Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 186 / Monday, September 28, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 49311 

Done in Washington, DC, this 22nd day of 

September 2009. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–23327 Filed 9–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 354 

[Docket No. APHIS–2009–0048] 

RIN 0579–AC99 

User Fees for Agricultural Quarantine 

and Inspection Services 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Interim rule and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: We are amending the user fee 

regulations by adjusting the fees charged 

for certain agricultural quarantine and 

inspection (AQI) services that are 

provided in connection with certain 

commercial vessels, commercial trucks, 

commercial railroad cars, commercial 

aircraft, and international airline 

passengers arriving at ports in the 

customs territory of the United States. 

The recent downturn in the U.S. 

economy has negatively impacted travel 

volumes, and, as a result, our user fee 

collections, which fund these services, 

have diminished. Although the volume 

of international travel and trade has 

decreased, inspection and related 

support services continue to be 

provided at their existing levels, so 

expenses have not decreased. As a 

result, our user fee collections have not 

been sufficient to enable us to provide 

those services and maintain a 

reasonable reserve balance. We are 

therefore increasing our AQI user fees in 

order to provide adequate funds for 

these purposes. 

DATES: This interim rule is effective 

October 1, 2009. We will consider all 

comments that we receive on or before 

November 27, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/ 

component/ 

main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS2009-0048 to submit or view comments 

and to view supporting and related 

materials available electronically. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send two copies of your comment 

to Docket No. APHIS–2009–0048, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1238. Please state that your 

comment refers to Docket No. APHIS– 

2009–0048. 

Reading Room: You may read any 

comments that we receive on this 

docket in our reading room. The reading 

room is located in Room 1141 of the 

USDA South Building, 14th Street and 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC. Normal reading room 

hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except holidays. To be 

sure someone is there to help you, 

please call (202) 690–2817 before 

coming. 

Other Information: Additional 

information about APHIS and its 

programs is available on the Internet at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information concerning program 

operations, contact Mr. William E. 

Thomas, Director, Quarantine Policy, 

Analysis, and Support, PPQ, APHIS, 

4700 River Road Unit 131, Riverdale, 

MD 20737; (301) 734–5214. For 

information concerning rate 

development, contact Mrs. Kris Caraher, 

User Fee Section, Financial Services 

Branch, Financial Management 

Division, MRPBS, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 55, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1232; (301) 734–0882. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 2509(a) of the Food, 

Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 

Act of 1990 (21 U.S.C. 136a), referred to 

below as the FACT Act, authorizes the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) to collect user fees for 

agricultural quarantine and inspection 

(AQI) services. The FACT Act was 

amended on April 4, 1996, and May 13, 

2002. 

The FACT Act, as amended, 

authorizes APHIS to collect user fees for 

AQI services provided in connection 

with the arrival, at a port in the customs 

territory of the United States, of: 

• Commercial vessels, 

• Commercial trucks, 

• Commercial railroad cars, 

• Commercial aircraft, and 

• International airline passengers. 

According to the FACT Act, as 

amended, these user fees should recover 

the costs of: 

• Providing the AQI services for the 

conveyances and the passengers listed 

above, 

• Providing preclearance or 

preinspection at a site outside the 

customs territory of the United States to 

international airline passengers, 

commercial vessels, commercial trucks, 

commercial railroad cars, and 

commercial aircraft, and 

• Administering the user fee program. 

Introduction 

In an interim rule published in the 

Federal Register on December 9, 2004 

(69 FR 71660–71683, Docket No. 04– 

042–1), and effective on January 1, 2005, 

we amended the user fee regulations in 

7 CFR part 354 by adjusting the fees 

charged for certain agricultural 

quarantine and inspection (AQI) 

services that are provided by the Animal 

and Plant Health Inspection Service 

(APHIS) and the Customs and Border 

Protection (CBP) Bureau of the 

Department of Homeland Security in 

connection with certain commercial 

vessels, commercial trucks, commercial 

railroad cars, commercial aircraft, and 

international airline passengers arriving 

at ports in the customs territory of the 

United States. Prior to the interim rule, 

user fees had not been adjusted since 

October 1, 2001. Due to the attacks of 

September 11, 2001, and the resulting 

increased security concerns, the Federal 

Government began to inspect a greater 

volume and variety of cargo entering the 

United States than it had before. In 

addition, the attacks of September 11 

resulted in a reduction in airline travel, 

which lowered fee revenues. We 

determined that the fee adjustments 

contained in the December 2004 interim 

rule were needed to recover the costs of 

this increased inspection activity and to 

account for routine inflationary 

increases in the cost of doing business. 

The adjusted AQI user fees contained in 

that interim rule covered fiscal years 

(FYs) 2005 through 2010. A final rule 

affirming the interim rule without 

change was published in the Federal 

Register on August 24, 2006 (71 FR 

49984–49986, Docket No. 04–042–2). 

However, the effects of the recent and 

unanticipated downturn in the U.S. 

economy have been felt by all 

Americans, both personally and in their 

business concerns. These recent events 

have negatively impacted travel 

volumes and funds in the AQI user fee 

account. Due to the decrease in travel, 

we are collecting less in user fees while 

still maintaining the necessary 

enhanced level of inspection and related 

support services that we have since 

September 11, 2001. Although the 

volume of international travel and trade 

has decreased, inspection and related 

support services continue to be 

provided at their existing levels, 

expenses have not decreased. Moreover, 

while we have limited new hiring to 


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49312 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 186 / Monday, September 28, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

1 In previous rulemakings, we referred to 

commercial truck decals rather than transponders. 

Because transponders are now being used, we are 

updating our terminology accordingly. 

critical positions, we do not consider it 

advisable to cut back on existing 

personnel as a cost-saving measure 

because of the time required (2 to 3 

years) to train agricultural inspectors. 

Reducing the number of fully trained, 

experienced inspectors during the 

current economic downturn could result 

in a shortage of such employees when 

the economy rebounds and volumes 

pick up again, thereby increasing the 

risk of plant or animal pest or disease 

introduction into the United States. 

Since our current user fee collections 

are not sufficient to enable us to 

continue to provide AQI services at 

their existing levels and to maintain a 

reasonable reserve balance, we are 

therefore increasing our AQI user fees in 

order to provide adequate funds for 

these purposes. 

Because our AQI Programs are funded 

solely through user fee collections, it is 

imperative that we adjust the fees 

upward to maintain our existing level of 

services. We estimate that, absent the 

necessary fee adjustments, revenues will 

be inadequate, and the reserve balance 

in the AQI user fee account will be 

completely depleted. By February 2010, 

the AQI program could be forced to lay 

off significant numbers of employees 

and cut back on services. Such cutbacks 

would increase the potential for 

agriculturally devastating animal and 

plant pests and diseases to enter the 

United States and could disrupt trade if 

inspectors were not available to inspect 

and clear cargo on a timely basis. 

Therefore, in this interim rule, we are 

amending our AQI user fees to enable us 

to continue to provide AQI services at 

their existing levels and to provide some 

replenishment of the reserve balance in 

the AQI account so that program 

operations can continue without 

interruption when volumes fluctuate 

due to economic conditions or other 

circumstances. Because user fee 

revenues were down in FY 2009, we 

have had to draw upon our reserve 

funds. We are adjusting the fees 

upward, at a rate of approximately 10 

percent, for each type of conveyance or 

person to whom AQI services are 

provided: commercial vessels, 

commercial trucks, commercial railroad 

cars, commercial aircraft, and 

international airline passengers. 

However, because commercial truck 

inspection has separate fees for trucks 

with and without transponders,1 we are 

actually adjusting a total of six fees. We 

estimate that this action will result in 

total revenues of $578 million during 

the period from October 1, 2009 to 

September 30, 2010, an increase of 

$53.4 million, or 10 percent from the 

$524.6 million which we anticipate 

would be collected without the increase. 

This proposed increase would be 

sufficient to cover joint CBP and APHIS 

expenses for providing AQI services in 

FY 2010. This action will also bring our 

reserve funding level to $48.5 million, 

about 1 month of AQI user fee funding. 

While we traditionally have sought to 

maintain a reserve balance sufficient to 

cover 3 to 5 months, we recognize that 

the significantly higher user fee 

increases that would be needed to build 

the reserve back to that level could be 

burdensome to affected entities in the 

present difficult economic climate. The 

smaller user fee increases contained in 

this interim rule, therefore, will not 

provide us with an optimal reserve 

balance; however, they are necessary to 

maintain a level of inspection services 

sufficient to prevent plant and animal 

diseases and pests from entering the 

United States. 

AQI User Fee Accounting 

We maintain all AQI fees we collect 

in distinct accounts, carefully monitor 

the balances in these accounts, and only 

use these funds to pay for our actual 

costs for providing these distinct 

services. Any surplus in the AQI 

account carries forward from year to 

year, is not subject to appropriation by 

Congress, and is available until 

expended to fund AQI activities. 

Types of AQI Program Costs 

As part of our accounting procedures, 

we maintain separate accounting codes 

to record costs that can be directly 

related to an inspection activity. These 

are referred to as ‘‘direct-charge costs.’’ 

APHIS functions that are directly 

charged to AQI accounts include the 

following: Salary and benefits and other 

costs, e.g., travel, supplies, rents, 

equipment, for personnel in plant 

inspection stations inspecting 

propagative plants; for personnel 

performing identification services 

(entomology, pathology, botanical); for 

personnel performing investigative and 

enforcement and smuggling interdiction 

and trade compliance activities; for 

personnel performing risk analysis, 

science and technology, and methods 

development activities relating to AQI 

work; and for personnel performing 

training of CBP agricultural specialists 

and canines. CBP functions that are 

directly charged to AQI accounts 

include the following: Salaries and 

benefits for inspectors and canine 

officers, supervisors (such as officers-incharge), and clerical staff; equipment 

used only in connection with services 

subject to user fees; contracts; and large 

supply items such as x-ray equipment 

and uniforms. 

Other program-delivery-related costs, 

at the State level and below, that cannot 

be directly charged to individual 

accounts are charged to ‘‘distributable’’ 

accounts established at the State level 

and are referred to as ‘‘distributable 

costs.’’ The following types of costs are 

charged to distributable accounts: 

Utilities, rent, telephone, vehicles, office 

supplies, etc. The costs in these 

distributable accounts are prorated (or 

distributed) among all the activities that 

benefit from the expense, based on a 

formula under which the costs that are 

directly charged to each activity are 

divided by the total costs directly 

charged to each account at the field 

level. For example, if a work unit 

performs work on domestic programs, 

AQI user fee programs, and AQIappropriated programs, the costs are 

distributed among each of these 

programs, based on the percentage of 

the direct costs for that activity at the 

field level that is charged to that 

activity. 

AQI program costs also include 

program direction and support costs we 

incur at the regional and headquarters 

level, as well as Agency-level support 

costs. Headquarters-level costs include 

salaries and benefits for employees of 

APHIS’ Plant Protection and Quarantine 

and International Services programs 

who are based at those programs’ 

headquarters in Riverdale, MD, and 

Washington, DC. We incur Agency-level 

support costs through activities that 

support the Agencies (i.e., APHIS and 

CBP), such as recruitment and 

development; legislative and public 

affairs; regulation development; 

regulatory enforcement; and budget, 

accounting, payroll, purchasing, billing, 

and collection services. 

Departmental charges are assessed for 

various AQI program costs including 

Federal telephone service, mail, 

processing of payroll and money 

management, unemployment 

compensation, Office of Workers 

Compensation Programs, and central 

supply for storing and issuing 

commonly used supplies and forms. 

In order to identify properly our 

actual AQI program costs in prior fiscal 

years, we first identify the direct-charge 

costs. We then add to this the pro-rata 

share costs of the distributable accounts 

maintained at the State, regional, 

headquarters, Agency, and departmental 

levels. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 186 / Monday, September 28, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 49313 

Calculation of User Fees Contained in 

This Interim Rule 

Results in FY 2009: We originally 

anticipated collecting revenue of $553.5 

million in FY 2009, and planned to 

spend that same amount. If the economy 

had remained strong, this approach 

would have led to the AQI User Fees 

Program keeping the strong reserve 

balance of $100.6 million it had at the 

start of FY 2009. We have maintained 

our planned level of services and related 

costs during FY 2009; however, our 

current estimate for FY 2009 collections 

is only $483.3 million, a difference of 

$70.2 million [$553.5 million 

(anticipated) ¥ $483.3 million (current 

estimate)]. The reserve balance of $100.6 

million we had at the start of FY 2009 

has allowed the program to continue 

operating even with the lower 

collections. We now estimate that only 

$27.2 million will remain as the 

program’s reserve balance at the end of 

FY 2009 as follows: 

TABLE 1—PROGRAM OVERVIEW—FY 2009 AND FY 2010 

[In millions] 

FY 2009 

estimate 

FY 2010 

current 

fees 

FY 2010 

new fees 

Reserve balance at the start of fiscal year ......................................................................................................... $100.6 27.2 27.2 

+ Estimated collections ........................................................................................................................................ +483.3 +524.6 +578.0 

Total availability ............................................................................................................................................ 583.9 551.8 605.2 

¥ Program spending ........................................................................................................................................... ¥556.7 ¥556.7 ¥556.7 

Estimated reserve balance at the end of fiscal year ................................................................................... $ 27.2 $ (4.9) 48.5 

FY 2010 program overview: If we were 

to collect user fees in FY 2010 at the 

current published rates for FY 2010, we 

estimate that collections would be 

$524.6 million. This amount falls short 

of our funding needs by $32.1 million 

[$556.7 million (FY 2010 funding needs) 

¥$524.6 million (estimated FY 2010 

collections without this rule change)]. 

This $32.1 million shortfall would leave 

APHIS and CBP to cover this difference, 

as well as ordinary annual increases in 

costs for pay and inflation. If we 

continue to maintain the same level of 

services in FY 2010, the program would 

consume the remaining amount in the 

reserve and face a shortfall of $4.9 

million in the program. 

FY 2010 planned fee increases: We 

project that the revenue needed to 

maintain the same level of service in FY 

2010 that we provided in FY 2009 and 

to begin rebuilding the reserve is $578.0 

million ($556.7 million in program 

expenditures and $21.3 million to help 

rebuild the reserve). To do so, we 

calculated an approximately 10 percent 

increase across the board in current user 

fees. This amount is used because it will 

allow us to maintain the same level of 

service in FY 2010 that we did in FY 

2009 and to bring the reserve fund 

balance partially back up to the level it 

was at the start of FY 2009 without 

placing an excessive burden on those 

who pay the user fees. This action will 

allow the program to continue operating 

while the economy recovers. 

Once we identified that an 

approximately 10 percent across-theboard increase was needed for all AQI 

user fees, we calculated the fees on that 

basis and then rounded up in 

increments of $1 for the commercial 

vessel fee, which is a significantly larger 

fee than all the others, and $0.25 for the 

rest, as shown in Table 2. below. No 

rounding of the international air 

passenger fee was required, though it 

traditionally has been rounded up to the 

nearest $0.05, nor of the commercial 

truck transponder fee, which is simply 

calculated at 20 times the individual 

rounded truck fee. 

TABLE 2—ADJUSTED USER FEES

AQI user fee category FY 2009 

user fees 

FY 2010 

raw fees 

FY 2010 

rounded 

fees 

International airline passengers ........................................................................................................................... $5.00 $5.50 $5.50 

Commercial aircraft .............................................................................................................................................. 70.75 77.83 78.00 

Commercial vessels ............................................................................................................................................. 494.00 543.40 544.00 

Loaded rail cars ................................................................................................................................................... 7.75 8.53 8.75 

Commercial trucks ............................................................................................................................................... 5.25 5.78 6.00 

Commercial truck transponders ........................................................................................................................... 105.00 N/A 120.00 

This rule is intended to provide 

sufficient funding to operate the 

program and partially replenish the AQI 

reserve funds. APHIS and CBP are also 

embarking on a review of the current 

fees and what costs are built into them 

and may, if needed, enter into a new 

rulemaking to set longer-term rates for 

AQI user fees. 

