[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 117 (Monday, June 17, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30552-30553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-15316]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Customs Service
19 CFR Parts 101 and 122
Customs Service Field Organization; Establishment of Sanford Port
of Entry
AGENCY: Customs Service, Treasury.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend the Customs Regulations
pertaining to Customs field organization by establishing a new port of
entry at Sanford, Florida. The new port of entry would include Orlando-
Sanford Airport, located in the city of Sanford, Seminole County,
Florida, which is currently operated as a user-fee airport known as
Sanford Regional Airport. This change will assist the Customs Service
in its continuing efforts to achieve more efficient use of its
personnel, facilities, and resources, and to provide better service to
carriers, importers, and the general public.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 17, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Written comments (preferably in triplicate) may be addressed
to the Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, U.S.
Customs Service, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, D.C. 20229.
Comments submitted may be inspected at the Regulations Branch, Office
of Regulations and Rulings, Franklin Court, 1099 14th St., NW, Suite
4000, Washington, DC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harry Denning, Office of Field
Operations, Resource Management Division (202) 927-0196.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
To achieve more efficient use of its personnel, facilities, and
resources, and in order to provide better services to carriers,
importers, and the public in Central Florida, Customs proposes to amend
Sec. 101.3(b)(1), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 101.3(b)(1)), by
establishing a new port of entry at Sanford, Florida. The new port of
entry, located in Seminole County, Florida, would include the Orlando-
Sanford Airport, which currently operates as Sanford Regional Airport,
and is listed in Sec. 122.15(b) of the Customs Regulations as a user-
fee airport.
Port of Entry Criteria
No formal application procedures have been adopted for purposes of
requesting new or expanded Customs services. The procedure most
commonly followed has been for a recognized civic or government
organization (such as a chamber of commerce, seaport or airport
authority, or city government) to submit a written request to the
director of the Customs port nearest where the facility is or would be
located, setting forth the reason for the new or expanded service.
However, there is no prohibition which prevents Customs from initiating
the establishment of a port of entry where Customs has reason to
believe or made a determination that the necessity for a new facility
is justified. Favorable consideration of requests normally hinges on
whether there is a sufficient volume of import business (actual or
potential) to justify the expense of maintaining a new office or
expanding service at an existing location.
The criteria considered by Customs in determining whether to
establish a port of entry are found in T.D. 82-37 (47 FR 10137), as
revised by T.D. 86-14 (51 FR 4559) and T.D. 87-65 (52 FR 16328). Under
these criteria, which are not absolute, a community requesting a port
of entry designation must:
(1) Demonstrate that the benefits to be derived justify the Federal
Government expense involved;
(2) Be serviced by at least two major modes of transportation
(rail, air, water, or highway); and
(3) Have a minimum population of 300,000 within the immediate
service area (approximately a 70-mile radius).
In addition, if the facility applies for designation as a port of
entry based solely upon the consumption entries criterion (see below),
it must make a commitment to make optimal use of electronic data
transfer capabilities to permit integration with Customs Automated
Commercial System (ACS), which provides a means for the electronic
processing of entries of imported merchandise. Further, the actual or
potential Customs workload (minimum number of transactions per year) at
the proposed port of entry must meet one of several alternative minimum
requirements:
(1) 15,000 international air passengers; or
(2) 2,500 formal (over Sec. 1,250 in Customs value) or informal
(not over Sec. 1,250 in Customs value) consumption entries; or
(3) In the case of land border ports, 150,000 vehicles; or
(4) 2,000 scheduled international aircraft arrivals (passenger and/
or cargo); or
(5) 350 cargo vessel arrivals; or
(6) Any appropriate combination of the above.
Lastly, facilities at the proposed port of entry must include cargo
and passenger facilities, warehousing space for the secure storage of
imported cargo pending final Customs inspection and release, and
administrative office space, inspection areas, storage areas and other
space necessary for regular Customs operations.
The proposal set forth in this document is based on Customs
analysis of a report prepared for the Central Florida Regional Airport
Board which manages the airport at Sanford and shows projected workload
figures for the airport for the next decade. That report provides that
although Sanford Regional Airport only became a user fee airport in
1991, since 1980 it has become the fastest growing airport for
international passenger clearance services in Florida. In response to
this growth, the Airport Board has elected to make substantial and long
term investment in new international arrival facilities to serve this
growing Central Florida market. Current flight schedules for the
airport beginning in mid-April 1996 through October of this year
project some 413 charter airline flights carrying approximately 118,732
international passengers.
