MSHA Annual Inflation Adjustment to Civil Penalties

Annually in mid-January, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) adjusts its civil penalty assessments, in accordance with the inflation adjustment provisions of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Improvements Act of 2015. This year the adjustments resulted in the following increases in minimum and maximum civil penalties for certain types of citations and orders. These new penalties affect violations for which the penalty is assessed after January 15, 2021.

Type of Issuance	2020 Minimum and Maximum Civil Penalties	2021 Minimum and Maximum Civil Penalties
104(a)(nonflagrant violation)	$137 (min.) $73,901 (max.)	$139 (min.) $74,775 (max.)
104(d)(1)(nonflagrant violation)	$2,464 (min.) $73,901 (max.)	$2,493 (min.) $74,775 (max.)
104(d)(2) (nonflagrant violation)	$4,925 (min.) $73,901 (max.)	$4,983 (min.) $74,775 (max.)
Failure to Timely Report an Accident	$6,159 (min.) $73,901 (max.)	$6,232 (min.) $74,775 (max.)
Failure to Abate	$8,006 (per day max.)	$8,101 (per day max.)
Flagrant Violation	$270,972 (max.)	$274,175 (max.)