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GAO-02-1030R 1 (2002-08-26)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptaojv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 



  SGAO

       Accountability * Integrity * Reliability
United States General Accounting Office
Washington, DC 20548


         August 26, 2002

         The Honorable Roderick R. Paige
         The Secretary of Education
         Subject: The Department of Education's Compliance with the
                  Inflation Adjustment Act

         Dear Mr. Secretary:

         Earlier this year, we initiated a governmentwide review of the implementation of the
         Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended (Inflation
         Adjustment Act).' The Inflation Adjustment Act required each federal agency to issue
         a regulation adjusting its covered maximum and minimum civil monetary penalties
         for inflation by October 23, 1996, and requires them to make necessary adjustments at
         least once every 4 years thereafter. During our review, the Department of
         Education's (Education) Office of General Counsel indicated that at least eight of the
         agency's civil penalties are covered by the act, but the agency had not adjusted any of
         them for inflation. This report is intended to bring this matter to your attention and
         to recommend corrective action.

         The Department of Education Identified at Least Eight Civil
         Penalties That Are Covered by the Inflation Adjustment Act

         Section 3 of the Inflation Adjustment Act defines a covered civil 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. Education's Office of General Counsel provided us with a list of civil
         penalties that it considered covered by the Inflation Adjustment Act. Table 1 lists
         those penalties as well as their maximum penalty amounts, assessment methods, and
         the years that the penalties were last set or adjusted.







         'The Inflation Adjustment Act is codified at 28 U.S.C. 2461 note. The 1990 act was amended in 1996 by
         the Debt Collection Improvement Act, which added the requirement for agencies to adjust their civil
         penalties by regulation (Pub. L. 104-134, Sec. 31001, 110 Stat. 1321-373).


GAO-02-1030R Education Penalty Adjustments

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