Nottingham Will Not Seek Second STB Term

The lone Republican on the Surface Transportation Board, which regulates most types of economic issues involving railroads and their shippers, said he will not seek reappointment after his term ends Dec. 31.

Charles D. Nottingham was appointed as STB chairman in 2006 by President Bush, and led the three-person regulatory agency until March 12, 2009, when President Obama designated Democratic STB member Francis P. Mulvey as acting chairman and thereby made Nottingham a regular voting member. Later that year, Obama named Daniel R. Elliott to the chairmanship.

By The Numbers: U.S. Rail Cargo.

It is not clear when Nottingham will actually leave the board since he could stay in place up to a year past the term’s expiration if no successor has been named to fill the vacancy. The STB only said that “Nottingham will announce a specific departure date at a later time.”

Except in times of a vacancy, the board usually is made up of two members from the president’s political party, including the chairman, and the third member from the other major party. The law says no more than two of the three may be appointed from the same party.

Nottingham was a former chief of staff to two Virginia congressmen, before serving as Virginia’s transportation commissioner between 1998 and 2002. For the next four years, he was at the Federal Highway Administration as associate administrator for policy and governmental affairs, where he helped develop the Bush surface transportation reauthorization plan.

-- Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com.