With regard to the above criteria, Customs believes that the
Federal Government would benefit from the port of entry designation
because Orlando-Sanford Airport (currently operating as Sanford
Regional Airport) would be available to share the workload presently
handled at ports of entry such as Miami International Airport. The
report further provides that State Roads 46 and 417 provide highway
access to the airport, and that the population of the Seminole county-
area was 287,529 in 1990 and forecast to reach 392,500 by the year
2000, which is well above the minimum 300,000 required. Further, the
report provides that the Central Florida Region--comprising the
surrounding counties of Lake, Volusia, Orange, Brevard, and Osceola--
offered a combined additional population of
[[Page 30553]]
1,623,518 in 1990, forecasted to reach 2,209,957 by the year 2000.
Because Sanford could qualify for port of entry status on the strength
of the potential international passenger processing figures at the
airport alone, and is not expected to process many consumption entries,
Customs believes that the facility does not, at this time, have to make
a commitment to make optimal use of electronic data transfer
capabilities to permit integration with Customs Automated Commercial
System (ACS), which provides a means for the electronic processing of
entries of imported merchandise. Lastly, since the airport is currently
a Customs user fee airport, Customs knows that office, storage, and
examination space are currently available for use by Customs.
Conditional Status
Based on the above, Customs believes that there is sufficient
justification for establishment of the proposed port of entry at
Sanford. If, after reviewing the public comments, Customs decides to
terminate Sanford's designation as a user-fee airport, then Customs
will notify the airport of that determination in accordance with the
provisions of 19 CFR 122.15(c). However, it is noted that this proposal
relies on potential, rather than actual, workload figures. Therefore,
even if the proposed port of entry designation is adopted as a final
rule, in 3 years Customs will review the actual workload generated
within the new port of entry. If that review indicates that the actual
workload is below the T.D. 82-37 standards, as amended, procedures may
be instituted to revoke the port of entry status. In such case, the
Airport may reapply to become a user fee airport under the provisions
of 19 U.S.C. 58b.
Description of Proposed Port of Entry Limits
The geographical limits of the proposed Sanford port of entry would
be as follows:
The Orlando-Sanford Airport, which consists of approximately 2,000
acres which are located in Seminole County, Florida, beginning in the
north/east at the intersection of State Road 46 and State Road 417 and
proceeding south to Lake Mary Boulevard, turning west to Sanford
Boulevard, and finally turning north to State Road 46 to the point of
beginning.
Proposed Amendments
If the proposed port of entry designation is adopted, the list of
Customs ports of entry at Sec. 101.3(b)(1) will be amended to include
Sanford as a port of entry in Florida, and Sanford Regional Airport
will be deleted from the list of user-fee airports at Sec. 122.15(b).
Comments
Before adopting this proposal as a final rule, consideration will
be given to any written comments timely submitted to Customs. Comments
submitted will be available for public inspection in accordance with
the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), Sec. 1.4 of the Treasury
Department Regulations (31 CFR 1.4), and Sec. 103.11(b) of the Customs
Regulations (19 CFR 103.11(b)), on regular business days between the
hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Regulations Branch, Office of
Regulations and Rulings, U.S. Customs Service, Franklin Court, 4th
floor, 1099 14th St., NW, Washington, DC.
Authority
This change is proposed under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 301 and 19
U.S.C. 2, 66, and 1624.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act, and Executive Order 12866
Pursuant to provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
601 et seq.), it is certified that, if adopted, the proposed amendments
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities, as the proposed amendments concern the status of only
one airport facility. Accordingly, the proposed amendments are not
subject to the regulatory analysis or other requirements of 5 U.S.C.
603 and 604. This amendment does not meet the criteria for a
``significant regulatory action'' as specified in Executive Order
12866.
George J. Weise,
Commissioner of Customs.
Approved: May 15, 1996.
Dennis M. O'Connell,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 96-15316 Filed 6-14-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P
