Title 40—Protection of Environment--Volume 1
PART 19—ADJUSTMENT OF CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES FOR INFLATION
§ 19.1   Applicability.
This part applies to each statutory provision under the laws administered by the Environmental Protection Agency concerning the civil monetary penalties which may be assessed in either civil judicial or administrative proceedings.
§ 19.2   Effective date.
(a) The statutory civil monetary penalty levels set forth in the third column of Table 1 of § 19.4 apply to all violations which occur or occurred after November 2, 2015, where the penalties are assessed on or after January 8, 2025. The statutory civil monetary penalty levels set forth in the fourth column of table 1 of § 19.4 apply to all violations which occurred after November 2, 2015, where the penalties were assessed on or after December 27, 2023, but before January 8, 2025.
(b) The statutory monetary penalty levels in the third column of table 2 to § 19.4 apply to all violations which occurred after December 6, 2013, through November 2, 2015, and to violations occurring after November 2, 2015, where penalties were assessed before August 1, 2016. The statutory civil monetary penalty levels set forth in the fourth column of table 2 of § 19.4 apply to all violations which occurred after January 12, 2009, through December 6, 2013. The statutory civil monetary penalty levels set forth in the fifth column of table 2 of § 19.4 apply to all violations which occurred after March 15, 2004, through January 12, 2009. The statutory civil monetary penalty levels set forth in the sixth column of table 2 of § 19.4 apply to all violations which occurred after January 30, 1997, through March 15, 2004.
§ 19.3   [Reserved]
§ 19.4   Statutory civil monetary penalties, as adjusted for inflation, and tables.
Table 1 of this section sets out the statutory civil monetary penalty provisions of statutes administered by the EPA, with the third column setting out the latest operative statutory civil monetary penalty levels for violations that occur or occurred after November 2, 2015, where penalties are assessed on or after January 8, 2025. The fourth column displays the operative statutory civil monetary penalty levels where penalties were assessed on or after December 27, 2023, but before January 8, 2025. Table 2 of this section sets out the statutory civil monetary penalty provision of statutes administered by the EPA, with the operative statutory civil monetary penalty levels, as adjusted for inflation, for violations that occurred on or before November 2, 2015, and for violations that occurred after November 2, 2015, where penalties were assessed before August 1, 2016.
Table 1 of § 19.4—Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustments
1 Note that 7 U.S.C. 136 l (a)(2) contains three separate statutory maximum civil penalty provisions. The first mention of $1,000 and the $500 statutory maximum civil penalty amount were originally enacted in 1978 (Pub. L. 95-396), and the second mention of $1,000 was enacted in 1972 (Pub. L. 92-516).
Table 2 of § 19.4—Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustments
1 Note that 33 U.S.C. 1414b (d)(1)(B) contains additional penalty escalation provisions that must be applied to the penalty amounts set forth in this Table 2. The amounts set forth in this Table 2 reflect an inflation adjustment to the calendar year 1992 penalty amount expressed in section 104B(d)(1)(A), which is used to calculate the applicable penalty amount under MPRSA section 104B(d)(1)(B) for violations that occur in any subsequent calendar year.
2 CACSO was passed on December 21, 2000 as part of Title XIV of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001, Public Law 106-554, 33 U.S.C. 1901 note.
3 The original statutory penalty amounts of $20,000 and $50,000 under section 1432(c) of the SDWA, 42 U.S.C. 300i-1(c), were subsequently increased by Congress pursuant to section 403 of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, Public Law 107-188 (June 12, 2002), to $100,000 and $1,000,000, respectively. The EPA did not adjust these new penalty amounts in its 2004 Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Rule (“2004 Rule”), published on February 13, 2004, because they had gone into effect less than two years prior to the 2004 Rule.
4 Consistent with how the EPA's other penalty authorities are displayed under this section, this Table 2 now delineates, on a subpart-by-subpart basis, the penalty authorities enumerated under section 325(b) of EPCRA, 42 U.S.C. 11045(b) ( i.e., 42 U.S.C. 11045(b)(1)(A), (b)(2), and (b)(3)).