2021-22880. Technical Amendment to List of User Fee Airports: Removal of One Airport

AGENCY:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

ACTION:

Final rule; technical amendment.

SUMMARY:

This document amends U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations by removing one airport from the list of user fee airports. User fee airports are airports that have been approved by the Commissioner of CBP to receive, for a fee, the customs services of CBP officers for processing aircraft, passengers, and cargo entering the United States, but do not qualify for designation as international or landing rights airports. Specifically, this technical amendment reflects the removal of the designation of user fee airport status for the Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport in Monroe, North Carolina.

DATES:

Effective date: October 20, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ryan Flanagan, Director, Alternative Funding Program, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection at [e-mail] or 202-550-9566.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Title 19, part 122 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 122) sets forth regulations relating to the entry and clearance of aircraft engaged in international commerce and the transportation of persons and cargo by aircraft in international commerce.^[1] Generally, a civil aircraft arriving from outside the United States must land at an airport designated as an international airport. Alternatively, civil aircraft may request permission to land at a specific airport and, if landing rights are granted, the civil aircraft may land at that landing rights airport.^[2]

Section 236 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-573, 98 stat. 2948, 2994 (1984)), codified at 19 U.S.C. 58b, created an alternative option for civil aircraft seeking to land at an airport that is neither an international airport nor a landing rights airport. This alternative option allows the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to designate an airport, upon request by the airport authority or other sponsoring entity, as a user fee airport.^[3] Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 58b, a requesting airport may be designated as a user fee airport only if CBP determines that the volume or value of business at the airport is insufficient to justify the unreimbursed availability of customs services at the airport and the governor of the state in which the airport is located approves the designation. As the volume or value of business cleared through this type of airport is insufficient to justify the availability of customs services at no cost, customs services provided by CBP at the airport are not funded by appropriations from the general treasury of the United States. Instead, the user fee airport pays for the customs services provided by CBP. The user fee airport must pay the fees charged, which must be in an amount equal to the expenses incurred by CBP in providing customs and related services at the user fee airport, including the salary and expenses of CBP employees to provide such services. See 19 U.S.C. 58b; also 19 CFR 24.17(a)-(b).

CBP designates airports as user fee airports in accordance with 19 U.S.C. 58b and 19 CFR 122.15 and on a case-by-case basis. If CBP decides that the conditions for designation as a user fee airport are satisfied, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is executed between the Commissioner of CBP and the sponsor of the user fee airport. Pursuant to 19 CFR 122.15(c), the designation of an airport as a user fee airport must be withdrawn if either CBP or the airport authority gives 120 days written notice of termination to the other party, or if any amounts due to CBP are not paid on a timely basis.

The list of designated user fee airports is set forth in 19 CFR 122.15(b). Periodically, CBP updates the list to include newly designated airports that were not previously on the list, to reflect any changes in the names of the designated user fee airports, and to remove airports that are no longer designated as user fee airports.

Recent Change Requiring Update to the List of User Fee Airports

This document updates the list of user fee airports in 19 CFR 122.15(b) by removing the Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport in Monroe, North Carolina. On February 3, 2021, the Monroe City Manager requested termination of the user fee status for the Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport, and the Monroe City Manager and CBP mutually agreed to terminate the user fee status of Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport effective on June 30, 2021.

Inapplicability of Public Notice and Delayed Effective Date Requirements

Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b)), an agency is exempted from the prior public notice and comment procedures if it finds, for good cause, that such procedures are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. This final rule makes a conforming change by updating the list of user fee airports by removing one airport in light of the CBP Commissioner's withdrawal of its designation as a user fee airport, in accordance with 19 U.S.C. 58b. Because this conforming rule has no substantive impact, is technical in nature, and does not impose additional burdens on or take away any existing rights or privileges from the public, CBP finds for good cause that the prior public notice and comment procedures are impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest. For the same reasons, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), a delayed effective date is not required.

Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866

Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is required, the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. ) do not apply. This amendment does not meet the criteria for a “significant regulatory action” as specified in Executive Order 12866.

Paperwork Reduction Act

There is no new collection of information required in this document; therefore, the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507) are inapplicable.

Signing Authority

This document is limited to a technical correction of CBP regulations. Accordingly, it is being signed under the authority of 19 CFR 0.1(b). Acting Commissioner Troy A. Miller, having reviewed and approved this document, is delegating the authority to electronically sign this document to Robert F. Altneu, who is the Director of the Regulations and Disclosure Law Division for CBP, for purposes of publication in the Federal Register .

List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 122

• Air carriers
• Aircraft
• Airports
• Customs duties and inspection
• Freight

Amendments to Regulations

Part 122, of title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 122) is amended as set forth below:

PART 122—AIR COMMERCE REGULATIONS

1. The general authority citation for part 122 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 58b, 66, 1415, 1431, 1433, 1436, 1448, 1459, 1590, 1594, 1623, 1624, 1644, 1644a, 2071 note.

* * * * *

§ 122.15

[Amended]

2. In § 122.15, amend the table in paragraph (b) by removing the entry for “Monroe, North Carolina”.

Dated: October 15, 2021.

Robert F. Altneu,

Director, Regulations & Disclosure Law Division, Regulations & Rulings, Office of Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Footnotes

1.  For purposes of this technical rule, an “aircraft” is defined as any device used or designed for navigation or flight in air and does not include hovercraft. 19 CFR 122.1(a).

2.  A landing rights airport is “any airport, other than an international airport or user fee airport, at which flights from a foreign area are given permission by Customs to land.” 19 CFR 122.1(f).

3.  Sections 403(1) and 411 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-296, 116 stat. 2135, 2178-79 (2002)), codified at 6 U.S.C. 203(1) and 211, transferred certain functions, including the authority to designate user fee facilities, from the U.S. Customs Service of the Department of the Treasury to the newly established U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Secretary of Homeland Security delegated the authority to designate user fee facilities to the Commissioner of CBP through Department of Homeland Security Delegation, Sec. II.A., No. 7010.3 (May 11, 2006). The Commissioner subsequently delegated this authority to the Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations on January 28, 2020.