(a) With respect to transportation of agricultural products (including grain, as defined in 7 U.S.C. 75, and all products thereof) and fertilizer, a rail carrier shall publish, make available, and retain for public inspection its currently effective rates, schedules of rates, charges, and other service terms, and any scheduled changes to such rates, charges, and service terms. This requirement is in addition to the requirements imposed by §§1300.2, 1300.3, and 1300.4 of this part.

(b) The information published under this section must include an accurate description of the services offered to the public; must provide the specific applicable rates (or the basis for calculating the specific applicable rates), charges, and service terms; and must be arranged in a way that allows for the determination of the exact rate, charges, and service terms applicable to any given shipment (or to any given group of shipments). Increases, reductions and other changes must be symbolized or highlighted in some way to facilitate ready identification of the changes, the nature of those changes and their effective dates.

(c) A rail carrier must make the information available at offices where it normally keeps rate information. Access to the information at such offices must be provided to any person, without charge, during normal business hours. If a rail carrier is a Class I rail carrier, it must also make the information readily available online to any person without charge. Class I rail carriers may require persons accessing such information to register, but such registration requirements may not be overly burdensome, must provide timely access to the information, and cannot prevent specific types of persons from obtaining the information. Persons having difficulty accessing the information required by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section may either send a written inquiry addressed to the Director, Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance or telephone the Board's Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance.

(d) A rail carrier must also make the required publications available to all persons (hereinafter referred to as subscribers) who have subscribed to a publication service operated either by the rail carrier itself or by an agent acting at the rail carrier's direction. Such publications may be made available either in printed or in electronic form as agreed to by the parties. Any scheduled changes must be published in a manner that provides timely notice to subscribers. A rail carrier may impose reasonable charges for such publications. Publications may be limited to the specific information requested by the subscriber, and charges for such limited publications should be set accordingly.

[61 FR 35140, July 5, 1996, as amended at 82 FR 31277, July 6, 2017]