This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

16093 

Vol. 87, No. 55 

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL 

MANAGEMENT 

5 CFR Part 185 

RIN 3206–AN39 

Program Fraud Civil Remedies: Civil 

Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment 

AGENCY: Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule adjusts the level of 

civil monetary penalties contained in 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management 

regulations implementing the Program 

Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986, in 

accordance with the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act 

Improvements Act of 2015 and Office of 

Management and Budget guidance. 

DATES: Effective April 21, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Valerie Dew, Office of the General 

Counsel, Office of Personnel 

Management, 1900 E St. NW, 

Washington, DC 20415, Valerie.Dew@

opm.gov, (202) 606–1700. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On November 2, 2015, the President 

signed into law the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act 

Improvements Act of 2015 (Sec. 701 of 

Pub. L. 114–74, 28 U.S.C. 2461 note) 

(‘‘the Act’’). The Act required agencies 

to: (1) Adjust the level of civil monetary 

penalties with an initial ‘‘catch-up’’ 

adjustment through an interim final 

rulemaking, and (2) make subsequent 

annual adjustments for inflation. The 

purpose of these adjustments is to 

maintain the deterrent effect of civil 

penalties. OPM has updated the 

agency’s monetary penalties on four 

occasions since the passage of the 2015 

Act. 

This rule takes into account 

adjustment for the year 2021 based on 

inflation for that year. These 

calculations were made based on 

guidance contained in Office of 

Management and Budget Memorandum 

M–21–10: 

CFR citation Description of the penalty 

2020 

Adjusted 

penalty 

2021 

Inflation 

adjustment 

5 CFR 185.103(a) ......................................................... Civil Penalty for False Claims ...................................... $11,665 $11,803 

5 CFR 185.103(f)(2) ..................................................... Civil Penalty for False Statements ............................... 11,665 11,803 

Finally, this rule makes an additional 

adjustment for the year 2022 based on 

inflation for that year. These 

calculations were made based on 

guidance contained in Office of 

Management and Budget Memorandum 

M–22–07: 

CFR citation Description of the penalty 

2021 

Adjusted 

penalty 

2022 

Inflation 

adjustment 

5 CFR 185.103(a) ......................................................... Civil Penalty for False Claims ...................................... $11,803 $12,537 

5 CFR 185.103(f)(2) ..................................................... Civil Penalty for False Statements ............................... 11,803 12,537 

This final rule is being issued without 

prior public notice or opportunity for 

public comments. The 2015 Act’s 

amendments to the Inflation Adjustment 

Act required the agency to adjust 

penalties initially through an interim 

final rulemaking, which did not require 

the agency to complete a notice and 

comment process prior to promulgating 

the interim final rule. The amendments 

also explicitly required the agency to 

make subsequent annual adjustments 

notwithstanding 5 U.S.C. 553 (the 

section of the Administrative Procedure 

Act that normally requires agencies to 

engage in notice and comment). The 

formula used for adjusting the amount 

of civil penalties is given by statute, 

with no discretion provided to OPM 

regarding the computation of the 

adjustments. OPM is charged only with 

performing ministerial computations to 

determine the amount of adjustment to 

the civil penalties due to increases in 

the Consumer Price Index for all Urban 

Consumers (CPI–U). 

II. Calculation of Adjustment 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) issues guidance annually on 

calculating adjustments. Under this 

guidance, OPM has identified 

applicable civil monetary penalties and 

calculated the annual adjustment. A 

civil monetary penalty is any 

assessment with a dollar amount that is 

levied for a violation of a Federal civil 

statute or regulation, and is assessed or 

enforceable through a civil action in 

Federal court or an administrative 

proceeding. A civil monetary penalty 

does not include a penalty levied for 

violation of a criminal statute, or fees for 

services, licenses, permits, or other 

regulatory review. 

Office of Management and Budget 

Memorandum M–21–10 stated that the 

cost-of-living multiplier for calculating 

adjustments in 2021 was 1.01182. OPM 

did not issue the final rule to implement 

the penalties for 2021. Therefore, the 

multiplier is to be applied to the 2020 

level of civil monetary penalties for 

agencies. When OPM’s 2020 penalties of 

$11,665 are multiplied by 1.01182, the 

resulting penalty amount for 2021 is 

$11,803. 

Finally, Office of Management and 

Budget Memorandum M–22–07 stated 

that the cost-of-living multiplier for 


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16094 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 55 / Tuesday, March 22, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

calculating adjustments in 2022 was 

1.06222. This multiplier is to be applied 

to the 2021 level of civil monetary 

penalties for agencies. When OPM’s 

2021 penalties of $11,803 are multiplied 

by 1.06222, the resulting penalty 

amount is $12,537. 

