Opinion ID: 442118
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Meaning of Duly Served.

Text: 38 Section 401(b) authorizes a district court to issue a writ of injunction only upon a finding that the underlying FCC order was duly served. It is undisputed that service was accomplished below both by mail and by publication in the Federal Register. Moreover, the Louisiana Commission concedes that it had actual notice of the FCC Preemption Order. The Louisiana Commission, nevertheless, asserts on appeal that the order was not duly served within the meaning of the Act because the Louisiana Commission was not personally served with the order. Relying on Milliken v. Meyer, 311 U.S. 457, 61 S.Ct. 339, 85 L.Ed. 278 (1940), the Louisiana Commission argues that, in light of the hundreds of mailings the Louisiana Commission receives annually from regulatory agencies, service by mail cannot be considered service reasonably calculated to give actual notice. In addition, the Louisiana Commission contends that it is entitled to personal service because that is the manner of service provided to common carriers under various FCC regulations. 39 We think the Louisiana Commission misconceives the purpose of the duly served prerequisite of Sec. 401(b). There is no indication that the requirement of due service was designed to give a person in violation of an FCC order promulgated according to proper procedure a right to additional notice of that order before enforcement proceedings can commence. Rather, we believe the term duly served quite plainly refers only to procedural regularity. See Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., supra, at 907. Under this construction, Sec. 401(b), by directing the district court to determine whether the order was regularly made and duly served, authorizes and requires the district court, although lacking authority to review the substance of an FCC order, to find before issuing an injunction that the order is enforceable as a matter of procedural law. Thus, the requirement of due service is met if the defendant in a Sec. 401(b) proceeding received notice legally sufficient to make the order enforceable. 40 Under the APA, a rule is enforceable once it is published in the Federal Register. 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(a)(1). The Supreme Court has held that appearance of a rule in that publication constitutes legal notice to the general public. See, e.g., Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill, 332 U.S. 380, 384-85, 68 S.Ct. 1, 3-4, 92 L.Ed. 10 (1947). Although we recognize that some agencies may be required to give additional notice to interested parties as a result of the agencies' own rules and regulations, see Gardner v. FCC, 530 F.2d 1086, 1090 (D.C.Cir.1976), FCC regulations clearly require only notice by publication for rulemaking documents. See 47 C.F.R. Sec. 0.445(c). 22 Thus, because the FCC Preemption Order at issue in this case was in fact published in the Federal Register, we hold that the order was duly served within the meaning of the Act and enforceable against the Louisiana Commission. 41