Civil Penalty Amendments to Rules of Practice and Procedure, 16573-16575 [2023-05393]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 53 / Monday, March 20, 2023 / Rules and Regulations
2. In § 180.507, in paragraph (a)(1)
amend the table by:
■ a. Adding a heading for the table;
■ b. Revising the entry for ‘‘Mango’’;
■ c. Adding in alphabetical order the
entry ‘‘Palm, oil’’;
■ d. Revising the entry for ‘‘Papaya’’;
and
■ e. Adding footnote 2 at the end of the
table.
The additions and revisions read as
follows:
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
■
I. Background and Discussion
On June 16, 2022, the President
signed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act
of 2022 (‘‘OSRA 2022’’) into law,1
which amended various provisions of
the Shipping Act.2 Section 8 of OSRA
2022 amended two Shipping Act
provisions: 46 U.S.C. 41107 for
monetary penalties or refunds; and 46
U.S.C. 41109 for assessment of
penalties.
Before OSRA 2022, section 41107
stated that any person that violates the
§ 180.507 Azoxystrobin; tolerances for
Shipping Act or a regulation or order of
residues.
the Commission issued under the
(a) * * *
Shipping Act is liable for a civil penalty.
(1) * * *
OSRA 2022 changed the language in
this section governing potential liability
TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (a)(1)
of a violator by adding the phrase ‘‘or,
in addition to or in lieu of a civil
Parts
per
Commodity
million
penalty, is liable for the refund of a
charge’’ immediately after the term civil
penalty. Accordingly, the Commission
*
*
*
*
*
may now order that a person is liable for
Mango ...................................
4
‘‘a civil penalty or, in addition to or in
lieu of a civil penalty, is liable for the
*
*
*
*
*
Palm, oil 2 ..............................
0.06 refund of a charge’’ for any violation of
Papaya ..................................
6 the Shipping Act, Commission
regulations, or Commission order.
*
*
*
*
*
As a result, the term ‘‘refund’’ now
appears in two key provisions of the
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
2 There are no U.S. registrations on palm,
Shipping Act. First, in addition to
appearing in sections 41107 and 41109
oil as of March 20, 2023.
(as amended by OSRA 2022), the term
*
*
*
*
*
‘‘refund’’ also appears in newly enacted
[FR Doc. 2023–05597 Filed 3–17–23; 8:45 am]
section 41310, which explicitly
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
addresses the issue of charge
complaints. That provision specifies,
among other things, that upon a finding
FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION
by the Commission that a carrier’s
charges do not comply with the
46 CFR Part 502
Shipping Act, the Commission shall
[Docket No. FMC–2023–0008]
promptly order the refund of those
charges paid. See 46 U.S.C. 41310(c).
RIN 3072–AC95
Second, the term ‘‘refund’’ appears in 46
U.S.C. 40503, which was not amended
Civil Penalty Amendments to Rules of
by OSRA 2022. This part of the
Practice and Procedure
Shipping Act addresses tariffs and
AGENCY: Federal Maritime Commission.
service contracts. Under section 40503,
the Commission may permit a common
ACTION: Final rule.
carrier or a conference to refund a
SUMMARY: The Federal Maritime
portion of freight charges or to waive
Commission (Commission) amends its
collection of a portion of such charges
Rules of Practice and Procedure
from shippers for certain errors in tariffs
governing the compromise, assessment,
or tariff publications. The Commission’s
mitigation, settlement, and collection of regulation at 46 CFR 502.271 (Special
civil penalties. These changes to the
docket application for permission to
Commission regulations align with the
refund or waive freight charges)
statutory changes in the Ocean Shipping implements this tariff refund provision.
Reform Act of 2022 on penalties or
This provision, however, only applies to
refunds.
a refund or waiver of freight charges by
a common carrier’s own application to
DATES: The effective date is April 19,
the Commission and does not include
2023.
other types of charges. Further, the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
special docket application procedure
William Cody, Secretary; Phone: (202)
523–5725; Email: secretary@fmc.gov.
