An administrative infraction is a violation of a federal agency’s rules that the agency itself enforces through fines, orders, and hearings rather than through the criminal courts. Penalties can run from a few thousand dollars to six figures per violation, and they can also include cease-and-desist orders, forced surrender of profits, loss of a professional license, or being barred from federal contracts. The core procedural rules come from the Administrative Procedure Act at 5 U.S.C. §§ 551–559, which sets the baseline for how agencies write regulations, bring enforcement actions, and run hearings when someone contests a violation.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC Chapter 5 – Administrative Procedure Each agency then adapts those rules to its own subject area, so the specifics look different depending on which agency issued the notice.
What Counts as an Administrative Infraction
The category is broad because federal agencies regulate a wide range of activity. A few concrete examples show the range.
The Environmental Protection Agency enforces Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which covers air emissions, water discharges, hazardous waste storage, and chemical reporting.2Environmental Protection Agency. Laws and Regulations Common infractions include discharging pollutants into protected waters without a permit, failing to keep accurate chemical inventories, and mishandling hazardous waste. Inspectors visit sites, review monitoring reports, interview staff, and collect samples, and one failed inspection can trigger an enforcement action.3Environmental Protection Agency. Monitoring Compliance
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforces workplace safety standards across most private-sector industries, covering things like personal protective equipment, fall protection, ventilation in confined spaces, and hazard training.4U.S. Department of Labor. Employment Law Guide – Occupational Safety and Health Violations get classified by severity, and the penalty follows the classification.
The Securities and Exchange Commission brings administrative actions against companies and individuals for filing materially deficient reports, making misleading disclosures, or missing required periodic filings, and it can suspend trading in a stock when accuracy is in serious doubt.5U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Enforcement Banking regulators and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau run their own enforcement programs targeting fraud, unsafe lending, and consumer-protection failures.
Federal agencies that license or certify professionals in healthcare, aviation, and nuclear energy can also bring administrative cases when practitioners fall below required standards, typically for competency failures, ethical violations, or falsified credentials.
Penalties the Agency Can Impose
Civil Fines
Fines are the most common tool, and the maximums are often higher than people expect. OSHA can assess up to $16,550 per serious violation and up to $165,514 for a willful or repeated one, with failure-to-abate penalties of $16,550 for each day the hazard persists past the correction deadline.6Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Penalties The caps adjust for inflation every January. A single inspection turning up multiple willful violations can produce penalties well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Other agencies operate on their own schedules.
Cease-and-Desist Orders
When an agency finds an ongoing violation, it can order the activity to stop and the underlying problem to be fixed. These orders carry legal force, and ignoring one can bring contempt proceedings or additional fines. Under the housing finance safety and soundness framework, for example, an order becomes effective 30 days after service unless it is stayed or the parties reach a consent agreement.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 4631 – Cease-and-Desist Proceedings
Disgorgement
In financial cases, agencies can order respondents to hand over any profits gained through the violation. The SEC’s rules require the order to identify each violation, the date, and the exact amount to be disgorged, with prejudgment interest added at the IRS underpayment rate, compounded quarterly.8eCFR. 17 CFR Part 201 Subpart D – Disgorgement and Penalty Payments A respondent claiming inability to pay must file a sworn financial statement covering assets, liabilities, and income from the date of the first violation through the date of the order. Failing to file that statement waives the inability-to-pay defense.
License Suspension or Revocation
For licensed professionals, this is the most consequential sanction. Suspension halts the right to practice for a defined period. Revocation removes it entirely and usually requires a full reinstatement application, additional fees, reexamination, and proof of remediation before the person can return to the field. Reinstatement is not guaranteed.
Debarment From Federal Contracts
Businesses and individuals found to have committed fraud, antitrust violations, embezzlement, bribery, or a pattern of contract non-performance can be barred from future federal contracts or programs.9eCFR. 5 CFR 919.800 – Causes for Debarment Debarment generally lasts up to three years, extends to five years for drug-free workplace violations, and can be renewed if the government shows a continuing need.10Acquisition.gov. FAR 9.406-4 – Period of Debarment For companies that depend on government work, debarment can hurt more than any fine.
