Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment

Civil Monetary Penalty Adjustments for Inflation

Supplementary Information

Table of Contents

I. Statutory and Regulatory Background

II. Overview of Final Rule

III. Adjustments by Component

A. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

B. U.S. Customs and Border Protection

C. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

D. U.S. Coast Guard

E. Transportation Security Administration

IV. Administrative Procedure Act

V. Regulatory Analyses

A. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

VI. Signing Authority

I. Statutory and Regulatory Background

On November 2, 2015, the President signed into law the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-74 section 701 (Nov. 2, 2015)) (2015 Act). ⁽¹⁾ The 2015 Act amended the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note) to further improve the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect. The 2015 Act required agencies to: (1) adjust the level of civil monetary penalties with an initial "catch-up" adjustment through issuance of an interim final rule (IFR) and (2) make subsequent annual adjustments for inflation. ⁽²⁾ Through the "catch-up" adjustment, agencies were required to adjust the amounts of civil monetary penalties to more accurately reflect inflation rates. ⁽³⁾

For the subsequent annual adjustments, the 2015 Act requires agencies to increase the penalty amounts by a cost-of-living adjustment. ⁽⁴⁾ The 2015 Act directs OMB to provide guidance to agencies each year to assist agencies in making the annual adjustments. ⁽⁵⁾ The 2015 Act requires agencies to make the annual adjustments no later than January 15 of each year and to publish the adjustments in the Federal Register . ⁽⁶⁾

Pursuant to the 2015 Act, DHS undertook a review of the civil penalties that DHS and its components administer. ⁽⁷⁾ On July 1, 2016, DHS published an IFR adjusting the maximum civil monetary penalties with an initial "catch-up" adjustment, as required by the 2015 Act. ⁽⁸⁾ DHS calculated the adjusted penalties based upon nondiscretionary provisions in the 2015 Act and upon guidance that OMB issued to agencies on February 24, 2016. ⁽⁹⁾ The adjusted penalties were effective for civil penalties assessed after August 1, 2016 (the effective date of the IFR), whose associated violations occurred after November 2, 2015 (the date of enactment of the 2015 Act). ⁽¹⁰⁾ On January 27, 2017, DHS published a final rule making the annual adjustment for 2017. ⁽¹¹⁾ On April 2, 2018, DHS made the 2018 annual inflation adjustment. ⁽¹²⁾ On April 5, 2019, DHS made the 2019 annual inflation adjustment. ⁽¹³⁾ On June 17, 2020, DHS made the 2020 annual inflation adjustment. ⁽¹⁴⁾ On October 18, 2021, DHS made the 2021 annual inflation adjustment. ⁽¹⁵⁾ On January 11, 2022, DHS made the 2022 annual inflation adjustment. ⁽¹⁶⁾ On January 13, 2023, DHS made the 2023 annual inflation adjustment. ⁽¹⁷⁾

II. Overview of the Final Rule

This final rule makes the 2024 annual inflation adjustments to civil monetary penalties pursuant to the 2015 Act and pursuant to guidance OMB issued to agencies on December 19, 2023. ⁽¹⁸⁾ The penalty amounts in this final rule will be effective for penalties assessed after June 28, 2024 where the associated violation occurred after November 2, 2015. Consistent with OMB guidance, the 2015 Act does not retrospectively change previously assessed penalties that the agency is actively collecting or has collected.

We discuss civil penalties by DHS component in Section III below. For each component identified in Section III, below, we briefly describe the relevant civil penalty (or penalties), and we provide a table showing the increase in the penalties for 2024. In the table for each component, we show (1) the penalty name, (2) the penalty statutory and or regulatory citation, (3) the penalty amount as adjusted in the 2023 final rule, (4) the cost-of-living adjustment multiplier for 2024 that OMB provided in its December 19, 2023, guidance, and (5) the new 2024 adjusted penalty. The 2015 Act instructs agencies to round penalties to the nearest multiple of $1. ⁽¹⁹⁾ For a more complete discussion of the method used for calculating the initial "catch-up" inflation adjustments and a component-by-component breakdown to the nature of the civil penalties and relevant legal authorities, please see the IFR preamble at 81 FR 42987-43000.

Additionally, in Section III(D) discussing the civil penalties of the U.S. Coast Guard, DHS is accounting for additional civil monetary penalties that the U.S. Coast Guard is statutorily authorized to collect.

