Penalties for Polluters Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 10255 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 10255 To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase certain penalties for violations of the Act, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 3, 2026 Ms. Dexter (for herself, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Norton, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Min, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Simon, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Randall, Ms. Ansari, Mr. Cohen, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Salinas, Mr. Mullin, Mrs. Grijalva, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Levin, and Mr. Liccardo) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase certain penalties for violations of the Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Penalties for Polluters Act''. SEC. 2. PENALTIES RELATING TO VIOLATIONS OF CERTAIN MINERAL LEASING ACTS. (a) Penalties Under Mineral Leasing Act.--Section 41 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 195) is amended-- (1) in subsection (b)-- (A) by striking ``Any person'' and inserting the following: ``(1) In general.--Any person''; (B) by striking ``$500,000'' and inserting ``$2,700,000''; and (C) by adding at the end the following: ``(2) Inflation adjustment.--The Secretary of the Interior shall annually adjust the maximum penalty specified in paragraph (1) to reflect any increases in the Consumer Price Index (all items, United Stat