Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Rule

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is issuing this final rule to adjust its civil monetary penalties under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the National Fishing Enhancement Act to account for inflation. This action is mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act), which requires agencies to adjust the levels of civil monetary penalties with an initial "catch-up" adjustment followed by annual adjustments for inflation. The Inflation Adjustment Act prescribes a formula for adjusting statutory civil penalties to reflect inflation, maintain the deterrent effect of statutory civil penalties, and promote compliance with the law. Using the adjustment criteria provided in the Inflation Adjustment Act for the initial "catch-up" adjustment and the December 16, 2016, Office of Management and Budget Memorandum regarding the "Implementation of the 2017 annual adjustment pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015", the 2016 catch-up adjustment and 2017 annual adjustment for inflation will increase the Class I civil penalty under Section 309 of the Clean Water Act to $20,966 per violation, and the maximum civil penalty increases to $52,414. The judicial civil penalty under Section 404(s) of the Clean Water Act increases to $52,414 per day for each violation. Under the National Fishing Enhancement Act, the Class I civil penalty increases to $22,957 per violation.