(a) Appeal to the Board—(1) Petition to vacate or modify arbitration decision. A party appealing the arbitration decision shall file under seal a petition to modify or vacate the arbitration decision, setting forth its full argument for vacating or modifying the decision. The petition to vacate or modify the arbitration decision must be filed within 20 days from the date on which the arbitration decision was served on the parties. The party appealing must include both a redacted and unredacted copy of the arbitration decision. The petition shall be subject to the page limitations of § 1115.2(d) of this chapter.

(2) Replies. Replies to the petition shall be filed under seal within 20 days of the filing of the petition to vacate or modify with the Board. Replies shall be subject to the page limitations of § 1115.2(d) of this chapter.

(3) Content and confidentiality of filings; public docket. All submissions for appeals of the arbitration decision to the Board shall be filed under seal. After the party has submitted its filing to the Board under seal, the party shall prepare a public version of the filing with any information having an effect or impact on the marketplace redacted. A party may also attach to its petition or reply excerpts from any materials from the underlying arbitration record that are necessary support for its petition or reply. Such attachments will be treated as confidential and will not count toward the page limit set forth in 49 CFR 1115.2. The party will then provide the opposing party an opportunity to request further redactions. After consulting with the opposing party on redactions, the party shall file the public version with the Board for posting on its website.

(4) Service. Copies of the petition to vacate or modify and replies shall be served upon all parties in accordance with the Board's rules at part 1104 of this chapter. The appealing party shall also serve a copy of its petition to vacate or modify upon the arbitration panel.

(b) Board's standard of review. The Board's standard of review of arbitration decisions under this subpart shall be limited to determining only whether:

(1) The decision is consistent with sound principles of rail regulation economics;

(2) A clear abuse of arbitral authority or discretion occurred;

(3) The decision directly contravenes statutory authority; or

(4) The award limitation was violated.

(c) Relief available on appeal to the Board. Subject to the Board's limited standard of review as set forth in paragraph (b) of this section, the Board may affirm, modify, or vacate an arbitration award in whole or in part, with any modifications subject to the relief limits set forth in § 1108.28.

(d) Confidentiality of Board's decision on appeal—(1) Scope of confidentiality. The Board's decision will be public but shall maintain the confidentiality of the arbitration decision to the maximum extent possible, giving particular attention to avoiding the disclosure of information that would have an effect or impact on the marketplace, including the specific relief awarded by the arbitration panel, if any, or by the Board; or the origin-destination pair(s) involved in the arbitration.

(2) Opportunity to propose redactions to the Board decision. Before publishing the Board's decision, the Board shall serve only the parties with a confidential version of its decision in order to provide the parties with an opportunity to file confidential requests for redaction of the Board's decision.

(i) A request for redaction may be filed under seal within 5 days after the date on which the Board serves the parties with the confidential version of its decision.

(ii) The Board will publish its decision(s) on any requests for redaction in a way that maintains the confidentiality of any information the Board determines should be redacted.

(e) Reviewability of Board decision. Board decisions affirming, vacating, or modifying arbitration awards under this subpart are reviewable under the Hobbs Act, 28 U.S.C. 2321 and 2342.

(f) Appeals subject to the Federal Arbitration Act. Nothing in this subpart shall prevent parties to arbitration from seeking judicial review of arbitration awards in a court of appropriate jurisdiction pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. 9-13, in lieu of seeking Board review.

(g) Staying arbitration decision. The timely filing of a petition with the Board to modify or vacate the arbitration decision will not automatically stay the effect of the arbitration decision. A stay may be requested under § 1115.3(f) of this chapter.

(h) Enforcement. A party seeking to enforce an arbitration decision under this subpart must petition a court of appropriate jurisdiction under the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. 9-13.