67698 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Transportation Security Administration

49 CFR Chapter XII and Part 1510

[Docket No. TSA–2001–11120]

RIN 2110–AA01

Imposition and Collection of

Passenger Civil Aviation Security

Service Fees

AGENCY: Transportation Security

Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Interim final rule.

SUMMARY: The Transportation Security

Administration (TSA) announces the

imposition of a security service fee in

the amount of $2.50 per enplanement on

passengers of domestic and foreign air

carriers in air transportation, foreign air

transportation, and intrastate air

transportation originating at airports in

the United States. Passengers will not be

charged for more than two

enplanements per one-way trip or four

enplanements per round trip. The

security service fee will apply to

passengers using frequent flyer awards

for air transportation, but may not be

imposed on other nonrevenue

passengers. Direct air carriers and

foreign air carriers must collect the

security service fees on air

transportation sold on or after February

1, 2002. The direct air carriers and

foreign air carriers must remit the fees

imposed during each month to TSA by

the last calendar day of the following

month.

DATES: This interim final rule is

effective on December 31, 2001.

Although the imposition of the security

service fees is statutorily exempted from

the rulemaking notice and comment

procedures set forth in the

Administrative Procedure Act,

comments received on or before March

1, 2002 will be reviewed and

considered.

ADDRESSES: Submit written, signed

comments to TSA Docket No. 2001–

11120, the Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT

Dockets, Room PL–401, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590–

0001. All comments received will be

available for examination at the above

address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t.,

Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays. Those desiring notification of

receipt of comments must include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or

postcard on which the following

statement is made: ‘‘Comments to

Docket No. TSA–2001–11120. The post

card will be date stamped and mailed to

the sender. Comments also may be sent

electronically to the Dockets

Management System (DMS) at: http://

dms.dot.gov at any time. Those who

wish to file comments electronically

should follow the instructions on the

DMS web site.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

guidance involving technical matters: A.

Thomas Park, Acting Deputy Chief

Financial Officer, Department of

Transportation, Office of the Secretary,

Office of the Assistant Secretary for

Budget and Programs, 400 Seventh St.,

SW., Room 10101, Washington, DC

20590; telephone (202) 366–9192. For

legal interpretation or guidance: Rita M.

Maristch, Department of Transportation,

Office of the General Counsel, Office of

Environmental, Civil Rights and General

Law, 400 Seventh St., SW., Room 10102,

Washington, DC 20590; telephone (202)

366–9161. Office hours are from 9:00

a.m. to 5:30 p.m., e.t. Monday through

Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of the Interim Final Rule

and Comments Received

An electronic copy of this document

may be downloaded using a modem and

suitable communications software from

the Government Printing Office’s

Electronic Bulletin Boards Service at

(202) 512–1661. Internet users may

reach the Federal Register’s home page

at: http://www.nara.gov/fedreg and the

Government Printing Office’s database

at: http://www.access.gpo.gov.

Internet users can access this

document and all comments received by

TSA through DOT’s docket management

system web site, http://dms.dot.gov. It is

available 24 hours each day, 365 days

each year. Please follow the instructions

online for more information and help.

Small Entity Inquiries

The Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) of

1996 requires TSA to comply with small

entity requests for information and

advice about compliance with statutes

and regulations within TSA’s

jurisdiction. However, because TSA was

just established on November 19, 2001,

pursuant to Aviation and Transportation

Security Act, Public Law 107–71, it does

not yet have the infrastructure or

personnel to provide such information

and guidance. Until such time that it

does, the Office of the Secretary of

Transportation will handle all SBREFA

inquiries. Accordingly, any small entity

that has a question regarding this

document may contact the individuals

listed under the caption FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.

