Cite as: 511 U. S. 431 (1994)
Thomas, J., dissenting
comply with certain requirements of the Commission's regulations. Because I find nothing in the Interstate Commerce Act that expressly or impliedly gives the Commission such authority, I respectfully dissent.
I
The Interstate Commerce Act (Act), 49 U. S. C. § 10101 et seq., requires motor common carriers such as petitioner to publish and file with the Interstate Commerce Commission (Commission or ICC) tariffs containing their rates for transportation or other service under the Commission's jurisdiction, § 10762(a)(1), and forbids them to "charge or receive a different compensation for that transportation or service than the rate specified in the tariff," § 10761(a). In other words, common carriers must charge the filed rate and only the filed rate. This "filed rate doctrine" admits of few exceptions. As we have often stated, " '[d]eviation from [the filed rate] is not permitted upon any pretext. . . . This rule is undeniably strict and it obviously may work hardship in some cases, but it embodies the policy which has been adopted by Congress.' " Maislin Industries, U. S., Inc. v. Primary Steel, Inc., 497 U. S. 116, 127 (1990) (quoting Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Maxwell, 237 U. S. 94, 97 (1915)).
That much is not in dispute. Cf. ante, at 435; post, at 455. This case turns, not on an application of the filed rate doctrine per se, but on the extent of the Commission's authority to determine what rates and tariffs are "filed" or, in the terms of the statute, "in effect." 49 U. S. C. § 10761(a). ICC regulations permit a carrier to file a tariff that incorporates another entity's tariff by reference, provided that the carrier "participates" in that entity's tariff—that is, provided that the carrier maintains an effective concurrence or power of attorney with the publisher of the referenced tariff. See 49 CFR §§ 1312.27(e), 1312.30(c)(4), 1312.4(d) (1993). The regulatory provision at issue here, the so-called "void-fornonparticipation rule," provides that "[a]bsent effective con-
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