Judicial enforcement procedures

Under 24.113, the Secretary may file a civil action in U.S. district court whenever a person has failed to comply with an ALJ order issued under the Energy Reorganization Act (except any award of compensatory damages) or with a final order of the Secretary, including final orders approving settlement agreements as provided under 24.111(d). See 24.113.

• This enforcement is brought in the United States district court for the district where the violation was found to have occurred.
• If a settlement agreement has been approved into a final Secretary order under 24.111(d), that final order is also enforceable under this provision.

Under 24.113, the person on whose behalf an order was issued may file a civil action to enforce the order in certain situations. See 24.113.

• That private enforcement right applies when the order is an ALJ order issued under the Energy Reorganization Act or when it is a final order of the Secretary issued under either the Energy Reorganization Act or the Clean Air Act.
• For other statutes or types of orders, the provision does not give an explicit private right to file a civil enforcement action.

Under 24.113, the enforcement action must be filed in the United States district court for the district in which the violation was found to have occurred. See 24.113.

• That means the proper venue is the federal district court that covers the geographic area where the administrative record found the noncompliance.

Under 24.113, the Secretary’s authority to file a civil action does not include enforcement of ALJ awards of compensatory damages. See 24.113.

• The regulation expressly excepts “any award of compensatory damages” from the enforcement route described in 24.113.
• Other remedies in an ALJ’s order (for example, injunctive relief) may still be pursued in district court under this section.

Under 24.113, final Secretary orders that approve settlement agreements may be enforced in district court. See 24.113 and the settlement-approval provision at 24.111(d).

• If the Secretary has approved a settlement and issued a final order under 24.111(d), that final order is enforceable in the U.S. district court for the district where the violation was found to have occurred.

Under 24.113, both the Secretary and the person on whose behalf the ALJ order was issued may file a civil action to enforce an ALJ order issued under the Energy Reorganization Act (except for ALJ awards of compensatory damages). See 24.113.

• The Secretary may file broadly when there is noncompliance with an ALJ order under the Energy Reorganization Act.
• The complainant (the person on whose behalf the order was issued) also may file to enforce an ALJ order issued under that same Act.

Under 24.113, a private person’s explicit right to file a civil enforcement action is limited to orders under the Energy Reorganization Act or the Clean Air Act. See 24.113.

• The regulation specifically permits the person on whose behalf the order was issued to file a civil action when the order is an ALJ order under the Energy Reorganization Act or a final Secretary order under either the Energy Reorganization Act or the Clean Air Act.
• For final orders under other statutes, 24.113 does not provide that same private enforcement right.

Under 24.113, if the Secretary issues a final order approving a settlement (as provided under 24.111(d)) under the Clean Air Act, both the Secretary and the person on whose behalf the order was issued may bring a civil action to enforce that final order in the appropriate U.S. district court. See 24.113.

• The rule explicitly extends private enforcement rights to final Secretary orders under the Clean Air Act as well as the Energy Reorganization Act.

Under 24.113, "the district in which the violation was found to have occurred" means the federal judicial district where the administrative record establishes the violation took place, and that is the proper venue for the civil enforcement action. See 24.113.

• Practically, this means filing the enforcement suit in the U.S. district court that covers the geographic area identified in the ALJ’s or Secretary’s finding of violation.

Under 24.113, a civil enforcement action is intended to enforce the terms of the ALJ’s order (subject to the compensatory-damages exception) or the Secretary’s final order, so it may seek the remedies provided in those orders. See 24.113.

• The regulation excludes enforcement of awards of compensatory damages ordered by an ALJ.
• Injunctive relief and other non-compensatory remedies in the original order are the types of relief typically pursued through the district court enforcement action.

Under 24.113, the regulation does not specify a deadline or statute of limitations for filing a civil enforcement action. See 24.113.

• Because 24.113 is silent on time limits, other applicable statutes or procedural rules (or counsel advice) should be consulted to determine any timing constraints for filing in federal court.

Under 24.113, the text specifically references ALJ orders issued under the Energy Reorganization Act when discussing enforcement of ALJ orders; it does not expressly refer to ALJ orders under other statutes. See 24.113.

• The Secretary’s authority in 24.113 to file civil actions is explicitly tied to ALJ orders issued under the Energy Reorganization Act and to final orders of the Secretary more generally.
• For ALJ orders under other statutes, one must review the relevant statute and regulations to determine available enforcement routes.

Under 24.113, the remedy explicitly excluded from enforcement by the Secretary in district court is any award of compensatory damages ordered by an ALJ. See 24.113.

• That exclusion is stated directly in the regulation; other remedies in an ALJ’s order are not similarly excluded and may be enforced in district court.