Notice2025-11721
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 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior Department
Abstract
This notice describes the Department of the Interior's ("Department" or "DOI") plans to address criminally liable regulatory offenses under the Executive Order 14294, "Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations."
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 120 (Wednesday, June 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27050-27051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11721]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Solicitor
Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement
AGENCY: Office of the Solicitor, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice describes the Department of the Interior's
(``Department'' or ``DOI'') plans to address criminally liable
regulatory offenses under the Executive Order 14294, ``Fighting
Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kasie Durkit, Office of the Solicitor,
1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240; telephone 202-208-4423.
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
[[Page 27051]]
publish guidance in the Federal Register describing its plan for how it
will address its regulations that provide for criminal liability for
regulatory offenses.
Consistent with that requirement, the Department advises the public
that by May 9, 2026, the Department, 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\ in DOI's regulations that are enforceable by
DOI 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
Department is deciding whether to refer alleged violations of criminal
regulatory offenses to DOJ, officers and employees of the Department
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 or
her knowledge or lack thereof of the regulation at issue.
Department-Specific Implementation Plan
Consistent with E.O. 14294 and the general policy set forth above,
the following actions will be undertaken:
a. The Department will review its regulations for all criminal
regulatory offenses enforceable by the agency or the DOJ, including the
applicable statutory authorities, the range of potential criminal
penalties for a violation, and the applicable mens rea standard for
each criminal regulatory offense.
b. The Department will review the identified regulatory offenses
and associated processes for compliance with the principles articulated
in E.O. 14294. The Department will evaluate whether regulatory or
procedural changes are necessary to ensure the public has adequate
notice of the offenses and that the mens rea identified for each
regulatory offense is appropriate.
c. The Department will make recommendations to the Secretary on
actions to further the principles articulated in E.O. 14294 and the
general policy set forth above, as well as take all measures legally
permissible and procedurally appropriate to implement such actions.
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.
Damon A. Hagan,
Deputy Solicitor for General Law.
[FR Doc. 2025-11721 Filed 6-23-25; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4334-CC-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 25, 2025.
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