Projecting FY 2010 volumes: In 

projecting our activity volumes and fee 

collections for FY 2010, we assumed 

that the first two quarters of activity in 

FY 2010 will be similar to the 

diminished levels of FY 2009 and that 

the final two quarters of FY 2010 will 

see a rebound, with activity levels 

similar to those of the third and fourth 

quarters of FY 2008. In other words, our 

assumption is that the U.S. economy 

will fully recover by midway through 

FY 2010. 

Table 3 below contains our actual 

volumes for each AQI service category 

for FY 2008 and our estimated volumes 

for FYs 2009 and 2010. Our estimated 

FY 2009 volumes are based on actual 

data from the first three quarters and an 

estimate for the fourth. Average actual 

quarterly volumes for the first three 

quarters of FY 2009 showed a 10.3 

percent decrease in comparison with the 

same quarters in FY 2008. To estimate 


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49314 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 186 / Monday, September 28, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

the volumes for the final quarter of FY 

2009, therefore, we projected that 

volumes for the fourth quarter of FY 

2009 would be 10.3 percent less than 

the actual volumes for the fourth quarter 

of FY 2008. 

We projected our volumes for the first 

and second quarters of FY 2010 using 

the averages for the first three quarters 

of FY 2009, based on the assumption 

that the economy will not recover in the 

first half of FY 2010. We used actual FY 

2008 volumes for the third and fourth 

quarter volumes for FY 2010, based on 

the assumption that the economy will 

bounce back completely in the second 

half of FY 2010. These assumptions are 

considered reasonable. 

Actual FY 2008 volumes, estimated 

FY 2009 volumes, projected FY 2010 

volumes, adjusted FY 2010 user fees, 

and resulting estimated FY 2010 

collections with the new user fees in 

place are as follows: 

TABLE 3—VOLUMES AND ESTIMATED FY 2010 COLLECTIONS

AQI user fee category Actual 

FY 2008 volumes 

Estimated 

FY 2009 volumes 

Estimated 

FY 2010 volumes 

FY 2010 adjusted 

user fees 

Estimated FY 

2010 collections 

(volume × fee) 

International airline passengers ............. 79,152,044 77,004,184 80,337,817 $ 5.50 $441,857,994 

Commercial aircraft ................................ 1,262,599 801,110 1,037,829 78.00 80,950,662 

Commercial vessels ............................... 56,536 45,225 54,834 544.00 29,829,696 

Loaded rail cars ..................................... 1,300,645 934,463 1,069,345 8.75 9,356,769 

Commercial trucks ................................. 888,693 645,169 748,712 6.00 4,492,272 

Commercial truck transponders ............. 111,875 83,184 96,262 120.00 11,551,440 

Total ................................................ .............................. .............................. .............................. .............................. 578,038,832 

Emergency Action 

This rulemaking, which adjusts our 

flat-rate AQI user fees, is necessary on 

an emergency basis to ensure the 

adequate funding and continued 

operation at necessary levels of CBP and 

APHIS activities vital to preventing the 

introduction of plant and animal pests 

and diseases into the United States. 

Under these circumstances, the 

Administrator has determined that prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment are contrary to the public 

interest and that there is good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553 for making this rule 

effective less than 30 days after 

publication in the Federal Register. 

We will consider comments we 

receive during the comment period for 

this interim rule (see DATES above). 

After the comment period closes, we 

will publish another document in the 

Federal Register. The document will 

include a discussion of any comments 

we receive and any amendments we are 

making to the rule. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This interim rule has been determined 

to be significant for the purposes of 

Executive Order 12866 and, therefore, 

has been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget. 