Background

The September 11 Terrorist Attacks and

the Aviation and Transportation

Security Act

The September 11, 2001 terrorist

attacks as well as the potential for future

attacks led Congress to enact the

Aviation and Transportation Security

Act, Public Law 107–71 (ATSA),

November 19, 2001, which established

TSA as an administration within the

U.S. DOT. TSA will be headed by a

Presidential appointee to a newly

established position, the Under

Secretary of Transportation for Security

(Under Secretary). Pursuant to section

101(g)(5) of the ATSA, the Secretary of

Transportation has delegated to the

Deputy Secretary of Transportation the

authority to carry out the functions of

the Under Secretary as they relate to

aviation security on an interim basis.

These duties will be assumed by the

Under Secretary when he takes office.

Section 118 of ATSA, which added

section 44940 to Title 49, U.S.C.,

requires that within 60 days of ATSA’s

enactment, or as soon as possible

thereafter, TSA impose uniform security

service fees on passengers of domestic

and foreign air carriers in air

transportation, foreign air

transportation, and intrastate air

transportation originating at airports in

the United States. ATSA also requires

that notice of the imposition of these

fees be published in the Federal

Register. However, the statute exempts

the imposition of the fees from the

procedural rulemaking requirements of

5 U.S.C. 553 and the user fee

requirements of 31 U.S.C. 9701. The fees

are to pay the costs of providing Federal

civil aviation security services, which

are described in section 44940 as:

(1) The salary, benefits, overtime,

retirement and other costs of screening

personnel, their supervisors and

managers, and Federal law enforcement

personnel deployed at airport security

screening locations;

(2) The costs of training such

personnel and the acquisition,

operation, and maintenance of

equipment used by these personnel;

(3) The costs of performing

background investigations of personnel;

(4) The costs of the Federal air

marshals program;

(5) The costs of performing civil

aviation security research and

development under Title 49, U.S.C.;

(6) The costs of Federal Security

Managers; and

(7) The costs of deploying Federal law

enforcement personnel.

According to section 44940(a)(1), the

Under Secretary is responsible for

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 67699

determining the amount of the costs of

providing these civil aviation security

services. Section 44940(b) and (c)

provides that the passenger security

service fee must be reasonably related to

the costs of providing civil aviation

security services, but may not exceed

$2.50 per enplanement or $5.00 per oneway trip. Section 44940(a)(1) also

provides that the cost determinations by

the Under Secretary are conclusive and

are not subject to judicial review.

According to section 44940(d) and (e),

an air carrier or foreign air carrier that

sells a ticket for transportation is

responsible for collecting the security

service fees. The security service fee

imposed is not considered to be part of

the amount paid for taxable

transportation under 26 U.S.C. 4261. Air

carriers and foreign air carriers must

remit the total amount of fees collected

during a calendar month to TSA by the

last calendar day of the following

month. Any security service fees

imposed on, but not collected from, an

air carrier’s or foreign air carrier’s

passengers as required by this part, are

the air carrier’s or foreign air carrier’s

responsibility and must be included

with its monthly remittance. Although

the law requires air carriers and foreign

air carriers to remit the total amount of

the fees collected each month to TSA,

carriers may retain the interest that

accrues on the principal between the

time of collection and remittance in

accordance with section 44940(e)(3).

Section 44940(e)(4) permits the Under

Secretary to require air carriers and

foreign air carriers to provide any

information necessary to verify that the

security service fees have been collected

and remitted in accordance with law

and regulation.

The Interim Final Rule

Pursuant to delegated authority, the

Deputy Secretary has determined that

the security service fee to be paid by

passengers will be $2.50 per

enplanement. Passengers may not be

charged for more than two

enplanements per one-way trip or more

than four enplanements per round trip.

For purposes of this interim final rule,

we have determined that a direct air

carrier or foreign air carrier that

provides or offers to provide air

transportation and has control over the

operational functions performed in

providing that transportation is

considered to be the selling carrier. If a

passenger’s air transportation includes

travel on two or more carriers, or if the

passenger’s air transportation is

otherwise on an aircraft not operated by

the selling carrier, the carrier selling the

air transportation is responsible for

remitting the security service fees

imposed.