1 Public Law 117–146.
2 46 U.S.C. 40101–41310.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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16573
does not provide for assessment of
penalties. Therefore, when viewed
against this backdrop, it is the
Commission’s opinion that Congress
amended section 41107, in part, to make
it consistent with the Commission’s
newly enacted authority to order a
refund of charges paid under a charge
complaint proceeding in section 10 of
OSRA 2022, codified at 46 U.S.C. 41310.
OSRA 2022 also made identical
changes to 46 U.S.C. 41109. Section
41109 provides how to assess civil
penalties and how to determine their
amounts. Section 41109 as amended by
OSRA 2022 states that the Commission
may, after notice and opportunity for a
hearing, ‘‘assess a civil penalty’’ or ‘‘in
addition to, or in lieu of a civil penalty
. . . order a refund of money.’’ 46
U.S.C. 41109(a)(1). OSRA 2022 also
amended section 41109 by specifying
the factors in determining ‘‘the amount
of a civil penalty assessed or refund of
money ordered.’’ 46 U.S.C. 41109(b)(1).
While section 41109 now applies for
assessment of penalties or refund, the
Commission believes that section
41109’s revised factors are applicable
only to assessment of penalties.
OSRA 2022 also provided that if the
Commission orders a refund of money
in addition to a civil penalty, the
amount of civil penalty must be
decreased by any additional amounts
included in the refund of money in
excess of the ‘‘actual injury’’ as defined
in the Shipping Act at 46 U.S.C.
41305(a). See 46 U.S.C. 41109(b)(2)(A).
Therefore, the Commission makes
conforming amendments to its
regulations for civil penalties. The
Commission is also making one
technical change to update a term in 46
CFR 502.605(c).
II. Rulemaking Analyses
Administrative Procedure Act
The Administrative Procedure Act
(APA) requires that ‘‘[g]eneral notice of
proposed rulemaking shall be published
in the Federal Register, unless persons
subject thereto are named and either
personally served or otherwise have
actual notice thereof in accordance with
law.’’ 5 U.S.C. 553(b). The notice of
proposed rulemaking requirement,
however, does not apply to
‘‘interpretative rules, general statements
of policy, or rules of agency
organization, procedure, or practice.’’ 5
U.S.C. 553(b)(A). The notice
requirement does not apply to this rule
because it only amends the
Commission’s rules of practice and
procedure. Thus, the Commission issues
this rule as a final rule.
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16574
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 53 / Monday, March 20, 2023 / Rules and Regulations
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 601–612, provides that whenever
an agency publishes a notice of
proposed rulemaking under the APA, 5
U.S.C. 553, the agency must prepare and
make available for public comment a
regulatory flexibility analysis (RFA)
describing the impact of the rule on
small entities, unless the head of the
agency certifies that the rulemaking will
not have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small
entities. 5 U.S.C. 603–605. As stated
above, however, the APA notice
requirement does not apply to this
rulemaking for the Commission’s
practice and procedure. Therefore, the
APA does not require the Commission
to publish a notice of proposed
rulemaking in this instance, and the
Commission did not prepare an RFA.
National Environmental Policy Act
The Commission’s regulations
categorically exclude certain
rulemakings from any requirement to
prepare an environmental assessment or
an environmental impact statement
because they do not increase or decrease
air, water or noise pollution or the use
of fossil fuels, recyclables, or energy. 46
CFR 504.4. This rule amends the
Commission’s rules of practice and
procedure at 46 CFR part 502. This rule
thus falls within the categorical
exclusion for matters related solely to
‘‘[p]romulgation of procedural rules
pursuant to 46 CFR part 502.’’ 46 CFR
504.4(a)(4). Therefore, no environmental
assessment or environmental impact
statement is required.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1
Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501–3521) requires an
agency to seek and receive approval
from the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) before collecting
information from the public. 44 U.S.C.
3507. The agency must submit
collections of information in proposed
rules to OMB in conjunction with the
publication of the notice of proposed
rulemaking. 5 CFR 1320.11. This rule
does not contain any collections of
information as defined by 44 U.S.C.
3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c).
Regulation Identifier Number
The Commission assigns a regulation
identifier number (RIN) to each
regulatory action listed in the Unified
Agenda of Federal Regulatory and
Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda).
