46 CFR § 506.4 - Cost of living adjustments of civil monetary penalties.

§ 506.4 Cost of living adjustments of civil monetary penalties.

(a) The inflation adjustment under § 506.3 will initially be determined by increasing the maximum civil monetary penalty for each civil monetary penalty by the initial cost-of-living adjustment. The inflation adjustment will subsequently be determined by increasing the maximum civil monetary penalty for each civil monetary penalty by the cost-of-living adjustment. Any increase determined under this section shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $1.

(b) Inflation adjustment. For purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, the term `cost-of-living adjustment' means the percentage (if any) for each civil monetary penalty by which the Consumer Price Index for the month of October preceding the adjustment exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the month of October 1 year before the month of October preceding the adjustment.

(c) Initial adjustment. For purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, the term `initial cost-of-living-adjustment' means the percentage (if any) for each civil monetary penalty by which the Consumer Price Index for the month of October, 2015 exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the month of October of the calendar year during which the amount of such civil monetary penalty was established or adjusted under a provision of law of civil monetary penalty. The initial cost-of-living adjustment may not exceed 150 percent of such penalty on November 2, 2015, the date of the enactment of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Act Adjustment Improvements Act of 2015.

(d) Inflation adjustment. Maximum civil monetary penalties within the jurisdiction of the Federal Maritime Commission are adjusted for inflation as follows:

Table 1 to Paragraph (d)

United States Code citation Civil monetary penalty description Maximum
penalty as
of
January 15, 2023
Maximum
penalty as
of
January 15, 2024
46 U.S.C. 42304 Adverse impact on U.S. carriers by foreign shipping practices $2,479,282 $2,559,636
46 U.S.C. 41107(a) Knowing and Willful violation/Shipping Act of 1984, or Commission regulation or order 70,752 73,045
46 U.S.C. 41107(a) Violation of Shipping Act of 1984, Commission regulation or order, not knowing and willful 14,149 14,608
46 U.S.C. 41108(b) Operating in foreign commerce after tariff suspension 141,506 146,092
46 U.S.C. 42104 Failure to provide required reports, etc./Merchant Marine Act of 1920 11,162 11,524
46 U.S.C. 42106 Adverse shipping conditions/Merchant Marine Act of 1920 2,232,281 2,304,629
46 U.S.C. 42108 Operating after tariff or service contract suspension/Merchant Marine Act of 1920 111,614 115,231
46 U.S.C. 44102, 44104 Failure to establish financial responsibility for non-performance of transportation 28,194
941
29,108
971
46 U.S.C. 44103, 44104 Failure to establish financial responsibility for death or injury 28,194
941
29,108
971
31 U.S.C. 3802(a)(1) Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act/making false claim 13,508 13,946
31 U.S.C. 3802(a)(2) Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act/giving false statement 13,508 13,946
[81 FR 42553, June 30, 2016, as amended at 82 FR 10720, Feb. 15, 2017; 83 FR 1305, Jan. 11, 2018; 84 FR 2460, Feb. 7, 2019; 85 FR 1761, Jan. 13, 2020; 86 FR 2561, Jan. 13, 2021; 87 FR 2351, Jan. 14, 2022; 88 FR 1518, Jan. 11, 2023; 89 FR 1465, Jan. 10, 2024]