III. Procedural Requirements 

A. Regulatory Impact Analysis: 

Executive Order 12866, as 

Supplemented by Executive Order 

13563 

OPM, with the concurrence of the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), has determined that this is not 

a significant regulatory action under 

Executive Order 12866, as 

supplemented by Executive Order 

13563. Therefore, no regulatory impact 

analysis is required. 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

requires an agency to prepare a 

regulatory flexibility analysis for rules 

unless the agency certifies that the rule 

will not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The RFA applies only to rules 

for which an agency is required to first 

publish a proposed rule. See 5 U.S.C. 

603(a) and 604(a). The Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act 

Improvements Act of 2015 requires 

agencies to adjust civil penalties 

annually. No discretion is allowed. 

Thus, the RFA does not apply to this 

final rule. 

C. Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act (5 U.S.C. 

804(2)) 

This rule is not a major rule under the 

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act. This rule: 

(a) Does not have an annual effect on 

the economy of $100 million or more. 

(b) Will not cause a major increase in 

costs or prices for consumers, 

individual industries, Federal, State, or 

local government agencies, or 

geographic regions. 

(c) Does not have significant adverse 

effects on competition, employment, 

investment, productivity, innovation, or 

the ability of United States-based 

enterprises to compete with foreignbased enterprises. 

D. Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 

1995 (2 U.S.C. 1532) 

This rule does not involve a Federal 

mandate that may result in the 

expenditure by State, local and tribal 

governments, in the aggregate, or by the 

private sector, of $100 million or more 

and that such rulemaking will not 

significantly or uniquely affect small 

governments. 

E. E.O. 12630, Takings. 

This rule does not have takings 

implications. 

F. E.O. 13132, Federalism 

This rule does not have federalism 

implications. The rule does not have 

substantial direct effects on the States, 

on the relationship between the 

National Government and the States, or 

on the distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. 

G. E.O. 12988, Civil Justice Reform 

This rule complies with the 

requirements of E.O. 12988. 

Specifically, this rule: 

(a) Does not unduly burden the 

judicial system. 

(b) Meets the criteria of section 3(a) 

requiring that all regulations be 

reviewed to eliminate errors and 

ambiguity and be written to minimize 

litigation; and 

(c) Meets the criteria of section 3(b)(2) 

requiring that all regulations be written 

in clear language and contain clear legal 

standards. 

H. E.O. 13175, Consultation With Indian 

Tribes 

In accordance with Executive Order 

13175, OPM has evaluated this rule and 

determined that it has no tribal 

implications. 

I. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This document does not contain 

proposed information collection 

requirements subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104– 

13. 

List of Subjects in 5 CFR Part 185 

Program fraud civil remedies, Claims, 

Penalties, Basis for civil penalties and 

assessments. 

Office of Personnel Management. 

Alexys Stanley, 

Regulatory Affairs Analyst. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, OPM amends part 185 of title 

5 of the Code of Federal Regulations as 

follows: 

PART 185—PROGRAM FRAUD CIVIL 

REMEDIES: CIVIL MONETARY 

PENALTY INFLATION ADJUSTMENT 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 185 

continues to read: 

Authority: 28 U.S.C. 2461 note; 31 U.S.C. 

3801–3812. 

§ 185.103 [Amended] 

■ 2. Section 185.103 is amended in 

paragraphs (a) introductory text and 

(f)(2) by revising ‘‘$11,665’’ to read 

‘‘$12,537’’. 

[FR Doc. 2022–05700 Filed 3–21–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–48–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2021–0506; Project 

Identifier MCAI–2021–00200–T; Amendment 

39–21968; AD 2022–06–02] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS 

Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The FAA is superseding 

Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2013–25– 

11, which applied to all Airbus SAS 

Model A318–111, –112, –121, and –122 

airplanes; Model A319–111, –112, –113, 

–114, –115, –131, –132, and –133 

airplanes; Model A320–111, –211, –212, 

–214, –231, –232, and –233 airplanes; 

and Model A321–111, –112, –131, –211, 

–212, –213, –231, and –232 airplanes. 

AD 2013–25–11 required repetitive 

inspections of the 80VU rack lower 

lateral fittings, upper fittings, and 

shelves for damage, repetitive 

inspections of the 80VU rack lower 

central support for cracking, and 

corrective action if necessary. AD 2013– 

25–11 also specified optional 

terminating action for the repetitive 

inspections. Since the FAA issued AD 

2013–25–11, new damage occurrences 

have been reported, and a different 

compliance time has been determined 

for certain inspections, depending on 

airplane configuration. This AD 

expands the applicability, removes the 

optional terminating action, and 

requires new repetitive inspections; as 

specified in a European Union Aviation 

Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is 

incorporated by reference. The FAA is 

issuing this AD to address the unsafe 

condition on these products. 

DATES: This AD is effective April 26, 

2022. 

The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

of certain publications listed in this AD 

as of April 26, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: For EASA material 

incorporated by reference (IBR) in this 


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