Hepburn Act of 1906, United States
Published: September 4, 2008, 10:22 pm
Updated: September 4, 2008, 10:22 pm
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor:
Cutler J. ClevelandAs a reaction of the Standard Oil Company’s monopolization of the oil industry, and hence its control of the national oil price, the United States Congress passed the Hepburn Act in 1906. The Act prohibited railroads from hauling commodities that they had produced or mined, except for supplies necessary for their own use; this section of the Act became known as the Commodities Clause.
The Act also defined pipelines, storage facilities, terminals, bridges, and ferries as common carriers (see Common Carrier Clause), a definition that placed them under the control of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The Act strengthened the ICC by giving it the ability to define railroad rates; however, it didn’t have a large affect before World War I since the ICC did not intervene actively in the establishments of rates at this time. The Supreme Court of the United States declared the Common Carrier Clause unconstitutional in 1914 after it was disputed in the courts with companies protesting the ICC’s tariff on major pipelines.
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Ida Kubiszewski PhD (Lead Author);Cutler J. Cleveland (Topic Editor) "Hepburn Act of 1906, United States". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth September 4, 2008; Last revised Date September 4, 2008; Retrieved May 24, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Hepburn_Act_of_1906,_United_States>
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Dr. Ida Kubiszewski is a Senior Lecturer at the Crawford School of Public Policy at Australian National University. She is also a co-founder and former-Managing Editor the Encyclopedia of Earth. Dr. Kubiszewki is currently working as the Managing Editor for a magazine/journal hybrid called Solutions. Solutions is an outlet for discussions focusing on solutions to the complex problems we are now facing in ... (Full Bio)
As a reaction of the Standard Oil Company’s monopolization of the oil industry, and hence its control of the national oil price, the United States Congress passed the Hepburn Act in 1906. The Act prohibited railroads from hauling commodities that they had produced or mined, except for supplies necessary for their own use; this section of the Act became known as the Commodities Clause.
The Act also defined pipelines, storage facilities, terminals, bridges, and ferries as common carriers (see Common Carrier Clause), a definition that placed them under the control of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The Act strengthened the ICC by giving it the ability to define railroad rates; however, it didn’t have a large affect before World War I since the ICC did not intervene actively in the establishments of rates at this time. The Supreme Court of the United States declared the Common Carrier Clause unconstitutional in 1914 after it was disputed in the courts with companies protesting the ICC’s tariff on major pipelines.
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