INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION
The first independent regulatory agency created by the federal government, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) regulated interstate surface transportation between 1887 and 1995.
Over its 108-year history, the agency regulated and certified trains, trucks, buses, water carriers, freight forwarders, pipelines, and many other elements of interstate transportation.
The ICC was created by the INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT of 1887 (24 Stat. 379 [49
U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq.]). The act created a five-person commission—later expanded to seven
and then to 11—to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Among the
commission’s first actions was the election of its
first president, THOMAS MCINTYRE COOLEY,a
noted legal scholar who had been nominated by
President GROVER CLEVELAND.
Congress established the ICC to control the
powerful railroad industry, then plagued by
monopolistic and unfair pricing practices that
often discriminated against smaller railroads
and businesses as well as individual consumers.
In its early years, the agency’s regulatory effec-
tiveness was severely limited by the courts,
which in many cases retained the ability to
review ICC rate rulings. The agency lost 15 of its
first 16 lawsuits against the railroads, and the
Supreme Court issued several decisions that
hampered its regulatory powers.
Later laws gave the agency’s rulings more
teeth. The Elkins Act of 1903 (32 Stat. 847)
allowed the ICC to punish shippers who prac-
ticed unfair competitive methods. The Hepburn
Act of 1906 (34 Stat. 584) gave the agency wider
powers to regulate railroad rates,making its rul-
ings binding without a court order. The act also
assigned to the ICC the oversight of all pipelines
other than gas and water.
Over the years, Congress changed the focus
and tasks of the ICC, gradually expanding its
regulatory powers. In 1893, it entrusted the
agency with the regulation of railroad safety.
Later, the Motor Carrier Act of 1935 (49 Stat.
543) gave the ICC authority to regulate inter-
state trucking and other highway transporta-
tion. The agency even regulated telephone and
telegraph communication from 1888 until 1934,
