advice to the Board on defensibility and other matters and defended the agency in court, and OP, which drafted agency decisions, processed filings and decisions, and administered the Board’s recordations database.  Anika Cooper will serve as the Board’s Chief Counsel, and in that role will continue to serve as General Counsel and will also hold the responsibilities previously held by the Director of the Office of Proceedings.

In today’s decision, the Board finds that:  all references in the Board’s regulations to OP or OGC will be treated as references to the Office of Chief Counsel; delegations to the Director of the Office of Proceedings will be deemed delegations to the Chief Counsel; and the responsibilities of the General Counsel under the regulations will be fulfilled by the Chief Counsel.  Pending regulatory revisions, today’s decision waives the Board’s rules as necessary to facilitate these changes.

Today’s decision also notes that correspondence and filings previously submitted to the Chief of the Section of Administration in the Office of Proceedings should now be directed to the Chief of Case Administration, Office of Chief Counsel, though the Board will continue to accept filings and correspondence addressed to either position.

The Office of Chief Counsel will also house the Board’s Chief of Passenger Rail and Investigations, who will lead the Board’s cross-disciplinary passenger rail flex team.  When a docket is initiated, a team will be formed to leverage expertise from across the agency and nimbly respond to the needs of the case, as the Board does with other matters.  This team replaces the Office of Passenger Rail and ensures the Board can efficiently continue to fulfill its statutory passenger rail investigatory and adjudicatory responsibilities.

The Board’s decision in Interim Delegations, Docket No. EP 784, may be viewed and downloaded here.