2021-04335. Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Imposition and Collection of Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fees

AGENCY:

Transportation Security Administration, DHS.

ACTION:

30-day notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has forwarded the Information Collection Request (ICR), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number 1652-0001, abstracted below to OMB for review and approval of an extension of the currently approved collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. The collection involves air carriers and foreign air carriers maintaining an accounting system to account for the passenger civil aviation security service fees collected and reporting this information to TSA on a quarterly basis, as well as retaining the data used for these reports for three fiscal years.

DATES:

Send your comments by April 2, 2021. A comment to OMB is most effective if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Christina A. Walsh, TSA PRA Officer, Information Technology (IT), TSA-11, Transportation Security Administration, 6595 Springfield Center Drive, Springfield, VA 20598-6011; telephone [phone]; email [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

TSA published a Federal Register notice, with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments, of the following collection of information on December 14, 2020, 85 FR 80131.

Comments Invited

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The ICR documentation will be available at http://www.reginfo.gov upon its submission to OMB. Therefore, in preparation for OMB review and approval of the following information collection, TSA is soliciting comments to—

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed information requirement is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden;

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including using appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

Information Collection Requirement

Title: Imposition and Collection of Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fees.

Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.

OMB Control Number: 1652-0001.

Forms(s): TSA Form 2502.

Affected Public: Air carriers and foreign air carriers.

Abstract: TSA regulations, 49 CFR part 1510, require air carriers and foreign air carriers to collect the “September 11th Security Fee” from passengers and to remit the fee to TSA on a monthly basis. Air carriers and foreign air carriers are further required to submit quarterly reports to TSA that provide an accounting of the fees imposed, collected, refunded to passengers, and remitted to TSA and to retain this data for three years. TSA has temporarily suspended an additional requirement for air carriers with over 50,000 passengers to submit annual audits of its fee collections and remittance; this requirement may be reinstated in the future. In December 2013, the fee was statutorily restructured to be based on one-way trips rather than enplanements (the statute was further amended to state that the fee shall be $5.60 per one-way trip or $11.20 per round trip.) In 2014 and 2015, TSA published interim final rules to implement these amendments to 49 U.S.C. 44940. See 79 FR 35461 (June 20, 2014) and 80 FR 31850 (June 5, 2015), respectively. This information collection request covers both the quarterly reports and the estimated impact should annual audits be reinstated in the future.

Number of Respondents: 170.

Estimated Annual Burden Hours: An estimated 2,760 hours annually.

Dated: February 25, 2021.

Christina A. Walsh,

TSA Paperwork Reduction Act Officer, Information Technology.