[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70902-70903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27669]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

45 CFR Parts 1230 and 2554

RIN 3045-AA73


Annual Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustment

AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.

ACTION: Interim final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is 
updating its regulations to reflect required annual inflation-related 
increases to the civil monetary penalties in its regulations, pursuant 
to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements 
Act of 2015.

DATES: 
    Effective date: This rule is effective January 15, 2020.
    Comment due date: Technical comments may be submitted until January 
27, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by the title of the 
information collection activity, by any of the following methods:
    (1) By mail sent to: Corporation for National and Community 
Service; Attention Stephanie Soper; Office of General Counsel; 250 E 
Street SW, Washington, DC 20525.
    (2) By hand delivery or by courier to the CNCS mailroom at the 
address above between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday 
through Friday, except federal holidays.
    (3) Electronically through www.regulations.gov.
    Comments submitted in response to this Notice will be made 
available to the public through www.regulations.gov. For this reason, 
please do not include in your comments information of a confidential 
nature, such as sensitive personal information or proprietary 
information. If you send an email comment, your email address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the internet. Please 
note that responses to this public comment request containing any 
routine notice about the confidentiality of the communication will be 
treated as public comments that may be made available to the public 
notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Soper, Law Office Manager, 
Office of General Counsel, at 202-606-6747 or email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a 
federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through 
its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs to 
further its mission to improve lives, strengthen communities, and 
foster

[[Page 70903]]

civic engagement through service and volunteering. For more 
information, visit NationalService.gov.
    The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements 
Act of 2015 (Sec. 701 of Pub. L. 114-74) (the ``Act''), which is 
intended to improve the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties and 
to maintain the deterrent effect of such penalties, requires agencies 
to adjust the civil monetary penalties for inflation annually.

II. Method of Calculation

    CNCS has two civil monetary penalties in its regulations. A civil 
monetary penalty under the Act is a penalty, fine, or other sanction 
that is for a specific monetary amount as provided by Federal law or 
has a maximum amount provided for by federal law and is assessed or 
enforced by an agency pursuant to federal law and is assessed or 
enforced pursuant to an administrative proceeding or a civil action in 
the federal courts. (See 28 U.S.C. 2461 note).
    The inflation adjustment for each applicable civil monetary penalty 
is determined using the percent increase in the Consumer Price Index 
for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the month of October of the year in 
which the amount of each civil money penalty was most recently 
established or modified. In the December 16, 2019, OMB Memo for the 
Heads of Executive Agencies and Departments, M-20-05, Implementation of 
Penalty Inflation Adjustments for 2020, Pursuant to the Federal Civil 
Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, OMB 
published the multiplier for the required annual adjustment. The cost-
of-living adjustment multiplier for 2020, based on the CPI-U for the 
month of October 2019, not seasonally adjusted, is 1.01764.
    CNCS identified two civil penalties in its regulations: (1) The 
penalty associated with Restrictions on Lobbying (45 CFR 1230.400) and 
(2) the penalty associated with the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act 
(45 CFR 2554.1).
    The civil monetary penalties related to Restrictions on Lobbying 
(Section 319, Pub. L. 101-121; 31 U.S.C. 1352) range from $20,134 to 
$201,340. Using the 2020 multiplier, the new range of possible civil 
monetary penalties is from $20,489 to $204,892.
    The Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-509) civil 
monetary penalty has an upper limit of $11,463. Using the 2020 
multiplier, the new upper limit of the civil monetary penalty is 
$11,665.

III. Summary of Final Rule

    This final rule adjusts the civil monetary penalty amounts related 
to Restrictions on Lobbying (45 CFR 1230.400) and the Program Fraud 
Civil Remedies Act of 1986 (45 CFR 2554.1). The range of civil monetary 
penalties related to Restrictions on Lobbying increase from ``$20,134 
to $201,340'' to ``$20,489 to $204,892.'' The civil monetary penalties 
for the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986 increase from ``up to 
$11,463'' to ``up to $11,665.''

IV. Regulatory Procedures

A. Determination of Good Cause for Publication Without Notice and 
Comment

    CNCS finds, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), that there is good cause 
to except this rule from the public notice and comment provisions of 
the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(b). Because CNCS is 
implementing a final rule pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties 
Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, which requires CNCS 
to update its regulations based on a prescribed formula, CNCS has no 
discretion in the nature or amount of the change to the civil monetary 
penalties. Therefore, notice and comment for these proscribed updates 
is impracticable and unnecessary. As an interim final rule, no further 
regulatory action is required for the issuance of this legally binding 
rule. If you would like to provide technical comments, however, they 
may be submitted until January 27, 2020.

B. Review Under Procedural Statutes and Executive Orders

    CNCS has determined that making technical changes to the amount of 
civil monetary penalties in its regulations does not trigger any 
requirements under procedural statutes and Executive Orders that govern 
rulemaking procedures.

V. Effective Date

    This rule is effective January 15, 2020. The adjusted civil penalty 
amounts apply to civil penalties assessed on or after January 15, 2020, 
when the violation occurred after November 2, 2015. If the violation 
occurred prior to November 2, 2015, or a penalty was assessed prior to 
August 1, 2016, the pre-adjustment civil penalty amounts in effect 
prior to August 1, 2106, will apply.

List of Subjects

45 CFR Part 1230

    Government contracts, Grant programs, Loan programs, Lobbying, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

45 CFR Part 2554

    Claims, Fraud, Organization and functions (Government agencies), 
Penalties.
    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, under the authority of 
42 U.S.C. 12651c(c), the Corporation for National and Community Service 
amends chapters XII and XXV, title 45 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations as follows:

PART 1230--NEW RESTRICTIONS ON LOBBYING

0
1. The authority citation for part 1230 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Section 319, Pub. L. 101-121 (31 U.S.C. 1352); Pub. 
L. 93-113; 42 U.S.C. 4951, et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 5060.


Sec.  1230.400  [Amended]

0
2. Amend Sec.  1230.400 by:
0
a. In paragraphs (a), (b), and (e), removing ``$20,134'' and adding, in 
its place, ``$20,489'' each place it appears.
0
b. In paragraphs (a), (b), and (e), removing ``$201,340'' and adding, 
in its place, ``$204,892'' each place it appears.

Appendix A to Part 1230 [Amended]

0
3. Amend appendix A to part 1230 by:
0
a. Removing ``$20,134'' and adding, in its place, ``$20,489'' each 
place it appears.
0
b. Removing ``$201,340'' and adding, in its place, ``$204,892'' each 
place it appears.

PART 2554--PROGRAM FRAUD CIVIL REMEDIES ACT REGULATIONS

0
4. The authority citation for part 2554 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Pub. L. 99-509, Secs. 6101-6104, 100 Stat. 1874 (31 
U.S.C. 3801-3812); 42 U.S.C. 12651c-12651d.


Sec.  2554.1  [Amended]

0
5. Amend Sec.  2554.1 by removing ``$11,463'' in paragraph (b) and 
adding, in its place, ``$11,665.''

    Dated: December 18, 2019.
Timothy Noelker,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2019-27669 Filed 12-23-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6050-28-P