The Under Secretary has the authority

to exempt a passenger enplaning at

airports in the United States from

paying the security service fee in

circumstances where the passenger does

not receive screening services pursuant

to section 44901. Under this interim

final rule, the security service fee is

imposed only on passengers who

enplane the following direct air carriers

and foreign air carriers: (1) A scheduled

passenger or public charter passenger

operation with an aircraft having

passenger seating configuration of more

than 60 seats; (2) a scheduled passenger

or public charter passenger operation

with an aircraft having a passenger

seating configuration of less than 61

seats when passengers are enplaned

from or deplaned into a sterile area. We

invite comment to address when and

whether security service fees should be

imposed on additional direct air carriers

and foreign air carriers.

Security service fees will not be

imposed on passengers enplaning on

flight segments outside the United

States, but will be imposed on all flight

segments originating in the United

States.

Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers must collect the security service

fees imposed on air transportation sold

on or after February 1, 2002. The

security service fee imposed by this

interim final rule applies to passengers

using frequent flyer awards for air

transportation, but is not applicable to

other nonrevenue passengers. Air

carriers and foreign air carriers must

identify the security service fees

imposed by this part as ‘‘September

11th Security Fee’’ in all its

advertisements and solicitations for air

transportation.

Each direct air carrier and foreign air

carrier is responsible for paying to TSA

the security service fees imposed by this

rule regardless of whether it collects the

fees. Each direct air carrier and foreign

air carrier is required to remit all

security service fees imposed during

February 2002 to TSA by March 31,

2002. For subsequent months, security

service fees must be remitted by the last

calendar day of the following month.

Specific instructions concerning

remittance will be provided directly to

the direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers and will be posted on the DOT

web site at www.dot.gov in the near

future.

The fee is set at the maximum amount

permitted by ATSA because the costs of

providing civil aviation security

services, as determined by the Deputy

Secretary, are greater than the amount

that would be recovered by the

collection of fees that are reasonably

related to these costs. Specifically, the

Deputy Secretary has determined that

the costs of providing civil aviation

security services under section 44940

not already funded from other sources

will conservatively exceed $1 billion in

fiscal year 2002 and that fees collected

at the statutory maximum would yield

less than $1 billion in fiscal year 2002,

assuming that collections begin on

February 1, 2002. It should be noted that

DOT expects revenues from security

service fees to fall short of the amount

required to cover civil aviation security

service costs. In such a case, ATSA

requires that air carrier fees be assessed

in order to cover the shortfall. This

assessment will be accomplished

through a separate notice published in

the Federal Register during fiscal year

2002.

Under this rule, direct air carriers and

foreign air carriers must establish an

accounting system to properly track the

amount of the security service fees

imposed, collected, refunded and

remitted as well as the airports at which

the passengers enplaned. Direct air

carriers and foreign air carriers are

required to submit quarterly reports to

TSA that provide an accounting of fees

imposed, collected, refunded and

remitted. Specific instructions

concerning the submission of the

quarterly reports will be provided

directly to the direct air carriers and

foreign air carriers and will be posted on

the DOT web site at www.dot.gov in the

near future.

Each direct air carrier and foreign air

carrier that collects security service fees

from more than 50,000 passengers

annually must provide for an audit of its

security service fee accounts and

activities by an independent certified

public accountant on an annual basis.

The accountant must include in the

audit an opinion on whether (1) the

direct air carrier’s or foreign air carrier’s

procedures for collecting, holding, and

remitting the fees are fair and

reasonable; and (2) whether the

quarterly reports fairly represent the net

transactions in the security service fee

accounts. The reports, which are due to

the Under Secretary on the last calendar

day of the month following the quarter

in which the fees were imposed, must

provide an accounting of the fees

imposed, collected, refunded and

remitted. The reports must specifically

identify the carrier involved, the total

security service fees imposed, collected,

refunded and remitted, the number of

enplanements for which the fee was

collected, the total number of frequent

flyer and nonrevenue passengers, the

67700 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

total number of passenger enplanements

for which the fee was imposed but not

collected, and the reasons that the fee

was not collected in such

circumstances.

