SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act

The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, 28 U.S.C. 2461 note (“FCPIA Act”), requires federal agencies to adjust, by regulation, the CMPs within their jurisdiction to account for inflation. The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (the “2015 Act”) ^[1] amended the FCPIA Act to require federal agencies to make annual adjustments not later than January 15 of every year.^[2] The Board is now issuing a new final rule to set the CMP levels pursuant to the required annual adjustment for 2019. The Board will apply these adjusted maximum penalty levels to any penalties assessed on or after February 6, 2019, whose associated violations occurred on or after November 2, 2015. Penalties assessed for violations occurring prior to November 2, 2015, will be subject to the amounts set in the Board's 2012 adjustment pursuant to the FCPIA Act.^[3]

Under the 2015 Act, the annual adjustment to be made for 2019 is the percentage by which the Consumer Price Index for the month of October 2018 exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the month of October 2017. On December 14, 2018, as directed by the 2015 Act, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued guidance to affected agencies on implementing the required annual adjustment, which included the relevant inflation multiplier.^[4] Using OMB's multiplier, the ( printed page 2052) Board calculated the adjusted penalties for its CMPs, rounding the penalties to the nearest dollar.^[5]

Administrative Procedure Act

The 2015 Act states that agencies shall make the annual adjustment “notwithstanding section 553 of title 5, United States Code.” Therefore, this rule is not subject to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (the “APA”), 5 U.S.C. 553, requiring notice, public participation, and a deferred effective date.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., requires a regulatory flexibility analysis only for rules for which an agency is required to publish a general notice of proposed rulemaking. Because the 2015 Act states that agencies' annual adjustments are to be made notwithstanding section 553 of title 5 of the United States Code—the APA section requiring notice of proposed rulemaking—the Board is not publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking. Therefore, the Regulatory Flexibility Act does not apply.

Paperwork Reduction Act

There is no collection of information required by this final rule that would be subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

Authority and Issuance

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Board amends 12 CFR part 263 to read as follows:

1. The authority citation for part 263 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 504, 554-557; 12 U.S.C. 248, 324, 334, 347a, 504, 505, 1464, 1467, 1467a, 1817(j), 1818, 1820(k), 1829, 1831o, 1831p-1, 1832(c), 1847(b), 1847(d), 1884, 1972(2)(F), 3105, 3108, 3110, 3349, 3907, 3909(d), 4717; 15 U.S.C. 21, 78l(i), 78o-4, 78o-5, 78u-2; 1639e(k); 28 U.S.C. 2461 note; 31 U.S.C. 5321; and 42 U.S.C. 4012a.

2. Section 263.65 is revised to read as follows: