[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 8 (Thursday, January 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 1946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00405]


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NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES

National Endowment for the Humanities


Civil Penalty Adjustments for 2024

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

ACTION: Notice of civil penalty adjustments for 2024.

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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 may be imposed for violations of its New Restrictions on Lobbying 
and Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act regulations to reflect the 
requirements of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 
1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment 
Act Improvements Act of 2015. The updated penalty amounts are adjusted 
for inflation and are effective from January 15, 2024, through January 
14, 2025.

DATES: The updated civil penalties in this notice are applicable to 
penalties assessed on or after January 15, 2024, 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

    The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as 
amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act 
Improvements Act of 2015 (the Inflation Adjustment Act) \1\ directs 
each Executive agency to make an annual inflation adjustment for each 
civil monetary penalty provided by law within the jurisdiction of the 
agency, and to publish notice of each such adjustment in the Federal 
Register. An agency adjusts a civil monetary penalty by increasing the 
maximum amount of such penalty (or the range of minimum and maximum 
amounts, as applicable) by the percentage by which the Consumer Price 
Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the month of October 
preceding the date of adjustment (in this case, October 2023) exceeds 
the CPI-U for the October one year prior to the October immediately 
preceding the date of the adjustment (in this case, October 2022), then 
rounding each amount to the nearest dollar.
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    \1\ 28 U.S.C. 2461 note.
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    NEH administers two civil monetary penalties subject to adjustment 
pursuant to the Inflation Adjustment Act: A civil monetary penalty that 
NEH may impose for violation of its New Restrictions on Lobbying 
regulation (the Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty) \2\ and a civil 
monetary penalty that NEH may impose under its Program Fraud Civil 
Remedies Act Regulations (the PFCRA Civil Monetary Penalty).\3\ NEH 
made the initial ``catch-up'' adjustments to the Lobbying Civil 
Monetary Penalty for years 2016-2020 when it amended its New 
Restrictions on Lobbying regulation on April 21, 2020,\4\ and to the 
PFCRA Civil Monetary Penalty for years 2016-2021 when it adopted its 
Program Fraud Civil Monetary Penalties Act regulations on August 13, 
2021.\5\ NEH then adjusted the amount of those civil monetary penalties 
accordingly when it codified the statutory formula for inflation 
adjustments in NEH's New Restrictions on Lobbying and Program Fraud 
Civil Remedies Act regulations on March 30, 2023.\6\ Each regulation 
provides for subsequent annual adjustment of its respective civil 
monetary penalty by notice in the Federal Register.\7\
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    \2\ 45 CFR 1168.400(a), (b), (e).
    \3\ 45 CFR 1174.3(a), (b).
    \4\ 85 FR 22025.
    \5\ 86 FR 44626.
    \6\ 88 FR 18998.
    \7\ 45 CFR 1168.400(g), (h), 1174.3(f), (g).
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2. 2024 Adjustments for Inflation

    OMB has issued guidance on implementing and calculating the 2024 
adjustment under the Inflation Adjustment Act.\8\ Per this guidance, 
the CPI-U adjustment multiplier for this annual adjustment is 
1.03241.\9\ The post-adjustment penalty or range is obtained by 
multiplying the pre-adjustment penalty or range by the percent change 
in the CPI-U over the relevant time period and rounding to the nearest 
dollar. Between October 2022 and October 2023, the CPI-U increased by a 
multiplier of 103.241% Therefore, NEH will adjust each civil monetary 
penalty amount by multiplying it by 1.03241 and rounding to the nearest 
dollar.
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    \8\ Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-24-07 
(December 19, 2023).
    \9\ Id.
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A. 2024 Adjustment To Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty

    For 2023, the Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty had a minimum amount 
of $23,727 and a maximum amount of $237,268. Therefore, the adjusted 
minimum Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty for 2024 is $24,496 ($23,727 
multiplied by 1.03241) and the adjusted maximum Lobbying Civil Monetary 
Penalty for 2024 is $244,958 ($237,268 multiplied by 1.03241).
    Thus, the Lobbying Civil Monetary Penalty, following the 2024 
adjustment, has a minimum amount of $24,496 and a maximum amount of 
$244,958.

B. 2024 Adjustment to PFCRA Civil Monetary Penalty

    For 2023, the PFCRA Civil Monetary Penalty had a maximum amount of 
$13,508. Therefore, the new, post-adjustment maximum penalty for 2024 
under NEH's PFCRA regulation is $13,946 ($13,508 multiplied by 
1.03241).

    Dated: January 8, 2024.
Jessica Graves,
Paralegal Specialist, National Endowment for the Humanities.
[FR Doc. 2024-00405 Filed 1-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7536-01-P