This rule requires direct air carriers

and foreign air carriers to allow certain

authorized Federal representatives to

review and audit any of the carrier’s

books and records and provide other

information to verify that the security

service fees were properly collected and

remitted.

The rule’s enforcement provision

states that direct air carriers and foreign

air carriers who fail to comply with the

requirements of 49 U.S.C. 44940 or this

regulation may be found to be engaging

in unfair and deceptive practices in

violation of 49 U.S.C. 41712. The rule

also provides notice that the United

States may seek collection of any funds

due it by the direct air carrier or foreign

air carrier in accordance with 49 CFR

part 89. These remedies are in addition

to any others provided by law.

Requests for Waiver

Although not legally bound to do so,

air carriers and foreign air carriers may

wish to identify the security service fee

on a ticket they issue for air

transportation. Because ATSA requires

that the security service fees be

collected as soon as possible, there may

be insufficient time to reconfigure the

ticket to allow for such a fee category.

Therefore, DOT will entertain an air

carrier’s or foreign air carrier’s request

that it be permitted to combine the

amount of the security service fee with

the amount of the passenger facility

charges (PFC) identified in the PFC

category on the ticket for a transitional

period not to exceed six months. DOT

will also entertain a request for a waiver

of any DOT and Federal Aviation

Administration requirement that it

believes may conflict with the security

service fee as imposed by this part. The

request for a waiver must be in writing,

explain the conflict in detail, and be

directed to TSA Docket No. 2001–

11120, the Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT

Dockets, Room PL–401, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590–

0001. DOT will address requests for a

waiver on a case-by-case basis.

Good Cause for Immediate Adoption

Section 44940(d)(1) of title 49, U.S.C.,

explicitly exempts the imposition of the

civil aviation security service fees

authorized in section 44940 from the

procedural rulemaking notice and

comment procedures set forth in 5

U.S.C. 553. Apart from that exemption,

it would be impractical and contrary to

the public interest to provide for notice

and comment before issuing this rule.

Immediate action is necessary to begin

collecting the security service fees

provided for by the statute. However,

TSA will consider all comments

received on or before the closing date

for comment, including comments

received before the issuance of this rule.

We will also consider comments filed

late to the extent practicable. We may

amend this rule in light of the

comments we receive.

Paperwork Reduction Act

TSA has determined that this interim

final rule will impose new collection of

information burdens within the

meaning of the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (PRA). TSA is required to

submit this proposed collection of

information to Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review and

approval and, accordingly, seeks public

comments. Interested parties are invited

to send comments regarding any aspect

of the information collection

requirements, including, but not limited

to: (1) Whether the collection of

information is necessary for the

performance of TSA, including whether

the information has practical utility; (2)

the accuracy of the estimated burden

that DOT has provided to OMB; (3)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the collection of information,

and (4) ways to minimize the collection

burden without reducing the quality of

the information collected.

Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.13,

Emergency processing, TSA has asked

OMB for temporary emergency approval

for this collection. We will publish a

Federal Register notice with the OMB

number when it is approved.

Economic Analyses

This rulemaking action is taken in an

emergency situation within the meaning

of Section 6(a)(3)(D) of Executive Order

12866, Regulatory Planning and Review.

It also is considered an emergency

regulation under Paragraph 11g of the

Department’s Regulatory Policies and

Procedures. In addition, it is a

significant rule within the meaning of

the Executive Order and Department’s

policies and procedures because it may

impose significant costs on air carriers

and foreign air carriers. An assessment

in accordance with the Executive Order

will be conducted in the future. No

additional regulatory analysis or

evaluation accompanies this rule. TSA

has not assessed whether this rule will

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities as

defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act

of 1980. When no notice of proposed

rulemaking has first been published, the

Regulatory Flexibility Act does not

apply.

