California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a petition asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a federal ruling affirming Mendocino Railway as a Class III rail carrier under exclusive federal jurisdiction.
Mendocino Railway President Robert Pinoli did not respond to a request for comment.
The petition, filed Nov. 25 on behalf of the California Coastal Commission, seeks review of a Sept. 26 Surface Transportation Board decision confirming the railway’s carrier status and extending to it the protections of federal preemption. Those protections can limit the ability of state and local governments to enforce requirements that conflict with federal rules on rail operations or track construction.
The appeal names the Surface Transportation Board and the United States as respondents. It argues the STB’s ruling was unlawful and should be set aside.
Dispute Centers On Interstate Commerce
At the heart of the Commission’s challenge is whether Mendocino Railway provides transportation “as part of the interstate rail network.” The Commission argues the STB failed to adequately address that question.
The agency contends Mendocino Railway’s operations are confined to Mendocino County and that its only physical connection to the interstate rail system has been inactive for more than 25 years. It agency has previously argued the company has not shown evidence of hauling freight or carrying non-excursion or non-local passengers in the two decades since it acquired the line. Even if some freight movements occurred, the Commission says, they were too minimal to constitute interstate commerce.
Federal Authority vs. State Regulation
Mendocino Railway sought the STB’s declaratory ruling in July, saying it needed confirmation of its status due to “recent legal challenges by local municipalities and state agencies” that it said threatened its financial stability.
The STB sided with the railway, ruling that Mendocino Railway became a rail carrier with a common-carrier obligation when it purchased the assets of the California Western Railroad in 2004. The Board rejected the Commission’s argument that a failure to provide freight service could negate the company’s carrier status.
“A rail carrier does not lose its status as a common carrier by not providing freight rail service,” the STB wrote, adding that the obligation cannot be terminated without formal abandonment or discontinuance authorization from the Board. The agency also noted that once an entity becomes a rail carrier, its status is not affected by periods of inactivity.
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, a national trade group, supported the STB’s decision, arguing that a ruling against Mendocino Railway could have sweeping implications for small railroads nationwide.
The state’s petition was filed by Deputy Attorney General Patrick Tuck, under the supervision of Bonta, Senior Assistant Attorney General Daniel A. Olivas and Supervising Deputy Attorney General David G. Alderson. The filing met the 60-day deadline to challenge the Sept. 26 decision.
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