Civil Monetary Penalties: Federal Agencies' Compliance with the 2024 Annual Inflation Adjustment Requirements
Fast Facts
When enforcing regulations, federal agencies use fines to hold violators accountable and to deter future violations. But if agencies don't regularly adjust these fines for inflation, they may become less effective.
Congress enacted the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 partly to address this issue. In 2015, Congress amended the act to require GAO to annually review agencies' compliance with certain provisions.
We found that all 49 agencies subject to the act adjusted for inflation in 2024. They also published the new amounts in the Federal Register and reported related information in their Agency Financial Reports.
Highlights
What GAO Found
In this ninth annual review, GAO found that the federal agencies that could be subject to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended (IAA), have published civil monetary penalty inflation adjustments for 2024 in the Federal Register and reported related information in their 2024 or 2023 agency financial reports or equivalent.
Why GAO Did This Study
The IAA includes a provision, added in 2015, for GAO to annually submit to Congress a report assessing agencies' compliance with the annual inflation adjustments the act requires.
For more information, contact Paula M. Rascona at rasconap@gao.gov.