Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Notices 1517 

Recommendation 

General Considerations 

1. In creating or modifying user fees, 

Congress or agencies, as appropriate, should 

identify the purpose(s) of an agency’s user fee 

program, such as shifting the costs of a 

program from taxpayers to those persons or 

entities whom the program benefits, 

supplementing general revenue, or 

incentivizing or discouraging certain 

behavior. Congress or agencies also should 

consider whether or not there are reasons for 

waivers, exemptions, or reduced rates. 

2. When establishing a user fee-funded 

program, especially one with a novel fee 

structure and one that collects fees from 

regulated entities, Congress or agencies, as 

appropriate, should consider whether any 

feature of the program might inappropriately 

affect or be perceived as inappropriately 

affecting agency decision making and 

whether any steps should be taken to 

mitigate those effects. 

3. Congress or agencies, as appropriate, 

should consider whether a user fee may have 

a negative or beneficial effect on the behavior 

of individuals and entities subject to that fee. 

Congress or agencies also should consider 

whether the user fee might have other public 

benefits, such as promoting equity, reducing 

barriers to market entry, incentivizing 

desirable behavior, or producing some other 

socially beneficial outcome, or might have 

other public costs. Congress or agencies, as 

appropriate, should set forth procedures for 

waiving or reducing user fees that would 

cause undue hardship for low-income 

individuals, members of historically 

underserved communities, small businesses, 

and other small entities. 

4. Congress or agencies, as appropriate, 

should ensure user fees are not 

disproportionate in relation to government 

costs or to the benefits that users receive. 

Considerations for Congress 

5. When Congress enacts a specific statute, 

separate from the Independent Offices 

Appropriations Act, authorizing an agency to 

collect user fees, it should specify, as 

applicable: 

a. The manner for setting fee levels. 

Congress should either determine the amount 

of the fee, with or without adjustment for 

inflation, set a formula for calculating it, or 

alternatively give the agency discretion to 

determine the appropriate fee (e.g., to achieve 

a particular purpose or to recover some or all 

of the costs of providing a good or service or 

administering a program); 

b. Any circumstances in which the agency 

may or must charge a fee or, conversely, may 

or must waive or reduce the fee amount. 

Congress should determine whether it is 

appropriate to reduce or eliminate fees for 

certain individuals or entities to promote 

equity, reduce barriers to market entry, 

incentivize desirable behavior, or produce 

some other socially beneficial outcome; 

c. Any required minimum process for 

setting or modifying fees, either through the 

notice-and-comment rulemaking process set 

forth in 5 U.S.C. 553 or an alternative 

process, including requirements for public 

engagement; 

d. Any authorizations, limitations, or 

prescriptions pertaining to the manner in 

which the agency may collect fees; 

e. Any required process for enforcing the 

obligation to pay user fees and any penalties 

for failure to pay required fees, including 

interest (specifying rates); 

f. The availability of collected fees. 

Congress should determine whether or not 

the fees collected by the agency should be 

deposited in the U.S. Treasury, consistent 

with the Miscellaneous Receipts Act, 31 

U.S.C. 3302, and made available to the 

agency only after appropriation; 

g. The period during which the agency may 

expend collected fees. Should Congress 

determine that, for reasons of revenue 

stability, collected fees should remain 

available to the agency, it should consider, 

for reasons of oversight, whether they should 

only be available for a limited period or 

subject to other requirements or limitations; 

h. Any authorizations or prescriptions for 

the uses for which the agency may expend 

collected fees; 

i. Any requirement that the agency 

periodically review its user fees and any 

required method(s) for doing so (e.g., 

comparing fee amounts with corresponding 

costs or recalculating fees based on new 

developments and information); and 

j. Whether the authority granted under the 

statute sunsets. 

6. Whenever Congress decides to create a 

new statutory user fee program, it should 

reach out to relevant agencies for technical 

assistance early in the legislative drafting 

process and it should consider input from 

interested persons. 

7. Congress should maintain oversight of 

agencies that operate user fee programs, such 

as through the appropriations process or 

authorizing legislation that specifies the 

purpose, time, and availability for money 

collected through user fee programs. 

