123STA T . 11 76PUBLIC LA W 111 – 11 —M A R .3 0, 200 9ofthep e nal t y, the S e cr etary m ay re qu e s t the A ttorney G eneral to i nstitute a ci v il action in a d istrict court of the U nited States for any district in w hich the person if found, resides, or transacts b usiness, to collect the pen - alty ( plus interest at currently prevailin g rates from the date of the final order or the date of the final j udgment, as the case may be ).T he district court shall have jurisdic- tion to hear and decide any such action. I n such action, the validity, amount, and appropriateness of such penalty shall not be subject to review. Any person who fails to pay on a timely basis the amount of an assessment of a civil penalty as described in the first sentence of this paragraph shall be required to pay, in addition to such amount and interest, attorneys fees and costs for collection proceedings. (c) HEARINGS . — Hearings held during proceedings instituted under subsection (a) shall be conducted in accordance with section 5 5 4 of title 5, United States C ode. (d) USE OFR E C O V ERE D A M O U N T S.— P enalties collected under this section shall be available to the Secretary and without further appropriation may be used only as follows
( 1 ) To protect, restore, or repair the paleontological resources and sites which were the subject of the action, and to protect, monitor, and study the resources and sites. ( 2 ) To provide educational materials to the public about paleontological resources and sites. ( 3 ) To provide for the payment of rewards as provided in section 6 3 08 . SEC.6308 . R E WA R D SA N D FO RFE ITU RE. (a) RE W ARDS.—The Secretary may pay from penalties collected under section 6306 or 630 7 or from appropriated funds— (1) consistent with amounts established in regulations by the Secretary
or (2) if no such regulation e x ists, an amount up to 1⁄2 of the penalties, to any person who furnishes information which leads to the finding of a civil violation, or the conviction of criminal violation, with respect to which the penalty was paid. If several persons provided the information, the amount shall be divided among the persons. N o officer or employee of the United States or of any State or local government who furnishes information or renders service in the performance of his official duties shall be eligible for payment under this subsection. (b) F ORFEITURE.—All paleontological resources with respect to which a violation under section 6306 or 6307 occurred and which are in the possession of any person, shall be subject to civil for- feiture, or upon conviction, to criminal forfeiture. (c) TRANSFER OF SEI Z ED RESOURCES.—The Secretary may transfer administration of sei z ed paleontological resources to Fed- eral or non-Federal educational institutions to be used for scientific or educational purposes. SEC. 630 9 . CONFIDENTIA L IT Y . Information concerning the nature and specific location of a paleontological resource shall be exempt from disclosure under sec- tion 552 of title 5, United States Code, and any other law unless the Secretary determines that disclosure would— (1) further the purposes of this subtitle; 16USC470a aa –8. 16 USC 470aaa–7.