The Regulatory Information Service
Center publishes the Unified Agenda in
April and October of each year. You
may use the RIN contained in the
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16:19 Mar 17, 2023
Jkt 259001
heading at the beginning of this
document to find this action in the
Unified Agenda, available at https://
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
eAgendaMain.
List of Subjects in 46 CFR Part 502
Administrative practice and
procedure, Claims, Equal access to
justice, Investigations, Lawyers,
Maritime carriers, Penalties, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, the Federal Maritime
Commission amends 46 CFR part 502 as
follows:
Merchant Marine Act, 1920, the
Shipping Act of 1984 as amended, or
Public Law 89–777.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 4. In § 502.603, revise paragraphs (a)
and (b) to read as follows:
§ 502.603 Assessment of civil penalties:
Procedure; criteria for determining amount;
limitations; relation to compromise.
(a) Procedure for assessment of
penalty. The Commission may assess a
civil penalty or, in addition to or in lieu
of a civil penalty, a refund of a charge,
only after notice and opportunity for
hearing. Civil penalty assessment
proceedings, including settlement
PART 502—RULES OF PRACTICE AND negotiations, shall be governed by the
PROCEDURE
Commission’s Rules of Practice and
Procedure in this part. All settlements
■ 1. The authority citation for part 502
must be approved by the Presiding
is revised to read as follows:
Officer. The full text of any settlement
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 504, 551, 552, 553,
must be included in the final order of
556(c), 559, 561–569, 571–584; 591–596; 18
the Commission.
U.S.C. 207; 28 U.S.C. 2112(a); 31 U.S.C. 9701;
(b) Determination of amount—(1)
46 U.S.C. 305, 40103–40104, 40304, 40306,
Factors for consideration. In
40501–40503, 40701–40706, 41101–41109,
determining the amount of a civil
41301–41310, 44101–44106; 5 CFR part 2635.
penalty assessed pursuant to paragraph
■ 2. Revise § 502.601 to read as follows:
(a) of this section, the Federal Maritime
Commission shall take into
§ 502.601 Purpose and scope.
consideration:
The purpose of this subpart is to
(i) The nature, circumstances, extent,
implement the statutory provisions of
and gravity of the violation committed;
section 19 of the Merchant Marine Act,
(ii) With respect to the violator:
1920 (46 U.S.C. 42101–42109), section
(A) The degree of culpability;
13 of the Shipping Act of 1984 as
(B) Any history of prior offenses;
amended (46 U.S.C. 41107–41109), and
(C) The ability to pay; and
sections 2(c) and 3(c) of Public Law 89–
(D) Such other matters as justice may
777 (46 U.S.C. 44104) by establishing
require; and
rules and regulations governing the
(iii) The amount of any refund of
compromise, assessment, settlement and money ordered under 46 U.S.C. 41310.
collection of civil penalties arising
(2) Commensurate reduction in civil
under certain designated provisions of
penalty—(i) In general. In any case in
the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, the
which the Federal Maritime
Shipping Act of 1984, Public Law 89–
Commission orders a refund of money
777, and/or any order, rule, or
in addition to assessing a civil penalty,
regulation (except for procedural rules
the amount of the civil penalty assessed
and regulations contained in this part)
shall be decreased by any additional
issued or made by the Commission in
amounts included in the refund of
the exercise of its powers, duties and
money in excess of the actual injury (as
functions under those statutes.
defined in 46 U.S.C. 41305(a)).
(ii) Treatment of refunds. A refund of
■ 3. In § 502.602, revise paragraph (h) to
money ordered shall be:
read as follows:
(A) Considered to be compensation
§ 502.602 Definitions.
paid to the applicable claimant; and
(B) Deducted from the total amount of
*
*
*
*
*
(h) Violation includes any violation of damages awarded to that claimant in a
civil action against the violator relating
sections 19(f)(4), 19(g)(4) and 19(k) of
to the applicable violation.
