U.S. EPA and DOT finalize new maximum civil penalties for environmental and transportation-related violations

These civil penalty increases stem from the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, which mandated that federal agencies make annual adjustments to the civil monetary penalties they administer, following a specified procedure and formula. The 2015 Act significantly increased the amount of annual penalty adjustments by tying those adjustments to changes in the consumer price index.

The civil penalty amounts are in effect for all penalties assessed on or after December 27, 2023 (for EPA violations) or December 28, 2023 (for DOT/NHTSA violations). All penalties increased by a factor of 1.03241. Below is a summary of the key violations/series of violations for which the maximum penalty is significantly higher than in 2023.

EPA

• For violations of Clean Air Act mobile source certification and warranty requirements, and violations of tampering and defeat device requirements by manufacturers or dealers, under 42 U.S.C. § 7524(a), the maximum penalty increased from $55,808 to $57,617 per violation, with each engine or vehicle representing a separate violation. 

• For violations of Clean Air Act tampering and defeat device requirements by any person other than a manufacturer or dealer under 42 U.S.C. § 7524(a), the maximum penalty increased from $5,580 to $5,761.

• For violations of Clean Air Act mobile source requirements related to recordkeeping, inspection and testing under 42 U.S.C. § 7524(a), the maximum penalty increased from $55,808 to $57,617 per day of violation.

• For violations of Clean Air Act  fuel provisions under 42 U.S.C. § 7545(d)(1) or supporting regulations, the maximum penalty per violation increased from $55,808 to $57,617 per day of violation.

• The maximum administrative penalty sought in a penalty assessment proceeding under 42 U.S.C. § 7524(c)(1) covering the foregoing types of violations increased from $446,456 to $460,926.

NHTSA

• For violations of vehicle certification and recall compliance obligations under 49 U.S.C. §§ 30112, 30115, and 30117–30122, or regulations prescribed under any of these sections, the maximum penalty per violation increased from $26,315 to $27,168.  The maximum penalty for a related series of violations increased over $4 million from $131,564,183 to $135,828,178.

• For a violation of reporting obligations, including Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act violations, under 49 U.S.C. § 30166, or regulations prescribed under that section, the maximum penalty also increased from $26,315 to $27,168 per violation, and from $131,564,183 to $135,828,178 for a related series of violations.

• For violations related to filing false or misleading reports, the maximum penalty per violation increased from $6,441 to $6,650, and for a related series of violations the maximum penalty increased by over $60,000, from $1,288,315 to $1,330,069.

• For violations relating to the provision of consumer information on crashworthiness and damage susceptibility (i.e., NCAP information) under 49 U.S.C. § 32308(a), the per violation penalty increased from $3,446 to $3,558.  The maximum penalty for a series of related violations of this provision increased by over $60,000, from $1,879,489 to $1,940,403.

• For violations related to automobile fuel economy standards, the civil penalty factor increased from $16 to $17 for each .1 mile per gallon per vehicle that average fuel economy exceeds the applicable standard. The maximum civil penalty for other violations of fuel economy regulations under 49 U.S.C. § 32912(a) increased from $49,534 to $51,139 per violation (with each day constituting a separate violation).

Next steps

Please click here to access the EPA final rule and click here for the DOT final rule.

Authored by Joanne Rotondi, Latane Montague, Susan McAuliffe, Hannah Graae, and Erida Tosini-Corea.