What follows is an opinion from the Supreme Court of the United States. Your task is to identify the federal agency involved in the administrative action that occurred prior to the onset of litigation. If the administrative action occurred in a state agency, respond "State Agency". Do not code the name of the state. The administrative activity may involve an administrative official as well as that of an agency. If two federal agencies are mentioned, consider the one whose action more directly bears on the dispute;otherwise the agency that acted more recently. If a state and federal agency are mentioned, consider the federal agency. Pay particular attention to the material which appears in the summary of the case preceding the Court's opinion and, if necessary, those portions of the prevailing opinion headed by a I or II. Action by an agency official is considered to be administrative action except when such an official acts to enforce criminal law. If an agency or agency official "denies" a "request" that action be taken, such denials are considered agency action. Exclude: a "challenge" to an unapplied agency rule, regulation, etc.; a request for an injunction or a declaratory judgment against agency action which, though anticipated, has not yet occurred; a mere request for an agency to take action when there is no evidence that the agency did so; agency or official action to enforce criminal law; the hiring and firing of political appointees or the procedures whereby public officials are appointed to office; attorney general preclearance actions pertaining to voting; filing fees or nominating petitions required for access to the ballot; actions of courts martial; land condemnation suits and quiet title actions instituted in a court; and federally funded private nonprofit organizations.

Opinion:
TRANSCONTINENTAL & WESTERN AIR, INC. v. CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD.
No. 387.
Argued February 8-9, 1949.
Decided April 18, 1949.
Gerald B. Brophy argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the brief were Charles Pickett and Joseph S. Iseman.
Emory T. Nunneley, Jr. argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Solicitor General Perl-man, Stanley M. Silverberg and Warren L. Sharfman.
Charles H. Murchison filed a brief for Capital Airlines, Inc., as amicus curiae, urging reversal.
Mr. Justice Douglas
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question in this case is whether the Civil Aeronautics Board has authority to fix a new mail rate for air carriers and to make it retroactive for a period in which a final rate previously fixed by the Board was in effect and unchallenged by the initiation of a mail rate proceeding. The answer turns primarily on the meaning of § 406 (a) of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 as amended, 52 Stat. 998, 49 U. S. C. § 486 (a), which empowers the Board to fix and determine the fair and reasonable rates of compensation for the transportation of mail by aircraft and “to make such rates effective from such date as it shall determine to be proper . ...”
The Board in an order dated October 26, 1945, fixed a mail rate of 45 cents per mail ton-mile for petitioner. From that date until March 14, 1947, petitioner was paid at that rate for its air carrier services. During that time no action was taken by petitioner or by the government to initiate a change in that rate. On March 14, 1947, petitioner filed a petition with the Board alleging that its mail rate had not been fair and reasonable since January 1, 1946, and requesting the Board to fix a fair and reasonable rate “from and after January 1, 1946.” After hearing, the Board by a divided vote ruled that it had no authority to fix a mail rate for a period prior to March 14, 1947, and dismissed the petition insofar as it sought that relief. 8 C. A. B. 685. The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the Board. 83 U. S. App. D. C. 358, 169 F. 2d 893. The case is here on a petition for a writ of certiorari which we granted because of the importance of the question to the carriers and public alike.
The language of § 406 (a), which empowers the Board to “fix and determine” after notice and hearing “the fair and reasonable rates of compensation” for the transportation of mail by aircraft, reads like a typical public utility rate-making authority. Both subdivisions (a) and (b) of § 406, to be sure, reflect some characteristics of rate-making which are peculiar to air carriers. That is true of the methods specified in § 406 (a) for ascertaining the rates of compensation — “aircraft-mile, pound-mile, weight, space, or any combination thereof, or otherwise . . . .” Special standards for rate-making are also prescribed. The Board is authorized to consider “the conditions peculiar to transportation by aircraft and to the particular air carrier or class of air carriers” in fixing different rates for different air carriers or classes of air carriers and different classes of service. § 406 (b). And the Board in determining the rate is authorized and directed to consider “the need of each such air carrier for compensation for the transportation of mail sufficient to insure the performance of such service, and, together with all other revenue of the air carrier, to enable such air carrier under honest, economical, and efficient management, to maintain and continue the development of air transportation to the extent and of the character and quality required for the commerce of the United States, the Postal Service, and the national defense.” §406 (b).
