The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is revising the maximum and minimum civil penalties for a knowing violation of a federal hazardous material transportation law or a regulation, order, special permit, or approval issued under the law. The effective date for the changes is August 1, 2016.
The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, which amended the Federal Civil Penalties, Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, requires Agencies to update their civil monetary penalties through interim final rulemaking.
The maximum civil penalty for a knowing violation is now $77,114, except for violations that result in death, serious illness, or severe injury to any person or substantial destruction of property, for which the maximum civil penalty is $179,933. In addition, the minimum civil penalty amount for a violation relating to training is now $463.