Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§2282b Civil monetary penalties for violations of Department of Energy regulations regarding security of classified or sensitive information or data

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 23— - DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROL OF ATOMIC ENERGY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER XVII— - ENFORCEMENT OF CHAPTER › § 2282b

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

People or companies with a contract or subcontract with the Department of Energy who break rules for protecting Restricted Data or other classified or sensitive information can be fined up to $100,000 for each violation. The Department must put contract terms that cut the contractor’s pay if the contractor or an employee breaks these security rules. The same basic rules for assessing civil fines that apply elsewhere in the law also apply here, with one exception. For certain entities described elsewhere in the law, fines can’t be charged until the entity signs a new or extended DOE contract. Also, in any fiscal year the total fines for that entity cannot be more than the fees the Department paid that entity that year.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §2282b

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any person who has entered into a contract or agreement with the Department of Energy, or a subcontract or subagreement thereto, and who violates (or whose employee violates) any applicable rule, regulation, or order prescribed or otherwise issued by the Secretary pursuant to this chapter relating to the safeguarding or security of Restricted Data or other classified or sensitive information shall be subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed $100,000 for each such violation.
(b)The Secretary shall include in each contract with a contractor of the Department provisions which provide an appropriate reduction in the fees or amounts paid to the contractor under the contract in the event of a violation by the contractor or contractor employee of any rule, regulation, or order relating to the safeguarding or security of Restricted Data or other classified or sensitive information. The provisions shall specify various degrees of violations and the amount of the reduction attributable to each degree of violation.
(c)The powers and limitations applicable to the assessment of civil penalties under section 2282a of this title, except for subsection (d) of that section, shall apply to the assessment of civil penalties under this section.
(d)In the case of an entity specified in subsection (d) of section 2282a of this title—
(1)the assessment of any civil penalty under subsection (a) against that entity may not be made until the entity enters into a new contract with the Department of Energy or an extension of a current contract with the Department; and
(2)the total amount of civil penalties under subsection (a) in a fiscal year may not exceed the total amount of fees paid by the Department of Energy to that entity in that fiscal year.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original “this Act”, meaning act Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 724, as added by act Aug. 30, 1954, ch. 1073, § 1, 68 Stat. 919, known as the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 2011 of this title and Tables.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 106–65, div. C, title XXXI, § 3147(b), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 938, provided that: “Subsection a. of section 234B of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 [42 U.S.C. 2282b(a)], as added by subsection (a), applies to any violation after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 5, 1999].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 2282b

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73