75170 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 231 / Thursday, December 2, 2010 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2010–0111] 

APHIS User Fee Web Site 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service charges user fees, as 

authorized by law, to recover the costs 

of providing certain services. This 

notice announces the availability of a 

Web site that contains information 

about the Agency’s user fees. 

ADDRESSES: The Agency’s user fee Web 

site is located at: http:// 

www.aphis.usda.gov/userfees/ 

index.shtml. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information about the Web site, contact 

Ms. Cindy Howard, Assistant Deputy 

Administrator for Regulatory 

Coordination, Policy and Program 

Development, APHIS, 4700 River Road 

Unit 20, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 

734–5957. For information about 

APHIS’ user fees, contact Mrs. Kris 

Caraher, Section Head, User Fees 

Section, Financial Services Branch, 

FMD, MRPBS, APHIS, 4700 River Road 

Unit 54, Riverdale, MD 20737; (301) 

734–0882. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A user fee 

is a charge to identifiable recipients 

(e.g., individuals or firms)—users—of 

goods and services provided by the 

Federal Government. The Federal 

Government charges user fees only 

when prescribed or authorized by law. 

User fees are charged for goods and 

services that directly benefit the 

recipient or that are necessary to protect 

the public from incurring costs that may 

result from the recipient’s activities. 

Through the user fee, recipients of the 

goods or services pay the Federal 

Government for the cost of providing 

the goods or services. The cost is not 

borne by the general taxpayer. 

APHIS charges a user fee to recover 

the costs of providing the following 

goods and services: 

• Agricultural quarantine and 

inspection (AQI) services 

• Export certification of plants and 

plant products 

• Veterinary services for imports and 

exports of live animals and products 

• Veterinary diagnostic goods and 

services 

Additionally, when Federal employees 

provide certain import- and exportrelated services funded by user fees 

outside their normal working hours, 

APHIS may charge an additional fee to 

cover the costs of overtime. This 

category of services is called 

reimbursable overtime services. 

For each of these user fee programs, 

the Web site provides a description of 

the services or goods for which a fee is 

charged, the statutory authority for 

APHIS to collect and retain the fees, the 

current rates, how APHIS determined 

the amount of the fees, any scheduled 

rate changes, and other information 

pertinent to that user fee program. In the 

near future, we plan to add information 

on the status of collections and 

expenditures in each user fee program. 

The Web site also answers general 

questions about APHIS’ user fees, 

including: 

• Why does APHIS charge user fees 

for some activities and not others? 

• What happens to the money that 

APHIS collects through user fees? 

• How does APHIS determine the 

amount of its fees? 

• How reliable are the projections 

upon which the fees are based? 

• What happens when variable 

factors fluctuate? 

• How often will user fees be 

adjusted? 

• How often are the fees reviewed? 

• What is the process for changing the 

fees? 

APHIS developed the user fee Web 

site to enhance transparency and 

predictability regarding its user fee 

programs. The Web site will include a 

way in the near future for the public to 

submit comments or questions to APHIS 

on either the Web page itself (e.g., ease 

of use, content) or on the user fee 

programs or specific fees. We also plan 

to allow interested members of the 

public to sign up to receive notifications 

when changes are made to the user fee 

Web page. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 16th day of 

November 2010. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30208 Filed 12–1–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc.: 

Bemidji to Grand Rapids 230 kV 

Transmission Line Project 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of Record 

of Decision. 

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service, 

hereinafter referred to as RUS and/or the 

Agency, has issued a Record of Decision 

(ROD) for the Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) for the proposed 

Bemidji to Grand Rapids 230 kV 

Transmission Line Project (Project) in 

Beltrami, Hubbard, Itasca, and Cass 

counties, Minnesota. The Administrator 

of RUS has signed the ROD, which is 

effective upon signing. The RUS, U.S. 

Forest Service Chippewa National 

Forest (CNF), U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers (USACE), and Leech Lake 

Band of Ojibwe Division of Resource 

Management (LLBO DRM) cooperated in 

the development of a Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (Final 

EIS) prepared pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) and in 

accordance with the Council on 

Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) 

regulations for implementing the 

procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 

Parts 1500–1508), and RUS’s NEPA 

implementing regulations (7 CFR Part 

1794). RUS is the lead federal agency as 

defined at 40 CFR 1501.5, and CNF and 

USACE are cooperating agencies. LLBO 

DRM accepted an invitation to 

participate as a cooperating agency. As 

the lead federal agency, and as part of 

its broad environmental review process, 

RUS must take into account the effect of 

the proposal on historic properties in 

accordance with Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act (16 

U.S.C 470f) and its implementing 

regulation ‘‘Protection of Historic 

Properties’’ (36 CFR Part 800). The Final 

EIS evaluated the potential 

environmental impacts of and 

alternatives to the Project proposed by 

Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc. 

(Minnkota) for RUS financing to 

construct the 230 kilovolt (kV) 

transmission line between the Wilton 

Substation near Bemidji, Minnesota and 

the Boswell Substation near Grand 

Rapids, Minnesota. The Project is being 

jointly developed by Minnkota, Otter 

Tail Power Company, and Minnesota 

Power (The Utilities). 

ADDRESSES: To obtain copies of the 

ROD, or for further information, contact: 

Ms. Stephanie Strength, Environmental 

Protection Specialist, USDA, Rural 

Utilities Service, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Stop 1571, Room 2244–S, 

Washington, DC 20250–1571, telephone: 

(970) 403–3559, fax: (202) 690–0649, or 

e-mail: 

Stephanie.strength@wdc.usda.gov. A 

copy of the ROD can be viewed online 

at: http://www.usda.gov/rus/water/ees/ 

eis.htm. 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES