Accountability for Enforcement Penalties & Fines

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement procedures and actions have been receiving attention of late, but there is a deficiency in the process that has not been mentioned. To the extent that the FCC has rules in an area, applicable parties are required to comply. Those who don’t are subject to enforcement actions, with due process rights for alleged violators, including the option of settling the matter through a consent decree. For the enforcement process to work, however, all of its steps must be carried out efficiently and swiftly from beginning to end.

One problem with the current process -- and another area for the newly formed Process Review Task Force and/or Congress to examine -- is that the FCC has no idea whether parties are actually satisfying the terms of its enforcement actions, particularly those that go to the forfeiture stage. Under the current structure, the Commission does not have a process in place to know whether entities actually pay the fines or penalties assessed pursuant to an enforcement action. In other words, once a Forfeiture Order is finalized, it somehow seems to drop off the FCC’s radar. Even if the FCC’s enforcement fines and penalties are appropriate, if the collection remains unknown, overall enforcement will suffer. The potential discrepancy between issuing an enforcement action and collecting any financial fine or penalty needs to be addressed. To the extent that the Enforcement Bureau needs assistance facilitating the necessary relationships with the Treasury and Justice Departments, I would be happy to help in any way I can.