Considerable reliance is placed on this last provision for the view that the Board has authority under the “make effective” clause to order such retroactive adjustments of rates as the “need” of the air carrier makes appropriate. But such a standard has its counterparts in other legislation dealing with rate-making and does not necessarily mark a departure from the customary pattern of fixing rates prospectively. Yet, unless we found a congressional purpose to make a radical break with tradition, we would be most reluctant to give the “make effective” clause the broad meaning which petitioner urges. For the rates of carriers and other utilities fixed by public authorities, while usually prospective, are sometimes made retroactive to the date of the commencement of the rate-making proceeding. See United States v. New York Central R. Co., 279 U. S. 73. But, so far as we are aware, they have never been retroactive to an earlier date.
The language of the Act does not suggest that Congress intended to break with these traditions of rate-making. Moreover, the legislative history indicates that the “make effective” clause was inserted only to make clear that the rates could be made retroactive to the date of the application. Finally the scheme of the Act and its underlying policy seem to us to preclude the more expansive reading of the clause urged on üs by petitioner.
Petitioner’s reading of the Act would in practical effect have the tendency to transform it into a cost-plus system of regulation, a construction which would not harmonize with the apparent design of the Act. Thus § 406 (b) authorizes the Board to fix rates for “classes of air carriers.” It is plain that the uniform rate for the class is an important regulatory device. For § 2 (d) of the Act looks to the sound development of an air transportation system through competition. A uniform rate forces carriers within a given class to compete in securing revenue and in reducing or controlling costs. If the Board had authority on the basis of the carrier’s needs to make rates retroactive to any point of time, there would be a powerful incentive to seek relief from the uniform rate, not to live within it.
In sum a construction which would make it possible to revise rates retroactively to. any point of time would be a real innovation which should have a more solid basis than our own predilections. We cannot but feel that if the rate-making power were to be put to such a novel use, the purpose would have been made clear. It is too unprecedented a departure from the conventions of rate-making to rest on mere inference.
It is pointed out that the Board apparently considers past operating losses in fixing rates and that therefore it is a matter of no great consequence if the rates are made retroactive to one date rather than another. But the power to fix rates to recoup past losses is a distinct question not before us.
Affirmed.
Mr. Justice Reed took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
Section 406 provides:
“(a) The Authority is empowered and directed, upon its own initiative or upon petition of the Postmaster General or an air carrier, (1) to fix and determine from time to time, after notice and hearing, the fair and reasonable rates of compensation for the transportation of mail by aircraft, the facilities used and useful therefor, and the services connected therewith (including the transportation of mail by an air carrier by other means than aircraft whenever such transportation is incidental to the transportation of mail by aircraft or is made necessary by conditions of emergency arising from aircraft operation), by each holder of a certificate authorizing the transportation of mail by aircraft, and to make such rates effective from such date as it shall determine to be proper; (2) to prescribe the method or methods, by aircraft-mile, pound-mile, weight, space, or any combination thereof, or otherwise, for ascertaining such rates of compensation for each air carrier or class of air carriers; and (3) to publish the same; and the rates so fixed and determined shall be paid by the Postmaster General from appropriations for the transportation of mail by aircraft.
