UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF HEARINGS 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

IN THE MATTER OF 

TGIFREIGHT 

FAA DOCKET NO. CP10NM0012 

(Civil Penalty Action) 

DMS NO. FAA-2010-1079 

RECEIVED 

NOV 2 6 2013 

HEARING DOCKET 

ADMINISTRATOR'S OPPOSITION TO TGI FREIGHT'S APPLICATION FOR 

ATTORNEY'S FEES AND EXPENSES 

Complainant Federal Aviation Administration ("Administrator"), through counsel, 

hereby opposes the Application or Petition for the Award of Attorney's Fees and Expenses 

Under the Equal Access to Justice Act of 1980 ("Application") filed by respondent TGI Freight. 

The application or petition should be denied. 

TGI Freight has applied for attorney's fees and expenses under the Equal Access to 

Justice Act ("EAJA"). 1 As TGI Freight accurately states2

, parties who succeed in certain civil 

penalty proceedings involving aviation such as Green Aviation Management Companl for 

1 5 U.S.C. § 504; Motion for Fees and Costs at 1-2. 

FAA's Opposition to TGI Freight's Application for EAJA Fees 

In the Matter ofTGI Freight 

Docket No. CPIONM0012 

Page 1 of4 
violations of the Federal Aviation Regulations4 before the Administrator may recover certain 

attorney's fees and expenses via EAJA and its implementing regulations.5 

However, what TGI Freight apparently fails to appreciate is that this proceeding is not at 

all similar to Green and violations ofthe Federal Aviation Regulations. This case solely 

involved violations of the Hazardous Materials Regulations contained in 49 C.F.R. Subchapter 

C. 

As the Administrator found in Dominion Concepts, "the EAJA does not apply to 

hazardous materials cases."6 When the Agency brings a hazardous materials case against a 

shipper under 49 U.S.C. §§ 5101-5128 and bases the proposed penalty on 49 U.S.C. § 5123 

alone, the hearing is not an adversary adjudication decided after a hearing on the record subject 

to section 554 of the Administrative Procedures Act7 for which EAJA costs and fees may be 

awarded. 8 

2 Motion for Fees and Costs at 1-2. 

3 Green Aviation Management Co .. LLC. v. FAA, 676 F.3d200 (D.C. Cir. 2012). 

4 Specifically, the FAA alleged that Green Air violated 14 C.P.R. §§ 119.5(1), 135.343, and 91.13. Id. at 

n.3. 

5 14 C.P.R. Part 14. 

6 In re Dominion Concepts, FAA Order No. 2005-4,2005 WL 916050, at *3(Mar. 8, 2005) (emphasis 

added). 

7 5 u.s.c. § 554. 

8 See id. at 3-4. 

FAA's Opposition to TGI Freight's Application for EAJA Fees 

In the Matter ofTGI Freight 

Docket No. CPIONM0012 

Page2 of4 
For the foregoing reason, the ALJ should deny TGI Freight's application for EAJA relief. 

Respectfully submitted this 20th day ofNovember 2013. 

HOWARD L. MARTIN, JR. 

Regional Counsel 

~rrl ~err·\Q._D By: _________ _ 

Cheryl M. Jones 

Senior Attorney 

FAA's Opposition to TGI Freight's Application for EAJA Fees 

In the Matter of TG! Freight 

Docket No. CPIONM0012 

Page3of4 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

Re: TGl Freight 

FAA Docket No. CP10NM0012 

DMS NO. FAA-2010-1079 

I certifY that on this date I have served a copy of the FAA's Rebuttal Brief by placing it in the United 

States Mail, postage-prepaid, certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed as follows: 

Original and 1 Copy 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Avenue, SW 

Washington, DC 20591 

ATTN: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430 

Wilbur Wright Building-Suite 2W1000 

One Copy 

The Honorable Richard C. Goodwin 

Office of Hearings, M-20 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. (E11-310) 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Fax: 202-366-7536 

Rebecca J. Hozubin, Esq. 

Wilkerson Hozubin 

310 K Street, Suite 405 

Anchorage, AK 99501 

Fax: 907-276-5291 

Office of the Regional Counse 

222 West 7th Avenue # 14 

Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7587 

FAA's Opposition to TGI Freight's Application for EAJA Fees 

In the Matter ofTGI Freight 

Docket No. CP10NMOOI2 

Page 4 of4 

~QOQ0/.5 Date I