I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5791 

To increase transparency and provide for judicial review of administrative 

fines, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 4, 2014 

Mr. MULLIN (for himself, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. PERRY, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. COTTON, 

Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. GRAVES of Georgia, Mr. 

PITTS, and Mr. ROGERS of Alabama) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 

and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period TO BE

SUBSEQUENTLY DETERMINED BY THE SPEAKER, IN EACH CASE FOR

CONSIDERATION of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committeeconcerned 

A BILL 

To increase transparency and provide for judicial review of 

administrative fines, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fines in Need of Ex5 tensive Reform Act of 2014’’ or the ‘‘FINER Act of 

6 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ASSESSMENT OF FINES. 

2 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE OF RULES THAT PROVIDE FOR

3 THE ASSESSMENT OF A FINE.—In the case of a rule that 

4 provides for an assessment of a fine for a violation of that 

5 rule, the rule may not take effect until the date that is 

6 90 days after the date on which the Federal department 

7 or agency that made the rule, makes publicly available on 

8 the department or agency’s Internet website, the rule, the 

9 information relating to the rule described in section 3(c), 

10 and any relevant guidance documents relating to the en11 forcement of the rule. Any fine assessed pursuant to such 

12 a rule before such 90-day period shall be void. The head 

13 of such a Federal department or agency may, in consulta14 tion with entities to which the rule applies, further delay 

15 the assessment of fines pursuant to the rule in order to 

16 provide such entities with sufficient time to comply with 

17 the requirements of the rule. 

18 (b) PROVISION OF INFORMATION REGARDING THE

19 FINE.—At the time of the assessment of an administrative 

20 fine, the Federal department or agency assessing the fine 

21 shall provide the person against which the fine is imposed 

22 with all relevant information regarding the fine, includ23 ing— 

24 (1) the rule which the person is charged with 

25 violating, and the location of that rule in the Code 

26 of Federal Regulations; 


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1 (2) the facts, based on which the person is 

2 charged with violating the rule; 

3 (3) the amount of the fine; 

4 (4) how the department or agency determined 

5 the amount of the fine; and 

6 (5) the court date or information described in 

7 section 4(b). 

8 (c) ASSIGNMENT OF FINE TO A OFFICER OR EM9 PLOYEE OF A FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OR AGENCY.—No 

10 fine may be assessed by a Federal department or agency 

11 unless there is an officer or employee of such Federal de12 partment or agency who is responsible for assessing the 

13 fine. 

14 SEC. 3. CONSISTENCY IN ASSESSMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE 

15 FINES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of a Federal depart17 ment or agency shall ensure that administrative fines as18 sessed by that department or agency are assessed in a con19 sistent manner. 

20 (b) PUBLICATION ON THE INTERNET.—Not later 

21 than 180 days after the enactment of this Act, and annu22 ally thereafter, the head of a Federal department or agen23 cy that assesses administrative fines shall make publicly 

24 available on that department or agency’s Internet website, 

25 for any rule for which the department or agency that enVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 05, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5791.IH H5791

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1 forces the rule may assess an administrative fine for a vio2 lation of such rule, the information described in subsection 

3 (c) and any relevant guidance documents relating to the 

4 enforcement of the rule. The head of a Federal depart5 ment or agency that is required to publish information 

6 under this subsection shall ensure that the information is 

7 published in a searchable, and easily accessible format. 

8 (c) PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER.—Not 

9 later than January 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, the 

10 head of a Federal department or agency that assesses ad11 ministrative fines shall publish in the Federal Register, 

12 for any rule for which the department or agency that en13 forces the rule may assess an administrative fine for a vio14 lation of such rule, detailed information regarding— 

15 (1) the location of the rule in the Code of Fed16 eral Regulations; 

17 (2) information on where persons subject to the 

18 rule may direct questions or concerns relating to the 

19 rule; 

20 (3) the amount of the fine that will be assessed; 

21 and 

22 (4) the facts that will be considered in the de23 termination of, for the rule violation— 

24 (A) whether a fine will be assessed; and 


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1 (B) if a fine will be assessed, the amount 

2 of the fine that will be assessed. 

3 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE FINES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law, in any case in which an administrative fine 

6 is assessed against a person (as such term is defined in 

7 section 1 of title 1, United States Code), that person may 

8 pay the fine, or challenge the imposition of the fine in the 

9 Federal district court for the district in which that person 

10 resides or has a principal place of business, in accordance 

11 with this section. 

12 (b) COURT DATE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the time of the assess14 ment of an administrative fine, the Federal depart15 ment or agency assessing the fine shall provide the 

16 person against which the fine is imposed with— 

17 (A) a date on which the person may ap18 pear to contest the administrative fine in the 

19 Federal district court referred to in subsection 

20 (a), as provided by that Federal district court; 

21 or 

22 (B) information on how the Federal dis23 trict court referred to in subsection (a) will— 


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1 (i) assign the person a date on which 

2 the person may appear to contest the ad3 ministrative fine; and 

4 (ii) notify the person about that date. 

5 (2) COURT RULES AND PROCEDURES.—A Fed6 eral district court may adopt such rules and proce7 dures as may be necessary to hear challenges of ad8 ministrative fines in a timely manner, in accordance 

9 with this section. 

10 (c) PRESENCE OF OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE OF FED11 ERAL DEPARTMENT OR AGENCY IN COURT.—In the case 

12 of a person contesting an administrative fine pursuant to 

13 this section, the officer or employee of the Federal depart14 ment or agency who assessed the fine shall be present in 

15 court for all proceedings related to the contesting of such 

16 fine, or the violation for which the fine was assessed shall 

17 be dismissed, and the person against whom the fine was 

18 assessed shall not be required to pay such fine. In the case 

19 of an officer or employee who, at the time of the court 

20 date, is no longer employed by the Federal department 

21 or agency, the immediate superior officer or employee shall 

22 be present in court for any such court proceedings. 

23 (d) PAYMENT OF FINE.—In the case of a person con24 testing an administrative fine in Federal court or through 

25 alternative dispute resolution pursuant to this section, the 


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1 person shall not be required to pay the fine until a final 

2 judgment is entered that requires the person to pay the 

3 fine, and that no additional interest or penalties should 

4 accrue while the fine is contested. 

5 (e) ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.—The en6 forcing agency shall provide the opportunity for the person 

7 fined to undergo alternative means of dispute resolution, 

8 as defined in section 571(3) of title 5, United States Code, 

9 by a neutral third party, unless the person contests in 

10 Federal district court. 

11 (f) COSTS.—A person who contests an administrative 

12 fine in court pursuant to this section and prevails, may 

13 recover reasonable court costs, including attorney fees. 

14 SEC. 5. DEPOSIT OF ADMINISTRATIVE FINES INTO TREAS15 URY. 

16 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 

17 case of an administrative fine that is paid— 

18 (1) except as provided in section 3718(d) of 

19 title 31, United States Code, the full amount of the 

20 fine shall be deposited into the Treasury; and 

21 (2) the fine may not be used to supplement or 

22 offset the appropriations of the Federal department 

23 or agency that assessed the fine. 


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1 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE FINE DEFINED. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘administrative fine’’ means 

3 any fine or penalty assessed by a Federal department or 

4 agency, but does not include user fees, criminal fines or 

5 penalties, or any fine imposed by a court. 

Æ 


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