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Methodology for Determining If a

Particular Fee Included a Reserve

Component, and Calculations To

Remove Such a Component (if any)

Last Modified: 

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APHIS used the publicly available information in 80 FR 66748-79 to remove the

reserve component from the air passenger (Table 1, 80 FR 66753), cruise ship

passenger (Table 6, 80 FR 66757), commercial truck (Table 8, 80 FR 66757-66758),

and commercial truck transponder fees (Table 8, 80 FR 66757-66758).

On the basis of the same publicly available information in 80 FR 66748-79, APHIS

determined that the fees for commercial vessel (Table 7, 80 FR 66757), commercial

railroad car (Table 9, 80 FR 66758), commercial aircraft (Table 4, 80 FR 66756), and

phytosanitary treatment monitoring (Table 10, 80 FR 66758), were not set at a level

that included a collection for the reserve (or a reserve “surcharge”). The following

table summarizes this data.

Table 1. Removal of the reserve component (where applicable) and fee

recalculation summary using previously published, publicly available data [80 FR
66748 – 66799].

Column A

User Fee Class

Column

B:

AQI

Base

Fee

(Unit)

Cost (FY

2010)1

Column

C:

AQI

Base

Fee

(Unit)

Cost (FY

2011)2

Column

D:

AQI

Base

Fee

(Unit)

Cost (FY

2012)3

Column E:

AQI Base

Fee

(Average

Unit Cost)

Column

F:

AQI Base

Fee Rate

with

3.5%

Reserve

Column G:

Current AQI

Fee

(Beginning

12/28/15)

Commercial

aircraft

[80 FR 66756]

$236.14 $230.25 $219.32 $228.57 $236.57 $225.00

Air passenger

[80 FR 66753] $3.77 $3.69 $4.02 $3.83 $3.96 $3.96

Commercial

truck

[80 FR 66757-

66758]

$7.03 $7.21 $7.63 $7.29 $7.55 $7.55

Commercial

truck

(transponder)

[80 FR 66757-

66758]

$281.20 $288.40 $305.20 $291.60 $302.00 $301.67

Cruise ship

(sea)

passenger 

[80 FR 66757]

$1.58 $1.83 $1.64 $1.68 $1.74 $1.75

Commercial

cargo vessel

[80 FR 66757]

$763.84 $924.67 $821.79 $836.77 $866.06 $825.00

Commercial

cargo railcar

[80 FR 66758]

$2.43 $2.44 $2.14 $2.34 $2.42 $2.00
Column A

User Fee Class

Column

B:

AQIBase

Fee

(Unit)

Cost (FY

2010)1

Column

C:

AQIBase

Fee

(Unit)

Cost (FY

2011)2

Column

D:

AQIBase

Fee

(Unit)

Cost (FY

2012)3

Column E:

AQI Base

Fee

(Average

Unit Cost)

Column

F:

AQI Base

Fee Rate

with3.5%

Reserve

Column G:

Current AQI

Fee

(Beginning

12/28/15)

Treatment

[80 FR 66758] $226.92 $226.92 $285.92 $246.59 $255.22 $237.00

1 Unit Cost per the Final 2015 AQI Rule

2 Unit Cost per the Final 2015 AQI Rule

3 Unit Cost per the Final 2015 AQI Rule

Table 1 shows the cost data that APHIS used to calculate the AQI user fees in

the Final Rule. 

Unit costs are the actual agency costs for performing AQI services per unit

(commercial vessel, truck, railroad car, aircraft, international air passenger,

international cruise ship passenger and treatment monitoring). 

APHIS arrived at the unit costs in Final Rule Tables 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 by

adding APHIS Total Cost and CBP Total Cost, and dividing the result by the

number of inspections units (passengers, conveyances or treatments) for each

fee type by fiscal year. 

In the Final Rule, APHIS calculated the unit costs (as described above) for each

of the fee categories for fiscal years 2010 (Column B), 2011 (Column C), and

2012 (Column D). APHIS then calculated the average unit cost across the three

data years to arrive at the base fee (Column E). 

Column F shows what the fee rates would have been if APHIS had fully

implemented the 3.5% reserve surcharge across all fee categories. 

Column G shows the rates established by the Final Rule and that were in effect

at the time of the June 21, 2022 Decision. 

As Table 1, Columns F and G show, and as was previously disclosed, in the Final

Rule, APHIS did not add the 3.5% reserve surcharge to the fees for commercial

aircraft, commercial vessel, commercial railroad car, and treatment

monitoring. 

Table 1, Columns E and G further show that the average unit cost (before the

addition of any reserve surcharge) for commercial aircraft, commercial vessel,
commercial railroad car, and treatment monitoring are higher than the AQI fees

set in the Final Rule. 

APHIS and CBP appropriations absorbed the costs to the program above the

enacted fee rates.