Statement of Compliance With Section 223 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996; Policy Statement

The Commission is issuing this Policy Statement in compliance with section 223 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA). Section 223 of SBREFA requires each agency regulating the activities of small entities to establish a policy to provide for the reduction, and under appropriate circumstances, for the waiver of civil penalties for violations of statutory or regulatory requirements by small entities. It is the policy of the Commission that to be considered for a reduction or waiver of a penalty, a small entity must not have a history of previous violations, and the violations at issue must not have been the product of willful or criminal conduct, or have caused loss of life or injury to persons, damage to property or the environment, or endangered persons, property or the environment. A small entity that complies with those standards is eligible for consideration for a waiver or reduction of a civil penalty. An eligible small entity will be granted a waiver if it can also demonstrate that it performed timely remedial efforts, made a good faith effort to comply with the law and did not obtain an economic benefit from the violations. If an eligible small entity cannot meet the criteria for waiver of a civil penalty, it may be eligible for consideration of a reduced penalty. Upon the request of a small entity, the Commission will consider the entity's ability to pay before assessing a civil penalty. The Commission reserves the right to waive or reduce civil penalties in circumstances other than those listed under this Policy if it is in the public interest to do so.