[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 184 (Monday, September 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77513-77514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21786]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Fees for Cruise Ship Operational Sanitation, Construction, and 
Renovation Inspections

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), within 
the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces fees for 
vessel sanitation inspections for fiscal year (FY) 2025. These 
inspections are conducted by HHS/CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP). 
VSP helps the cruise line industry fulfill its responsibility for 
developing and implementing comprehensive sanitation programs to 
minimize the risk for environmentally associated illnesses and hazards. 
Every vessel that has a foreign itinerary and carries 13 or more 
passengers is subject to twice-yearly unannounced operations 
inspections and, when necessary, reinspection.

DATES: These fees apply to inspections conducted from October 13, 2024, 
through September 30, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: CAPT Luis Rodriguez, Chief, Vessel 
Sanitation Program, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS 106-6, 
Atlanta, Georgia 30341-3717; phone: 800-323-2132; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d0a6a3a090b3b4b3feb7bfa6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4f393c3f0f2c2b2c61282039">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Background

    HHS/CDC established the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) in the 
1970s as a cooperative activity with the cruise ship industry. VSP 
helps the cruise ship industry prevent and control the introduction and 
spread of environmentally associated illnesses and hazards on cruise 
ships. VSP operates under the authority of the Public Health Service 
Act (Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act; 42 U.S.C. 264, 
``Control of Communicable Diseases''). Regulations found at 42 CFR 
71.41 (Foreign Quarantine--Requirements Upon Arrival at U.S. Ports: 
Sanitary Inspection; General Provisions) state that carriers arriving 
at U.S. ports from foreign areas are subject to sanitary inspections to 
determine potential rodent, insect, or other vermin infestations; 
contaminated food or water; or other sanitary conditions requiring 
measures to prevent introduction or spread of communicable diseases.
    The FY 2025 fee schedule reflects increases to cover costs to 
operate and improve the program. Travel expenses and other costs have 
increased, and larger ships and more complex features mean more 
inspectors are needed for each inspection. Fees charged for inspections 
also support many additional VSP services beyond inspections (plan 
reviews, equipment reviews, technical assistance, epidemiological 
investigations, and outbreak response activities). VSP will continue to 
enhance customer service to cruise lines and shipyards as well as 
public health efforts onboard by offering additional value-added 
services requested by industry partners such as modernization of VSP's 
data systems to increase functionality and efficiency and updates to 
VSP training platforms.
    Additionally, the fee schedule will be restructured from seven 
categories to four categories. This new structure addresses comments 
from industry in July 2019 and more accurately reflects the number of 
inspectors and inspector-hours needed to perform an inspection.
    The fee schedule for sanitation inspections of passenger cruise 
ships by VSP was first published in the Federal Register on November 
24, 1987 (52 FR 45019). HHS/CDC began collecting fees on March 1, 1988. 
The fee schedule was most recently published in the Federal Register on 
August 14, 2023 (88 FR 55048). This notice announces fees for 
inspections conducted during FY 2025 (beginning on October 13, 2024, 
through September 30, 2025). The fee schedule for FY 2025 is presented 
in Appendix A.
    The following formula will be used to determine the fees:
    [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN23SE24.013
    
    Total cost of VSP = Total cost of operating the program, such as 
administration, travel, staffing, sanitation inspections, and outbreak 
response.
    Weighted number of annual inspections = Total number of ships and 
inspections per year accounting for vessel size, number of inspectors 
needed for vessel size, travel logistics to conduct inspections, and 
vessel location and arrivals in U.S. jurisdiction per year.

Fee

    The fee schedule (Appendix A) applies to inspections conducted from 
October 13, 2024, through September 30, 2025.

Applicability

    The fees will apply to all passenger cruise vessels for which 
inspections are conducted as part of HHS/CDC's VSP.

Noah Aleshire,
Chief Regulatory Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Appendix A

                    Fee Schedule for Each Vessel Size
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Construction and
                                       Operational         renovation
       Vessel size (GT \1\)           inspection \2\     inspection \3\
                                        fee (US$)          fee  (US$)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tier 1 (<30,000 GT)...............              8,073             16,146
Tier 2 (30,001-110,000 GT)........             16,146             32,292
Tier 3 (110,001-180,000 GT).......             32,292             64,584

[[Page 77514]]

 
Tier 4 (>180,001 GT)..............             64,584            129,168
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Gross tonnage in cubic feet, as shown in Lloyd's Register of
  Shipping (https://www.lr.org/en/).
\2\ Operations inspections and re-inspections involve the same
  procedures and require the same amount of time, so they are charged at
  the same rates.
\3\ Construction and renovation inspections require at least twice the
  amount of time as operations inspections, so they are charged double
  the rates.

[FR Doc. 2024-21786 Filed 9-20-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P


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