Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 23 / Friday, February 2, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 7295 

Corporation 2024 Income Guidelines,’’ 

entry 2 is revised to read as follows: 

Appendix A to Part 1611—Income 

Level for Individuals Eligible for 

Assistance 

LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION 2024 INCOME GUIDELINES * 

Size of household 

48 Contiguous 

States and the 

District of Columbia 

Alaska Hawaii 

*******

2 ................................................................................................................................... 25,550 31,925 29,375 

* * * * * * * 

* The figures in this table represent 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines by household size as determined by HHS. 

* * * * * 

Dated: January 29, 2024. 

Stefanie Davis, 

Deputy General Counsel and Ethics Officer, 

Legal Services Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02017 Filed 2–1–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7050–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 11 

[Docket No. FWS–HQ–LE–2023–0257; 

FF09L00200–FX–LE12200900000] 

RIN 1018–BH16 

Civil Penalties; 2024 Inflation 

Adjustments for Civil Monetary 

Penalties 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service or we) is issuing this 

final rule, in accordance with the 

Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 

2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act) and 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) guidance, to adjust for inflation 

the statutory civil monetary penalties 

that may be assessed for violations of 

Service-administered statutes and their 

implementing regulations. We are 

required to adjust civil monetary 

penalties annually for inflation 

according to a formula specified in the 

Inflation Adjustment Act. This rule 

replaces the previously issued amounts 

with the updated amounts after using 

the 2024 inflation adjustment multiplier 

provided in the OMB guidance. 

DATES: This rule is effective February 2, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: This rule may be found on 

the internet at https://

www.regulations.gov in Docket No. 

FWS–HQ–LE–2023–0257. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Douglas Ault, Special Agent in Charge, 

Headquarters Investigations Unit, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law 

Enforcement, (703) 358–2290. 

Individuals in the United States who are 

deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have 

a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, 

TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations in title 50 of the Code 

of Federal Regulations at 50 CFR part 11 

provide uniform rules and procedures 

for the assessment of civil penalties 

resulting from violations of certain laws 

and regulations enforced by the Service. 

The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 

2015 (sec. 701 of Pub. L. 114–74) 

(Inflation Adjustment Act) required 

Federal agencies to adjust the level of 

civil monetary penalties with an initial 

‘‘catch up’’ adjustment through 

rulemaking and then make subsequent 

annual adjustments for inflation. The 

purpose of these adjustments is to 

maintain the deterrent effect of civil 

penalties and to further the policy goals 

of the underlying statutes. 

Under section 4 of the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 

1990, 28 U.S.C. 2461 note, as amended 

by the Inflation Adjustment Act, each 

Federal agency is required to issue 

regulations adjusting for inflation the 

statutory civil monetary penalties (civil 

penalties) that can be imposed under 

the laws administered by that agency. 

The Inflation Adjustment Act provided 

that the initial ‘‘catch up adjustment’’ 

take effect no later than August 1, 2016, 

followed by subsequent adjustments to 

be made no later than January 15 every 

year thereafter. This final rule adjusts 

the civil penalty amounts that may be 

imposed pursuant to each statutory 

provision beginning on the date 

specified above in DATES. 

On June 28, 2016, the Service 

published in the Federal Register an 

interim rule that revised 50 CFR part 11 

(81 FR 41862) to carry out the Inflation 

Adjustment Act. The Service 

subsequently published a final rule to 

that interim rule on December 23, 2016 

(81 FR 94274). The Service has 

published final rules every year 

thereafter, further adjusting the civil 

penalty amounts in 50 CFR 11.33 per 

OMB guidance: 

• 82 FR 6307, January 19, 2017; 

• 83 FR 5950, February 12, 2018; 

• 84 FR 15525, April 16, 2019; 

• 85 FR 10310, February 24, 2020; 

• 86 FR 15427, March 23, 2021; 

• 87 FR 13948, March 11, 2022; and 

• 88 FR 5796, January 30, 2023. 

This final rule adjusts the civil 

monetary penalty amounts that were 

listed in the 2023 final rule and 

subsequently codified at 50 CFR 11.33 

by using the 2024 inflation multiplier 

provided to all Federal agencies by 

OMB (see below). 

OMB issued a memorandum, M–24– 

07, entitled ‘‘Implementation of Penalty 

Inflation Adjustments for 2024, 

Pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties 

Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements 

Act of 2015,’’ which provides the costof-living adjustment multiplier for 2024: 

1.03241. Therefore, we multiplied each 

penalty in the table in 50 CFR 11.33 by 

1.03241 to obtain the 2024 annual 

adjustment. The new amounts are 

reflected in the table in the rule portion 

of this document and replace the 

current amounts in 50 CFR 11.33. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES
7296 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 23 / Friday, February 2, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

Required Determinations 

Regulatory Planning and Review 

(Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

14094) 

Executive Order (E.O.) 14094 

reaffirms the principles of E.O. 12866 

and E.O. 13563 and states that 

regulatory analysis should facilitate 

agency efforts to develop regulations 

that serve the public interest, advance 

statutory objectives, and are consistent 

with E.O. 12866, E.O. 13563, and the 

Presidential Memorandum of January 

20, 2021 (Modernizing Regulatory 

Review). E.O. 12866, as reaffirmed by 

E.O. 13563 and E.O. 14094, provides 

that the Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office 

of Management and Budget will review 

all significant rules. OIRA has 

determined that this rule is not 

significant. 

