2023-17392. Fees for Cruise Ship Operational Sanitation, Construction, and Renovation Inspections

AGENCY:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

General notice.

SUMMARY:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), located within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announces fees for vessel sanitation, construction, and renovation inspections for fiscal year (FY) 2024. These inspections are conducted by HHS/CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP). VSP helps the cruise industry fulfill its responsibility for developing and implementing comprehensive sanitation programs to minimize the risk for acute gastroenteritis. Every passenger cruise vessel that has a foreign itinerary involving a U.S. port and carries 13 or more passengers is subject to twice-yearly unannounced operational sanitation inspections and, when necessary, reinspection. Cruise vessel design and equipment must meet VSP's sanitary design criteria standards and routine operational inspection requirements. Cruise vessel owners or shipyards that build or renovate cruise vessels can request construction or renovation inspections of new or renovated vessels before their first or next operational inspection.

DATES:

These fees apply to inspections conducted from October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

CAPT Luis Rodriguez, Acting Chief, Vessel Sanitation Program, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS 106–6, Atlanta, Georgia 30341–3717; phone: [phone]; email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Background

HHS/CDC established the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) in the 1970s as a cooperative activity with the cruise industry. VSP helps the cruise industry prevent and control the introduction, transmission, and spread of gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships. VSP operates under the authority of the Public Health Service Act (Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act; 42 U.S.C. 264). Regulations found at 42 CFR 71.41 (Foreign Quarantine—Requirements Upon Arrival at U.S. Ports: Sanitary Inspection; General Provisions) state that carriers arriving at U.S. ports from foreign areas are subject to sanitary inspections to determine whether there exists rodent, insect, or other vermin infestations; contaminated food or water; or other insanitary conditions requiring measures for the prevention of the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases.

The fee schedule for sanitation inspections of passenger cruise ships by VSP was first published in the Federal Register on November 24, 1987 (52 FR 45019). HHS/CDC began collecting fees on March 1, 1988. This notice announces fees for inspections conducted during FY 2024 (beginning on October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024).

The following formula will be used to determine the fees:

Total cost of VSP = Total cost of operating the program, such as administration, travel, staffing, sanitation inspections, and outbreak response.

Weighted number of annual inspections = Total number of ships and inspections per year accounting for vessel size, number of inspectors needed for vessel size, travel logistics to conduct inspections, and vessel location and arrivals in U.S. jurisdiction per year.

The fee schedule was most recently published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2022 (87 FR 73767). The fee schedule for FY 2024 is presented in Appendix A.

Fee

The fee schedule (Appendix A) applies to inspections conducted from October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024.

Applicability

The fees will apply to all passenger cruise vessels for which inspections are conducted as part of HHS/CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program.

Tiffany Brown,

Executive Secretary, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Appendix A

Fee Schedule For Each Vessel Size—Operational Sanitation Inspections

Vessel size (GRT 1 )	Inspection fee (US$)
Extra Small (<3,000 GRT)	1,495
Small (3,001–15,000 GRT)	2,990
Medium (15,001–30,000 GRT)	5,980
Large (30,001–60,000 GRT)	8,970
Extra Large (60,001–120,000 GRT)	11,960
Mega (120,001–140,000 GRT)	17,940
Super Mega (<140,001 GRT)	23,920
1  Gross register tonnage in cubic feet, as shown in Lloyd's Register of Shipping ( https://www.lr.org/​en/​).

Operational sanitation inspections and re-inspections involve the same procedures and require the same amount of time, so they are charged at the same rates.

Fee Schedule For Each Vessel Size—Construction and Renovation Inspections

Vessel size (GRT1 )	Inspection fee (US$)
Extra Small (<3,000 GRT)	2,990
Small (3,001–15,000 GRT)	5,980
Medium (15,001–30,000 GRT)	11,960
Large (30,001–60,000 GRT)	17,940
Extra Large (60,001–120,000 GRT)	23,920
Mega (120,001–140,000 GRT)	35,880
Super Mega (>140,001 GRT)	47,840
1  Gross register tonnage in cubic feet, as shown in Lloyd's Register of Shipping ( https://www.lr.org/​en/​).

Construction and renovation inspections require at least twice the amount of time as operational sanitation inspections, so they are charged double the rates.