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NHTSA Seeks Comments on Proposed Rulemaking for Fees Schedule
[August 01, 2014]

NHTSA Seeks Comments on Proposed Rulemaking for Fees Schedule


(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Targeted News Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 -- The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published the following proposed rule in the Federal Register: Schedule of Fees A Proposed Rule by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on 07/31/2014 Publication Date: Thursday, July 31, 2014 Agencies: Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Dates: You should submit your comments early enough to ensure that Docket Management receives them not later than September 2, 2014.



Comments Close: 09/02/2014 Entry Type: Proposed Rule Action: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

Document Citation: 79 FR 44363 Page: 44363 -44369 (7 pages) CFR: 49 CFR 594 Agency/Docket Numbers: Docket No. NHTSA-2014-0052 Notice 1 RIN: 2127-AL09 Document Number: 2014-17852 Shorter URL: https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-17852 Action Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking.


Summary This document proposes fees for Fiscal Year 2015 and until further notice relating to the registration of importers and the importation of motor vehicles not certified as conforming to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS). These fees are needed to maintain the registered importer (RI) program.

DATES: You should submit your comments early enough to ensure that Docket Management receives them not later than September 2, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to the docket and notice numbers above and be submitted by any of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.

Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Fax: 202-493-2251.

Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public Participation heading of the Supplementary Information section of this document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below.

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://DocketInfo.dot.gov.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to the street address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Clint Lindsay, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, NHTSA (202-366-5291). For legal issues, you may call Nicholas Englund, Office of Chief Counsel, NHTSA (202-366-5263). You may call Docket Management at 202-366-9324. You may visit the Docket in person from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Introduction NHTSA published a document on June 24, 1996 (61 FR 32411) fully discussing the rulemaking history of 49 CFR part 594 and the fees authorized by the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act of 1988, 100, since recodified at 49 U.S.C. 30141-47. The reader is referred to that document for background information relating to this rulemaking action. Certain fees were initially established to become effective January 31, 1990, and have been periodically adjusted since then.

We are required to review and make appropriate adjustments at least every two years in the fees established for the administration of the RI program. See 49 U.S.C. 30141(e). The fees applicable in any fiscal year (FY) are to be established before the beginning of such year. Ibid. We are proposing fees that would become effective on October 1, 2014, the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2015. The statute authorizes fees to cover the costs of the importer registration program, to cover the cost of making import eligibility decisions, and to cover the cost of processing the bonds furnished to the Department of Homeland Security (Customs). We last amended the fee schedule in 2012. See final rule published on August 22, 2012 at 77 FR 50637. Those fees apply to Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014.

Proposed fees are based on time and costs associated with the tasks for which the fees are assessed. The fees proposed in this document reflect the one percent increase in General Schedule salary rates that were effective January 1, 2014 and the slight increases in indirect costs attributed to the agency's overhead costs since the fees were last adjusted.

Requirements of the Fee Regulation Section 594.6--Annual Fee for Administration of the Importer Registration Program Section 30141(a)(3) of Title 49, U.S. Code provides that RIs must pay the annual fees established "to pay for the costs of carrying out the registration program for importers. . . ." This fee is payable both by new applicants and by existing RIs. To maintain its registration, each RI, at the time it submits its annual fee, must also file a statement affirming that the information it furnished in its registration application (or in later submissions amending that information) remains correct. 49 CFR 592.5(f).

To comply with the statutory directive, we reviewed the existing fees and their bases in an attempt to establish fees that would be sufficient to recover the costs of carrying out the registration program for importers for at least the next two fiscal years. The initial component of the Registration Program Fee is the fee attributable to processing and acting upon registration applications. We have tentatively determined that this fee should be increased from $330 to $333 for new applications. We also have tentatively determined that the fee for the review of the annual statement should be increased from $201 to $215. The proposed adjustments reflect our time expenditures in reviewing both new applications and annual statements with accompanying documentation, and the small increases in indirect costs attributed to the agency's overhead costs in the two years since the fees were last adjusted, the increase in direct costs relating to the one percent raise in salaries of employees on the General Schedule that became effective on January 1, 2014, and the increase in contractor costs to the agency.

We must also recover costs attributable to maintenance of the registration program that arise from the need for us to review a registrant's annual statement and to verify the continuing validity of information already submitted. These costs also include anticipated costs attributable to the possible revocation or suspension of registrations and reflect the amount of time that we have devoted to those matters in the past two years.

