[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 118 (Monday, June 23, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 26619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11418]


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NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD (NTSB)


Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice describes the NTSB's plans to address criminally 
liable regulatory offenses under the recent executive order on Fighting 
Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations. The NTSB is ``an 
independent establishment of the United States Government.'' 49 U.S.C. 
1111(a). It is not a regulatory agency.

ADDRESSES:  NTSB Office of General Counsel, 490 L'Enfant Plaza East SW, 
Washington, DC 20594.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise D'Avella, (202) 314-6080, 
[email protected].

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 NTSB advises the public that 
by May 9, 2026, the NTSB, 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 (meaning a Federal regulation that is enforceable by a 
criminal penalty) enforceable by the NTSB 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 (meaning the state of mind that by law must be proven to 
convict a particular defendant of a particular crime) for the criminal 
regulatory offense. At the same time, per the E.O. 14294, the NTSB will 
publicly post the report on its agency website, http://www.ntsb.gov, 
and update the report periodically, but not less than once a year.
    Also as required by Section 7 of E.O. 14294, this notice announces 
a general policy, subject to appropriate exceptions and to the extent 
consistent with law, that when the NTSB is deciding whether to refer 
alleged violations of criminal regulatory offenses to DOJ, officers and 
employees of the NTSB 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.
    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.

William T. McMurry, Jr.,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2025-11418 Filed 6-20-25; 8:45 am]
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