Transportation Department,
The U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT) is amending its regulations regarding the hearing procedures available when the Department proposes a discretionary aviation consumer protection rulemaking declaring a practice to be unfair or deceptive. This final rule revises the hearing procedures established in 2022 to align them with the more robust due process protections originally set forth in 2020, ensuring the use of neutral hearing officers and the issuance of formal findings of fact. Further, this rule rescinds the 2023 Clarification of Formal Enforcement Procedures, which specified that the Department is not limited to administrative proceedings before an Administrative Law Judge, but may also initiate civil enforcement actions in United States District Court. The Department now finds this clarification unnecessary and redundant because its authority to seek judicial enforcement is established clearly by statute.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Transportation Office of the Secretary 14 CFR Part 399 [DOT-OST-2025-0633] RIN 2105-AF38 AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT) is amending its regulations regarding the hearing procedures available when the Department proposes a discretionary aviation consumer protection rulemaking declaring a practice to be unfair or deceptive. This final rule revises the hearing procedures established in 2022 to align them with the more robust due process protections originally set forth in 2020, ensuring the use of neutral hearing officers and the issuance of formal findings of fact. Further, this rule rescinds the 2023 Clarification of Formal Enforcement Procedures, which specified that the Department is not limited to administrative proceedings before an Administrative Law Judge, but may also initiate civil enforcement actions in United States District Court. The Department now finds this clarification unnecessary and redundant because its authority to seek judicial enforcement is established clearly by statute. DATES: Effective July 31, 2026. ( printed page 39873) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Gorman, Beth Brodsky, or Blane Workie, Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, 20590, 202-366-9342; robert.gorman@dot.gov ; beth.brodsky@dot.gov ; blane.workie@dot.gov (…
Other Federal Register documents from the same docket.
Citation: 91 FR 39872