the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 (46
U.S.C. 42104(a), 42104(d), and 42108);
*
*
*
*
*
any provision of the Shipping Act of
■ 5. In § 502.605, revise paragraph (c) to
1984 as amended (46 U.S.C. 40101–
read as follows:
41310); sections 2 and 3 of Public Law
89–777 (46 U.S.C. 44101–44106); and/or § 502.605 Payment of penalty: Method;
default.
any order, rule or regulation (except for
procedural rules and regulations
*
*
*
*
*
contained in this part) issued or made
(c) Default in payment. Where a
by the Commission in the exercise of its respondent fails or refuses to pay a
powers, duties and functions under the
penalty properly assessed under
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 53 / Monday, March 20, 2023 / Rules and Regulations
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§ 502.603, or compromised and agreed
to under § 502.604, appropriate
collection efforts will be made by the
Commission, including, but not limited
to referral to the Department of Justice
for collection. Where such defaulting
respondent is a licensed ocean
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transportation intermediary, such
default also may be grounds for
revocation or suspension of the
respondent’s license, after notice and
opportunity for hearing, unless such
notice and hearing have been waived by
the respondent in writing.
PO 00000
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16575
By the Commission.
William Cody,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023–05393 Filed 3–17–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6730–02–P
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 53 (Monday, March 20, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16573-16575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05393]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION
46 CFR Part 502
[Docket No. FMC-2023-0008]
RIN 3072-AC95
Civil Penalty Amendments to Rules of Practice and Procedure
AGENCY: Federal Maritime Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Maritime Commission (Commission) amends its Rules
of Practice and Procedure governing the compromise, assessment,
mitigation, settlement, and collection of civil penalties. These
changes to the Commission regulations align with the statutory changes
in the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 on penalties or refunds.
DATES: The effective date is April 19, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Cody, Secretary; Phone: (202)
523-5725; Email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background and Discussion
On June 16, 2022, the President signed the Ocean Shipping Reform
Act of 2022 (``OSRA 2022'') into law,\1\ which amended various
provisions of the Shipping Act.\2\ Section 8 of OSRA 2022 amended two
Shipping Act provisions: 46 U.S.C. 41107 for monetary penalties or
refunds; and 46 U.S.C. 41109 for assessment of penalties.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Public Law 117-146.
\2\ 46 U.S.C. 40101-41310.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before OSRA 2022, section 41107 stated that any person that
violates the Shipping Act or a regulation or order of the Commission
issued under the Shipping Act is liable for a civil penalty. OSRA 2022
changed the language in this section governing potential liability of a
violator by adding the phrase ``or, in addition to or in lieu of a
civil penalty, is liable for the refund of a charge'' immediately after
the term civil penalty. Accordingly, the Commission may now order that
a person is liable for ``a civil penalty or, in addition to or in lieu
of a civil penalty, is liable for the refund of a charge'' for any
violation of the Shipping Act, Commission regulations, or Commission
order.
As a result, the term ``refund'' now appears in two key provisions
of the Shipping Act. First, in addition to appearing in sections 41107
and 41109 (as amended by OSRA 2022), the term ``refund'' also appears
in newly enacted section 41310, which explicitly addresses the issue of
charge complaints. That provision specifies, among other things, that
upon a finding by the Commission that a carrier's charges do not comply
with the Shipping Act, the Commission shall promptly order the refund
of those charges paid. See 46 U.S.C. 41310(c). Second, the term
``refund'' appears in 46 U.S.C. 40503, which was not amended by OSRA
2022. This part of the Shipping Act addresses tariffs and service
contracts. Under section 40503, the Commission may permit a common
carrier or a conference to refund a portion of freight charges or to
waive collection of a portion of such charges from shippers for certain
errors in tariffs or tariff publications. The Commission's regulation
at 46 CFR 502.271 (Special docket application for permission to refund
or waive freight charges) implements this tariff refund provision. This
provision, however, only applies to a refund or waiver of freight
charges by a common carrier's own application to the Commission and
does not include other types of charges. Further, the special docket
application procedure does not provide for assessment of penalties.
Therefore, when viewed against this backdrop, it is the Commission's
opinion that Congress amended section 41107, in part, to make it
consistent with the Commission's newly enacted authority to order a
refund of charges paid under a charge complaint proceeding in section
10 of OSRA 2022, codified at 46 U.S.C. 41310.
