[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 5, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-24611]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: October 5, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Parts 101 and 122

 

Establishment of New Port--Rockford, IL

AGENCY: U.S. 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 in the Customs District of Chicago, Illinois, North Central 
Region. The new port of entry would be designated as Rockford, Illinois 
and would include Greater Rockford Airport, which is currently operated 
as a user-fee 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 December 5, 1994.

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 Street, Suite 
4000, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Brad Lund, Office of Inspection 
and Control, (202) 927-0540.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    To achieve more efficient use of its personnel, facilities, and 
resources, and in order to provide better service to carriers, 
importers and the public in the North Central Region, Customs proposes 
to amend Sec. 122.15, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 122.15), by removing 
Greater Rockford Airport from the list of user-fee airports and 
Sec. 101.3, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 101.3) to add Rockford, 
Illinois, as a port of entry. The new port would be designated as 
Rockford, Illinois and would include Greater Rockford Airport.
    The criteria used 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, 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);
    (3) Have a minimum population of 300,000 within the immediate 
service area (approximately a 70 mile radius); and
    (4) 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 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, one of which is the condition that no more than half of 
the required 2,500 consumption entries can be attributable to one 
private party. 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 regulatory Customs operations.
    The proposal set forth in this document originated as a request 
from the Rockford Airport Authority that Rockford, Illinois be 
designated as a port of entry. With regard to the above criteria, the 
Rockford Airport Authority has stated that the Federal Government would 
benefit from the port of entry designation because Rockford, Illinois 
would thus be available to share the workload presently handled at the 
port of entry at Chicago, Illinois.
    According to a memorandum from the Regional Commissioner, North 
Central Region, in addition to the airport, Rockford has two other 
transportation modes, rail and highway.
    According to the Rockford Chamber of Commerce, the 1990 census 
figures indicate that the population of the city of Rockford is 139,426 
and that of the Rockford metropolitan area is stated to be 283,719. A 
70 mile radius would include several Illinois and Wisconsin cities and 
several northwestern suburbs of Chicago. Counting the communities 
within a 70 mile radius would bring the area population to well over 
300,000.
    The number of formal Customs entries in fiscal year 1992 was 3539, 
with a representation that no more than 8.4% were attributable to one 
private party. Regarding electronic data transfer capability, the 
Greater Rockford Airport Authority is committed to making optimal use 
of electronic data transfer capability to permit integration with ACS.
    Lastly, according to the Regional Commissioner's office, since 
Greater Rockford Airport is currently a Customs user-fee airport, it 
already has a workload. It is likely that Rockford will continue to 
grow.
    The District Director at Chicago has verified that Rockford's 
entries for the year 1992 exceeded 2,500 formal entries, and the 
Regional Commissioner for the North Central Region has advised that 
Rockford appears to meet the criteria for port of entry status.
    Based on the above, Customs believes that there is sufficient 
justification for the establishment of the requested port of entry. 
Rockford, Illinois meets an appropriate combination of the workload 
criteria specified.

Description of Port Entry Limits

    The geographical limits of the proposed Port of Rockford, Illinois, 
which would include the Greater Rockford Airport, would be as follows:
    Bounded to the north by the Illinois/Wisconsin border; Bounded to 
the west by Illinois State Route 26; Bounded to the south by Illinois 
State Route 72; and Bounded to the east by Illinois State Route 23 
north to the Wisconsin/Illinois border.

Proposed Amendments

    If the proposed port of entry designation is adopted, the list of 
Customs regions, districts, and ports of entry at Sec. 101.3 will be 
amended to include Rockford, Illinois as a port of entry in the Customs 
District of Chicago and the Greater Rockford Airport will be deleted 
from the list of user-fee airports in Sec. 122.15.

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, D.C. 20005.

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

    Customs routinely establishes, expands, and consolidates Customs 
ports of entry throughout the United States to accommodate the volume 
of Customs-related activity in various parts of the country. Thus, 
although this document is being issued with notice for public comment, 
because it relates to agency management and organization it is not 
subject to the notice and public procedure requirements of 5 U.S.C. 
553. Accordingly this document is not subject to the provisions of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). In addition, this 
proposal does not meet the criteria for a ``significant regulatory 
action'' as specified in Executive Order 12866.

Drafting Information

    The principal author of this document was Janet L. Johnson, 
Regulations Branch. However, personnel from other offices participated 
in its development.

    Dated: September 19, 1994.
Samuel H. Banks,
Acting Commissioner of Customs.
John P. Simpson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
[FR Doc. 94-24611 Filed 10-4-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P