“(b) In fixing and determining fair and reasonable rates of compensation under this section, the Authority, considering the conditions peculiar to transportation by aircraft and to the particular air carrier or class of air carriers, may fix different rates for different air carriers or classes of air carriers, and different classes of service. In determining the rate in each case, the Authority shall take into consideration, among other factors, the condition that such air carriers may hold and operate under certificates authorizing the carriage of mail only by providing necessary and adequate facilities and service for the transportation of mail; such standards respecting the character and quality of service to be rendered by air carriers as may be prescribed by or pursuant to law; and the need of each such air carrier for compensation for the transportation of mail sufficient to insure the performance of such service, and, together with all other revenue of the air carrier, to enable such air carrier under honest, economical, and efficient management, to maintain and continue the development of air transportation to the extent and of the character and quality required for the commerce of the United States, the Postal Service, and the national defense.”
The Civil Aeronautics Board took the place of the Authority on June 30,1940. See 54 Stat. 1235.
See 6 C. A. B. 595.
See note 1, supra.
See § 1 of Title I of the Transportation Act of 1940, 54 Stat. 899, 49 U. S. C., note prior to § 1: “It is hereby declared to be the national transportation policy of the Congress to provide for fair and impartial regulation of all modes of transportation subject to the provisions of this Act . . . to . . . foster sound economic conditions in transportation and among the several carriers; ... all to the end of developing, coordinating, and preserving a national transportation system by water, highway, and rail, as well as other means, adequate to meet the needs of the commerce of the United States, of the Postal Service, and of the national defense. All of the provisions of this Act shall be administered and enforced with a view to carrying out the above declaration of policy.”
The other rate-making provisions of the Act likewise follow the conventional pattern. See § 1002 (d) and (e).
The Interstate Commerce Commission in its administration of the Air Mail Act of 1934 as amended, 48 Stat. 933, 935, 49 Stat. 614, 616, had asserted the power to make its orders effective as of the date of initiation of the proceeding. But there was a sharp divergence of views within the Commission over its authority to do so. See Air Mail Compensation, 216 I. C. C. 166, 222 I. C. C. 602. The congressional committees seemed primarily concerned with that problem in their consideration of the “make effective” clause in the bills which preceded the ones resulting in the Act. See Senate Hearings, Committee on Interstate Commerce, on S. 2 and S. 1760, 75th Cong., 1st Sess. 179, 180, 239, 291, 343, 483-485, 523. And see H. R. Hearings, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, on H. R. 5234 and H. R. 4652, 75th Cong., 1st Sess. 325-327. The policy of adhering to conventional rate-making is suggested by H. R. Rep. No. 911, 75th Cong., 1st Sess. 18, and by the statements of Senator Truman who was in charge of the bill in the Senate. 81 Cong. Rec. 9202,9203,9204.
This history is relevant to our problem, for though it relates to the 1937 bill which was not passed, the “make effective” clause crystallized at that time and appeared in the 1938 bill which was enacted. The Conference Report on the latter bill is silent on the “make effective” clause, though the following passage from it, H. R. Rep. No. 2635, 75th Cong., 3d Sess. 71-72, by its brief exposition of the power conferred suggests that Congress did not depart from the conventional pattern of rate-making when it enacted the measure:
“This section [§ 406] empowers the Authority to fix mail rates and sets forth the congressional policy to guide the Authority in fixing such rates and enables the Authority to adjust rates so that the policy of Congress may be properly carried out in the case of each carrier or class of carriers according to the needs of the particular case.”
§ 406 (b) supra, note 1.
Section 2 provides :
“In the exercise and performance of its powers and duties under this Act, the [Board] shall consider the following, among other things, as being in the public interest, and in accordance with the public convenience and necessity—
“(d) Competition to the extent necessary to assure the sound development of an air-transportation system properly adapted to the needs of the foreign and domestic commerce of the United States, of the Postal Service, and of the national defense . . .
