Notice2025-11503
Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 23, 2025
Issuing agencies
Federal Communications Commission
Abstract
This notice describes the Federal Communications Commission's ("FCC" or "Agency") plans to address criminally liable regulatory offenses pursuant to the recent executive order on Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 118 (Monday, June 23, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 118 (Monday, June 23, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26583-26584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11503]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[FR ID 300182; DA 25-521]
Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission, Enforcement Bureau.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice describes the Federal Communications Commission's
(``FCC'' or ``Agency'') plans to address criminally liable regulatory
offenses pursuant to the recent executive order on Fighting
Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hunter Deeley, Acting Chief of Staff,
Enforcement Bureau, 202-418-7450.
[[Page 26584]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 9, 2025, the President issued
Executive Order (``E.O.'') 14294, Fighting Overcriminalization in
Federal Regulations. 90 FR 20363 (published May 14, 2025). Section 7 of
E.O. 14294 provides that within 45 days of the order, and in
consultation with the Attorney General, each agency should publish
guidance in the Federal Register describing its plan to address
criminally liable regulatory offenses.
Consistent with that requirement, the FCC advises the public that
by May 9, 2026, the Agency, in consultation with the Attorney General,
will provide to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
(``OMB'') a report containing: (1) a list of all criminal regulatory
offenses \1\ enforceable by the FCC or the Department of Justice
(``DOJ''); and (2) for each such criminal regulatory offense, the range
of potential criminal penalties for a violation and the applicable mens
rea standard \2\ for the criminal regulatory offense.
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\1\ ``Criminal regulatory offense'' means a Federal regulation
that is enforceable by a criminal penalty. E.O. 14294, sec. 3(b).
\2\ ``Mens rea'' means the state of mind that by law must be
proven to convict a particular defendant of a particular crime. E.O.
14294, sec. 3(c).
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This notice also announces a general policy, subject to appropriate
exceptions and to the extent consistent with law, that when the FCC is
deciding whether to refer alleged violations of criminal regulatory
offenses to DOJ, officers and employees of the FCC should consider,
among other factors:
<bullet> the harm or risk of harm, pecuniary or otherwise, caused
by the alleged offense;
<bullet> the potential gain to the putative defendant that could
result from the offense;
<bullet> whether the putative defendant held specialized knowledge,
expertise, or was licensed in an industry related to the rule or
regulation at issue; and
<bullet> evidence, if any is available, of the putative defendant's
general awareness of the unlawfulness of his conduct as well as his
knowledge or lack thereof of the regulation at issue.
This general policy is not intended to, and does not, create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in
equity by any party against the United States, its departments,
agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other
person.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-11503 Filed 6-20-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 23, 2025.
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