In addition, in this final rule, we 

affirm the required determinations that 

we made in the June 28, 2016, interim 

rule (81 FR 41862); for descriptions of 

our actions to ensure compliance with 

the following statutes and Executive 

orders, see that rule: 

• National Environmental Policy Act 

(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

• Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 

601 et seq.); 

• Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act (5 U.S.C. 

804(2)); 

• Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (2 

U.S.C. 1501 et seq.); and 

• Executive Orders 12630, 12988, 

13132, 13175, and 13211. 

Administrative Procedure Act 

As stated above, under section 4 of 

the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation 

Adjustment Act of 1990, 28 U.S.C. 2461 

note, as amended by the Inflation 

Adjustment Act, Public Law 114–74, 

129 Stat. 584 (2015), each Federal 

agency is required to issue regulations 

adjusting for inflation the statutory civil 

monetary penalties that can be imposed 

under the laws administered by that 

agency. The Inflation Adjustment Act 

provided for an initial ‘‘catch up 

adjustment’’ to take effect no later than 

August 1, 2016, followed by subsequent 

adjustments to be made no later than 

January 15 every year thereafter. This 

final rule adjusts the civil penalty 

amounts that may be imposed pursuant 

to each statutory provision beginning on 

the effective date of this rule. To comply 

with the Inflation Adjustment Act, we 

are issuing these regulations as a final 

rule. 

Section 553(b) of the Administrative 

Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.) 

provides that, when an agency for good 

cause finds that notice and public 

procedure are impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest, the agency may issue a rule 

without providing notice and an 

opportunity for prior public comment. 

The Service finds that providing for 

public comment before issuing this rule 

is unnecessary as this rulemaking is a 

nondiscretionary action. The Service is 

required to publish this rule to update 

the civil penalty amounts by the 

specified formula described above. The 

Service has no discretion to vary the 

amount of the adjustment to reflect any 

views or suggestions provided by 

commenters. Since this update to the 

January 30, 2023, final rule (88 FR 5796) 

is merely ministerial, we find that prepublication notice and public comment 

with respect to the revisions set forth in 

this rule is unnecessary. We also posit 

that we have good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d) to make this rule effective upon 

publication to meet the statutory 

deadline imposed by the Inflation 

Adjustment Act. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 11 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Exports, Fish, Imports, 

Penalties, Plants, Transportation, 

Wildlife. 

Regulation Promulgation 

For the reasons described above, we 

amend part 11, subchapter B of chapter 

I, title 50 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations as set forth below. 

PART 11—CIVIL PROCEDURES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 11 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 470aa–470mm, 

470aaa–470aaa–11, 668–668d, 1361–1384, 

1401–1407, 1531–1544, 3371–3378, 4201– 

4245, 4901–4916, 5201–5207, 5301–5306; 18 

U.S.C. 42–43; 25 U.S.C. 3001–3013; and Sec. 

107, Pub. L. 114–74, 129 Stat. 599, unless 

otherwise noted. 

■ 2. Revise the table in § 11.33 to read 

as follows: 

§ 11.33 Adjustments to penalties. 

* * * * * 

Law Citation Type of violation 

Maximum 

civil 

monetary 

penalty 

(a) African Elephant Conservation Act .................... 16 U.S.C. 4224(b) .......... Any violation .............................................................................................. $12,799 

(b) Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act .............. 16 U.S.C. 668(b) ............ Any violation .............................................................................................. 16,170 

(c) Endangered Species Act of 1973 ....................... 16 U.S.C. 1540(a)(1) ...... (1) Knowing violation of section 1538 ....................................................... 63,991 

(2) Other knowing violation ....................................................................... 30,715 

(3) Any other violation ............................................................................... 1,617 

(d) Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 ........................ 16 U.S.C. 3373(a) .......... (1) Violations referred to in 16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1) .................................... 32,341 

(2) Violations referred to in 16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(2) .................................... 808 

(e) Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 ............. 16 U.S.C. 1375 ............... Any violation .............................................................................................. 32,341 

(f) Recreational Hunting Safety Act of 1994 ............ 16 U.S.C. 5202(b) .......... (1) Violation involving use of force or violence or threatened use of 

force or violence.

20,579 

(2) Any other violation ............................................................................... 10,289 

(g) Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1998 16 U.S.C. 5305a(b)(2) .... Any violation .............................................................................................. 22,512 

(h) Wild Bird Conservation Act ................................ 16 U.S.C. 4912(a)(1) ...... (1) Violation of section 4910(a)(1), section 4910(a)(2), or any permit 

issued under section 4911.

54,243 

(2) Violation of section 4910(a)(3) ............................................................ 26,035 

(3) Any other violation ............................................................................... 1,086 

Shannon Estenoz, 

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and 

Parks. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02111 Filed 2–1–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES