OSHA, DOT and EPA Penalties Increase for 2023

The Department of Labor is revising civil penalty amounts for OSHA violations by employers, beginning on January 17, 2023, per an earlier authorization by Congress to keep up with inflation. Maximum penalties for serious and other-than-serious violations will increase from $14,502 to $15, 625 per violation. For willful or repeated violations, maximum penalties will increase from $145,027 to $156,259.

The Department of Transportation is also increasing civil penalties for all modes of transportation, including highway, by 7.745 percent. The increases apply to dozens of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and Hazardous Materials Regulations violations, including violations related to:

• Out-of-service orders
• Recordkeeping
• Non-recordkeeping
• Hazardous materials regulations
• Commercial regulations
• Operating authority requirement
• Tariffs
• Loading and unloading
• Evasion of U. S. Codes
• Reporting and recordkeeping

Finally, EPA is also increasing maximum civil penalties for environmental violations, effective after early January 2023, as follows:

                                                                                                      2022               2023

Clean Air Act (CAA)	$109,024	$117,468
Clean Water Act (CWA)	$59,973	$64,618
Superfund and Right-to-Know (CERCLA/EPCRA)	$62,689	$67,544
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)	$62,689	$67,544
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)	$43,611	$46,989
Insecticides, Fungicides, and Rodenticides (FIFRA)	$21,805	$23,494

---

This update is courtesy of the National Association for Surface Finishing (NASF). For more information or to become a member, visit nasf.org.