340
Opinion of the Court
The structure of § 11503 as a whole does yield an answer, one adverse to the Carlines' challenge to Oregon's property tax. We conclude that a State may grant exemptions from a generally applicable ad valorem property tax without exposing the taxation of railroad property to invalidation under subsection (b)(4).
Subsections (b)(1)-(3) of § 11503, as noted, forbid the imposition of higher property tax rates and assessment ratios upon "rail transportation property" than upon "other commercial and industrial property." 49 U. S. C. §§ 11503(b)(1)- (3). "Commercial and industrial property," which serves as the comparison class for measuring unlawful discrimination under those provisions, is defined as "property, other than transportation property and land used primarily for agricultural purposes or timber growing, devoted to a commercial or industrial use and subject to a property tax levy." § 11503(a)(4).
The interplay between subsections (b)(1)-(3) and the definition of "commercial and industrial property" in subsection (a)(4) is central to the interpretation of subsection (b)(4). For example, the definition of "commercial and industrial property" excludes "land used primarily for agricultural purposes." The fact that Congress made this particular exclusion demonstrates its intent to permit the States to tax railroad property at a higher rate than agricultural land, notwithstanding subsection (b)(3)'s general prohibition of rate discrimination. One still could maintain, we suppose, that taxing railroad property at a higher rate than agricultural land should be considered "another tax that discriminates against a rail carrier," and thus forbidden under subsection (b)(4). That interpretation, however, would subvert the statutory plan by reading subsection (b)(4) to prohibit what subsection (b)(3), in conjunction with subsection (a)(4), was designed to allow. The result would contravene the "elementary canon of construction that a statute should be interpreted so as not to render one part inoperative."
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