We have prepared an economic 

analysis for this interim rule. The 

economic analysis provides a costbenefit analysis, as required by 

Executive Order 12866, and an initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis that 

examines the potential economic effects 

of this rule on small entities, as required 

by the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The 

economic analysis is summarized 

below. The full analysis may be viewed 

on the Regulations.gov Web site (see 

ADDRESSES above for instructions for 

accessing Regulations.gov) or obtained 

from the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 

This interim rule amends the user fee 

regulations by adjusting the fees charged 

for certain AQI services that are 

provided in connection with certain 

commercial vessels, commercial trucks, 

commercial railroad cars, commercial 

aircraft, and international airline 

passengers arriving at ports in the 

customs territory of the United States. 

This rulemaking is intended to enable 

us to continue to provide AQI services 

at their existing levels and to provide 

some replenishment of the reserve 

balance in the AQI account so that 

program operations can continue 

without interruption when volumes 

fluctuate due to economic conditions or 

other circumstances. We project that the 

revenue needed to maintain the same 

level of service in FY 2010 and begin 

rebuilding the reserve is $578 million. 

International airline passengers and 

the operators of commercial aircraft, 

commercial vessels, commercial trucks, 

and commercial railroad cars will be 

affected by this interim rule. Taken 

collectively, the changes in user fees in 

this rule are very large, amounting to 

more than $53 million in user fees 

collected in FY 2010 over what we 

would have collected if the fees had 

remained at their previous levels. 

However, the impact of the individual 

increases in the user fees should be 

small. The fee increases are small 

compared to the overall costs of the 

affected travel and transport activities. 

For example, the user fee on 

international passengers increases from 

$5 to $5.50. The new fee equates to less 

than 1 percent (about 0.3 percent) of the 

average international airfare. 

The benefits associated with AQI 

services are the losses to U.S. animals, 

plants, and their products and markets 

that are avoided when foreign pests and 

diseases are prevented from entering the 

country. The cost of the introduction of 

a single foreign pest or disease can be 

immense. The increase in AQI user fees 

will ensure that the program operates at 

a level sufficient to minimize the risk of 

introduction of agricultural pests and 

diseases. Without the increase in fees, 

those services cannot be adequately 

provided. 

Collections of $556.7 million are 

required to maintain the current level of 

AQI services. If we were to collect user 

fees at the original rates for FY 2010 

while continuing to provide services at 

the current level, we estimate that 

collections would be $524.6 million, 

based on projected international airline 

passenger and transport volumes for the 

year. Therefore a shortfall in revenue of 

$32.1 million would occur absent 

changes to the fees over the next year. 

In addition, the reserve fund is currently 

being depleted, and continuing to 

operate the program at the current level 

without fee increases will quickly and 

fully deplete the reserve. A reserve level 

of $48.5 million represents 48 percent of 

the size of the reserve balance at the 

beginning of FY 2009. 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

requires that agencies specifically 

consider the economic impact of their 

rules on small entities. Those entities 

most likely to be economically affected 

by the rule are domestic entities in the 

transportation sector moving goods into 

the United States. In addition to 

international air passengers, four modes 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 186 / Monday, September 28, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 49315 

of conveyance—trucks, railroad cars, 

maritime vessels, and aircraft—are 

assessed AQI user fees upon arrival in 

the United States. According to the 

guidelines established by the Small 

Business Administration, most of the 

surface, waterborne, and air conveyance 

entities that are directly affected by the 

rule are small, although we do not have 

precise estimates of their numbers. 

However, the user fee changes represent 

a small portion of overall operating 

costs for affected transportation entities 

whether small or large, and should 

therefore have a small impact on those 

entities. We invite public comment on 

this interim rule, including any 

comment on the rule’s expected impact 

on small entities. 

Alternatives to this rulemaking that 

were considered included taking no 

action or enacting even higher fee 

increases to build the reserve quickly. 

For reasons discussed in the full 

analysis, these alternatives were not 

pursued. 

