Onshore Oil and Gas Operations and Coal Trespass-Annual Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustments

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR <SUBAGY>Bureau of Land Management</SUBAGY> <CFR>43 CFR Part 3160</CFR> <CFR>43 CFR Part 9230</CFR> <DEPDOC>[PO4820000251]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1004-AF00</RIN> <SUBJECT>Onshore Oil and Gas Operations and Coal Trespass—Annual Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustments</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Bureau of Land Management, Interior. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This final rule adjusts the amounts of civil monetary penalties contained in the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) regulations governing onshore oil and gas operations and coal trespass. This final rule is required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 and is consistent with applicable Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance. The adjustments made by this final rule constitute the 2025 annual inflation adjustments and account for one year of inflation spanning the period from October 2023 through October 2024. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective on January 17, 2025. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For information regarding the BLM's Fluid Minerals Program, please contact John Ajak, Acting Division Chief, Fluid Minerals Division, telephone: 505-549-9654; email: <E T="03">jajak@blm.gov</E> . For information regarding the BLM's Solid Minerals Program, please contact Matthew Marsh, Acting Division Chief, Solid Minerals Division, telephone: 307-431-1113; email: <E T="03">mmarsh@blm.gov</E> <E T="03">.</E> For questions relating to the regulatory process, please contact Stephen Pollard, Division of Regulatory Affairs, email: <E T="03">spollard@blm.gov.</E> Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Calculation of 2024 Adjustments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Procedural Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Administrative Procedure Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Regulatory Planning and Review (Executive Orders 12866 and 13563)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Congressional Review Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2"> F. Takings (E.O. 12630) </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Federalism (E.O. 13132)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Civil Justice Reform (E.O. 12988)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Consultation With Indian Tribes (E.O. 13175 and Departmental Policy)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Paperwork Reduction Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. National Environmental Policy Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Effects on the Energy Supply (E.O. 13211) </FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> On November 2, 2015, the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Sec. 701, Pub. L. 114-74) (the 2015 Act) became law, amending the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-410). On an annual basis, the 2015 Act requires agencies to: 1. Adjust the level of civil monetary penalties for inflation; and 2. Report inflation adjustments in the Agency Financial Reports as directed by OMB Circular A-136, or any successor thereto. The purpose of these adjustments is to maintain the deterrent effect of civil monetary penalties and promote compliance with the law ( <E T="03">see</E> Sec 1, Pub. L. 101-410). As required by the 2015 Act, on June 28, 2016, the BLM issued an interim final rule that adjusted the level of civil monetary penalties in BLM regulations with the initial “catch-up” adjustment (RIN 1004-AE46, 81 FR 41860). In subsequent years, the BLM has issued final rules, adjusting the level of civil monetary penalties for inflation, as appropriate for 2017 to 2024. On December 17, 2024, OMB issued Memorandum M-25-02, which explains agency responsibilities for identifying applicable penalties and calculating the annual adjustment for 2025 in accordance with the 2015 Act. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Calculation of 2024 Adjustments</HD> In accordance with the 2015 Act and OMB Memorandum M-25-02, the BLM has identified applicable civil monetary penalties in its regulations and calculated the annual adjustments. A civil monetary penalty is any assessment with a dollar amount that is levied for a violation of a Federal civil statute or regulation and is assessed or enforceable through a civil action in Federal court or an administrative proceeding. A civil monetary penalty does not include a penalty levied for violation of a criminal statute, nor does it include fees for services, licenses, permits, or other regulatory review. The calculated annual inflation adjustments are based on the percentage change between the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the October preceding the date of the adjustment and the prior year's October CPI-U. Consistent with guidance in OMB Memorandum M-25-02, the BLM divided the October 2024 CPI-U by the October 2023 CPI-U to calculate the multiplier. In this case, October 2024 CPI-U (315.66)/October 2023 CPI-U (306.671) = 1.02598. OMB Memorandum M-25-02 confirms that this is the proper multiplier. (OMB Memorandum M-25-02 at 2.) The 2015 Act requires the BLM to adjust the civil penalty amounts in 43 CFR 3163.2 and 9239.5-3(f)(1). To accomplish this, the BLM multiplied the current penalty amounts in those paragraphs by the multiplier set forth in OMB Memorandum M-25-02 (1.02598) to obtain the adjusted penalty amounts. The 2015 Act requires that the resulting amounts be rounded to the nearest $1.00 at the end of the calculation process. The adjusted penalty amounts will take effect immediately upon publication of this rule. Pursuant to the 2015 Act, the adjusted civil penalty amounts apply to civil penalties assessed after the date the increase takes effect, even if the associated violation predates such increase. This final rule adjusts the following civil penalties: <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,tp0,i1" CDEF="s100,r100,12,12"> <TTITLE> </TTITLE> <CHED H="1">CFR citation</CHED> <CHED H="1">Description of the penalty</CHED> <ENT I="01">43 CFR 3163.2(b)(1)</ENT> <ENT>Failure to comply</ENT> <ENT>$1,333</ENT> <ENT>$1,368</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">43 CFR 3163.2(b)(2)</ENT> <ENT>If corrective action is not taken</ENT> <ENT>13,343</ENT> <ENT>13,690</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">43 CFR 3163.2(d)</ENT> <ENT>If transporter fails to permit inspection for documentation</ENT> <ENT>1,333</ENT> <ENT>1,368</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">43 CFR 3163.2(e)</ENT> <ENT>Failure to permit inspection, failure to notify</ENT> <ENT>26,685</ENT> <ENT>27,378</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">43 CFR 3163.2(f)</ENT> <ENT>False or inaccurate documents; unlawful transfer or purchase</ENT> <ENT>66,712</ENT> <ENT>68,445</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">43 CFR 9239.5-3(f)(1)</ENT> <ENT>Coal exploration for commercial purposes without an exploration license</ENT> <ENT>4,995</ENT> <ENT>5,125</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Procedural Requirements</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Administrative Procedure Act</HD> In accordance with the 2015 Act, agencies must adjust civil monetary penalties “notwithstanding Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act” (Sec. 4(b)(2), 2015 Act). The BLM is promulgating this 2024 inflation adjustment for civil penalties as a final rule pursuant to the provisions of the 2015 Act and OMB guidance. A proposed rule is not required because the 2015 Act expressly exempts the annual inflation adjustments from the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. In addition, the 2015 Act does not give the BLM any discretion to vary the amount of the annual inflation adjustment for any given penalty to reflect any views or suggestions provided by commenters. Accordingly, the BLM will not provide an opportunity for public comment on this rule. <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. Regulatory Planning and Review (Executive Orders 12866, 14094 and 13563)</HD> Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, as amended by E.O. 14094, provides that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the OMB will review all significant rules. OIRA has determined that this rule is not significant. ( <E T="03">See</E> OMB Memorandum M-25-02 at 4). E.O. 13563 reaffirms the principles of E.O. 12866 while calling for improvements in the nation's regulatory system to promote predictability and to reduce uncertainty and to use the best, most innovative, and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends. E.O. 13563 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. E.O. 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 that is consistent with these requirements to the extent permitted by the 2015 Act. <HD SOURCE="HD2">C. Regulatory Flexibility Act</HD> 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 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 17k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━