Notice2024-00405
Civil Penalty Adjustments for 2024
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 11, 2024
Issuing agencies
National Foundation on the Arts and the HumanitiesNational Endowment for the Humanities
Abstract
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is giving notice of the adjusted maximum and minimum civil monetary penalties that may be imposed for violations of its New Restrictions on Lobbying and Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act regulations to reflect the requirements of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. The updated penalty amounts are adjusted for inflation and are effective from January 15, 2024, through January 14, 2025.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 8 (Thursday, January 11, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 8 (Thursday, January 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 1946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00405]
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NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES
National Endowment for the Humanities
Civil Penalty Adjustments for 2024
AGENCY: National Endowment for the Humanities; National Foundation on
the Arts and the Humanities.
ACTION: Notice of civil penalty adjustments for 2024.
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SUMMARY: The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is giving
notice of the adjusted maximum and minimum civil monetary penalties
that may be imposed for violations of its New Restrictions on Lobbying
and Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act regulations to reflect the
requirements of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of
1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment
Act Improvements Act of 2015. The updated penalty amounts are adjusted
for inflation and are effective from January 15, 2024, through January
14, 2025.
DATES: The updated civil penalties in this notice are applicable to
penalties assessed on or after January 15, 2024, if the associated
violations occurred after November 2, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Voyatzis, Deputy General
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, National Endowment for the
Humanities, 400 7th Street SW, Room 4060, Washington, DC 20506; (202)
606-8322; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2e494b404d415b405d4b426e404b4600494158"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="89eeece7eae6fce7faece5c9e7ece1a7eee6ff">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as
amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act
Improvements Act of 2015 (the Inflation Adjustment Act) \1\ directs
each Executive agency to make an annual inflation adjustment for each
civil monetary penalty provided by law within the jurisdiction of the
agency, and to publish notice of each such adjustment in the Federal
Register. An agency adjusts a civil monetary penalty by increasing the
maximum amount of such penalty (or the range of minimum and maximum
amounts, as applicable) by the percentage by which the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the month of October
preceding the date of adjustment (in this case, October 2023) exceeds
the CPI-U for the October one year prior to the October immediately
preceding the date of the adjustment (in this case, October 2022), then
rounding each amount to the nearest dollar.
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\1\ 28 U.S.C. 2461 note.
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NEH administers two civil monetary penalties subject to adjustment
pursuant to the Inflation Adjustment Act: A civil monetary penalty that
NEH may impose for violation of its New Restrictions on Lobbying
regulation (the Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty) \2\ and a civil
monetary penalty that NEH may impose under its Program Fraud Civil
Remedies Act Regulations (the PFCRA Civil Monetary Penalty).\3\ NEH
made the initial ``catch-up'' adjustments to the Lobbying Civil
Monetary Penalty for years 2016-2020 when it amended its New
Restrictions on Lobbying regulation on April 21, 2020,\4\ and to the
PFCRA Civil Monetary Penalty for years 2016-2021 when it adopted its
Program Fraud Civil Monetary Penalties Act regulations on August 13,
2021.\5\ NEH then adjusted the amount of those civil monetary penalties
accordingly when it codified the statutory formula for inflation
adjustments in NEH's New Restrictions on Lobbying and Program Fraud
Civil Remedies Act regulations on March 30, 2023.\6\ Each regulation
provides for subsequent annual adjustment of its respective civil
monetary penalty by notice in the Federal Register.\7\
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\2\ 45 CFR 1168.400(a), (b), (e).
\3\ 45 CFR 1174.3(a), (b).
\4\ 85 FR 22025.
\5\ 86 FR 44626.
\6\ 88 FR 18998.
\7\ 45 CFR 1168.400(g), (h), 1174.3(f), (g).
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2. 2024 Adjustments for Inflation
OMB has issued guidance on implementing and calculating the 2024
adjustment under the Inflation Adjustment Act.\8\ Per this guidance,
the CPI-U adjustment multiplier for this annual adjustment is
1.03241.\9\ The post-adjustment penalty or range is obtained by
multiplying the pre-adjustment penalty or range by the percent change
in the CPI-U over the relevant time period and rounding to the nearest
dollar. Between October 2022 and October 2023, the CPI-U increased by a
multiplier of 103.241% Therefore, NEH will adjust each civil monetary
penalty amount by multiplying it by 1.03241 and rounding to the nearest
dollar.
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\8\ Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-24-07
(December 19, 2023).
\9\ Id.
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A. 2024 Adjustment To Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty
For 2023, the Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty had a minimum amount
of $23,727 and a maximum amount of $237,268. Therefore, the adjusted
minimum Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty for 2024 is $24,496 ($23,727
multiplied by 1.03241) and the adjusted maximum Lobbying Civil Monetary
Penalty for 2024 is $244,958 ($237,268 multiplied by 1.03241).
Thus, the Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty, following the 2024
adjustment, has a minimum amount of $24,496 and a maximum amount of
$244,958.
B. 2024 Adjustment to PFCRA Civil Monetary Penalty
For 2023, the PFCRA Civil Monetary Penalty had a maximum amount of
$13,508. Therefore, the new, post-adjustment maximum penalty for 2024
under NEH's PFCRA regulation is $13,946 ($13,508 multiplied by
1.03241).
Dated: January 8, 2024.
Jessica Graves,
Paralegal Specialist, National Endowment for the Humanities.
[FR Doc. 2024-00405 Filed 1-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7536-01-P
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