STB's Buttrey Leaving March 13

W. Douglas Buttrey, one of two Republican appointees on the three-person Surface Transportation Board, will leave his post March 13 as a commissioner at the railroad industry's economic regulatory agency.

Buttrey's term expired Dec. 31, but STB members may stay on up to a year longer if no new presidential appointee is ready to take the job.

President Obama has yet to choose a Democratic nominee for the position, which is subject to Senate confirmation, and Buttrey had said he would stay on for a limited time into this year as the board settles some important cases he has worked on.

Buttrey, a former senior lobbyist for FedEx and a onetime counsel to a Senate subcommittee, was named to the board Nov. 17, 2003, by President Bush and took office the following May. In January 2006 he became STB chairman, and held that job until Charles D. Nottingham was sworn in as chairman that August.

Both Nottingham and Vice Chairman Francis P. Mulvey, the lone Democratic appointee, praised their colleague in personal tones as well for the quality of his STB work. The three have almost always managed to sign onto the case decisions together, even as they tackled far-reaching issues.

In recent months, they approved Canadian National Railway's controversial acquisition of a Chicago-area short line, although both Buttrey and Mulvey added notes saying they would have preferred to set tougher conditions. This week the three hit BNSF Railway with the STB's largest penalty ever on a railroad, saying it greatly overcharged a utility for its coal transportation.

The board still has some major cases awaiting action, so Buttrey's remaining few weeks could see his name on more decisions.