Both the Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency finished 2023 by issuing new rules that increase the maximum civil penalties for violating certain regulations. For the EPA, those regulations include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and Toxic Substances Control Act. For the DOT, the maximum civil penalty increases affect regulations contained within, among others, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Hazardous Materials Regulations, and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.
For a little background as to why this is happening, it is worth noting that both agencies are required to raise their civil penalty maximums every year to keep pace with inflation. These requirements can be found in the Federal Civil Penalties Adjustment Act of 2015, which specifies that federal agencies, like DOT and EPA, must make annual adjustments to their civil monetary penalties, according to an outlined procedure and formula, specifically by tying these penalty adjustments to changes in the consumer price index and by then applying the cost-of-living adjustment ratio as directed by the Office of Management and Budget.
The new civil penalty amounts affect all penalties doled out either on, or after, December 28, 2023 (for all DOT violations) and on or after December 27, 2023 (for all EPA violations). This year, the penalties were all required to be increased by a factor 1.03241, as calculated using the above outline.
So, how do these new rules affect specific violations of DOT and EPA regulations? Below is a summary of some of the new, key final maximum civil penalty amounts:
For the DOT:
- Violators of the hazardous materials transportation law under 49 U.S.C. §5123(a)(1) now face a maximum penalty of $99,756, up from $96,624.
- Violators of the vehicle certification and recall compliance law under 49 U.S.C. §§ 30112, 30115, and 30117 to 30122 now face a maximum penalty per violation of $27,168, up from $26,315. Even more significant is the maximum penalty for a series of related violations which has increased over $4M from to $135,828,178, up from $131,564,183.
- Violators of automobile fuel economy regulations under 49 U.S.C. § 32912(a) now face a maximum civil penalty of $51,139 per violation, which is up from $49,534.
- Violators of regulations related to filing false or misleading reports pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 30166(o) now face a maximum penalty per violation of $6,650, up from $6,441, and violators of a series of related regulations face a maximum civil penalty of $1,330,069, up from $1,288,315.
Find these and all the other increases in the DOT’s final rule here.
For the EPA:
- Violators of the Clean Air Act’s fuel provisions found in 42 U.S.C. § 7545(d)(1) and its supporting regulations now face a maximum civil penalty of $57,617 per day, which is up from the previous maximum of $55,808.
- Violators of the Clean Air Act’s mobile source requirements related to recordkeeping, inspection, and testing found in 42 U.S.C. § 7524(a) now face a maximum civil penalty of $57,617 per day, also up from last year’s maximum of $55,808.
- Violators of the Clean Air Act’s tampering and defeat device requirements by any person other than a manufacturer or dealer found in 42 U.S.C. § 7524(a) now face a maximum civil penalty of $5,761, up from $5,580.
- Violators of the Clean Air Act’s mobile source certification and warranty requirements, and violations of tampering and defeat device requirements by manufacturers or dealers as found in 42 U.S.C. § 7524(a) face a maximum civil penalty of $57,617, up from $55,808.
- Violators of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act found in 42 U.S.C. § 6928(g) now face a maximum civil penalty of $90,702, up from $87,855.
Find these and all the other increases in the EPA’s final rule here.