How the Penalty Amount Is Set
Agencies weigh several factors before landing on a number, and those factors are also the strongest arguments for reducing a penalty when the underlying violation is not really in dispute.
Factors that push the penalty higher:
- A pattern of the same violation over time, rather than an isolated incident.
- Large financial benefit gained or large harm caused.
- Prior criminal, civil, or administrative sanctions for similar conduct.
- Willful or knowing conduct. OSHA’s willful cap is roughly ten times its serious-violation cap for exactly this reason.6Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Penalties
Factors that pull it down:
- Few incidents over a short period, with less than $1,000 in claims involved.11eCFR. 42 CFR Part 402 – Civil Money Penalties, Assessments, and Exclusions
- An honest processing mistake corrected promptly after discovery.
- Financial hardship that would threaten continued operations.
- Documented compliance investment: training, self-audits, and infrastructure.
Small Business Waivers
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act requires agencies to have policies for reducing or waiving penalties for small businesses. The EPA, for example, waives the entire civil penalty for a business with 100 or fewer employees if it voluntarily discovered the violation, promptly disclosed it, and corrected it within the required timeframe.12U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Small Businesses and Enforcement The EPA still reserves the right to recover economic advantage the business gained if the violation put competitors at a significant disadvantage. The waiver does not apply to imminent-danger situations, criminal conduct, or repeat violations.
Contesting the Notice
The moment a notice of violation arrives, the clock starts. Depending on the agency, you may have as few as 15 business days or as many as 30 calendar days to file a hearing request. Missing that window is one of the most costly mistakes: it typically produces a default judgment and immediate imposition of the proposed penalty with no chance to argue the case.
Gathering Evidence
Pull together every document related to the alleged violation: correspondence with the agency, permits, inspection reports, maintenance logs, equipment specifications, and photographs. If the agency claims you lacked a required safety feature, gather manufacturer documentation showing the equipment’s built-in protections. If the fight is about timing, collect time-stamped digital records, payroll logs, or surveillance footage.
Prior inspection reports are especially useful. If earlier inspections found you compliant in the same area now at issue, those reports cut against the current findings. Witness statements from employees, contractors, or independent experts should be collected early, while memories are fresh.
Filing the Hearing Request
The request form is usually on the agency’s website or attached to the notice itself. It asks for the citation number, the date of the alleged infraction, and a description of what you are contesting. Be specific: state whether you deny the violation occurred, argue the penalty is excessive given mitigating circumstances, or both. Vague objections signal to the administrative law judge that no real defense has been prepared.
Most agencies accept electronic filing through a secure portal, though some still allow or require certified mail with return receipt. Keep proof of the filing date either way. Index your supporting documents so each exhibit ties to a specific argument.
Getting Representation
Under the APA, any party in an agency proceeding has the right to appear in person or through an attorney or other qualified representative.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 555 – Ancillary Matters A lawyer is not required, but administrative actions involving six-figure penalties, license revocations, or debarment are complex enough that representing yourself puts you at a serious disadvantage. The agency will be represented by experienced enforcement attorneys. If you qualify, you may be able to recover fees later if you win.
What the Hearing Looks Like
Administrative hearings are less rigid than trials but still formal proceedings with real consequences. An administrative law judge presides, and the APA requires that judge to conduct the proceeding impartially.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 556 – Hearings; Presiding Employees; Powers and Duties
Burden of Proof
The agency, as the party seeking to impose a penalty, carries the burden of proof, but only to a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard. It has to show its version is more likely true than not.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 556 – Hearings; Presiding Employees; Powers and Duties That is a far lower bar than “beyond a reasonable doubt,” and it means you generally need affirmative evidence supporting your defense rather than just pointing out weaknesses in the agency’s case.
Evidence and Rights at the Hearing
The formal trial rules of evidence do not fully apply. The ALJ can receive any oral or documentary evidence that is relevant, while excluding evidence that is irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitive. You have the right to present documents and testimony, submit rebuttal evidence, and cross-examine the agency’s witnesses.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 556 – Hearings; Presiding Employees; Powers and Duties The ALJ can issue subpoenas, administer oaths, take depositions, and hold settlement conferences. If you need documents from the agency or testimony from an uncooperative witness, you can ask the ALJ for a subpoena.
