Rule2026-11585
Penalty Inflation Adjustments for Civil Monetary Penalties
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
June 10, 2026
Effective
June 10, 2026
Issuing agencies
Social Security Administration
Abstract
Section 701 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA) imposed new maximum civil monetary penalty (CMP) amounts for infractions of agency rules, and required federal agencies that impose CMPs to adjust these new maximum figures annually for inflation. This final rule adopts without change the regulatory text in the interim final rule that we published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2016.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 111 (Wednesday, June 10, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 111 (Wednesday, June 10, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35136-35138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11585]
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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
20 CFR Part 498
[Docket No. SSA-2022-0007]
RIN 0960-AI72
Penalty Inflation Adjustments for Civil Monetary Penalties
AGENCY: Social Security Administration.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: Section 701 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA) imposed
new maximum civil monetary penalty (CMP) amounts for infractions of
agency rules, and required federal agencies that impose CMPs to adjust
these new maximum figures annually for inflation. This final rule
adopts without change the regulatory text in the interim final rule
that we published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2016.
[[Page 35137]]
DATES: This final rule is effective on June 10, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Harris, 61 Forsyth Street
SW, Suite 20T45, Atlanta, GA 30303, 404-562-1010. For information on
eligibility or filing for benefits, call the Social Security
Administration's national toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 or TTY 1-
800-325-0778, or visit the Social Security Administration's internet
site, Social Security Online, at <a href="http://www.socialsecurity.gov">http://www.socialsecurity.gov</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 701 of the BBA, referred to as the Federal Civil Penalties
Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment
Act),\1\ placed requirements on Federal agencies that impose CMPs,
including: 1) adjusting the maximum level of CMPs via an initial
``catch-up'' adjustment, which was to be codified by interim final
regulations to be effective no later than August 1, 2016; and 2)
adjusting the penalties for inflation annually.\2\
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\1\ Public Law 114-74, 129 Stat. 584, 599.
\2\ Previously, the law required each agency to make
inflationary adjustment for all applicable CMPs at least once every
four years. See the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act
of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-410), as amended, and the Debt Collection
Improvement Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-134), as amended.
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Based on guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB),\3\ we modified the penalty level or range that we identified as
needing an initial catch-up based on the percent change between the not
seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-
U) for the month of October in the year in which the penalty was
established or previously adjusted and the October 2015 CPI-U.\4\ We
used OMB-published multipliers to make these initial adjustments,
ensuring not to exceed 150 percent of the amount of that penalty as of
the date of enactment of the Inflation Adjustment Act.\5\ Based on the
Inflation Adjustment Act, the annual inflation adjustment in subsequent
years must be a cost-of-living adjustment based on any increases in the
October CPI-U (not seasonally adjusted) each year, rounded to the
nearest multiple of $1.\6\
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\3\ On February 24, 2016, OMB published its memorandum
``Implementation of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment
Act Improvements Act of 2015'' (OMB Memorandum M-16-06). The
memorandum can be found at <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/memoranda/2016/m-16-06.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/memoranda/2016/m-16-06.pdf</a>. The
memorandum provides guidance to implement the civil monetary penalty
adjustment requirements of section 701 of Public Law 114-74.
\4\ Id. at 3.
\5\ Id. at 3, 6, and 8.
\6\ Id. at 1 and 3.
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On June 27, 2016, we published an interim final rule \7\
implementing these changes to the maximum penalty amounts that may be
imposed under the CMP program, pursuant to the Inflation Adjustment
Act. This interim final rule provided notice of the initial ``catch-
up'' adjustment in the maximum penalty amounts, and the calculation for
the annual adjustment of these penalty amounts. As disclosed in the
interim final rule, for any future adjustments of the maximum penalty
assessed after 2016, we would publish a notice in the Federal Register
announcing adjustment of the new amounts to account for inflation.\8\
We have published annual notices in the Federal Register each year
after 2016.\9\ We did not request comments on the interim final rule.
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\7\ See 81 FR 41438.
\8\ 20 CFR 498.103(g)(2)(iii).
\9\ See 81 FR 41438 (2016), 81 FR 96161 (2017), 83 FR 1654
(2018), 84 FR 360 (2019), 85 FR 1369 (2020), 86 FR 1123 (2021), and
86 FR 73839 (2021), 87 FR 80245 (2022), 89 FR 1973 (2024), 89 FR
105674 (2024), 91 FR 33284 (2026).
