[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 203 (Thursday, October 21, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64987-64988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26417]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 101014509-0508-01]
RIN 0648-XZ62
Notice of Availability of Draft Policy for the Assessment of
Civil Administrative Penalties and Permit Sanctions for Public Review
and Comment
AGENCY: Office of General Counsel (OGC), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
announces the availability of a draft Policy for the Assessment of
Civil Administrative Penalties and Permit Sanctions (Penalty Policy)
for public review and comment.
DATES: The draft Penalty Policy will remain available for public review
until December 20, 2010. To ensure that comments will be considered,
NOAA must receive written comments by December 20, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons may submit comments by any of the
following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic public comments
via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal http://www.regulations.gov or
[email protected];
Fax: 301 427-2210; Attn: Frank Sprtel;
Mail: Office of General Counsel for Enforcement and
Litigation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 8484
Georgia Avenue, Suite 400, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Attn: Frank Sprtel.
The draft Penalty Policy is available electronically at the
following Web site: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/penaltypolicy.html.
Commenters may also request a hard copy of the draft Penalty Policy by
sending a self-addressed envelope (size 8.5 x 11 inches) to the street
address provided above. Comments submitted in response to this notice
are a matter of public record. Before including an address, phone
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in a
comment, please be aware that comments--including any personal
identifying information--can and will be made publicly available. While
a request can be made to withhold personal identifying information from
public review, NOAA cannot ensure that it will be able to do so.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank Sprtel at the above address or
by telephone at 301 495-7147.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The draft Penalty Policy is intended to
provide guidance for the Assessment of civil administrative penalties
and permit sanctions under the statutes and regulations enforced by
NOAA. As explained more fully in the text of the draft Penalty Policy,
the purpose of the Policy is to ensure that: (1) Civil administrative
penalties and permit sanctions are assessed in accordance with the laws
that NOAA enforces in a fair and consistent manner; (2) penalties and
permit sanctions are appropriate for the gravity of the violation; (3)
penalties and permit sanctions are sufficient to deter both particular
violators and the regulated community from committing violations; (4)
economic incentives for noncompliance are eliminated; and (5)
compliance is expeditiously achieved and maintained to protect natural
resources. Under this Policy, NOAA expects to improve consistency at a
national level, provide greater predictability for the regulated
community and the public, improve
[[Page 64988]]
transparency in enforcement, and more effectively protect natural
resources.
Under the proposed penalty policy, penalties and permit sanctions
are based on three criteria: (1) A base penalty amount and permit
sanction reflective of the seriousness of the violation; (2) an
adjustment of the base penalty and permit sanction upward or downward
to reflect particular circumstances of a specific violation; and (3) an
additional amount added to the adjusted base penalty to recoup the
economic benefit of noncompliance. We note that the new penalty policy
is a departure from NOAA's prior practice of developing detailed
penalty schedules by region and by specific types of violations with
broad ranges for both penalty and permit sanctions. The new policy uses
a simplified approach of one penalty and permit sanction matrix for
each major statute NOAA enforces, to be applied nationally, with
narrower penalty and permit sanction ranges. This approach assures that
NOAA attorneys are provided with greater guidance in recommending
penalties, and should assure fairness and consistency of approach
across NOAA statutes, across fisheries, and across the country.
When finalized, this draft Penalty Policy will supersede previous
guidance regarding assessment of penalties or permit sanctions and
previous penalty and permit sanction schedules issued by the NOAA
Office of the General Counsel. This Penalty Policy provides guidance
for the NOAA Office of the General Counsel, but does not, nor is it
intended to, create a right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity, in any person or company.
The full penalty policy, along with examples, matrixes, and
schedules, can be found at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/penaltypolicy.html. NOAA is seeking public comment on all portions of
the penalty policy, but specifically asks for comment in the following
areas: (1) The handling of recreational, versus commercial, activity in
assessing penalties--specifically, whether to create separate matrixes
and/or schedules for recreational activity in the penalty policy, or to
leave such distinctions as an ``adjustment'' factor, as currently
written; (2) the evaluation of prior violations in assessing
penalties--specifically, whether to create upward penalty assessments
based on prior charged conduct, or only to consider prior conduct that
is fully adjudicated; (3) whether the proposed use of permit sanctions
in the penalty policy is appropriate; (4) whether any additional upward
or downward ``adjustment'' factors should be considered in assessing
penalties under the penalty policy; (5) whether the matrixes and
schedules in the penalty policy (Appendices 2 and 3), adequately
reflect an appropriate range of penalties for particular violations;
and (6) whether there should be any change in the proposed method of
calculating economic benefit in the penalty policy.
Dated: October 15, 2010.
Lois J. Schiffer,
General Counsel, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-26417 Filed 10-15-10; 4:15 pm]
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