BOEMRE Increases Maximum Civil Penalty Amounts
Administration Continues to Seek Congressional Action to Provide Tools to
Further Increase Penalties
WASHINGTON – The Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE)
announced today that the maximum civil penalty rate for Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) violations will increase from
$35,000 to $40,000 per day; and from $25,000 to $30,000 per day for
Oil Pollution Act (OPA) financial responsibility violations. The
increases coincide with adjustments in inflation, as required by
OCSLA and OPA. The Obama administration has requested that Congress
pass legislation to further raise the maximum civil penalty rates
beyond the rate of inflation.
“Even with the inflation adjustment,
which is the limit of our current regulatory authority, our civil
fine authority is inadequate. That view is shared by energy
companies operating on the OCS. The inadequacy of our civil
authority hampers our ability to effectively regulate offshore
activities, and renders such fines a trivial nuisance rather than an
effective deterrent” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “Our
hope is that new legislation will raise this amount significantly,
which would enable us to use the threat and reality of civil fines
as viable methods to encourage compliance with offshore oil and gas
rules and regulations and meaningfully deter violations.”
BOEMRE can impose civil penalties
when an operator fails to correct a recorded violation or commits a
violation that constitutes a threat of serious, irreparable, or
immediate harm or damage to life, property, any mineral deposit, or
the marine, coastal, or human environment. BOEMRE also imposes fines
if there is evidence that operators do not have adequate financial
responsibility to meet maximum liability amounts contained in OPA.
Fines are assessed on a maximum per day rate, but can be compounded
if there are multiple infractions.
OCSLA directs the Secretary of the
Interior to adjust the maximum civil penalty amount at least once
every three years to reflect any increase in the Consumer Price
Index prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor. BOEMRE is also
authorized to impose civil penalties for failure to comply with
financial responsibility regulations that implement OPA and those
amounts are to be reviewed and adjusted on a 4-year cycle.
The notice is available today for
review in Federal Register:
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/public-inspection/index.html.
BOEMRE will issue a notice to offshore oil and gas operators
tomorrow, to coincide with publication in the Federal Register,
informing them of the changes and provide a list of infractions with
the corresponding fine amount. That notice will be available at:
http://www.boemre.gov/ntls/index.htm.
Contact: BOEMRE
Public Affairs