Rule2023-00722
Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 13, 2023
Effective
January 15, 2023
Issuing agencies
General Services Administration
Abstract
In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, and further amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvement Act of 2015, this final rule applies the inflation adjustments for GSA's civil monetary penalties.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 9 (Friday, January 13, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2247-2248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00722]
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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
41 CFR Part 105-70
[FPMR Case 2023-01; Docket No. GSA-FPMR-2023-0005; Sequence No. 1]
RIN 3090-AK68
Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment
AGENCY: The Office of the General Counsel, General Services
Administration.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation
Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement
Act of 1996, and further amended by the Federal Civil Penalties
Inflation Adjustment Act Improvement Act of 2015, this final rule
applies the inflation adjustments for GSA's civil monetary penalties.
DATES: Effective January 15, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Aaron Pound, Assistant General
Counsel, General Law Division (LG), General Services Administration,
1800 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20405. Telephone Number 202-501-1460.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996
To maintain the remedial impact of civil monetary penalties (CMPs)
and to promote compliance with the law, the Federal Civil Penalties
Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-410) was amended by the
Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-134) and the
Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvement Act of
2015 (Sec. 701 of Pub. L. 114-74) to require Federal agencies to
regularly adjust certain CMPs for inflation. As amended, the law
requires each agency to make an initial inflationary adjustment for all
applicable CMPs, and to make further adjustments at least once every
year thereafter for these penalty amounts. The Debt Collection
Improvement Act of 1996 further stipulates that any resulting increases
in a CMP due to the calculated inflation adjustments shall apply only
to violations which occur after the date the increase takes effect,
i.e., thirty (30) days after date of publication in the Federal
Register. Pursuant to the 2015 Act, agencies are required to adjust the
level of the CMP with an initial ``fix'', and make subsequent annual
adjustments for inflation. Catch up adjustments are based on the
percent change between the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers
(CPI-U) for the month of October for the year of the previous
adjustment, and the October 2015 CPI-U. Annual inflation adjustments
will be based on the percent change between the October CPI-U preceding
the date of adjustment and the prior year's October CPI-U.
II. The Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986
Sections 6103 and 6104 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1986 (Pub. L. 99-509) set forth the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of
1986 (PFCRA).
Specifically, this statute imposes a CMP and an assessment against
any person who, with knowledge or reason to know, makes, submits, or
presents a false, fictitious, or fraudulent claim or statement to the
Government. The General Services Administration's regulations,
published in the Federal Register (61 FR 246, December 20, 1996) and
codified at 41 CFR part 105-70, currently set forth a CMP of up to
$12,100 for each false claim or statement made to the agency. Based on
the penalty amount inflation factor calculation, derived from
originally dividing the October 2021 CPI by the
[[Page 2248]]
October 2022 CPI and making the CPI-based annual adjustment thereafter,
after rounding, we are adjusting the maximum penalty amount for this
CMP to $13,000 for each false claim or statement made to the agency.
III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking
In developing this final rule, we are waiving the usual notice of
proposed rulemaking, public comment, and effective date procedures set
forth in the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553 (APA). The APA,
at 5 U.S.C. 559, provides that a subsequent statute may supersede the
APA if it does so expressly. This rulemaking effectuates the statutory
requirements set forth in section 4(b)(2) of the 2015 Act, which
provides that each agency shall make the annual inflation adjustments
``notwithstanding section 553'' of the APA. Furthermore, the APA
provides an exception to the usual notice of proposed rulemaking,
public comment, and effective date procedures when an agency finds
there is good cause for dispensing with such procedures on the basis
that they are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public
interest. We have determined that, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) and
553(d)(3), good cause exists for dispensing with these procedures. The
2015 Act provides a non-discretionary cost-of-living formula for making
the annual adjustment to the civil monetary penalties. GSA merely
performs the ministerial task of calculating the amount of the
adjustments. Therefore, under the clear terms of the APA and the
language of the 2015 Act, this rule is not subject to notice, an
opportunity for public comment, or a delayed effective date, and will
be final and effective on January 15, 2023.
IV. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess
all 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). E.O.
13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits,
of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has reviewed this final rule
in accordance with the provisions of E.O. 12866 and has determined that
it does not meet the criteria for a significant regulatory action and
thus was not subject to review under Section 6(b) of E.O. 12866. As
indicated above, the provisions contained in this final rulemaking set
forth the inflation adjustments in compliance with the Federal Civil
Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended, for specific
applicable CMPs. The great majority of individuals, organizations and
entities addressed through these regulations do not engage in such
prohibited conduct, and as a result, we believe that any aggregate
economic impact of these revised regulations will be minimal, affecting
only those limited few who may engage in prohibited conduct in
violation of the statute. As such, this final rule and the inflation
adjustment contained therein should have no effect on Federal or state
expenditures.
V. Congressional Review Act
The agency and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
OMB have determined that this rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C.
804(2). Subtitle E of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996 (codified at 5 U.S.C. 801-808), also known as the
Congressional Review Act or CRA, generally provides that before a rule
may take effect, the agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule
report, which includes a copy of the rule, to each House of the
Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. GSA will
submit a report containing this rule and other required information to
the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller
General of the United States.
VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires an agency to prepare
a regulatory flexibility analysis for rules unless the agency certifies
that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. The RFA applies only to rules for
which an agency is required to first publish a proposed rule. See 5
U.S.C. 603(a) and 604(a). As explained above, GSA is not required to
first publish a proposed rule here. Thus, the RFA does not apply to
this final rule.
VII. Paperwork Reduction Act
This final rule imposes no new reporting or recordkeeping
requirements necessitating clearance by OMB.
List of Subjects in 41 CFR Part 105-70
Administrative hearing, Claims, Program fraud.
Robin Carnahan,
Administrator.
Accordingly, 41 CFR part 105-70 is amended as set forth below:
PART 105-70--IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAM FRAUD CIVIL REMEDIES ACT
OF 1986
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1. The authority citation for part 105-70 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 31 U.S.C. 3809.
Sec. 105-70.003 [Amended]
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2. Amend Sec. 105-70.003 by--
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a. Removing from paragraph (a)(1)(iv) the amount ``12,100'' and adding
``13,000'' in its place; and
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b. Removing from paragraph (b)(1)(ii) the amount ``12,100'' and adding
``13,000'' in its place.
[FR Doc. 2023-00722 Filed 1-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-81-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 13, 2023.
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