Finally, in issuing this final rule, it is DHS's intention that the rule's penalty provisions be considered severable from one another to the greatest extent possible. For example, if a court of competent jurisdiction were to hold that a particular penalty amount could not be applied as adjusted for inflation to particular persons or in particular circumstances, DHS would intend for the court to leave the remainder of the rule in place with respect to all other penalties as adjusted for inflation and covered persons and circumstances.

III. Adjustments by Component

In the following sections, we briefly describe the civil penalties that DHS and its components, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), assess. Other components not mentioned do not impose any civil monetary penalties for 2024. At the end of each section we include tables that list the individual adjustments for each penalty.

A. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) administers the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS). CFATS is a program that regulates the security of chemical facilities that, in the discretion of the Secretary, present high levels of security risk. DHS established the CFATS program in 2007 pursuant to section 550 of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 109-295). ⁽²⁰⁾ Pursuant to section 5 of the Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-254, as amended by Pub. L. 116-150; 6 U.S.C. 621 note), authorization had been granted for CFATS until July 27, 2023. Congress did not act to reauthorize the program in time and, as such, the authorization expired on July 28, 2023. Therefore, regulations written pursuant to CFATS authority are not currently active. While regulatory text for the CFATS regulation, including a civil penalty, is located in part 27 of title 6 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the text is inactive due to the lapse in authority. For that reason, we are not proposing any changes relating to adjustments to the maximum civil penalty amount that may be assessed pursuant to CFATS at this time.

B. U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) assesses civil monetary penalties under various titles of the United States Code (U.S.C.) and the CFR. These include penalties for certain violations of title 8 of the CFR regarding the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (Pub. L. 82-414, as amended) (INA). The INA contains provisions that impose penalties on persons, including carriers and aliens, who violate specified provisions of the INA. The relevant penalty provisions appear in numerous sections of the INA; however, CBP has enumerated these penalties in regulation in one location-8 CFR 280.53. For a complete list of the INA sections for which penalties are assessed, in addition to a brief description of each violation, see the 2016 IFR preamble at 81 FR 42989-42990. For a complete list and brief description of the non-INA civil monetary penalties assessed by CBP subject to adjustment and a discussion of the history of the DHS and CBP adjustments to the non-INA penalties, see the 2019 annual inflation adjustment final rule preamble at 84 FR 13499, 13500 (April 5, 2019).

Below is a table showing the 2024 adjustment for the penalties that CBP administers.

C. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assesses civil monetary penalties for certain employment-related violations arising from the INA. ICE's civil penalties are located in title 8 of the CFR.

There are three different sections in the INA that impose civil monetary penalties for violations of the laws that relate to employment actions: sections 274A, 274B, and 274C. ICE has primary enforcement responsibilities for two of these civil penalty provisions (sections 274A and 274C), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) has enforcement responsibilities for one of these civil penalty provisions (section 274B). The INA, in sections 274A and 274C, provides for imposition of civil penalties for various specified unlawful acts pertaining to the employment eligibility verification process (Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification), the employment of unauthorized aliens, and document fraud.

Because both DHS and DOJ implement the three employment-related penalty sections in the INA, both Departments' implementing regulations reflect the civil penalty amounts. For a complete description of the civil money penalties assessed and a discussion of DHS's and DOJ's efforts to update the penalties in years past, see the IFR preamble at 81 FR 42991. Below is a table showing the 2024 adjustment for the penalties that ICE administers. ⁽²¹⁾

D. U.S. Coast Guard

The Coast Guard is authorized to assess nearly 150 penalties involving maritime safety and security and environmental stewardship that are critical to the continued success of Coast Guard missions. Various statutes in titles 14, 16, 19, 33, 42, 46, and 49 of the U.S.C. authorize these penalties. Titles 33 and 46 authorize the vast majority of these penalties as these statutes deal with navigation, navigable waters, and shipping. For a more detailed discussion of the civil monetary penalties assessed by the Coast Guard, see the 2016 IFR preamble at 81 FR 42992.

The Coast Guard has identified the penalties it administers, adjusted those penalties for inflation, and is listing those new penalties in a table located in the CFR-specifically, Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3. Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3 identifies the statutes that provide the Coast Guard with civil monetary penalty authority and sets out the inflation-adjusted maximum penalty that the Coast Guard may impose pursuant to each statutory provision. Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3 provides the current maximum penalty for violations that occurred after November 2, 2015. The applicable civil monetary penalty amounts for violations occurring on or before November 2, 2015, are set forth in previously published regulations amending 33 CFR part 27. To find the applicable penalty amount for a violation that occurred on or before November 2, 2015, look to the prior versions of the CFR that pertain to the date on which the violation occurred.