OSRA 2022 also made identical changes to 46 U.S.C. 41109. Section
41109 provides how to assess civil penalties and how to determine their
amounts. Section 41109 as amended by OSRA 2022 states that the
Commission may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, ``assess a
civil penalty'' or ``in addition to, or in lieu of a civil penalty . .
. order a refund of money.'' 46 U.S.C. 41109(a)(1). OSRA 2022 also
amended section 41109 by specifying the factors in determining ``the
amount of a civil penalty assessed or refund of money ordered.'' 46
U.S.C. 41109(b)(1). While section 41109 now applies for assessment of
penalties or refund, the Commission believes that section 41109's
revised factors are applicable only to assessment of penalties.
OSRA 2022 also provided that if the Commission orders a refund of
money in addition to a civil penalty, the amount of civil penalty must
be decreased by any additional amounts included in the refund of money
in excess of the ``actual injury'' as defined in the Shipping Act at 46
U.S.C. 41305(a). See 46 U.S.C. 41109(b)(2)(A).
Therefore, the Commission makes conforming amendments to its
regulations for civil penalties. The Commission is also making one
technical change to update a term in 46 CFR 502.605(c).
II. Rulemaking Analyses
Administrative Procedure Act
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requires that ``[g]eneral
notice of proposed rulemaking shall be published in the Federal
Register, unless persons subject thereto are named and either
personally served or otherwise have actual notice thereof in accordance
with law.'' 5 U.S.C. 553(b). The notice of proposed rulemaking
requirement, however, does not apply to ``interpretative rules, general
statements of policy, or rules of agency organization, procedure, or
practice.'' 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A). The notice requirement does not apply
to this rule because it only amends the Commission's rules of practice
and procedure. Thus, the Commission issues this rule as a final rule.
[[Page 16574]]
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, provides that
whenever an agency publishes a notice of proposed rulemaking under the
APA, 5 U.S.C. 553, the agency must prepare and make available for
public comment a regulatory flexibility analysis (RFA) describing the
impact of the rule on small entities, unless the head of the agency
certifies that the rulemaking will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603-605. As
stated above, however, the APA notice requirement does not apply to
this rulemaking for the Commission's practice and procedure. Therefore,
the APA does not require the Commission to publish a notice of proposed
rulemaking in this instance, and the Commission did not prepare an RFA.
National Environmental Policy Act
The Commission's regulations categorically exclude certain
rulemakings from any requirement to prepare an environmental assessment
or an environmental impact statement because they do not increase or
decrease air, water or noise pollution or the use of fossil fuels,
recyclables, or energy. 46 CFR 504.4. This rule amends the Commission's
rules of practice and procedure at 46 CFR part 502. This rule thus
falls within the categorical exclusion for matters related solely to
``[p]romulgation of procedural rules pursuant to 46 CFR part 502.'' 46
CFR 504.4(a)(4). Therefore, no environmental assessment or
environmental impact statement is required.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521) requires
an agency to seek and receive approval from the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) before collecting information from the public. 44
U.S.C. 3507. The agency must submit collections of information in
proposed rules to OMB in conjunction with the publication of the notice
of proposed rulemaking. 5 CFR 1320.11. This rule does not contain any
collections of information as defined by 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR
1320.3(c).
Regulation Identifier Number
The Commission assigns a regulation identifier number (RIN) to each
regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory
and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda). The Regulatory Information
Service Center publishes the Unified Agenda in April and October of
each year. You may use the RIN contained in the heading at the
beginning of this document to find this action in the Unified Agenda,
available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain.
List of Subjects in 46 CFR Part 502
Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Equal access to
justice, Investigations, Lawyers, Maritime carriers, Penalties,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Federal Maritime
Commission amends 46 CFR part 502 as follows:
PART 502--RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
0
1. The authority citation for part 502 is revised to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 504, 551, 552, 553, 556(c), 559, 561-569,
571-584; 591-596; 18 U.S.C. 207; 28 U.S.C. 2112(a); 31 U.S.C. 9701;
46 U.S.C. 305, 40103-40104, 40304, 40306, 40501-40503, 40701-40706,
41101-41109, 41301-41310, 44101-44106; 5 CFR part 2635.
