[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 117 (Monday, June 17, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30552-30553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-15316]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Parts 101 and 122


Customs Service Field Organization; Establishment of Sanford Port 
of Entry

AGENCY: Customs Service, Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend the Customs Regulations 
pertaining to Customs field organization by establishing a new port of 
entry at Sanford, Florida. The new port of entry would include Orlando-
Sanford Airport, located in the city of Sanford, Seminole County, 
Florida, which is currently operated as a user-fee airport known as 
Sanford Regional Airport. This change will assist the Customs Service 
in its continuing efforts to achieve more efficient use of its 
personnel, facilities, and resources, and to provide better service to 
carriers, importers, and the general public.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 17, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments (preferably in triplicate) may be addressed 
to the Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, U.S. 
Customs Service, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, D.C. 20229. 
Comments submitted may be inspected at the Regulations Branch, Office 
of Regulations and Rulings, Franklin Court, 1099 14th St., NW, Suite 
4000, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harry Denning, Office of Field 
Operations, Resource Management Division (202) 927-0196.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    To achieve more efficient use of its personnel, facilities, and 
resources, and in order to provide better services to carriers, 
importers, and the public in Central Florida, Customs proposes to amend 
Sec. 101.3(b)(1), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 101.3(b)(1)), by 
establishing a new port of entry at Sanford, Florida. The new port of 
entry, located in Seminole County, Florida, would include the Orlando-
Sanford Airport, which currently operates as Sanford Regional Airport, 
and is listed in Sec. 122.15(b) of the Customs Regulations as a user-
fee airport.

Port of Entry Criteria

    No formal application procedures have been adopted for purposes of 
requesting new or expanded Customs services. The procedure most 
commonly followed has been for a recognized civic or government 
organization (such as a chamber of commerce, seaport or airport 
authority, or city government) to submit a written request to the 
director of the Customs port nearest where the facility is or would be 
located, setting forth the reason for the new or expanded service. 
However, there is no prohibition which prevents Customs from initiating 
the establishment of a port of entry where Customs has reason to 
believe or made a determination that the necessity for a new facility 
is justified. Favorable consideration of requests normally hinges on 
whether there is a sufficient volume of import business (actual or 
potential) to justify the expense of maintaining a new office or 
expanding service at an existing location.
    The criteria considered by Customs in determining whether to 
establish a port of entry are found in T.D. 82-37 (47 FR 10137), as 
revised by T.D. 86-14 (51 FR 4559) and T.D. 87-65 (52 FR 16328). Under 
these criteria, which are not absolute, a community requesting a port 
of entry designation must:
    (1) Demonstrate that the benefits to be derived justify the Federal 
Government expense involved;
    (2) Be serviced by at least two major modes of transportation 
(rail, air, water, or highway); and
    (3) Have a minimum population of 300,000 within the immediate 
service area (approximately a 70-mile radius).
    In addition, if the facility applies for designation as a port of 
entry based solely upon the consumption entries criterion (see below), 
it must make a commitment to make optimal use of electronic data 
transfer capabilities to permit integration with Customs Automated 
Commercial System (ACS), which provides a means for the electronic 
processing of entries of imported merchandise. Further, the actual or 
potential Customs workload (minimum number of transactions per year) at 
the proposed port of entry must meet one of several alternative minimum 
requirements:
    (1) 15,000 international air passengers; or
    (2) 2,500 formal (over Sec. 1,250 in Customs value) or informal 
(not over Sec. 1,250 in Customs value) consumption entries; or
    (3) In the case of land border ports, 150,000 vehicles; or
    (4) 2,000 scheduled international aircraft arrivals (passenger and/
or cargo); or
    (5) 350 cargo vessel arrivals; or
    (6) Any appropriate combination of the above.
    Lastly, facilities at the proposed port of entry must include cargo 
and passenger facilities, warehousing space for the secure storage of 
imported cargo pending final Customs inspection and release, and 
administrative office space, inspection areas, storage areas and other 
space necessary for regular Customs operations.
    The proposal set forth in this document is based on Customs 
analysis of a report prepared for the Central Florida Regional Airport 
Board which manages the airport at Sanford and shows projected workload 
figures for the airport for the next decade. That report provides that 
although Sanford Regional Airport only became a user fee airport in 
1991, since 1980 it has become the fastest growing airport for 
international passenger clearance services in Florida. In response to 
this growth, the Airport Board has elected to make substantial and long 
term investment in new international arrival facilities to serve this 
growing Central Florida market. Current flight schedules for the 
airport beginning in mid-April 1996 through October of this year 
project some 413 charter airline flights carrying approximately 118,732 
international passengers.
    With regard to the above criteria, Customs believes that the 
Federal Government would benefit from the port of entry designation 
because Orlando-Sanford Airport (currently operating as Sanford 
Regional Airport) would be available to share the workload presently 
handled at ports of entry such as Miami International Airport. The 
report further provides that State Roads 46 and 417 provide highway 
access to the airport, and that the population of the Seminole county-
area was 287,529 in 1990 and forecast to reach 392,500 by the year 
2000, which is well above the minimum 300,000 required. Further, the 
report provides that the Central Florida Region--comprising the 
surrounding counties of Lake, Volusia, Orange, Brevard, and Osceola--
offered a combined additional population of

