Interstate Commerce Commission in United States

Interstate Commerce Commission Definition

A commission created by the interstate commerce act to enforce its provisions.

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A commission created by the interstate commerce act to enforce its provisions.

This definition of Interstate Commerce Commission is based on The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary. This entry needs to be proofread.

Interstate Commerce Commission

Introduction to Interstate Commerce Commission

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), the first independent agency of the United States government, established in 1887 by the Act to Regulate Commerce, now known as the Interstate Commerce Act. The ICC was an administrative and legal body that regulated commercial activity crossing state lines. The commission heard complaints and issued judgments in cases that involved surface transportation carriers such as railroads, trucks, and buses. In 1995 the Congress of the United States passed legislation that abolished the ICC, marking the end of an era in federal regulation of economic activity in the United States.

Congress created the ICC in the late 19th century after more than a decade of turmoil in the railroad industry. The troubles arose from a chaotic competitive environment, complaints of farmers about inequitable railroad freight charges, and an emerging patchwork of regulatory efforts by individual states. In an 1886 decision, Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad v. Illinois, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the states could not regulate interstate railroads, effectively shifting the burden of regulation to the federal government. Farmers and merchants supported the establishment of the ICC. So too did managers of many railroad corporations, who hoped federal regulation would offer more consistency and stability than either existing state rules or totally unrestrained competition.

The ICC derived its authority from Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States. This section, known as the Commerce Clause, gives Congress the power to regulate commercial activity between the states. The commission possessed only limited regulatory muscle until the first decades of the 20th century. At that time, broadened Supreme Court interpretations of the Commerce Clause and legislative amendments to the Interstate Commerce Act provided the ICC with the authority to set rates charged by railroads, determine profit levels within the railroad industry, and organize mergers between railroad companies. By the early 1950s, the jurisdiction of the commission extended to all types of surface transportation vehicles and channels, including railroads, ferries, bridges, internal waterways, coastal and intercoastal shipping activity, trucking, and bus transportation.

During the 1950s and 1960s, new regulatory powers granted to the ICC failed to halt the decline of railroads in the face of competition from airlines and the burgeoning interstate highway system. Business lobbyists incr
easingly saw the commission as a powerful symbol of regulatory excess. At the same time, representatives of consumer groups believed the commission kept transportation and shipping rates artificially high. They also argued that the commission had grown too close to industries it had been established to regulate. For example, the American Trucking Association maintained an office inside the ICC’s headquarter’s in Washington, D.C.

By the early 1980s, deregulation of the rail and trucking industries had stripped the ICC of most of its authority to set rates. The commission’s staff shrank from a peak of 2400 employees in the 1960s to fewer than 300 in the early 1990s. In 1995 Congressional passage of the ICC Sunset Act abolished the commission. The legislation created a new Surface Transportation Board in the Department of Transportation to perform the small number of regulatory tasks that had remained with the ICC. The commission issued its final order several days before Christmas, 1995, a permit for Santa Claus to operate “as a common carrier by two-runner sleigh” as long as he “renders reasonably continuous and adequate service to the public.” (1)

Introduction to Interstate Commerce Act, Interstate Commerce Commission, 1887

In the context of the legal history: A five member board that monitors the business operation of carriers transporting goods and people between states.

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in the U.S. Legal History

Summary

The first federal regulatory agency, established by passage of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 to regulate the railroads. The ICC’s powers were expanded to oversee other forms of transportation and communication.

Resources

In the context of the legal history:

See Also

• International Treaties
• Multilateral Treaties

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in the U.S. Legal History

Summary

The first federal regulatory agency, established by passage of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 to regulate the railroads. The ICC’s powers were expanded to oversee other forms of transportation and communication.

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Interstate Commerce Commission in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Interstate Commerce Commission

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Interstate Commerce Commission (icc) in the International Business Landscape

Definition of Interstate Commerce Commission (icc) in the context of U.S. international business and public trade policy: Federal commission that regulates interstate surface transportation, including trains, trucks, buses, inland waterway and coastal shipping, freight forwarders, and express companies.