[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 9 (Thursday, January 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3215-3216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00582]


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NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES

National Endowment for the Humanities


Civil Penalty Adjustments for 2021

AGENCY: National Endowment for the Humanities; National Foundation on 
the Arts and the Humanities.

ACTION: Notice of civil penalty adjustments for 2021.

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SUMMARY: The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is giving 
notice of the adjusted maximum and minimum civil monetary penalties 
that it may impose for violations of its New Restrictions on Lobbying, 
as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act 
Improvements Act of 2015 (the 2015 Act). The updated penalty amounts 
are adjusted for inflation and are effective from January 15, 2021 
through January 14, 2022.

DATES: The updated civil penalties in this notice are applicable to 
penalties assessed on or after January 15, 2021 if the associated 
violations occurred after November 2, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Voyatzis, Deputy General 
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, National Endowment for the 
Humanities, 400 7th Street SW, Room 4060, Washington, DC 20506; (202) 
606-8322; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background on NEH's New Restrictions on Lobbying Regulation

    On April 21, 2020, NEH published an interim final rule implementing 
the 2015 Act (28 U.S.C. 2461 note) and adjusting the civil penalties 
found in its New Restrictions on Lobbying regulation (45 CFR 1168) 
pursuant to the 2015 Act.\1\ The interim final rule incorporated the 
initial ``catch up'' adjustment and the annual adjustment for 2020. NEH 
announced in its interim final rule that, for all future adjustments to 
penalties under its New Restrictions on Lobbying regulation required by 
the 2015 Act, NEH will publish a Notice in the Federal Register to 
notify the public of the updated penalty amounts no later than January 
15 of each year.
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    \1\ 85 FR 22025.
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    NEH published a final rule on June 11, 2020, adopting the interim 
final rule without change.\2\
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    \2\ 85 FR 35566.
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2. 2021 Adjustment to Civil Penalties Under NEH's New Restrictions on 
Lobbying Regulation

    For 2020, the penalty range for violations under NEH's New 
Restrictions on Lobbying regulation was a minimum of $20,489 and a 
maximum of $204,892.\3\ Therefore, the new, post-adjustment minimum 
penalty for 2021 under NEH's New Restrictions on Lobbying regulation is 
$20,489 x 1.01182 = $20,731.18 which rounds to $20,731.
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    \3\ Table 1 details the annual adjustments to New Restrictions 
on Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalties for years 2016-2021.
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    The new, post-adjustment maximum penalty for 2021 under NEH's New 
Restrictions on Lobbying regulation is $204,892 x 1.01182 = 
$207,313.823, which rounds to $207,314. These post-adjustment penalties 
are less than 250 percent of the pre-adjustment penalties, so they do 
not implicate the post-adjustment amount limitation in the 2015 Act.
    Thus, the range of penalties under NEH's New Restrictions on 
Lobbying regulation, for the purposes of the 2021 adjustment, is a 
minimum of $20,731 and a maximum of $207,314.

[[Page 3216]]



         Table 1--Annual Adjustments to New Restrictions on Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalties, 2016-2021
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                                                                             Applicable
                                                     Baseline penalty   multiplier based on      New baseline
                       Year                               range         percent increase in     penalty range
                                                                               CPI-U
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2016.............................................     $10,000-$100,000          \4\ 1.89361     $18,936-$189,361
2017.............................................     $18,936-$189,361          \5\ 1.01636     $19,246-$192,459
2018.............................................     $19,246-$192,459          \6\ 1.02041     $19,639-$196,387
2019.............................................     $19,639-$196,387          \7\ 1.02522     $20,134-$201,340
2020.............................................     $20,134-$201,340          \8\ 1.01764     $20,489-$204,892
2021.............................................     $20,489-$204,892          \9\ 1.01182     $20,731-$207,314
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    \4\ OMB Memorandum M-16-06 (February 24, 2016).
    \5\ OMB Memorandum M-17-11 (December 16, 2016).
    \6\ OMB Memorandum M-18-03 (December 15, 2017).
    \7\ OMB Memorandum M-19-04 (December 14, 2018).
    \8\ OMB Memorandum M-20-05 (December 16, 2019).
    \9\ OMB Memorandum M-21-10 (December 23, 2020).

    Dated: January 8, 2021.
Caitlin Cater,
Attorney-Advisor, National Endowment for the Humanities.
[FR Doc. 2021-00582 Filed 1-13-21; 8:45 am]
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