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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 122 / Tuesday, June 29, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement 30 CFR Part 250
Docket ID: BSEE20210002; EEE500000
21XE1700DX EX1SF0000.EAQ000
RIN 1014AA43

Oil and Gas and Sulfur Operations on the Outer Continental ShelfMaximum Daily Civil Penalty Amounts for Violations of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Interior.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

This final rule amends the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement BSEE regulations that set Maximum Daily Civil Penalty MDCP
amounts for violations of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act FOGRMA. The amended BSEE
regulations will cross-reference regulations of the Office of Natural Resources Revenue ONRR that also set MDCP amounts for FOGRMA violations.
This cross-reference will ensure consistency between BSEEs FOGRMA
MDCP amounts and ONRRs FOGRMA
MDCP amounts. It will also ensure consistent compliance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 FCPIAAIA
of 2015 and related Office of Management and Budget OMB
guidance, while reducing unnecessary duplication of effort and costs to the agency.

SUMMARY:

DATES:

This rule is effective on June 29,
2021.
Kirk Malstrom, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs, Regulations and Standards Branch at 202 2581518 or by email: regs@
bsee.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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I. Background and Legal Authority On November 2, 2015, the FCPIAAIA
of 2015, Public Law 11474, section 701
codified at 28 U.S.C. 2461 note became law. The FCPIAAIA of 2015 required Federal agencies to adjust the level of civil monetary penalties imposed under each agencys regulations with an initial catch-up adjustment through rulemaking, if warranted, and then to make subsequent annual adjustments for inflation. Under the FCPIAAIA of 2015, agencies were required to publish
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the initial annual inflation adjustments in the Federal Register by no later than January 15, 2017 and are required to publish annual adjustments by no later than January 15th of each subsequent year. The purpose of these adjustments is to maintain the deterrent effect of civil penalties and to further the policy goals of the underlying statutes that authorized the penalties.
BSEE has authority to impose civil penalties for violations of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C.
13311356a OCSLA. BSEE regulations implementing its authority to impose civil penalties under OCSLA are found at 30 CFR 250.1400250.1409. In addition, BSEE has authority to impose civil penalties for violations of FOGRMA, 30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq., under section 109 of that Act 30 U.S.C. 1719.
BSEEs regulations implementing its authority to impose penalties under FOGRMA are found at 30 CFR
250.1450250.1456, 250.1460250.1464, and 250.1470250.1477. Specifically, BSEE may impose civil penalties under FOGRMAafter providing a Notice of Noncompliance NONC and an opportunity to correct the violations for noncompliance with any applicable statute, regulation, order, or lease term relating to any Federal oil or gas lease.
See 30 CFR 250.1451. BSEE may also impose penalties under FOGRMA, without providing prior notice or an opportunity to correct the violation, for certain knowing or willful violations of the substantive provisions of FOGRMA
e.g., failure or refusal to permit lawful entry, inspection, or audit; knowing or willful submission of false or misleading information. See id. at 250.1460.
Sections 250.1453 and 250.1460 of BSEEs existing regulations specify the MDCP amounts, as prescribed by section 109 of FOGRMA 30 U.S.C.
1719, for the violations described in sections 250.1451, 250.1453, and 250.1460.1 As required by the FCPIAAIA of 2015, however, BSEEs FOGRMA civil penalty amounts must be adjusted annually for inflation.
Within the Department of the Interior the Department, ONRR is the agency responsible for collecting revenue from energy leases and auditing royalty 1 Under existing 250.1453a, BSEE may initially impose civil penalties of up to $500 per day for each violation of FOGRMA that is not corrected within 20 days of receipt of a NONC identifying the violation. Under existing 250.1453b, BSEE may increase the MDCP amount up to $5,000 per day for each violation not corrected within 40 days of the NONC. In addition, under existing 250.1460a and b, BSEE may impose penalties, without prior notice, of up to $10,000 or $25,000 per day, respectively, for the FOGRMA violations specified in those provisions.

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payments under FOGRMA. Like BSEE, ONRR also has authority to impose civil penalties for certain violations of FOGRMA. ONRRs civil penalty regulations are found in 30 CFR part 1241. As required by the FCPIAAIA of 2015, ONRR also must annually adjust, for inflation, the MDCP amounts in its regulations for FOGRMA violations.
ONRR published such a final rule for calendar year 2017 on April 24, 2017, adjusting the MDCP amounts in 30 CFR
part 1241 for FOGRMA violations. See 82 FR 18858. Each year since, ONRR has calculated and adjusted the MDCP
amounts in 30 CFR part 1241 in accordance with the FCPIAAIA of 2015.
On February 2, 2021, ONRR published the final rule adjusting the MDCP
amounts in 30 CFR part 1241 for calendar year 2021. See 86 FR 7808.2
Because FOGRMA sets the MDCP
amounts for penalties assessed by BSEE
and ONRR for violations of FOGRMA, and the FCPIAAIA of 2015 uniformly applies to require adjustments to the civil penalties that may be assessed by both agencies as calculated from the same base year, BSEEs FOGRMA MDCP
amounts must be the same as ONRRs FOGRMA MDCP amounts.
II. Changes Made to Existing BSEE
Regulations BSEE is amending 250.1453 and 250.1460 of its FOGRMA civil penalty regulations in order to cross-reference the ONRR civil penalty regulations in 30
CFR part 1241. By cross-referencing the ONRR regulations, BSEEs MDCP
amounts for FOGRMA violations will be the same as ONRRs MDCP amounts, ensuring ongoing consistency within the Department as ONRR adjusts the FOGRMA MDCP amounts annually for inflation. In addition, this rule will avoid the duplication of effort and unnecessary expenditures within the Department that would occur if both BSEE and ONRR were to develop and publish separate final rules every year adjusting their corresponding FOGRMA
MDCP amounts.
2 Specifically, ONRR amended 30 CFR
1241.52a2 to authorize civil penalties of up to $1,288 per day for each violation of FOGRMA that is not corrected within 20 days of receipt of a NONC identifying the violation. See 86 FR 7808, 7810. Under the amended 30 CFR 1241.52b, ONRR may impose civil penalties of up to $12,891
per day for each violation that is not corrected within 40 days of receipt of the NONC. Finally, ONNR amended 30 CFR 1241.60b1 and b2 to authorize imposition of penalties, without prior notice, of up to $25,780 or $64,452 per day, respectively, for certain specified violations of FOGRMA. Id.

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