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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 104 / Wednesday, June 2, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Points where applicable
CFR citation
30 CFR 845.15b Assessment of separate violations for each day
30 CFR 846.14b Individual civil penalties

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In the chart above, there are no numbers listed in the Points column relative to 30 CFR 723.15b, 30 CFR
724.14b, 30 CFR 845.15b, and 30 CFR
846.14b because those regulatory provisions do not set forth numbers of points. For those provisions, the current regulations only set forth the dollar amounts shown in the chart in the Current Penalty Dollar Amounts column; the adjusted amounts, which we are adopting in this rule, are shown in the Adjusted Penalty Dollar Amounts column.
B. Calculation of Adjustments OMB issued guidance on the 2021
annual adjustments for inflation. See OMB Memorandum December 23, 2020. The OMB Memorandum notes that the 1990 Act defines civil monetary penalty as any penalty, fine, or other sanction that . . . is for a specific monetary amount as provided by Federal law; or . . . has a maximum amount provided for by Federal law;
and . . . is assessed or enforced by an agency pursuant to Federal law; and . . . is assessed or enforced pursuant to an administrative proceeding or a civil action in the Federal courts . . . . Id.
at 2. It further instructs that agencies are to adjust the maximum civil monetary penalty or the range of minimum and maximum civil monetary penalties, as applicable, for each civil monetary penalty by the cost-of-living adjustment. Id. The 1990 Act, as amended by the 2015 Act, and the OMB
Memorandum specify that the annual inflation adjustments are based on the percent change between the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers the CPIU published by the Department of Labor for the month of October in the year of the previous adjustment, and the October CPIU for the preceding year. The recent OMB
Memorandum specified that the cost-ofliving adjustment multiplier for 2021, not seasonally adjusted, is 1.01182 the October 2020 CPIU 260.388 divided by the October 2019 CPIU 257.346 =
1.01182. OSMRE used this guidance to identify applicable CMPs and calculate the required inflation adjustments. The 1990 Act, as amended by the 2015 Act, specifies that any resulting increases in CMPs must be rounded according to a
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stated rounding formula and that the increased CMPs apply only to violations that occur after the date that the increases take effect.
Generally, OSMRE assigns points to a violation as described in 30 CFR 723.13
and 845.13. The CMP owed is based on the number of points received, ranging from one point to 70 points. For example, under our existing regulations in 30 CFR 845.14, a violation totaling 70
points would amount to a $17,112 CMP.
To adjust this amount, we multiply $17,112 by the 2020 inflation factor of 1.01182, resulting in a raw adjusted amount of $17,314.26. Because the 2015
Act requires us to round any increase in the CMP amount to the nearest dollar, in this case a violation of 70 points would amount to a new CMP of $17,314. Pursuant to the 2015 Act, the increases in this final rule apply to CMPs assessed after the date the increases take effect, even if the associated violation predates the applicable increase.
C. Effect of the Rule in Federal Program States and on Indian Lands OSMRE directly regulates surface coal mining and reclamation operations within a State or on Tribal lands if the State or Tribe does not obtain its own approved program pursuant to sections 503 or 710j of SMCRA, 30 U.S.C. 1253
or 1300j. The increases in CMPs contained in this rule will apply to the following Federal program States:
Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Washington.
The Federal programs for those States appear at 30 CFR parts 903, 905, 910, 912, 921, 922, 933, 937, 939, 941, 942, and 947, respectively. Under 30 CFR
750.18, the increases in CMPs also apply to Indian lands under the Federal program for Indian lands.
D. Effect of the Rule on Approved State Programs As a result of litigation, see In re Permanent Surface Mining Regulation Litigation, No. 791144, Mem. Op.
D.D.C. May 16, 1980, 19 Envt. Rep.
Cas. BNA 1477, State regulatory programs are not required to mirror all of the penalty provisions of our
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70

Current penalty dollar amounts 16,768
17,112
2,566
17,112

Adjusted penalty dollar amounts 16,966
17,314
2,596
17,314

regulations. Thus, this rule has no effect on CMPs in States with SMCRA
primacy.
II. Procedural Matters A. Regulatory Planning and Review Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Order 12866 provides that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs OIRA in the Office of Management and Budget will review all significant rules. OIRA has determined that agency regulations exclusively implementing the annual inflation adjustments are not significant, provided they are consistent with the OMB Memorandum. Because this final rule exclusively implements the annual inflation adjustments, is consistent with the OMB Memorandum, and will have an annual impact of less than $100
million, it is not significant under Executive Order 12866.
Executive Order 13563 reaffirms the principles of Executive Order 12866
while calling for improvements in the Nations regulatory system to promote predictability, to reduce uncertainty, and to use the best, most innovative, and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends. The Executive Order directs agencies to consider regulatory approaches that reduce burdens and maintain flexibility and freedom of choice for the public where these approaches are relevant, feasible, and consistent with regulatory objectives. Executive Order 13563
emphasizes further that regulations must be based on the best available science and that the rulemaking process must allow for public participation and an open exchange of ideas. We have developed this rule in a manner consistent with these requirements, to the extent permitted by statute.
B. Regulatory Flexibility Act The Regulatory Flexibility Act RFA
requires an agency to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for all rules unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The RFA
applies only to rules for which an agency is required to first publish a proposed rule. See 5 U.S.C. 603a and 604a. The Federal Civil Penalties
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