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For the 2024 annual notice, our adjustments to the existing maximum
CMPs resulted in the new maximum penalties effective January 15, 2025:
$9,704.00 for each violation under section 1129 of the Social Security
Act for fraud facilitators in a position of trust (42 U.S.C. 1320a-8);
$10,289.00 for each violation under section 1129 of the Social Security
Act for all other violators (42 U.S.C. 1320a-8); $65,653.49 per
broadcast or telecast under section 1140 of the Social Security Act;
and $12,799.00 for all other violations under section 1140 of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-10).\10\
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\10\ 89 FR 105674 (2024). The amounts effective January 15, 2025
are still in effect. 91 FR 33284 (2026).
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As noted above, the interim final rule incorporated the penalty
inflation adjustments for CMPs contained in sections 1129 and 1140 of
the Social Security Act, and established that we will publish a notice
of the maximum penalty in the Federal Register on an annual basis on or
before January 15 of each calendar year. With this final rule, we are
adopting without change the regulatory text from the interim final rule
that was published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2016.
Regulatory Procedure
Good Cause for Exception to Rulemaking Procedure
Pursuant to sections 205(a), 702(a)(5), and 1631(d)(1) of the
Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 405(a), 42 U.S.C. 902(a)(5), and 42
U.S.C. 1383(d)(1), we follow the Administrative Procedures Act (APA)
rulemaking procedures specified in 5 U.S.C. 553 in the development of
our regulations.
The APA provides exceptions to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM) procedures when an agency finds that there is good cause for
dispensing with such procedures on the basis that they are
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. In
2016, we dispensed with those procedures and published an interim final
rule because Section 701(b)(1)(D) of the BBA 2015 required that we
adjust CMPs through an interim final rulemaking and that we implement
those adjustments not later than August 1, 2016. Because the adjustment
was required without policy discretion, we find upon good cause that
prior notice and other public procedure with respect to this action are
not necessary.
In addition, we find that there is good cause for dispensing with
the 30-day delay in the effective date of this final rule as provided
by 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). As we explained above, this final rule codifies
the existing statutory requirements in the CFR, as set forth in the
interim final rule. We are making no other changes. Therefore, we find
that it is unnecessary to delay the effective date of the final rule.
Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, as Supplemented by E.O. 13563
We consulted with OMB and determined that this final rule does not
meet the criteria for a significant regulatory action under E.O. 12866
as supplemented by E.O. 13563. Thus, OMB did not review this final
rule.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act relating to an
initial and final regulatory flexibility analysis (5 U.S.C. 603, 604)
are not applicable to this final rule because we were not required to
publish notice of proposed rulemaking under 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other
law. Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required
when among other things the agency, for good cause, finds that notice
and public procedure are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the
public interest.
Nevertheless, while the increase in the civil monetary penalties
provided
[[Page 35138]]
for under sections 1129 and 1140 of the Act might have a slight impact
on small entities, it is the nature of the violation and not the size
of the entity that will result in an action by the Office of Inspector
General. Additionally, the Social Security Act requires the
consideration of individual factors, including the financial condition
of the person or entity committing the offense, in determining the CMP
amount. Therefore, we do not anticipate that small entities will be
significantly affected.
Congressional Review Act
Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801et seq.) this
rule is not a ``major rule,'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).\11\
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\11\ A ``major rule'' means any rule that the Administrator of
the Office of the Information and Regulatory Affairs at OMB finds
has resulted in or is likely to result in (a) an annual effect on
the economy of $100 million or more; (b) a major increase in costs
or prices for consumers, individual industries, Federal agencies,
State agencies, local government agencies, or geographic regions; or
(c) significant adverse effects on competition, employment,
investment, productivity, innovation, or on the ability of United
States-based enterprise to compete with foreign-based enterprises in
domestic and export markets (5 U.S.C. 804(2)).
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E.O. 14192
Based upon the criteria established in E.O. 14192 and OMB
Memorandum M-25-20, this rule is not an ``E.O. regulatory action''
because it does not impose total costs greater than zero.\12\
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\12\ According to M-25-20, an `` `E.O. 14192 regulatory action'
is: (i) A significant regulatory action as defined in Section 3(f)
of E.O. 12866 that has been finalized and that imposes total costs
greater than zero; or (ii) A significant guidance document, broadly
conceived, (e.g., significant interpretive guidance) reviewed by
OIRA under the procedures of E.O. 12866 that has been finalized and
that imposes total costs greater than zero.''
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Paperwork Reduction Act
These rules do not create any new or affect any existing
collections and, therefore, do not require OMB approval under the
Paperwork Reduction Act.
List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 498
Administrative practice and procedure, Fraud.
Mark Steffensen,
General Counsel, Social Security Administration.
PART 498--CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES, ASSESSMENTS AND RECOMMENDED
EXCLUSIONS
0
The interim final rule amending 20 CFR part 498, which was published at
81 FR 41438 on June 27, 2016, is adopted as final without change.
[FR Doc. 2026-11585 Filed 6-9-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 10, 2026.
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