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[Federal Register: December 2, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 231)]
[Notices]               
[Page 75170]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02de10-11]                         

[[Page 75170]]

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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.

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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 
export-related 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
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