FMCSA revises fine amounts to account for inflation
Posted April 13, 2017
In less than a year since it last revised fine ranges, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) amended the civil penalties listed in its regulations. Changes to Appendices A and B to Part 386 are effective April 24, 2017.
The agency is mandated by statute to annually adjust civil penalties each year by January 15th to account for inflation. A final rule published on April 12, 2017, implements the 2017 annual adjustments.
The amounts replace the adjustments made by an interim final rule on June 27, 2016. The 2016 interim final rule was a “catch-up” adjustment as mandated by Congress.
Federal agencies were provided guidance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 16, 2016, on implementation of the mandated annual adjustment for 2017. OMB implementation guidance detailed a cost-of-living adjustment multiplier of 1.01636 for 2017.
OMB guidance requires the multiplier to be applied to the most recent penalty amount. In FMCSA’s instance, this would be the fine amounts contained in the interim final rule published June 27, 2016.
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