Considerations for Agencies 

8. When an agency establishes a new user 

fee program or sets fees under an existing 

program, it should follow the rulemaking 

requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553 unless Congress 

has specified otherwise. In engaging with 

interested members of the public, agencies 

should follow the best practices suggested in 

Recommendations 2018–7, Public 

Engagement in Rulemaking, 2021–3, Early 

Input on Regulatory Alternatives, and 2023– 

2, Virtual Public Engagement in Agency 

Rulemaking. 

9. Agencies should communicate clearly to 

the public the purpose(s) of their user fee 

programs, the nature of the fee setting 

process, and the uses for which the agency 

expends collected fees. Agencies also should 

be transparent with and engage the public 

when conducting activities that may affect 

the design of their user fee programs or the 

level of their fees, for instance by inviting 

public participation at early stages such as 

during cost and demand forecasting and 

budget formulation. 

10. Agencies should maintain an easy-tofind page on their websites describing their 

user fee-funded programs, identifying and 

explaining the fees, describing any waivers or 

exemptions available, identifying the uses for 

which the agency expends collected fees, and 

providing links to supporting resources, such 

as the governing sections of the United States 

Code and the Code of Federal Regulations, 

and recent notices in the Federal Register. 

11. Agencies should conduct regular 

reviews, consistent with Recommendation 

2021–2, Periodic Retrospective Review, of 

their user fee programs to ensure the 

programs are meeting their purposes and that 

the fee levels are appropriate. Agencies also 

should assess other resulting consequences 

or effects of the programs, such as those 

described in Paragraphs 2, 3, and 4. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00302 Filed 1–9–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6110–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2023–0081] 

Importation of Fresh Rhizomes of 

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) for 

Consumption From Mexico Into the 

United States 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: We are advising the public 

that we have prepared a pest risk 

analysis that evaluates the risks 

associated with importation of fresh 

rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma longa 

L.) for consumption from Mexico into 

the United States. Based on the analysis, 

we have determined that the application 

of one or more designated phytosanitary 

measures will be sufficient to mitigate 

the risks of introducing or disseminating 

plant pests or noxious weeds via the 

importation of fresh rhizomes of 

turmeric from Mexico. We are making 

the pest risk analysis available to the 

public for review and comment. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before March 11, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

www.regulations.gov. Enter APHIS– 

2023–0081 in the Search field. Select 

the Documents tab, then select the 

Comment button in the list of 

documents. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2023–0081, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Supporting documents and any 

comments we receive on this docket 

may be viewed at www.regulations.gov 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
1518 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 7 / Wednesday, January 10, 2024 / Notices 

or in our reading room, which is located 

in Room 1620 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) 799–7039 

before coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Marc Phillips, Senior Regulatory Policy 

Specialist, Regulatory Coordination and 

Compliance, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road, Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1231; phone: (301) 851–2114; email: 

marc.phillips@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the regulations in ‘‘Subpart L— 

Fruits and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56– 

1 through 319.56–12, referred to below 

as the regulations), the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

prohibits or restricts the importation of 

fruits and vegetables into the United 

States from certain parts of the world to 

prevent plant pests from being 

introduced into or disseminated within 

the United States. 

Section 319.56–4 contains a 

performance-based process for 

approving the importation of fruits and 

vegetables that, based on the findings of 

a pest risk analysis, can be safely 

imported subject to one or more of the 

five designated phytosanitary measures 

listed in paragraph (b) of that section. 

APHIS received a request from the 

national plant protection organization 

(NPPO) of Mexico to allow the 

importation of fresh rhizomes of 

turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) for 

consumption from Mexico into the 

United States. As part of our evaluation 

of Mexico’s request, we have prepared 

a pest risk assessment to identify the 

pests of quarantine significance that 

could follow the pathway of the 

importation of fresh rhizomes of 

turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) for 

consumption from Mexico into the 

United States. Based on the pest risk 

assessment, a risk management 

document (RMD) was prepared to 

identify phytosanitary measures that 

could be applied to the fresh rhizomes 

of turmeric to mitigate the pest risk. 