The current security threat requires

that direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers comply with the necessary

actions to ensure the safety and security

of passengers and operations. Therefore

consistent with section 44940, the

security service fee imposed will be

$2.50 per passenger. Passengers will not

be charged for more than two

enplanements per one-way trip or four

enplanements per round trip. Direct air

carriers and foreign air carriers are

responsible for collecting these fees on

or after February 1, 2002. OMB has

reviewed this rule under the provisions

of section 6(a)(3)(D) Executive Order

12866.

Executive Order 13132, Federalism

The TSA has analyzed this rule under

the principles and criteria of Executive

Order 13132, Federalism. We

determined that this action will not

have a substantial direct effect on the

States, or the relationship between the

national Government and the States, or

on the distribution of power and

responsibilities among the various

levels of government. Therefore, we

have determined that this final rule does

not have federalism implications.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

of 1995 (the Act), enacted as Public Law

104–4 on March 22, 1995, is intended,

among other things, to curb the practice

of imposing unfunded Federal mandates

on State, local, and tribal governments.

Title II of the Act requires each Federal

agency to prepare a written statement

assessing the effects of any Federal

mandate in a proposed or final agency

rule that may result in a $100 million or

more expenditure (adjusted annually for

inflation) in any one year by State, local,

and tribal governments, in the aggregate,

or by the private sector.

The requirements of Title II of the

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

do not apply when rulemaking actions

are taken without the issuance of a

notice of proposed rulemaking.

Accordingly, the TSA has not prepared

a statement under the Act.

Environmental Review

TSA has reviewed this action for

purposes of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321–

4347) and has determined that this

action will not have a significant effect

on the human environment.

Energy Impact

The energy impact of this rule has

been assessed in accordance with the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 67701

Energy Policy and Conservation Act

(EPCA) Pub. L. 94–163, as amended. (42

U.S.C. 6362). It has been determined

that this rule is not a major regulatory

action under the provisions of the

EPCA.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 1510

Accounting, Auditing, Air carriers,

Air transportation, Enforcement, Federal

oversight, Foreign air carriers, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements,

Security measures.

Issued in Washington, DC, on December

26th, 2001.

Michael P. Jackson,

Deputy Secretary.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, the Transportation Security

Administration establishes a new

chapter XII consisting of part 1510 in

Title 49 of the Code of Federal

Regulations to read as follows:

Chapter XII—Transportation Security

Administration, Department of

Transportation

PART 1510—PASSENGER CIVIL

AVIATION SECURITY SERVICE FEES

Sec.

1510.1 Applicability and purpose.

1510.3 Definitions.

1510.5 Imposition of security service fees.

1510.7 Air transportation advertisements

and solicitations.

1510.9 Collection of security service fees.

1510.11 Handling of security service fees.

1510.13 Remittance of security service fees.

1510.15 Accounting and auditing

requirements.

1510.17 Reporting requirements.

1510.19 Federal oversight.

1510.21 Enforcement.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 44940.

§ 1510.1 Applicability and purpose.

This part prescribes a uniform fee to

be paid by passengers of direct air

carriers and foreign air carriers in air

transportation, foreign air

transportation, and intrastate air

transportation originating at airports in

the United States to pay for the costs of

providing civil aviation security

services as described in 49 U.S.C.

44940.

§ 1510.3 Definitions.

The following definitions apply in

this part:

Air carrier means a citizen of the

United States who undertakes directly

to engage in or provide air

transportation.

Air transportation means intrastate,

interstate or foreign air transportation.

Aircraft means a device that is used

or intended to be used for flight in the

air.

Airport means any landing area used

regularly by aircraft for receiving or

discharging passengers or cargo.

Direct air carrier and foreign air

carrier means a selling carrier.

Foreign air carrier means any person

other than a citizen of the United States

who undertakes directly to engage in or

provide air transportation.