The Coast Guard has also identified updates to Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3 to ensure it accurately reflects all civil monetary penalties that the Coast Guard is statutorily authorized to impose by statute. Table 3, below, lists the penalties that this rule adds or revises in Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3 followed by a description of each. The added penalties are those that were either recently enacted or inadvertently excluded from Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3 and from prior civil monetary penalty adjustment rulemakings but that are set and authorized for Coast Guard's assessment by statute. They are now added to Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3 to create a more complete list of Coast Guard civil monetary penalties and to align with the requirements of the 2015 Act. This rule also removes one penalty, specifically 46 U.S.C. 10104(b), from the existing Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3 because Congress revised and replaced the penalties in 46 U.S.C. 10104 with those that now appear at 46 U.S.C. 10104(a)(2) and 46 U.S.C. 10104(d)(2). ⁽²²⁾

The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (2023 NDAA) authorized a civil penalty of $1,000 under 46 U.S.C. 3106(d) for violations of the required Master Key Control System. ⁽²³⁾ That penalty became effective on December 23, 2022  ⁽²⁴⁾ and is included in the updates to Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3. The civil monetary penalties for violations of passenger vessel security and safety requirements, authorized by 46 U.S.C. 3507(h)(1)(A), and violations of crewmembers' crime scene preservation training requirements, authorized by 46 U.S.C. 3508(d), are also included. The penalty in section 3508(d) was previously authorized in 46 U.S.C. 3508(e) and was redesignated to paragraph 3508(d) by the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. ⁽²⁵⁾ These civil monetary penalties involving cruise vessel security and safety are in effect per statute and Coast Guard policy letters. ⁽²⁶⁾

USCG also adds penalties for violating requirements for engine cutoff switches for first offense, second offense, and subsequent-to-second offense. These three penalties in 46 U.S.C. 4311(c) were codified by Section 8316 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, (Pub. L. 116-283, January 1, 2021). In addition, the Coast Guard adds the existing civil penalty for Employing Qualified Available U.S. Citizens or Residents in 46 U.S.C. 8106(f). This penalty was originally authorized by Congress through Section 312 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-241, July 11, 2006).

Penalties for violations of a requirement of mandatory reporting of sexual assault and sexual harassment and violations for non-compliance with requirements to submit a company after-action summary, as codified at 46 U.S.C. 10104(a)(2) and 10104(d)(2), are also added to Table 1 in 33 CFR 27.3. An after-action summary summarizes the actions taken after an incident of sexual assault or sexual harassment. These penalties were added by the 2023 NDAA and became effective on December 23, 2022. ⁽²⁷⁾ The Coast Guard also adds a civil penalty for violating vessel escort operations and towing requirements, authorized at 46 U.S.C. 55112(d) as well as a civil penalty for violations of anchorage and vessel movement during a national emergency authorized by 46 U.S.C. 70052(c) under subchapter VI Regulation of Vessels in the Territorial Waters of the United States, an important national security enforcement authority of the Coast Guard.

Table 4 below shows the 2024 adjustment for the remaining penalties that the Coast Guard administers that have previously already been included in Table 1 of 33 CFR 27.3.

E. Transportation Security Administration

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is updating its civil penalties regulation in accordance with the 2015 Act. Pursuant to its statutory authority in 49 U.S.C. 46301(a)(1), (4), (5), (6), 49 U.S.C. 46301(d)(2), (8), and 49 U.S.C. 114(u), TSA may impose penalties for violations of statutes that TSA administers, including penalties for violations of implementing regulations or orders. Note that pursuant to division K, title I, sec. 1904(b)(1)(I), of Public Law 115-254, 132 Stat. 3186, 3545 (Oct. 5, 2018), the TSA Modernization Act-part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018-the former 49 U.S.C. 114(v), which relates to penalties, was re-designated as 49 U.S.C. 114(u).

TSA assesses these penalties for a wide variety of aviation and surface security requirements, including violations of TSA's requirements applicable to Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC), ⁽²⁸⁾ as well as violations of requirements described in chapter 449 of title 49 of the U.S.C. These penalties can apply to a wide variety of situations, as described in the statutory and regulatory provisions, as well as in guidance that TSA publishes. Below is a table showing the 2024 adjustment for the penalties that TSA administers.

IV. Administrative Procedure Act

The Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq. ) require agencies, when conducting rulemaking, to provide advance public notice, seek public comment, and provide a thirty-day delayed effective date. An agency may issue a rule without first providing an opportunity for notice and comment if the agency makes a finding of good cause that that notice and comment procedures are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. Notice and comment procedures are unnecessary, for example, if Congress requires non-discretionary action of an agency, leaving the agency without discretion to vary its action in response to the views or suggestions of public commenters.

