Opinion ID: 72264
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Timeliness of the Pilot Certificate Revocation Order

Text: 10 Zukas also argues that the FAA failed to issue its pilot certificate revocation order within six months of the time that the FAA knew or should have known that his conviction was the basis for revocation. 6 Section 821.33 of the NTSB's Rules of Practice in Air Safety Proceedings, known as the stale complaint rule, provides that [w]here the [FAA's] complaint states allegations of offenses which occurred more than 6 months prior to the Administrator's advising [the pilot certificate holder] as to reasons for proposed action ... [the pilot certificate holder] may move to dismiss such allegations.... 49 C.F.R. § 821.33. By its specific terms, however, the stale complaint rule is preempted when there are allegations of the pilot certificate holder's lack of qualifications. 7 See id. § 821.33(a), (b). Since, under 49 U.S.C. § 44710 and 14 C.F.R. § 61.15(a), the FAA Administrator may revoke a pilot certificate if the holder is convicted of a crime related to the transporting of controlled substances, Zukas's conviction for conspiracy to possess and to distribute cocaine implicated his qualifications to retain his pilot certificate. We defer to an administrative agency's reasonable interpretation of its own regulations. See Georgia Pacific Corp. v. Occupational Safety & Health Review Comm'n, 25 F.3d 999, 1004 (11th Cir.1994) (per curiam). Because the FAA Administrator's complaint concerned Zukas's qualifications to hold a pilot certificate, the six months limitations period established in 49 C.F.R. § 821.33 is inapplicable, and the ALJ correctly denied Zukas's motion to dismiss the FAA Administrator's complaint as untimely. C. Ex Post Facto Concern 11 Zukas contends that the FAA's retroactive application of 49 U.S.C. §§ 44709 and 44710, which were enacted in 1994, over seven years after his 1987 conviction, was an unconstitutional ex post facto violation. 8 See Miller v. Florida, 482 U.S. 423, 430, 107 S.Ct. 2446, 2451, 96 L.Ed.2d 351 (1987) (explaining that the Ex Post Facto Clause applies only to retrospective laws). Section 44710(b) requires the FAA Administrator to revoke the pilot certificate of an individual who is convicted of a federal or state statute related to a controlled substance, other than simple possession, if an aircraft was used to commit or to facilitate the crime and the certificate holder served as an airman or was on the aircraft involved in the drug crime. The policy of revoking a pilot certificate because of a holder's conviction for drug trafficking by aircraft predates the recodification that became section 44710(b). In 1984, Congress amended the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 by enacting the Aviation Drug-Trafficking Control Act, which is the basis for 49 U.S.C. § 44710, to provide for the revocation of the airman certificates and for additional penalties for the transportation by aircraft of controlled substances. Pub.L. No. 98-499, 98 Stat. 2312, 2312 (1984). The original 1984 legislation expressly provided that it was applicable to actions and violations occurring after the date of enactment, October 19, 1984. See Pub.L. No. 98-499, § 7, 98 Stat. at 2316. Contrary to Zukas's argument, Congress mandated the revocation of pilot certificates for holders' convictions for drug crimes prior to Zukas's November 5, 1986, drug trafficking that was the basis of his conviction. 12 Significantly, neither section 44709 nor section 44710 was enacted as new law in 1994. Instead, these statutes were recodified as part of the legislative revisions of Title 49 of the United States Code on July 5, 1994. See Pub.L. No.103-272, 108 Stat. 745 (1994). The purpose of this recodification was to restate in comprehensive form, without substantive change, certain general and permanent laws related to transportation and to enact those laws as subtitles II, III, and V-X of title 49, United States Code, and to make other technical improvements in the Code. H.R.Rep. No. 103-180, at 1 (1993) (emphasis added), reprinted in 1994 U.S.C.C.A.N. 818, 818. Because Zukas's conviction occurred after the enactment of both the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 and the Aviation Drug-Trafficking Control Act of 1984, there was no ex post facto application of either section 44709 or section 44710. See Hernandez v. National Transp. Safety Bd., 15 F.3d 157, 158-59 (10th Cir.1994) (determining that, where statutes or regulations do not involve policy changes, the Ex Post Facto Clause is not implicated). D. Double Jeopardy Argument 13 Zukas finally contends that the revocation of his pilot certificate violated the Double Jeopardy Clause 9 of the Fifth Amendment because he already had been punished by imprisonment and a civil fine for his participation in the cocaine distribution conspiracy. Initially, we note that nothing in the record shows that Zukas was subjected to civil forfeiture or was ordered to pay a civil penalty. As part of his sentence, the trial court ordered him to pay a criminal fine of $10,000.00. 14 [T]he Double Jeopardy Clause protects against three distinct abuses: a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal; a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and multiple punishments for the same offense. United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 440, 109 S.Ct. 1892, 1897, 104 L.Ed.2d 487 (1989). With respect to the third, relevant application, the Court held that under the Double Jeopardy Clause a defendant who already has been punished in a criminal prosecution may not be subjected to an additional civil sanction to the extent that the second sanction may not fairly be characterized as remedial, but only as a deterrent or retribution. Id. at 448-49, 109 S.Ct. at 1902. The test of whether a given civil sanction constitutes punishment in the relevant sense requires a particularized assessment of the penalty imposed and the purposes that the penalty may fairly be said to serve. Id. at 448, 109 S.Ct. at 1901; see Department of Revenue v. Kurth Ranch, 511 U.S. 767, 777 n. 14, 114 S.Ct. 1937, 1945 n. 14, 128 L.Ed.2d 767 (1994) ([W]hether a sanction constitutes punishment is not determined from the defendant's perspective, as even remedial sanctions carry the 'sting of punishment.'  (quoting Halper, 490 U.S. at 447 n. 7, 109 S.Ct. at 1901 n. 7)). Because double jeopardy applies to punitive and not to remedial sanctions, see Manocchio v. Kusserow, 961 F.2d 1539, 1541 (11th Cir.1992), a civil sanction that does not consist of money damages requires a court to consider the penalty imposed and the purposes of the penalty to determine if a legitimate, remedial purpose is served, see United States v. Reed, 937 F.2d 575, 577-78 (11th Cir.1991). Only when the civil sanction serves a retributive or deterrent purpose does the sanction constitute punishment and violate the Double Jeopardy Clause. See id.; United States v. Walker, 940 F.2d 442, 443 (9th Cir.1991) (A civil penalty is punishment if it cannot fairly be said solely to serve a remedial purpose.). Revoking a pilot certificate by the FAA to ensure air safety by removing an unqualified pilot from the ranks of those who hold pilot certificates granted by the FAA serves a remedial purpose. The FAA regulations in effect at the time that Zukas's pilot certificate was revoked provided that [r]evocation of a [pilot] certificate is used as a remedial measure when the certificate holder lacks the necessary qualifications to hold the certificate, and that [r]evocation is appropriate whenever the certificate holder's conduct demonstrates a lack of the degree of care, judgment, or responsibility required of the holder of such a certificate. Federal Aviation Admin., U.S. Department of Transp., Compliance and Enforcement Program, Order 2150.3A, at pp 206(c), 206(c)(1) (as amended Apr. 20, 1994); see Hite v. National Transp. Safety Bd., 991 F.2d 17, 20 (1st Cir.1993) (using an earlier version of the same FAA regulation). 15 The relevant legislative history also reveals a remedial purpose. The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 provided: 16 The [Civil Aeronautics] Authority may ... alter, amend, modify, or suspend, in whole or in part, any ... airman certificate ... if the interest of the public so requires, or may revoke, in whole or in part, any such certificate for any cause which, at the time of revocation, would justify the Authority in refusing to issue to the holder of such certificate a like certificate. 17 Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, ch. 601, 52 Stat. 973, 1011 (codified at 49 U.S.C. § 559 (1940)) (repealed 1958). 18 The principal purpose of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was to give the new federal agency, the FAA, which replaced the Civil Aeronautics Administration, powers adequate to enable it to provide for the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace by both civil and military operations, including authority over airman certificates. H.R.Rep. No. 2360, at 1 (1958), reprinted in 1958 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3741, 3741; see 49 U.S.C. § 44701(a) (providing that the FAA Administrator is charged with promot[ing] safe flight of civil aircraft in air commerce). The Aviation Drug-Trafficking Control Act of 1984 expanded the FAA's authority as part of the war against drugs and enabled it to combat aerial trafficking in controlled substances by authorizing the revocation of the certificates of pilots involved in drug trafficking to prevent the recurrence of criminal drug trafficking. See S.Rep. No. 98-228, at 1 (1984), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3916, 3916 (The bill is intended to expand the powers of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to combat aerial trafficking in drugs. The bill accomplishes this purpose by authorizing FAA revocation of the airman certificate and aircraft registration certificate of those involved in drug trafficking.). There is no evidence that Congress had a retributive or deterrent purpose in providing for the revocation of pilots' certificates in any of the legislation that preceded the current law, 49 U.S.C. § 44709; instead, congressional impetus was remedial to ensure air safety and competence in aviation. 19 Because the FAA's authority and goals are anchored in a concern for air safety, United States v. Emerson, 107 F.3d 77, 82 (1st Cir.1997), there is a reasonable relation between conviction for violating a drug law and flying safety. [I]t is reasonable to conclude that a pilot who has violated a drug trafficking statute is also likely to violate regulations concerning air safety. Pinney v. National Transp. Safety Bd., 993 F.2d 201, 203 (10th Cir.1993); see Walters v. McLucas, 597 F.2d 1230, 1232 (9th Cir.1979) (per curiam) (upholding revocation of a pilot's certificate because he had been convicted of possessing marijuana for sale and finding a rational relation between a conviction for the possession of drugs for sale and the unsafe use of aircraft for drug smuggling). Conviction for violating drug laws clearly demonstrates a tendency to act without inhibition in an unstable manner without regard to the rights of others. 38 Fed.Reg. 17,491, 17,492 (1973). 20 The FAA revoked Zukas's pilot certificate pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §§ 44709(b), which provides for air safety in the public interest, and section 44710(b) and 14 C.F.R. § 61.15(a), which provide that a pilot's certificate is revocable if the holder has been convicted of a federal or state crime involving a controlled substance. Zukas does not dispute his conviction for conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a) and 846. Because [r]evocation of a pilot certificate is not a criminal sanction ....[,but] it is a remedy imposed to enhance air safety and to promote the public interest, Kolek v. Engen, 869 F.2d 1281, 1288 (9th Cir.1989), it cannot constitute punishment for double jeopardy purposes, see Walker, 940 F.2d at 443-44. Therefore, Zukas's double jeopardy argument fails.