CIVIL PENALTIES PROPOSED BY FAA
July 25, 2016
$735,000 against the City of Cleveland for reports of the city’s failure to adequately staff snow removal teams and deice taxiways and runways — the FAA reached a comprehensive settlement agreement with the City of Cleveland resolving four cases opened last year due to reports of the city’s failure to adequately staff snow removal teams and deice taxiways and runways at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport – causing unsafe conditions and forcing planes to divert to other airports. Under the agreement, the City of Cleveland pledges to build and maintain existing improvements to its airfield snow and ice removal plan. Under the settlement, the City of Cleveland must make a payment to the United States Treasury of $200,000 within 30 days of the signed agreement however, the FAA has agreed to waive the remaining balance of the proposed civil penalty if the City meets certain conditions related to airport staffing, reporting requirements, and procurement of new and replacement snow removal equipment by 2019.
$350,000 and $78,000 against Amazon.com for violations of hazardous materials regulations – Amazon.com (Amazon) was fined $350,000 and $78,000 in civil penalties for violations of hazardous materials regulations for failure to properly package hazardous materials. Amazon failed to ship the packages with a proper Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods, and failed to properly label the materials to indicate their hazardous nature. Furthermore, Amazon failed to provide emergency response information for the packages, and as related to the $350,000 penalty, Amazon employees handling the hazardous materials failed to receive proper materials handling training. The $350,000 violation occurred after Amazon offered a package to United Parcel Service (UPS) containing corrosive drain cleaner for transportation from Louisville, KY to Boulder, CO. While in transit, the package leaked through the fiberboard box in which it was contained and came into contact with nine UPS employees. The $78,000 penalty occurred after Amazon offered two boxes of corrosive rust stain preventer to Federal Express (FedEx) from Plainfield, IL to Davenport, FL.
$20,000 against Orange Air, LLC (Orange Air) for violations of accounting and reporting requirements under 49 U.S.C. § 41708 and 14 C.F.R. Part 241 – Orange Air was fined $20,000 in civil penalties for violating DOT reporting requirements for failure to submit timely and complete Form 41 and Form T-100 data reports during certain times in 2014 and 2015, despite repeated requests from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).
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