Foreign air transportation means the

carriage by aircraft of persons for

compensation or hire between a place in

the United States and any place outside

of the United States.

Frequent flyer award means a zerofare award of air transportation that a

domestic air carrier or foreign air carrier

provides to a passenger in exchange for

accumulated travel mileage credits in a

customer loyalty program, whether or

not the term frequent flyer is used in the

definition of that program.

Interstate air transportation means the

carriage by aircraft of persons for

compensation or hire within the United

States.

Intrastate air transportation means

the carriage of persons for compensation

or hire wholly within the same State of

the United States.

Nonrevenue passenger means a

passenger receiving air transportation

from an air carrier or foreign air carrier

for which the air carrier or foreign air

carrier does not receive remuneration.

One-way trip means any trip that is

not a round trip.

Origin point means the location at

which a trip on a complete air travel

itinerary begins.

Passenger enplanement means a

person boarding in the United States in

scheduled or nonscheduled service on

aircraft in intrastate, interstate, or

foreign air transportation.

Principal means the aggregate amount

of all passenger security services fees

due to be remitted to the Transportation

Security Administration by an air

carrier as required by this part.

Round trip means a trip on an air

travel itinerary that terminates at the

origin point.

Selling carrier means an air carrier or

foreign air carrier that provides or offers

to provide air transportation and has

control over the operational functions

performed in providing that air

transportation.

Under Secretary means the Under

Secretary of Transportation for Security

or the Under Secretary’s designee.

§ 1510.5 Imposition of security service

fees.

(a) The security service fee will be

$2.50 per passenger enplanement. The

security service fee is imposed only on

passengers of direct air carriers and

foreign air carrier described in

§ 1510.9(a). Passengers may not be

charged for more than two

enplanements per one-way trip or four

enplanements per round trip.

(b) The security service fee will be

imposed on all flight segments

originating at an airport in the United

States.

(c) The security service fee must be

imposed on passengers who obtained

the ticket for air transportation with a

frequent flyer award, but may not be

imposed on any other nonrevenue

passengers.

(d) Passengers enplaning a flight

segment outside of the United States are

not subject to the security service fee for

that enplanement.

§ 1510.7 Air transportation advertisements

and solicitations.

A direct air carrier and foreign air

carrier must identify the security service

fee imposed by this part as ‘‘September

11th Security Fee’’ in all its

advertisements and solicitations for air

transportation.

§ 1510.9 Collection of security service

fees.

(a) The following direct air carriers

and foreign air carriers must collect

security service fees from passengers

enplaning:

(1) A scheduled passenger or public

charter passenger operation with an

aircraft having passenger seating

configuration of more than 60 seats.

(2) A scheduled passenger or public

charter passenger operation with an

aircraft having a passenger seating

configuration of less than 61 seats when

passengers are enplaned from or

deplaned into a sterile area.

(b) Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers must collect from each

passenger, to the extent provided in

§ 1510.5, a security service fee on air

transportation sold on or after February

1, 2002. The security service fee must be

based on the air travel itinerary at the

time the air transportation is sold. Any

changes by the passenger to the itinerary

that alter the number of enplanements

are subject to additional collection or

refund of the security service fee by the

direct air carrier or foreign air carrier as

appropriate. Direct air carriers and

foreign air carriers are solely liable to

TSA for additional security service fees

imposed because of involuntary

enplanement changes to the itinerary.

(c) Whether or not the security service

fee is collected as required by this part,

the direct air carrier or foreign air carrier

selling the air transportation is solely

liable to TSA for the fee and must remit

the fee as required in § 1510.13.

67702 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

(d) Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers may not collect security service

fees not imposed by this part.

§ 1510.11 Handling of security service

fees.

(a) Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers are responsible for the

safekeeping of all security service fees

from the time of collection to

remittance.

