1108.6—Arbitrators.
(a)
Arbitration shall be conducted by an arbitrator (or panel of arbitrators) selected, as provided herein, from a roster of persons (other than active government officials) experienced in rail transportation or economic issues similar to those capable of arising before the STB. The initial roster of arbitrators shall be established by the RSTAC in consultation with the Chairman of the STB, and shall contain not fewer than 21 names. The roster shall thereafter be maintained by the Chairman of the STB, who may augment the roster at any time to include other eligible arbitrators and may remove from the roster any arbitrators who are no longer available. The initial roster shall be published; thereafter the roster shall be available to the public, upon request, at all times. For each arbitrator on the roster, the roster shall disclose the level of the fee (or fee range) charged by that arbitrator.
(b)
The parties to a dispute may select an arbitrator (or panel of arbitrators) and submit the name(s) (and, if not already on the roster of arbitrators, the qualifications) of the agreed-upon person(s) in writing to the Chairman of the STB. Any person(s) so designated who is not already on the roster, if found to be qualified, will be added to the roster and may be used as the arbitrator(s) for that dispute.
(c)
If the parties cannot agree upon an arbitrator (or panel of arbitrators), then each party shall, using the roster of arbitrators, strike through the names of any arbitrators to whom they object, number the remaining arbitrators on the list in order of preference, and submit its marked roster to the Chairman of the STB. The Chairman will then designate the arbitrator (or panel of arbitrators, if mutually preferred by the parties) in order of the highest combined ranking of all of the parties to the arbitration.
(d)
The process of selecting an Arbitrator pursuant to this section shall be conducted confidentially following the completion of the Arbitration Commencement Procedures set forth in § 1108.7 hereof.
(e)
If, at any time during the arbitration process, a selected Arbitrator becomes incapacitated, unwilling or unable to fulfill his/her duties, or if both parties agree that the arbitrator should be replaced, a replacement Arbitrator will be promptly selected under the process set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.