How does the FAA oversee the compliance of offerors?

The fundamental goal of the FAA's compliance program is to identify problems in the National Airspace System (NAS) before they result in an incident or accident, use the most appropriate tools to fix those problems, and monitor the situation to ensure future compliance.

The compliance program does not apply to non-certificated offerors (i.e., shippers and freight forwarders); however, the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety strives to apply the intent of the compliance philosophy to any party that introduces risk into the NAS.

We have the same incentive to use the most effective means to return the regulated entity (i.e., the offeror) to full compliance and to prevent recurrence. Our goal is to work with you using non-enforcement methods to identify and correct the underlying causes that led to non-compliance, where appropriate.

The course of action that we take depends on many factors, including the risk presented by the material, the severity of the violation, the culpability of the violator, if reckless conduct or a trend of non-compliance was involved, the violator's attitude towards compliance, and the facts and specific circumstances surrounding the violation.

In most instances, we will consider in order:

1. Informal Action (Counseling)
2. Administrative Action (a Warning Notice or Letter of Correction)
3. Legal Action (Civil Penalties)

What are the penalties when enforcement is used?

The FAA will continue to use enforcement when needed; however, civil penalties are generally reserved for offerors unwilling or unable to comply, who demonstrate reckless or criminal behavior, who intentionally violate the regulations, or whose actions result in a significant safety risk.

A person violating the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) may be liable for a civil penalty for each violation. Expect a maximum civil penalty if the violation results in death, serious illness, or severe injury to any person or substantial destruction of property. There is no minimum civil penalty, except for a minimum civil penalty for violations related to training. When the violation is a continuing one, each additional day of the violation constitutes a separate offense.