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National
United States Regulations
46 CFR PART 506—CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY INFLATION ADJUSTMENT


Title 46: Shipping





PART 506—CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY INFLATION ADJUSTMENT


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Authority: 28 U.S.C. 2461.

Source: 61 FR 52705, Oct. 8, 1996, unless otherwise noted.

§ 506.1 Scope and purpose.
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The purpose of this Part is to establish a mechanism for the regular adjustment for inflation of civil monetary penalties and to adjust such penalties in conformity with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, 46 U.S.C. 2461, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, Public Law 104–134, April 26, 1996, in order to maintain the deterrent effect of civil monetary penalties and to promote compliance with the law.

§ 506.2 Definitions.
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(a) Commission means the Federal Maritime Commission.

(b) Civil Monetary Penalty means any penalty, fine, or other sanction that:

(1)(i) Is for a specific monetary amount as provided by Federal law; or

(ii) Has a maximum amount provided by Federal law;

(2) Is assessed or enforced by the Commission pursuant to Federal law; and

(3) Is assessed or enforced pursuant to an administrative proceeding or a civil action in the Federal Courts.

(c) Consumer Price Index means the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers published by the Department of Labor.

§ 506.3 Civil monetary penalty inflation adjustment.
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The Commission shall, not later than October 23, 1996, and at least once every 4 years thereafter—

(a) By regulation adjust each civil monetary penalty provided by law within the jurisdiction of the Commission by the inflation adjustment described in §506.4; and

(b) Publish each such regulation in the Federal Register.

§ 506.4 Cost of living adjustments of civil monetary penalties.
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(a) The inflation adjustment under §506.3 shall 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 subsection shall be rounded to the nearest:

(1) Multiple of $10 in the case of penalties less than or equal to $100;

(2) Multiple of $100 in the case of penalties greater than $100 but less than or equal to $1,000;

(3) Multiple of $1,000 in the case of penalties greater than $1,000 but less than or equal to $10,000;

(4) Multiple of $5,000 in the case of penalties greater than $10,000 but less than or equal to $100,000;

(5) Multiple of $10,000 in the case of penalties greater than $100,000 but less than or equal to $200,000; and

(6) Multiple of $25,000 in the case of penalties greater than $200,000.

(b) 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 June of the calendar year preceding the adjustment, exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the month of June of the calendar year in which the amount of such civil monetary penalty was last set or adjusted pursuant to law.

(c) Limitation on initial adjustment. The first adjustment of civil monetary penalty pursuant to §506.3 may not exceed 10 percent of such penalty.

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



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New adjusted
United States Code Citation Civil Monetary Penalty Current maximum maximum penalty
description penalty amount amount
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46 U.S.C. app. sec. 817d........................ Failure to establish 5,500 6,000
financial responsibility 220 \1\ 220
for death or injury.
46 U.S.C. app. sec. 817e........................ Failure to establish 5,500 6,000
financial responsibility 220 \1\ 220
for non-performance of
transportation.
46 U.S.C. app. sec. 876......................... Failure to provide 5,500 6,000
required reports,
etc._Merchant Marine Act
of 1920.
46 U.S.C. app. sec. 876......................... Adverse shipping 1,100,000 1,175,000
conditions/Merchant
Marine Act of 1920.
46 U.S.C. app. sec. 876......................... Operating after tariff or 55,000 60,000
service contract
suspension/Merchant
Marine Act of 1920.
46 U.S.C. app. sec. 1710a....................... Adverse impact on U.S. 1,100,000 1,175,000
carriers by foreign
shipping practices.
46 U.S.C. app. sec. 1712........................ Operating in foreign 55,000 60,000
commerce after tariff
suspension.
46 U.S.C. app. sec. 1712........................ Knowing and willful 27,500 30,000
violation/Shipping Act of
1984 or Commission
regulation or order.
46 U.S.C. app. sec. 1712........................ Violation of Shipping Act 5,500 6,000
of 1984, Commission
regulation or order, not
knowing or willful.
31 U.S.C. sec. 3802(a)(1)....................... Program Fraud Civil 5,500 6,000
Remedies Act/giving false
statement.
31 U.S.C. sec. 3802(a)(2)....................... Program Fraud Civil 5,500 6,000
Remedies Act/giving false
statement.
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\1\ Application of the statutory rounding resulted in no increase to these penalties.


[61 FR 52705, Oct. 8, 1996, as amended at 64 FR 23550, May 3, 1999; 65 FR 49741, Aug. 15, 2000]

§ 506.5 Application of increase to violations.
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Any increase in a civil monetary penalty under this part shall apply only to violations which occur after the date the increase takes effect.