The final decision must be supported by reliable, substantial evidence in the record. The judge cannot simply defer to the agency’s conclusion.
Appeals
Inside the Agency
If the ALJ rules against you, you can appeal to a higher review board within the agency, typically within 30 days of the decision.15eCFR. 29 CFR 580.13 – Procedures for Appeals to the Administrative Review Board The appeal turns on whether the ALJ applied the law correctly and whether the decision is supported by the record. New evidence generally is not allowed at this stage.
In Federal Court
Once agency appeals are exhausted, you can seek judicial review in federal court. Courts will not usually hear the case if available agency appeals were skipped, though the Supreme Court has held exhaustion is required only when the agency’s own regulations both mandate the appeal and keep the agency action inoperative while the appeal is pending.
The review standard favors the agency. Under 5 U.S.C. § 706, a court sets aside an agency action only if it was arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, unsupported by substantial evidence, in excess of statutory authority, or made without required procedures.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 706 – Scope of Review The court looks at whether the agency considered the relevant factors and whether there was a rational connection between the facts and the decision. It is not a fresh trial; the court reviews the existing administrative record and gives real weight to agency expertise. Overturning an agency on judicial review is genuinely difficult, which is why the administrative hearing itself is where most cases are won or lost.
If You Ignore the Penalty
Ignoring an administrative penalty does not make it go away. Once the penalty is final, either because you did not contest it or because you lost on appeal, the debt is owed to the federal government and triggers an escalating series of collection measures.
Interest and Add-Ons
Federal law requires agencies to charge interest on unpaid debts at a rate tied to the average Treasury investment rate, published annually. If the debt is unpaid for more than 90 days, the agency adds a penalty of up to 6% per year plus administrative costs for handling the delinquent account.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3717 – Interest and Penalty on Claims Partial payments are applied first to collection fees, then to penalties, then to administrative costs, then to interest, and only last to principal. A small partial payment may not reduce the actual debt at all.
Wage Garnishment and Payment Offsets
Federal agencies can garnish wages without going to court. After 30 days’ written notice describing the debt, the intent to garnish, and your right to a hearing, the agency can order your employer to withhold up to 15% of your disposable pay.18eCFR. 31 CFR 285.11 – Administrative Wage Garnishment Request a hearing within 15 business days and garnishment cannot begin until after the hearing. Miss that window, and withholding can start while the hearing is still pending.
The Treasury Offset Program adds another layer. It matches delinquent federal debts against outgoing federal payments, including tax refunds, and intercepts the money before it reaches you.19Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Treasury Offset Program Agencies can also refer debts to private collection contractors, whose contingency fees get added to the balance. Garnishment and offsets can run at the same time.
Recovering Attorney Fees if You Win
The Equal Access to Justice Act lets individuals and small businesses recover attorney fees and expenses when they successfully challenge an agency enforcement action, provided the government’s position was not “substantially justified.” The government carries the burden of showing its position was reasonable in law and fact.20eCFR. 22 CFR Part 134 – Equal Access to Justice Act Implementation
Eligibility turns on size. Individuals need a net worth of $2 million or less. Businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations need a net worth of $7 million or less and no more than 500 employees, with affiliates counted toward both thresholds.21eCFR. 47 CFR Part 1 Subpart K – Implementation of the Equal Access to Justice Act The base statutory rate for attorney fees is $125 per hour, and courts adjust it upward for cost-of-living increases. The Ninth Circuit’s published rate for 2025 was over $258 per hour.22U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Statutory Maximum Rates Under the Equal Access to Justice Act Fee applications must be filed within 30 days of the final disposition. EAJA awards are not available where the respondent acted in bad faith or unreasonably prolonged the case.
SBREFA adds a related protection: when an agency’s penalty demand substantially exceeds the judgment it ultimately obtains and was unreasonable compared to that result, courts must award attorney fees and expenses to the prevailing small business.12U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Small Businesses and Enforcement That gives agencies a financial reason not to overreach against smaller respondents.