460
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
Nor does the void-for-nonparticipation rule fit within the limited exception described in American Trucking for actions that directly and closely "further a specific statutory mandate," 467 U. S., at 367. The Commission says that its rule advances the ICC's "mandate to determine the information that is required to be disclosed in a tariff" to "ensure that tariffs reveal the applicable rates." Brief for United States et al. as Amici Curiae 24 (citing 49 U. S. C. §§ 10762(a)(1) and (b)(2)).3 But as the Seventh Circuit observed:
"[I]t is difficult to see how failure to [maintain in effect] a power of attorney [with the HGCB] would adversely affect the uniformity of pricing. The true purpose of the participation rule may be the facilitation of the ICC's ability to monitor the shipping market. Requiring that every publisher of a tariff list all the other carriers that have also signed onto that tariff enables the ICC to see, at a glance, how many carriers' rates are being controlled by a single tariff. Publishing that list provides no new information that is not available by inspecting each carrier's tariff individually—it simply collects it in one convenient place." Brizendine, supra, at 464.
Even if the Commission's action here furthered a statutory mandate, voiding a tariff after its effective date would not "be directly and closely tied to that mandate" under American Trucking. 467 U. S., at 367. Nullification of a rate can be an extremely harsh remedy, for it "renders the tariff void ab initio. As a result, whatever tariff was in effect prior to the adoption of the rejected rate becomes the applicable tar-3 Subsection 10762(a)(1) states that "[t]he Commission may prescribe other information that motor common carriers shall include in their tariffs"; subsection (b)(2) provides that "[t]he carriers that are parties to a joint tariff, other than the carrier filing it, must file a concurrence or acceptance of the tariff with the Commission but are not required to file a copy of the tariff."
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