Surface Transportation Board

Structure of the Organization

The STB is based in Washington, D.C., and is led by three key board members who are appointed by presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. Each senior leader is placed with the organization for a designated term of service, and each executive's term is staggered to ensure consistent yet evolving leadership.

Operations of the STB are sustained by an extensive support staff and fall within six distinct offices of the organization: (1) the Office of the General Counsel provides legal advice to the board's top executives and defends the STB in court when its actions are legally challenged; (2) the Office of Economics is mainly responsible for collecting and reporting data, supporting STB decisions with economic and policy analysis, applying economic analysis to STB models and systems, and auditing Class I railroads; (3) the STB's Office of Environmental [Page 1292]Analysis is charged with performing environmental review of actions put forth before the agency to ensure compliance with U.S. environmental policy law and also makes recommendations to the STB regarding environmental issues and implications; (4) the Office of the Managing Director handles administrative matters of the agency, such as human resources, facility management, and budgeting; (5) the Office of Proceedings is the legal office of the STB; it is focused on researching issues pending before the STB, preparing draft decisions for the public record, tabulating case votes, and recording official outcomes; and (6) the Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance (OPAGAC), which functions as the agency's liaison with the public, managing outreach and serving as the STB's primary point of contact with the general public and with state and local governments, the media, and industry stakeholders.

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