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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 56 / Thursday, March 25, 2021 / Rules and Regulations under the good cause exception to the Administrative Procedure Act APA.
2. New section 511 provides specific authority for the Commission to combat pirate radio broadcasting with enhanced penalties. Pirate radio broadcasting is defined as the transmission of communications on spectrum frequencies between 535 and 1705
kilohertz, inclusive, or 87.7 and 108
megahertz, inclusive, without a license issued by the Commission, but does not include unlicensed operations in compliance with part 15 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations. 47 U.S.C.
511h. Sections 511a and b permit forfeitures of up to $100,000 per day, up to a maximum fine of $2 million, for any person who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate radio broadcasting. These enhanced forfeiture amounts are in addition to any other penalties provided by law. 47 U.S.C. 511b emphasis added. Section 511f directs the Commission to revise its rules to require that, absent good cause, in any case alleging a violation of subsection a or b, the Commission shall proceed directly to issue a notice of apparent liability without first issuing a notice of unlicensed operation.
3. We amend 1.80 of our rules to implement section 511. First, we codify penalties for violations of section 511a or b. Under the amended rule, the Commission has the authority to impose a penalty of up to $100,000 per day, up to a maximum fine of $2 million, against any person who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate radio broadcasting, in addition to any forfeiture penalty amount that may be proposed under any other provision of the Communications Act. These amounts are subject to annual adjustments due to inflation.
Amendment of Section 1.80b of the Commissions Rules, Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalties to Reflect Inflation, Order, 35 FCC Rcd 14879, 86
FR 3830 Jan. 15, 2021 EB 2020.
4. Second, consistent with section 511f, we amend section 1.80 to provide that, absent good cause, the Commission shall, in the first instance, propose a penalty against any person who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate radio broadcasting. In other words, absent good cause to do otherwise, the Commission will not first issue a notice of unlicensed operation to a person who engages in such conduct. In applying the good cause standard in section 511f, we may consider Commission precedent concerning waiver of our regulations for good cause shown. In general, this standard requires special
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circumstances warranting a deviation from the general rule and serving the public interest.
5. Consistent with previous decisions, we amend our rules without providing for prior public notice and comment.
Our action here is ministerial because it simply effectuates regulations established by legislation and requires no exercise of administrative discretion.
For this reason, we conclude that prior notice and comment would serve no useful purpose and is unnecessary. We therefore find that this action comes within the good cause exception to the notice and comment requirements of the APA.
6. The Enforcement Bureau is responsible for, among other things, rulemaking proceedings regarding general enforcement policies and procedures. In section 511f of the Communications Act, Congress mandated the Commission to prescribe implementing regulations. Additionally, the enhanced penalties set forth in sections 511 a and b require codification in the Commissions rules.
Therefore, action on delegated authority is properly taken in this Order amending 1.80 of our rules, which is part of the Commissions general enforcement policies and procedures. In addition, because a notice of proposed rulemaking is not required for these rule changes, no regulatory flexibility analysis is required.
7. Effective Date. The rules adopted in this Order shall be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
8. Accordingly, it is ordered, pursuant to sections 4i, 4j, and 511 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154i, 154j, 511, and 0.111a22, 0.231b, and 0.311a1 of the Commissions rules, 47 CFR 0.111a22, 0.311a1, that this Order is adopted.
9. It is further ordered that 1.80 of the Commissions rules, 47 CFR 1.80, is amended as set forth in the Appendix.
10. It is further ordered that this Order and the foregoing amendments to the Commissions rules shall be effective thirty 30 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.
11. It is further ordered that the Commissions Consumer &
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a copy of this Order to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801a1A.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 1
Administrative practice and procedure, Penalties.

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Federal Communications Commission.
Lisa Gelb, Deputy Chief, Enforcement Bureau.

Final Rules For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications Commission amends 47 CFR part 1 as follows:
PART 1PRACTICE AND
PROCEDURE
1. The authority citation for part 1 is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. chs. 2, 5, 9, 13; 28
U.S.C. 2461 note, unless otherwise noted.
1.80

Amended
2. Amend 1.80 as follows:
a. Revising paragraph a4;
b. Redesignating paragraphs a5 and 6 as paragraphs a6 and 7 and adding a new paragraph a5;
c. Revising newly redesignated paragraph a6;
d. Redesignating the Note to paragraph a as Note 1 to paragraph a;
e. Redesignating paragraphs b6
through 10 as paragraphs b7
through 11 and adding a new paragraph b6;
f. Revising newly redesignated paragraphs b9 and 10;
g. Removing the Note to paragraph b8 following newly redesignated paragraph b10;
h. Revising the heading of the table in newly redesignated paragraph b11ii;
i. Revising the Note following newly redesignated paragraph b11;
j. Revising the introductory text to paragraph d; and k. Redesignating paragraphs e through j as paragraphs f through k and adding a new paragraph e.
The revisions and additions read as follows:

1.80

Forfeiture proceedings.

a
4 Violated any provision of sections 227b or e of the Communications Act or of 64.1200a1 through 5 and 64.1604 of this title;
5 Violated any provision of section 511a or b of the Communications Act or of paragraph b6 of this section;
6 Violated any provision of section 1304, 1343, or 1464 of Title 18, United States Code; or

b
6 Forfeiture penalty for pirate radio broadcasting. i Any person who willfully and knowingly does or causes or suffers to be done any pirate radio broadcasting shall be subject to a fine of not more than $2,023,640; and
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