Therefore, in accordance with 

§ 319.56–4(c), we are announcing the 

availability of our pest risk assessment 

and RMD for public review and 

comment. Those documents, as well as 

a description of the economic 

considerations associated with the 

importation of fresh rhizomes of 

turmeric from Mexico, may be viewed 

on the Regulations.gov website or in our 

reading room (see ADDRESSES above for 

a link to Regulations.gov and 

information on the location and hours of 

the reading room). You may request 

paper copies of the pest risk assessment 

and RMD by calling or writing to the 

person listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the 

subject of the analysis you wish to 

review when requesting copies. 

After reviewing any comments that 

we receive, we will announce our 

decision regarding the import status of 

fresh rhizomes of turmeric from Mexico 

in a subsequent notice. If the overall 

conclusions of our analysis and the 

Administrator’s determination of risk 

remain unchanged following our 

consideration of the comments, then we 

will authorize the importation of fresh 

rhizomes of turmeric from Mexico into 

the United States subject to the 

requirements specified in the RMD. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1633, 7701–7772, 

and 7781–7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 

7 CFR 2.22, 2.80, and 371.3. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 4th day of 

January 2024. 

Donna Lalli, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00267 Filed 1–9–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Region 5 and Region 6; California, 

Oregon, and Washington; Forest Plan 

Amendment for Planning and 

Management of Northwest Forests 

Within the Range of the Northern 

Spotted Owl; Correction 

AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture 

(USDA). 

ACTION: Notice; correction. 

The Office of the Federal Register 

published a correction in the Federal 

Register of January 2, 2024, which 

corrected the date in notice document 

2023–27742 [88 FR 87393] from January 

29, 2024, to February 1, 2024, as the due 

date for comments to be received. 

However, the due date needs to match 

the date sent out in the associated 

scoping letters to the public and tribes, 

a date which was set to coordinate with 

the closing date of the national old 

growth amendment Notice of Intent. 

Correction 

In the Federal Register of December 

18, 2023, in FR Doc. 2023–27742, on 

page 87393, in the second column 

toward the end under DATES, is listed 

‘‘Comments concerning the scope of the 

analysis are most valuable to the Forest 

Service if received by January 29, 2024.’’ 

In the Federal Register of January 2, 

2024, in FR Doc. C1–2023–27742, on 

page 43, in the first column, January 29, 

2024, is corrected to February 1, 2024. 

The DATES caption should read instead: 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis are most valuable to the 

Forest Service if received by February 2, 

2024. 

Dated: January 4, 2024. 

Jacqueline Emanuel, 

Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest 

System. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00311 Filed 1–9–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Forest Service Manual 2300— 

Recreation, Wilderness, and Related 

Resource Management, Chapter 

2350—Trail, River, and Similar 

Recreation Opportunities, Section 

2355—Climbing Opportunities; 

Extension of Comment Period 

AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture 

(USDA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability for public 

comment; extension of comment period. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service (Forest 

Service or Agency) published a notice in 

the Federal Register on November 17, 

2023, initiating a 60-day comment 

period on the proposed directive Forest 

Service Manual 2300—Recreation, 

Wilderness, and Related Resource 

Management, chapter 2350—Trail, 

River, and Similar Recreation 

Opportunities, section 2355, Climbing 

Opportunities. The closing date of the 

original notice is scheduled for January 

16, 2024. The Agency is extending the 

comment period for an additional 14 

days from the previous closing date. 

DATES: The comment period for the 

notice published November 17, 2023, at 

88 FR 80269, is extended. Comments 

must be received in writing by January 

30, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted electronically to https://

cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/

CommentInput?project=ORMS-3524. 

Written comments may be mailed to 

Peter Mali, National Wilderness 

Program Manager, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250– 

1124. All timely comments, including 

names and addresses, will be placed in 

the record and will be available for 

public inspection and copying. The 

public may inspect comments received 


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