Criteria and Procedures for Proposed Assessment of Civil Penalties

This final rule revises the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA's) existing civil penalty assessment amounts under part 100. The rule also adds a new provision which codifies the civil penalty amounts that may be assessed under Secs. 110(a), 110(b), and 110(g) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act). These changes are made as a result of a mandate by Congress in the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, which requires that all civil penalties be increased by up to 10 percent, and that they be adjusted at least once every 4 years thereafter according to the formula specified in the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (Inflation Adjustment Act).