[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 27, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-31807]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: December 27, 1994]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
Civil Penalties; Notice of Adjusted Maximum Amounts
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Notice of adjusted maximum civil penalty amounts.
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SUMMARY: In 1990 Congress enacted statutory amendments which increased
the maximum civil penalty amounts that could be imposed under the
Consumer Product Safety Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and
the Flammable Fabrics Act. The amendments also provided for periodic
adjustments to those maximum amounts. As calculated in accordance with
the amendments, the new amounts are $6,000 for each violation, with a
maximum of $1,500,000 for any related series of violations.
DATES: The new maximum amounts will become effective on January 26,
1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Stone, Acting Director, Division
of Administrative Litigation, Office of Compliance and Enforcement,
CPSC, Washington, D.C. 20207; telephone 301-504-0626.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
of 1990 (Improvement Act), Public Law 101-608, 104 Stat. 3110 (November
16, 1990) amended provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA),
the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) and the Flammable Fabrics
Act (FFA). The Improvement Act added civil penalty authority to the
FHSA and FFA, which had previously only contained criminal penalties.
15 U.S.C. Secs. 1264(c) and 1194(e). The Improvement Act also increased
the maximum civil penalty amounts that would apply to civil penalties
under the CPSA: $5000 per violation and $1,250,000 for any related
series of violations. These same maximum penalty amounts applied to the
newly-created civil penalties under the FHSA and FFA.
The Improvement Act further directed that the maximum civil penalty
amounts be adjusted periodically for inflation. The CPSA, FHSA and FFA
were amended to state:
(A) The maximum penalty amounts authorized in paragraph (1) [the
provision that sets the current maximum amounts of $5,000 and
$1,250,000] shall be adjusted for inflation as provided in this
paragraph.
(B) Not later than December 1, 1994, and December 1 of each
fifth calendar year thereafter, the Commission shall prescribe and
publish in the Federal Register a schedule of maximum authorized
penalties that shall apply for violations that occur after January 1
of the year immediately following such publication.
(C) The schedule of maximum authorized penalties shall be
prescribed by increasing each of the amounts referred to in
paragraph (1) by the cost-of-living adjustment for the preceding
five years. Any increase determined under the preceding sentence
shall be rounded to--
(i) in the case of penaties greater than $1,000 but less than or
equal to $10,000, the nearest multiple of $1,000;
(ii) in the case of penalties greater than $10,000 but less than
or equal to $100,000, the nearest multiple of $5,000;
(iii) in the case of penalties greater than $100,000 but less
than or equal to $200,000, the nearest multiple of $10,000; and
(iv) in the case of penalties greater than $200,000, the nearest
multiple of $25,000.
(D) For purposes of this subsection:
(i) The term ``Consumer Price Index'' means the Consumer Price
Index for all-urban consumers published by the Department of Labor.
(ii) The term ``cost-of-living adjustment for the preceding five
years'' means the percentage by which--
(I) the Consumer Price Index for the month of June of the
calendar year preceding the adjustment; exceeds
(II) the Consumer Price Index for the month of June preceding
the date on which the maximum authorized penalty was last adjusted.
15 U.S.C. Secs. 2069(a)(3), 1264(c)(6) and 1194(e)(5).
The Commission's Directorate for Economics has calculated that the
cost-of-living adjustment increases the maximum civil penalty amounts
to $5,962.93 for each violation and to $1,490,733.28 for any related
series of violations. (The back-up information on these calculations is
available from the Office of the Secretary.) Rounding off these numbers
in accordance with the statutory directions, the adjusted maximum
amounts are $6,000 for each violation and $1,500,000 for any related
series of violations. These adjusted amounts substitute for the
previous amounts contained in the CPSA, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 2069(a)(1); in
the FHSA, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1264(c)(1); and in the FFA, 15 U.S.C.
Sec. 1194(e)(1).
This Federal Register notice was not published before December 1,
1994. Therefore, the Commission has decided that the new maximum
penalty amounts should apply to violations that occur after January 26,
1995, rather than violations that occur after January 1, 1995. This
provides a 30-day effective date; the Improvement Act anticipated that
the adjusted penalties would apply no earlier than one month after
public notice in the Federal Register.
Dated: December 20, 1994.
Sadye E. Dunn,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 94-31807 Filed 12-23-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P