[[Page 30553]]

1,623,518 in 1990, forecasted to reach 2,209,957 by the year 2000. 
Because Sanford could qualify for port of entry status on the strength 
of the potential international passenger processing figures at the 
airport alone, and is not expected to process many consumption entries, 
Customs believes that the facility does not, at this time, have to make 
a commitment to make optimal use of electronic data transfer 
capabilities to permit integration with Customs Automated Commercial 
System (ACS), which provides a means for the electronic processing of 
entries of imported merchandise. Lastly, since the airport is currently 
a Customs user fee airport, Customs knows that office, storage, and 
examination space are currently available for use by Customs.

Conditional Status

    Based on the above, Customs believes that there is sufficient 
justification for establishment of the proposed port of entry at 
Sanford. If, after reviewing the public comments, Customs decides to 
terminate Sanford's designation as a user-fee airport, then Customs 
will notify the airport of that determination in accordance with the 
provisions of 19 CFR 122.15(c). However, it is noted that this proposal 
relies on potential, rather than actual, workload figures. Therefore, 
even if the proposed port of entry designation is adopted as a final 
rule, in 3 years Customs will review the actual workload generated 
within the new port of entry. If that review indicates that the actual 
workload is below the T.D. 82-37 standards, as amended, procedures may 
be instituted to revoke the port of entry status. In such case, the 
Airport may reapply to become a user fee airport under the provisions 
of 19 U.S.C. 58b.

Description of Proposed Port of Entry Limits

    The geographical limits of the proposed Sanford port of entry would 
be as follows:
    The Orlando-Sanford Airport, which consists of approximately 2,000 
acres which are located in Seminole County, Florida, beginning in the 
north/east at the intersection of State Road 46 and State Road 417 and 
proceeding south to Lake Mary Boulevard, turning west to Sanford 
Boulevard, and finally turning north to State Road 46 to the point of 
beginning.

Proposed Amendments

    If the proposed port of entry designation is adopted, the list of 
Customs ports of entry at Sec. 101.3(b)(1) will be amended to include 
Sanford as a port of entry in Florida, and Sanford Regional Airport 
will be deleted from the list of user-fee airports at Sec. 122.15(b).

Comments

    Before adopting this proposal as a final rule, consideration will 
be given to any written comments timely submitted to Customs. Comments 
submitted will be available for public inspection in accordance with 
the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), Sec. 1.4 of the Treasury 
Department Regulations (31 CFR 1.4), and Sec. 103.11(b) of the Customs 
Regulations (19 CFR 103.11(b)), on regular business days between the 
hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Regulations Branch, Office of 
Regulations and Rulings, U.S. Customs Service, Franklin Court, 4th 
floor, 1099 14th St., NW, Washington, DC.

Authority

    This change is proposed under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 301 and 19 
U.S.C. 2, 66, and 1624.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act, and Executive Order 12866

    Pursuant to provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 
601 et seq.), it is certified that, if adopted, the proposed amendments 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities, as the proposed amendments concern the status of only 
one airport facility. Accordingly, the proposed amendments are not 
subject to the regulatory analysis or other requirements of 5 U.S.C. 
603 and 604. This amendment does not meet the criteria for a 
``significant regulatory action'' as specified in Executive Order 
12866.
George J. Weise,
Commissioner of Customs.

    Approved: May 15, 1996.
Dennis M. O'Connell,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 96-15316 Filed 6-14-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P