Executive Order 12988 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This rule: (1) Has no retroactive 

effect; and (2) does not require 

administrative proceedings before 

parties may file suit in court challenging 

this rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This rule contains no new 

information collection or recordkeeping 

requirements under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.). 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 354 

Animal diseases, Exports, 

Government employees, Imports, Plant 

diseases and pests, Quarantine, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Travel and transportation 

expenses. 

■ Accordingly, we are amending 7 CFR 

part 354 as follows: 

PART 354—OVERTIME SERVICES 

RELATING TO IMPORTS AND 

EXPORTS; AND USER FEES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 354 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701–7772, 7781– 

7786, and 8301–8317; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 

136a; 49 U.S.C. 80503; 7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 

371.3. 

■ 2. Section 354.3 is amended by 

revising the tables in paragraphs (b)(1), 

(c)(1), (d)(1), (e)(1), and (f)(1) to read as 

set forth below. 

§ 354.3 User fees for certain international 

services. 

* * * * * 

(b) Fee for inspection of commercial 

vessels of 100 net tons or more. (1) 

* * * 

Effective dates Amount 

October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2009 ........................ $494.00 

Beginning October 1, 2009 .......... 544.00 

* * * * * 

(c) Fee for inspection of commercial 

trucks. (1) * * * 

Effective dates Amount 

October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2009 ........................ $5.25 

Beginning October 1, 2009 .......... 6.00 

* * * * * 

(d) Fee for inspection of commercial 

railroad cars. (1) * * * 

Effective dates Amount 

October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2009 ........................ $7.75 

Beginning October 1, 2009 .......... 8.75 

* * * * * 

(e) Fee for inspection of commercial 

aircraft. (1) * * * 

Effective dates Amount 

October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2009 ........................ $70.75 

Beginning October 1, 2009 .......... 78.00 

* * * * * 

(f) Fee for inspection of international 

passengers. (1) * * * 

Effective dates 1 Amount 

October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2009 ........................ $5.00 

Beginning October 1, 2009 .......... 5.50 

1Persons who issue international airline 

tickets or travel documents are responsible for 

collecting the AQI international airline passenger user fee from ticket purchasers. 

Issuers must collect the fee applicable at the 

time tickets are sold. In the event that ticket 

sellers do not collect the AQI user fee when 

tickets are sold, the air carrier must collect the 

user fee from the passenger upon departure. 

Carriers must collect the fee applicable at the 

time of departure from the traveler. 

* * * * * 

Done in Washington, DC, this 23rd day of 

September 2009. 

John Ferrell, 

Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and 

Regulatory Programs. 

[FR Doc. E9–23387 Filed 9–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

26 CFR Parts 1 and 602 

[TD 9465] 

RIN 1545–BF71 

Determination of Interest Expense 

Deduction of Foreign Corporations 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Final regulations and removal of 

temporary regulations. 

SUMMARY: This document contains final 

regulations under section 882(c) of the 

Internal Revenue Code (Code) 

concerning the determination of the 

interest expense deduction of foreign 

corporations engaged in a trade or 

business within the United States. 

These final regulations conform the 

interest expense rules to recent U.S. 

Income Tax Treaty agreements and 

adopt other changes to improve 

compliance. 

DATES: These final regulations are 

effective September 28, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Anthony J. Marra, (202) 622–3870 (not 

a toll-free number). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The collection of information 

contained in these final regulations has 

been reviewed and approved by the 

Office of Management and Budget in 

accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

3507(d)) under control number 1545– 

2030. Responses to this collection of 

information are mandatory. The 

collection of information in these final 

regulations is in § 1.884–1(e)(3)(iv). This 

information is required by the IRS to 

allow a taxpayer to reduce U.S. 

liabilities to the extent necessary to 

prevent the recognition of a dividend 

equivalent amount. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless the collection of information 

displays a valid control number. 

Books and records relating to a 

collection of information must be 

retained as long as their contents may 

become material in the administration 

of any internal revenue law. Generally, 

tax returns and tax return information 

are confidential, as required by 26 

U.S.C. 6103. 


CPrice-Sewell on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with RULES