Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is amending its regulations to adjust its Class I civil penalties under the Clean Water Act and the National Fishing Enhancement Act to account for inflation. The adjustment of civil penalties to account for inflation is required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended. Since we have not made any adjustments to our Class I penalties to account for inflation since 2004, we are making a second round of penalty adjustments to account for inflation. Using the adjustment criteria provided in the statute, the Class I civil penalty under the Clean Water Act remains at $11,000 per violation, but the maximum civil penalty increases to $32,500. Under the National Fishing Enhancement Act, the Class I civil penalty remains at $11,000 per violation. Increasing the maximum amount of the Class I civil penalty under the Clean Water Act to account for inflation will maintain the deterrent effects of the penalty.