2025 Federal Civil Penalty Increases

Per the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015, the three main federal agencies that govern environmental, safety, health, and transportation activities in the US increased their fines for regulatory violations over the past several weeks.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) led the way just before ringing in the new year, announcing in Federal Register (FR) Document # 2024-30608 that they are increasing their per violation, per day fees to those listed in the following table. This rule went into effect on December 30, 2024.

A full list of common violations and their typical penalty amounts can be found in the Guidelines for Civil Penalties [49 CFR Part 107, Subpart D, Appendix A]. A few examples of why these types of fines may be incurred are listed below.

• Offering a forbidden or misclassified hazardous material on the shipping paper, markings, labels, and/or placards
• Using incorrect information or a non-approved format when describing the hazardous material on the shipping paper
• Failing to properly train personnel performing the activities listed above, or other hazmat employee functions such as filling or packaging hazmat containers, loading, unloading, and/or transporting hazmat packages

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) followed suit; releasing their new fees in FR Document # 2025-00206 for infractions that occur or occurred after November 2, 2015, where penalties are assessed on or after January 8, 2025. The full list of the various agencies that fall under the EPA umbrella and their adjustments can be found in 40 CFR 19.4. We have extracted the most common ones here.

Violations of these regulations may include, but are not limited to, those listed here.

• Failing to report a release of hazardous waste onto the ground or into the air or waterways
• Managing or disposing of hazardous waste improperly
• Treating hazardous waste without a permit
• Using pesticides that are banned or unregistered

And last, but certainly not least, effective January 15, 2025, the cost of violating any of the Department of Labor (DOL) regulations rose to the values listed in FR Document # 2024-31602, including those from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in tabular form below, and listed in 29 CFR 1903.15.

We have listed a few common DOL and OSHA non-compliance issues here for your review.

• Failing to correct a violation or ensure proper workplace safety standards are upheld
• Missing or insufficient document postings (e.g., Labor Law Poster)
• Retaliating against an employee for reporting a workplace safety or health concern

Safety Partners can help keep you in compliance to avoid fines like these!

Our RCRA for Life Sciences, Very Small and Small Quantity Waste Generators and DOT for Life Sciences Awareness Training can be taken right now from any internet capable device. Our OSHA courses can be too, check out the full list of offerings here: EHS Training and Professional Development.

For more information or for help determining which rules from these agencies apply at your workplace, Contact us!

This blog was written by Kim E. Folger, Safety Partners’ Training and Development Manager