With respect to the annual inflation adjustments, DHS finds that notice and comment procedures are not required. The 2015 Act had instructed agencies to make the required annual adjustments "notwithstanding section 553 of title 5 of the U.S.C." (See 28 U.S.C. 2461 note). Furthermore, DHS has good cause to forgo notice and comment procedures because such procedures would be unnecessary due to DHS's lack of discretion in updating the penalties. As required by the 2015 Act, DHS is updating the penalty amounts by applying the cost-of-living adjustment multiplier that OMB has provided to agencies. For the same reasons, DHS also finds that it has good cause to forgo a delayed effective date under section 553(d) of the APA.

With respect to the penalties that Coast Guard has added in this rulemaking, DHS finds that there is good cause to bypass notice and comment procedures. In this rule, the Coast Guard adds penalties to Table 1 in 33 CFR part 27. The penalties address master key control systems (46 U.S.C. 3106(d)), passenger vessel safety and security (46 U.S.C. 3507(h)(1)(A) and 46 U.S.C. 3508(d)), engine cut-off switches (46 U.S.C. 4311(c)), employing qualified available U.S. citizens or residents (46 U.S.C. 8106(f)(2)-(3)), the requirement to report sexual assault and harassment (46 U.S.C. 10104(a)(2) and 46 U.S.C. 10104(d)(2)), vessel escort operations and towing assistance (46 U.S.C. 55112(d)), and the regulation of vessels in the territorial waters of the United States (46 U.S.C. 70052(c). See Table 3, "U.S. Coast Guard Civil Penalty Additions," above for more information on the penalties that the Coast Guard is adding to Table 1 in 33 CFR part 27. DHS finds that there is good cause to forgo notice and comment procedures for these additions because notice and comment procedures would be unnecessary. Notice and comment would not change either the initial maximum statutory penalties (set by their authorizing statutes) or the multiplier (set by OMB). The authorizing statutes for these penalties and the 2015 Act leave the Coast Guard no discretion to consider any other alternatives for setting the penalties. For the reasons stated above, DHS also finds that good cause exists to forgo a 30-day delayed effective date under section 553(d) of the APA.

V. Regulatory Analyses

A. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

Executive Orders 12866 ("Regulatory Planning and Review"), as amended by Executive Order 14094 ("Modernizing Regulatory Review"), and 13563 ("Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review") direct agencies to assess the costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). Executive Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility.

OMB has not designated this final rule a "significant regulatory action" under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, as amended by Executive Order 14094. Accordingly, OMB has not reviewed this rule. This final rule makes nondiscretionary adjustments to existing civil monetary penalties in accordance with the 2015 Act and OMB guidance. ⁽²⁹⁾ DHS therefore did not consider alternatives and does not have the flexibility to alter the adjustments of the civil monetary penalty amounts as provided in this rule. To the extent this final rule increases civil monetary penalties, it would result in an increase in transfers from persons or entities assessed a civil monetary penalty to the government.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act applies only to rules for which an agency publishes a notice of proposed rulemaking pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b). See 5 U.S.C. 601-612. The Regulatory Flexibility Act does not apply to this final rule because a notice of proposed rulemaking was not required for the reasons stated above.

C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538, requires Federal agencies to assess the effects of their discretionary regulatory actions. In particular, the Act addresses actions that may result in the expenditure by a State, local, or Tribal government, in the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100,000,000 (adjusted for inflation) or more in any one year. This final rule will not result in such an expenditure.

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

The provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35, and its implementing regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, do not apply to this final rule, because this final rule does not trigger any new or revised recordkeeping or reporting.

VI. Signing Authorities

The amendments to 19 CFR part 4 in this document are issued in accordance with 19 CFR 0.2(a), which provides that the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to CBP regulations that are not related to customs revenue functions was transferred to the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to Section 403(l) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Accordingly, this final rule to amend such regulations may be signed by the Secretary of Homeland Security (or his or her delegate).

Amendments to the Regulations

Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the preamble, DHS is amending 8 CFR parts 270, 274a, and 280, 19 CFR part 4, 33 CFR part 27, and 49 CFR part 1503 as follows:

Title 8-Aliens and Nationality

Part 270 Penalties for Document Fraud

Part 274a Control of Employment of Aliens

Part 280 Imposition and Collection of Fines

Title 19-Customs Duties

Part 4 Vessels in Foreign and Domestic Trades

Title 33-Navigation and Navigable Waters

Part 27 Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalties for Inflation

Title 49-Transportation

Part 1503 Investigative and Enforcement Procedures

[FR Doc. 2024-14121 Filed 6-27-24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 9110-04- 9110-05- 9110-9P- 9111-14- 9111-28-P

⁽¹⁾  The 2015 Act was part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Public Law 114-74 (Nov. 2, 2015) (codified as amended at 28 U.S.C. 2461 note).