(b) Security service fees collected by

a direct air carrier or foreign air carrier

are held in trust by that direct carrier for

the beneficial interest of the United

States in paying for the costs of

providing civil aviation security

services described in 49 U.S.C. 44940.

The direct air carrier or foreign air

carrier holds neither legal nor equitable

interest in the security service fees

except for the right to retain any accrued

interest on the principal amounts

collected pursuant to § 1510.13(b).

(c) Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers must account for security

service fees separately, but the fees may

be commingled with the carriers’ other

sources of revenue.

(d) Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers must disclose in their financial

statements the existence and the amount

of security service fee held in trust.

§ 1510.13 Remittance of security service

fees.

(a) Each direct air carrier and foreign

air carrier must remit all security service

fees imposed each calendar month to

TSA, as directed by the Under

Secretary, by the last calendar day of the

month following the imposition.

(b) Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers may retain any interest that

accrues on the principal amounts

collected between the date of collection

and the date the fee is remitted to TSA

in accordance with paragraph (a) of this

section.

(c) Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers are prohibited from retaining

any portion of the principal to offset the

costs of collecting, handling, or

remitting the passenger security service

fees.

(d) Security service fees are payable to

the ‘‘Transportation Security

Administration’’ in U.S. currency and

drawn on a U.S. bank.

(1) Fees of $1,000 or more must be

remitted by electronic funds transfer.

(2) Fees under $1,000 may be remitted

by electronic funds transfer, check,

money order, wire transfer, or draft.

(e) Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers are responsible for paying any

bank processing charges on the security

service fees collected or remitted under

this part when such charges are assessed

on the U.S. government.

§ 1510.15 Accounting and auditing

requirements.

(a) Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers must establish and maintain an

accounting system to account for the

security service fees imposed, collected,

refunded and remitted. The accounting

records must identify the airports at

which the passengers were enplaned.

(b) Each direct air carrier and foreign

air carrier that collects security services

fees from more than 50,000 passengers

annually must provide for an audit at

least annually of its security service fee

activities or accounts.

(c) Audits pursuant to paragraph (b) of

this section must be performed by an

independent certified public accountant

and may be of limited scope. The

accountant must express an opinion on

the fairness and reasonableness of the

direct air carrier’s and foreign air

carrier’s procedures for collecting,

holding, and remitting the fees. The

opinion must also address whether the

quarterly reports required in § 1510.17

fairly represent the net transactions in

the security service fee accounts.

§ 1510.17 Reporting requirements.

(a) Each direct air carrier and foreign

air carrier collecting security service

fees must provide TSA with quarterly

reports that provide an accounting of

fees imposed, collected, refunded and

remitted.

(b) Quarterly reports must state the

direct air carrier or foreign air carrier

involved, the total security service fee

imposed, collected, refunded and

remitted, the number of enplanements

for which a fee was collected, the total

number of frequent flyer and

nonrevenue passengers, and the total

number of enplanements for which the

fee was not collected. The reports must

explain why any fee imposed under this

part was not collected.

(c) The report must be filed by the last

day of the calendar month following the

quarter in which the fees were imposed.

§ 1510.19 Federal oversight.

Direct air carriers and foreign air

carriers must allow any authorized

representative of the Under Secretary,

the Secretary of Transportation, the

Inspector General of the Department of

Transportation, or the Comptroller

General of the United States to audit or

review any of its books and records and

provide any other information necessary

to verify that the security service fees

were properly collected and remitted

consistent with this part.

§ 1510.21 Enforcement

A direct air carrier’s or foreign air

carrier’s failure to comply with the

requirements 49 U.S.C. 44940 or the

provisions of this part may be

considered to be an unfair and

deceptive practice in violation of 49

U.S.C. 41712 and may also result in a

claim due the United States by the

carrier collectable pursuant to 49 CFR

part 89. These remedies are in addition

to any others remedies provided by law.

[FR Doc. 01–32254 Filed 12–28–01; 11:17

am]

BILLING CODE 4910–62–P