Based upon our review of these costs, the portion of the fee attributable to the maintenance of the registration program is approximately $511 for each RI. When this $511 is added to the $333 representing the registration application component, the cost to an applicant for RI status comes to $844, which is the fee we propose. This represents an increase of $39 over the existing fee. When the $511 is added to the $215 representing the annual statement component, the total cost to an RI for renewing its registration comes to $726, which represents an increase of $50.

Sec. 594.6(h) enumerates indirect costs associated with processing the annual renewal of RI registrations. The provision states that these costs represent a pro rata allocation of the average salary and benefits of employees who process the annual statements and perform related functions, and "a pro rata allocation of the costs attributable to maintaining the office space, and the computer or word processor." For the purpose of establishing the fees that are currently in existence, indirect costs are $21.66 per man-hour. We are proposing to increase this figure by $4.07, to $25.73. This proposed increase is based on the difference between enacted budgetary costs within the Department of Transportation for the last two fiscal years, which were higher than the estimates used when the fee schedule was last amended, and takes into account other projected increases over the next two fiscal years.

Sections 594.7, 594.8--Fees To Cover Agency Costs in Making Importation Eligibility Decisions Section 30141(a)(3)(B) also requires registered importers to pay other fees the Secretary of Transportation establishes to cover the costs of "making the decisions under this subchapter." This includes decisions on whether the vehicle sought to be imported is substantially similar to a motor vehicle that was originally manufactured for importation into and sale in the United States and certified by its original manufacturer as complying with all applicable FMVSS, and whether the vehicle is capable of being readily altered to meet those standards. Alternatively, where there is no substantially similar U.S. certified motor vehicle, the decision is whether the safety features of the vehicle comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply with, the FMVSS based on destructive test information or such other evidence that NHTSA deems to be adequate. These decisions are made in response to petitions submitted by RIs or manufacturers, or on the Administrator's own initiative.

The fee for a vehicle imported under an eligibility decision made in response to a petition is payable in part by the petitioner and in part by other importers. The fee to be charged for each vehicle is the estimated pro rata share of the costs in making all the eligibility decisions in a fiscal year. The agency's direct and indirect costs must be taken into account in the computation of these costs.

Since we last amended the fee schedule, the overall number of vehicle imports by RIs has increased, while the number of petitions has remained approximately the same. The total number of vehicles that RIs imported between 2009 and 2013 was 117,512 or approximately 23,502 vehicles each year. Over the same period, the number of vehicles imported under an import eligibility petition that was submitted by an RI (as opposed to an import eligibility decision initiated by the agency) increased to 1,987 or approximately 397 vehicles each year. Over the past five years, RIs submitted 83 petitions to NHTSA, averaging 17 per year and the agency has devoted more staff time reviewing and processing import eligibility petitions since we last revised the fees.

Based on these trends, the pro rata share of petition costs assessed against the importer of each vehicle covered by the eligibility decision will increase. We project that for FY 2015 and 2016, the agency's costs for processing these 17 petitions will be $60,095. The petitioners will pay $5,300 of that amount in the processing fees that accompany the filing of their petitions, leaving the remaining $54,795 to be recovered from the importers of the approximately 397 vehicles projected to be imported under petition-based import eligibility decisions. Dividing $54,795 by 397 yields a pro rata fee of $138 for each vehicle imported under an eligibility decision that results from the granting of a petition. We are therefore proposing to increase the pro rata share of petition costs that are to be assessed against the importer of each vehicle from $101 to $138, which represents an increase of $37. The same $138 fee would be paid regardless of whether the vehicle was petitioned under 49 CFR 593.6(a), based on the substantial similarity of the vehicle to a U.S.-certified model, or was petitioned under 49 CFR 593.6(b), based on the safety features of the vehicle complying with, or being capable of being modified to comply with, all applicable FMVSS.

We are proposing no increase in the current fee of $175 that covers the initial processing of a "substantially similar" petition. Likewise, we are also proposing to maintain the existing fee of $800 to cover the initial costs for processing petitions for vehicles that have no substantially similar U.S.-certified counterpart. In the event that a petitioner requests an inspection of a vehicle, the fee for such an inspection would remain $827 for vehicles that are the subject of either type of petition.

The importation fee varies depending upon the basis on which the vehicle is determined to be eligible. For vehicles covered by an eligibility decision on the agency's own initiative (other than vehicles imported from Canada that are covered by import eligibility numbers VSA-80 through 83, for which no eligibility decision fee is assessed), we are proposing that the fee remain $125. NHTSA determined that the costs associated with previous eligibility determinations on the agency's own initiative would be fully recovered by October 1, 2014. We propose to apply the fee of $125 per vehicle only to vehicles covered by determinations made by the agency on its own initiative on or after October 1, 2014.

