advertisement

---

Yesterday, the Surface Transportation Board appointed Clyde Hart Jr. to mediate a rate dispute between the Western Fuels Association Inc. and Basin Electric Power Cooperative Inc., and Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

Hart serves as vice president of government affairs for the American Bus
Association (ABA). He previously served as the acting administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration, senior counsel of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, attorney for the former Interstate Commerce Commission and a private attorney

"[Hart] brings a wealth of experience to this case," said STB Chairman Roger Nober in a prepared statement. "He is scrupulously fair and will quickly earn the parties' respect."

Western Fuels and Basin Electric are disputing BNSF's rates to move unit coal trains between Powder River Basin mines in Campbell and Converse counties, Wyo., and an electric generating station near Moba Junction, Wyo.