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GAO-03-288R 1 (2002-11-27)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptapfi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: S=GAO Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 November 27, 2002 The Honorable Elaine L. Chao The Secretary of Labor Subject: Mine Safety and Health Administration: Implementation of the Inflation Adjustment Act Dear Madam 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, we determined that the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) within the Department of Labor published its first round of penalty adjustments in April 1998, but has not published a second round of adjustments for at least two eligible penalties. This report is intended to bring this matter to your attention and to recommend corrective action. MSHA Has Not Published a Second Round of Adjustments for Eligible Penalties Under the Inflation Adjustment Act, MSHA (like other covered federal agencies) was required to publish a regulation by October 23, 1996, adjusting its maximum civil penalties for inflation. The act requires those inflation adjustments to be based on changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from June of the calendar year in which the penalties were last set or adjusted through June of the year prior to the adjustment. The statute also includes precise rules for rounding penalty increases. For example, the statute provides that penalty increases must be rounded to the nearest multiple of $1,000 in the case of penalties greater than $1,000 but less than or equal to $10,000. The statute limited the first adjustments of an agency's penalties to 10 percent of the penalty amounts. It also requires agencies to examine their penalties at least once every 4 years and, if necessary, make additional inflation adjustments. 1The 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-03-288R MSHA Penalty Adjustments

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