Section 594.9--Fee for Reimbursement of Bond Processing Costs and Costs for Processing Offers of Cash Deposits or Obligations of the United States in Lieu of Sureties on Bonds Section 30141(a)(3) also requires a registered importer to pay any other fees the Secretary of Transportation establishes "to pay for the costs of . . . processing bonds provided to the Secretary of the Treasury . . ." upon the importation of a nonconforming vehicle to ensure that the vehicle would be brought into compliance within a reasonable time, or if it is not brought into compliance within such time, that it be exported, without cost to the United States, or abandoned to the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security (Customs) exercises the functions associated with the processing of these bonds. To carry out the statute, we make a reasonable determination of the costs that Department incurs in processing the bonds. In essence, the cost to Customs is based upon an estimate of the time that a GS-9, Step 5 employee spends on each entry, which Customs has judged to be 20 minutes.

When the fee schedule was last amended, we projected no General Schedule salary raises to be effective in January 2013 and 2014. Based on the increase in hourly costs attributable to the approximately one percent raises in salaries of employees on the General Schedule that became effective on January 1, 2014, we are proposing that the processing fee be increased by $0.25, from $9.09 per bond to $9.34. This increase reflects the fact that GS-9 salaries have been increased since we last amended the fee schedule in 2012. The $9.34 proposed fee would more closely reflect the direct and indirect costs that should be associated with processing the bonds.

In lieu of sureties on a DOT conformance bond, an importer may offer United States money, United States bonds (except for savings bonds), United States certificates of indebtedness, Treasury notes, or Treasury bills (collectively referred to as "cash deposits") in an amount equal to the amount of the bond. 49 CFR 591.10(a). The receipt, processing, handling, and disbursement of the cash deposits that have been tendered by RIs cause the agency to consume a considerable amount of staff time and material resources. NHTSA has concluded that the expense incurred by the agency to receive, process, handle, and disburse cash deposits may be treated as part of the bond processing cost, for which NHTSA is authorized to set a fee under 49 U.S.C. 30141(a)(3)(A). We first established a fee of $459 for each vehicle imported on and after October 1, 2008, for which cash deposits or obligations of the United States are furnished in lieu of a conformance bond. See the Final Rule published on July 11, 2008 at 73 FR 39890.

The agency considered its direct and indirect costs in calculating the fee for the review, processing, handling, and disbursement of cash deposits submitted by importers and RIs in lieu of sureties on a DOT conformance bond. We are proposing to increase the fee from $495 to $499, which represents an increase of $4. The factors that the agency has taken into account in proposing the fee include time expended by agency personnel, the slight increase in overhead and contractor costs, and the increase in projected salary costs based on the General Schedule increase on January 1, 2014.

Section 594.10--Fee for Review and Processing of Conformity Certificate Each RI is currently required to pay $12 per vehicle to cover the costs the agency incurs in reviewing a certificate of conformity. We estimate that these costs will decrease from $12 to an average of $10 per vehicle. Although our overhead and contractor costs increased and the salary and benefit costs are slightly greater based on the General Schedule salary increase, the number of certificates of conformity submitted for agency review has increased. This has decreased the agency's cost attributed to the review of each certificate of conformity. Based on these estimates, we are proposing to decrease the fee charged for vehicles for which a paper entry and fee payment is made, from $12 to $10, a difference of $2 per vehicle. However, if an RI enters a vehicle through the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) system, has an email address to receive communications from NHTSA, and pays the fee by credit card, the cost savings that we realize allow us to significantly reduce the fee to $6. We propose to apply the fee of $6 per vehicle if all the information in the ABI entry is correct.

Errors in ABI entries not only eliminate any time savings, but also require additional staff time to be expended in reconciling the erroneous ABI entry information to the conformity data that is ultimately submitted. Our experience with these errors has shown that staff members must examine records, make time-consuming long distance telephone calls, and often consult supervisory personnel to resolve the conflicts in the data. We have calculated this staff and supervisory time, as well the telephone charges, to amount to approximately $59 for each erroneous ABI entry. Adding this to the $6 fee for the review of conformity packages on automated entries yields a total of $65, representing a $2 increase in the fee that is currently charged when there are one or more errors in the ABI entry or in the statement of conformity.

[*Federal RegisterVJ 2014-07-31] For more information about Targeted News Service products and services, please contact: Myron Struck, editor, Targeted News Service LLC, Springfield, Va., 703/304-1897; [email protected]; http://targetednews.com.

TNS 22VistaJ-140731-1170693 (c) 2014 Targeted News Service

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