After the present case was argued in this Court, the Civil Aeronautics Board, on February 21, 1949, awarded a temporary mail rate increase to TWA effective March 14, 1947, to compensate it for losses sustained prior thereto as the result of grounding the Constellation aircraft. American Airlines, Inc., et al., Mail Rate Increases, C. A. B. Docket No. 2849, Serial No. E-2484 (Feb. 21, 1949). That action does not render the present case moot, for the new temporary mail rate covers only a part of the losses on the basis of which a rate increase was sought here. Nor do we have in this case any question concerning the power of the Board over temporary, as distinguished from final, mail rates. See Essair, Inc., Temporary Mail Rate, 6 C. A. B. 687, 690-691; In the Matter of National Airlines, Inc., C. A. B. Docket No. 3037, Serial No. E-1271, March 5, 1948.

Question: What is the agency involved in the administrative action?

Choices:
Army and Air Force Exchange Service
Atomic Energy Commission
Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Air Force
Department or Secretary of Agriculture
Alien Property Custodian
Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Army
Board of Immigration Appeals
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Prisons
Bonneville Power Administration
Benefits Review Board
Civil Aeronautics Board
Bureau of the Census
Central Intelligence Agency
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Department or Secretary of Commerce
Comptroller of Currency
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Civil Rights Commission
Civil Service Commission, U.S.
Customs Service or Commissioner or Collector of Customs
Defense Base Closure and REalignment Commission
Drug Enforcement Agency
Department or Secretary of Defense (and Department or Secretary of War)
Department or Secretary of Energy
Department or Secretary of the Interior
Department of Justice or Attorney General
Department or Secretary of State
Department or Secretary of Transportation
Department or Secretary of Education
U.S. Employees' Compensation Commission, or Commissioner
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Environmental Protection Agency or Administrator
Federal Aviation Agency or Administration
Federal Bureau of Investigation or Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Farm Credit Administration
Federal Communications Commission (including a predecessor, Federal Radio Commission)
Federal Credit Union Administration
Food and Drug Administration
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Energy Administration
Federal Election Commission
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Federal Housing Administration
Federal Home Loan Bank Board
Federal Labor Relations Authority
Federal Maritime Board
Federal Maritime Commission
Farmers Home Administration
Federal Parole Board
Federal Power Commission
Federal Railroad Administration
Federal Reserve Board of Governors
Federal Reserve System
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation
Federal Trade Commission
Federal Works Administration, or Administrator
General Accounting Office
Comptroller General
General Services Administration
Department or Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
Department or Secretary of Health and Human Services
Department or Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Administrative agency established under an interstate compact (except for the MTC)
Interstate Commerce Commission
Indian Claims Commission
Immigration and Naturalization Service, or Director of, or District Director of, or Immigration and Naturalization Enforcement
Internal Revenue Service, Collector, Commissioner, or District Director of
Information Security Oversight Office
Department or Secretary of Labor
Loyalty Review Board
Legal Services Corporation
Merit Systems Protection Board
Multistate Tax Commission
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Secretary or administrative unit or personnel of the U.S. Navy
National Credit Union Administration
National Endowment for the Arts
National Enforcement Commission
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Labor Relations Board, or regional office or officer
National Mediation Board
National Railroad Adjustment Board
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
National Security Agency
Office of Economic Opportunity
Office of Management and Budget
Office of Price Administration, or Price Administrator
Office of Personnel Management
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
Patent Office, or Commissioner of, or Board of Appeals of
Pay Board (established under the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970)
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
U.S. Public Health Service
Postal Rate Commission
Provider Reimbursement Review Board
Renegotiation Board
Railroad Adjustment Board
Railroad Retirement Board
Subversive Activities Control Board
Small Business Administration
Securities and Exchange Commission
Social Security Administration or Commissioner
Selective Service System
Department or Secretary of the Treasury
Tennessee Valley Authority
United States Forest Service
United States Parole Commission
Postal Service and Post Office, or Postmaster General, or Postmaster
United States Sentencing Commission
Veterans' Administration or Board of Veterans' Appeals
War Production Board
Wage Stabilization Board
State Agency
Unidentifiable
Office of Thrift Supervision
Department of Homeland Security
Board of General Appraisers
Board of Tax Appeals
General Land Office or Commissioners
NO Admin Action
Processing Tax Board of Review

Answer: 11