16 U.S.C. § 825n: Forfeiture for violations…

Summary

A licensee or public utility that willfully fails to follow a Commission order, to file a required report, to give information or documents during a Commission investigation, or to send an officer or agent to a hearing after receiving a subpoena must pay up to $1,000 to the United States. The Commission will set the exact amount after giving notice and a chance for a hearing. Paying this amount does not stop other penalties; the forfeiture is added on top of any other punishment. The money goes into the U.S. Treasury and can be collected by a civil suit in the federal district where the person lives or has their main office, or, for a licensee or utility, in any district where it does business. U.S. attorneys must bring those suits under the Attorney General’s direction, and the cost of prosecuting them is paid from court expense funds. This rule does not apply to anything under sections 824j, 824k, 824l, or 824m or rules or orders under those sections.

Title 16, §825n

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Forfeiture

Any licensee or public utility which willfully fails, within the time prescribed by the Commission, to comply with any order of the Commission, to file any report required under this chapter or any rule or regulation of the Commission thereunder, to submit any information or document required by the Commission in the course of an investigation conducted under this chapter, or to appear by an officer or agent at any hearing or investigation in response to a subpena issued under this chapter, shall forfeit to the United States an amount not exceeding $1,000 to be fixed by the Commission after notice and opportunity for hearing. The imposition or payment of any such forfeiture shall not bar or affect any penalty prescribed in this chapter but such forfeiture shall be in addition to any such penalty.

(b)Recovery

The forfeitures provided for in this chapter shall be payable into the Treasury of the United States and shall be recoverable in a civil suit in the name of the United States, brought in the district where the person is an inhabitant or has his principal place of business, or if a licensee or public utility, in any district in which such licensee or public utility transacts business. It shall be the duty of the various United States attorneys, under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States, to prosecute for the recovery of forfeitures under this chapter. The costs and expenses of such prosecution shall be paid from the appropriations for the expenses of the courts of the United States.

(c)Applicability

This section shall not apply in the case of any provision of section 824j, 824k, 824l, or 824m of this title or any rule or order issued under any such provision.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2005—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 109–58 substituted “This section” for “This subsection”. 1992—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–486 added subsec. (c).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Act June 25, 1948, eff. Sept. 1, 1948, substituted “United States attorney” for “district attorney”. See section 541 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. State Authorities;

Construction

Nothing in amendment by Pub. L. 102–486 to be construed as affecting or intending to affect, or in any way to interfere with, authority of any State or local government relating to environmental protection or siting of facilities, see section 731 of Pub. L. 102–486, set out as a note under section 796 of this title.

§825n Forfeiture for Violations; Recovery; Applicability