[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 117 (Friday, June 20, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 26402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11384]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

[Docket No. EP 783]


Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation Board (Board) hereby gives notice 
of its plans to address criminally liable regulatory offenses under the 
recent executive order on Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal 
Regulations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Zimmerman at (202) 245-0386. If 
you require an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 
please call (202) 245-0245.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 9, 2025, the President issued 
Executive Order (E.O.) 14294, Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal 
Regulations. 90 FR 20,363 (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 Board advises the public that 
by May 9, 2026, the Board, 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 Board 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This notice also announces a general policy, subject to appropriate 
exceptions and to the extent consistent with law, that when the Board 
is deciding whether to refer alleged violations of criminal regulatory 
offenses to DOJ, officers and employees of the Board should consider, 
among other factors:
     the harm or risk of harm, pecuniary or otherwise, caused 
by the alleged offense;
     the potential gain to the putative defendant that could 
result from the offense;
     whether the putative defendant held specialized knowledge, 
expertise, or was licensed in an industry related to the rule or 
regulation at issue; and
     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.
    The Board's regulations contain very few references to potential 
criminal referrals. In general, Board regulations that permit criminal 
enforcement pertain to situations where an individual knowingly or 
willfully provides false information to the Board, thereby violating 
federal statutes that prohibit and criminalize perjury and other 
knowing or willful misrepresentations and omissions made to the 
government.
    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.
    Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has designated this policy guidance as 
non-major, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). Executive Order 12866, as 
modified by Executive Order 14215, provides that OIRA will review all 
significant rules. OIRA has determined that this policy guidance is not 
significant.
    This action is categorically excluded from environmental review 
under 49 CFR 1105.6(c)(6).

    Decided: June 17, 2025.

    By the Board, Board Members Fuchs, Hedlund, Primus, and Schultz.
Kenyatta Clay,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2025-11384 Filed 6-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P