⁽²⁾  Public Law 114-74 section 701(b)(1)(D)(b)(1)-(2).

⁽³⁾  Public Law 114-74 section 701(b)(1)(D)(b)(1)(A)-(B).

⁽⁴⁾  Public Law 114-74 section 701(b)(1)(D)(b)(2).

⁽⁵⁾  Public Law 114-74 section 701(b)(2)(4)(a).

⁽⁶⁾  Public Law 114-74 section 701(b)(1)(A)(a).

⁽⁷⁾  The 2015 Act applies to all agency civil penalties except for any penalty (including any addition to tax and additional amount) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 1 et seq. ) and the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1202 et seq. ). See sec. 4(a)(1) of the 2015 Act. In the case of DHS, several civil penalties that are assessed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) fall under the Tariff Act of 1930, and therefore DHS did not adjust those civil penalties in this rulemaking.

⁽⁸⁾  81 FR 42987 (July 1, 2016).

⁽⁹⁾ Id.; Office of Mgmt. & Budget, Exec. Office of The President, M-16-06, Implementation of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, Table A: 2016 Civil Monetary Penalty Catch-Up Adjustment Multiplier by Calendar Year, (Feb. 24, 2016) ( https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/memoranda/#memoranda-2016 ).

⁽¹⁰⁾  81 FR at 42987 (July 1, 2016).

⁽¹¹⁾  82 FR 8571 (Jan. 27, 2017).

⁽¹²⁾  83 FR 13826 (Apr. 2, 2018).

⁽¹³⁾  84 FR 13499 (Apr. 5, 2019).

⁽¹⁴⁾  85 FR 36469 (June 17, 2020).

⁽¹⁵⁾  86 FR 57532 (Oct. 18, 2021).

⁽¹⁶⁾  87 FR 1317 (Jan. 11, 2022).

⁽¹⁷⁾  88 FR 2175 (Jan. 13, 2023).

⁽¹⁸⁾  Office of Mgmt. and Budget, Exec. Office of the President, M-24-07, Implementation of Penalty Inflation Adjustments for 2024, Pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Dec. 19, 2023) ( https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/M-24-07-Implementation-of-Penalty-Inflation-Adjustments-for-2024.pdf ).

⁽¹⁹⁾  Public Law 114-74 section 701(b)(2)(A).

⁽²⁰⁾  Section 550 has since been superseded by the Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-254). The new legislation codified the statutory authority for the CFATS program within Title XXI of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended. See 6 U.S.C. 621 et seq. Public Law 113-254 authorized the CFATS program from January 18, 2015, to January 17, 2019. Public Law 116-150 extends the CFATS program authorization to July 27, 2023.

⁽²¹⁾  Table 3 also includes two civil penalties that are also listed as penalties administered by CBP. These are penalties for failure to depart voluntarily, INA section 240B(d), and failure to depart after a final order of removal, INA section 274D. Both CBP and ICE may administer these penalties, but as ICE is the DHS component primarily responsible for assessing and collecting them, they are also listed among the penalties ICE administers.

⁽²²⁾  Public Law 117-263 section 11609 (Dec. 23, 2022) (codified as amended at 46 U.S.C. 10104).

⁽²³⁾ See Public Law 117-263 section 3106 (Dec. 23, 2022).

⁽²⁴⁾ Id.

⁽²⁵⁾ See Public Law 115-232 section 3543 (Aug.13, 2018).

⁽²⁶⁾ See CG-543 Policy Letter 11-09 (June 28, 2011) & CG-543 Policy Letter 11-10 (July 27, 2011).

⁽²⁷⁾ See Public Law 117-263 section 11609 (Dec. 23, 2022).

⁽²⁸⁾ See, e.g., 46 U.S.C. 70105, 49 U.S.C. 46302 and 46303, and 49 U.S.C. chapter 449.

⁽²⁹⁾  Office of Mgmt. and Budget, Exec. Office of the President, M-24-07, Implementation of Penalty Inflation Adjustments for 2024, Pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Dec. 19, 2023) ( https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/M-24-07-Implementation-of-Penalty-Inflation-Adjustments-for-2024.pdf ).