0
2. Revise Sec. 502.601 to read as follows:
Sec. 502.601 Purpose and scope.
The purpose of this subpart is to implement the statutory
provisions of section 19 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 (46 U.S.C.
42101-42109), section 13 of the Shipping Act of 1984 as amended (46
U.S.C. 41107-41109), and sections 2(c) and 3(c) of Public Law 89-777
(46 U.S.C. 44104) by establishing rules and regulations governing the
compromise, assessment, settlement and collection of civil penalties
arising under certain designated provisions of the Merchant Marine Act,
1920, the Shipping Act of 1984, Public Law 89-777, and/or any order,
rule, or regulation (except for procedural rules and regulations
contained in this part) issued or made by the Commission in the
exercise of its powers, duties and functions under those statutes.
0
3. In Sec. 502.602, revise paragraph (h) to read as follows:
Sec. 502.602 Definitions.
* * * * *
(h) Violation includes any violation of sections 19(f)(4), 19(g)(4)
and 19(k) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 (46 U.S.C. 42104(a),
42104(d), and 42108); any provision of the Shipping Act of 1984 as
amended (46 U.S.C. 40101-41310); sections 2 and 3 of Public Law 89-777
(46 U.S.C. 44101-44106); and/or any order, rule or regulation (except
for procedural rules and regulations contained in this part) issued or
made by the Commission in the exercise of its powers, duties and
functions under the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, the Shipping Act of 1984
as amended, or Public Law 89-777.
* * * * *
0
4. In Sec. 502.603, revise paragraphs (a) and (b) to read as follows:
Sec. 502.603 Assessment of civil penalties: Procedure; criteria for
determining amount; limitations; relation to compromise.
(a) Procedure for assessment of penalty. The Commission may assess
a civil penalty or, in addition to or in lieu of a civil penalty, a
refund of a charge, only after notice and opportunity for hearing.
Civil penalty assessment proceedings, including settlement
negotiations, shall be governed by the Commission's Rules of Practice
and Procedure in this part. All settlements must be approved by the
Presiding Officer. The full text of any settlement must be included in
the final order of the Commission.
(b) Determination of amount--(1) Factors for consideration. In
determining the amount of a civil penalty assessed pursuant to
paragraph (a) of this section, the Federal Maritime Commission shall
take into consideration:
(i) The nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation
committed;
(ii) With respect to the violator:
(A) The degree of culpability;
(B) Any history of prior offenses;
(C) The ability to pay; and
(D) Such other matters as justice may require; and
(iii) The amount of any refund of money ordered under 46 U.S.C.
41310.
(2) Commensurate reduction in civil penalty--(i) In general. In any
case in which the Federal Maritime Commission orders a refund of money
in addition to assessing a civil penalty, the amount of the civil
penalty assessed shall be decreased by any additional amounts included
in the refund of money in excess of the actual injury (as defined in 46
U.S.C. 41305(a)).
(ii) Treatment of refunds. A refund of money ordered shall be:
(A) Considered to be compensation paid to the applicable claimant;
and
(B) Deducted from the total amount of damages awarded to that
claimant in a civil action against the violator relating to the
applicable violation.
* * * * *
0
5. In Sec. 502.605, revise paragraph (c) to read as follows:
Sec. 502.605 Payment of penalty: Method; default.
* * * * *
(c) Default in payment. Where a respondent fails or refuses to pay
a penalty properly assessed under
[[Page 16575]]
Sec. 502.603, or compromised and agreed to under Sec. 502.604,
appropriate collection efforts will be made by the Commission,
including, but not limited to referral to the Department of Justice for
collection. Where such defaulting respondent is a licensed ocean
transportation intermediary, such default also may be grounds for
revocation or suspension of the respondent's license, after notice and
opportunity for hearing, unless such notice and hearing have been
waived by the respondent in writing.
By the Commission.
William Cody,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-05393 Filed 3-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6730-02-P
