[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 10, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45784-45785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17351]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Transportation Security Administration

[Docket No. TSA-2001-11120].


Reports, Forms and Record Keeping Requirements Agency Information 
Collection Activity Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information 
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for extension of currently 
approved collection. The ICR describes the nature of the information 
collection and the expected burden and requests approval of forms to be 
used for data collection. The Federal Register Notice with an Emergency 
notice soliciting comments on the following collection of information 
was published on January 31, 2002 (67 FR 4866).
    Comments: Comments should be directed to the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 
Seventeenth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Officer 
for the Transportation Security Administration. Comments are invited on 
whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of TSA, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; the accuracy of

[[Page 45785]]

TSA's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collections; 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 9, 2002. A 
comment to OMB is most effective if OMB receives it within 30 days of 
publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Cohen, Office of the Chief 
Counsel, Transportation Security Administration, Department of 
Transportation at (202) 493-1216. 400 Seventh Street (TSA-5), SW., GSA 
room 5002, Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

    Title: Imposition and Collection of Passenger Civil Aviation 
Security Service Fees.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    OMB Control Number: 2110-0001
    Forms: September 11th Security Fees Quarterly Report Form (paper 
and online submission versions).
    Frequency: On December 31, 2001, the Transportation Security 
Administration published an interim final rule imposing a security 
service fee (September 11th Security Fee) at 66 FR 67698. Imposition of 
this fee began February 1, 2002. Approximately 195 air carriers and 
foreign air carriers are expected to collect and remit the September 
11th Security Fee. Each of these carriers are then responsible for (1) 
establishing and maintaining an accounting system to account for the 
September 11th Security Fees that are imposed, collected, refunded and 
remitted and (2) reporting this information to the Transportation 
Security Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, on a 
quarterly basis. We further estimate that approximately 133 air 
carriers and foreign air carriers will also have to conduct an annual 
audit of their September 11th Security Fee activities and accounts.
    Affected Public: The collection requirement applies to any direct 
air carrier or foreign air carrier providing air transportation, 
foreign air transportation, and intrastate air transportation 
originating at airports in the United States, on either (1) a scheduled 
passenger or public charter operation with an aircraft having passenger 
seating configuration of more than 60 seats or (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. The further 
requirement to conduct an audit only applies to air carriers and 
foreign air carriers that collect September 11th Security Fees from 
more than 50,000 passengers annually.
    Abstract: To pay for the costs of providing civil aviation security 
services as described in 49 U.S.C. Sec. 44940, a uniform fee is imposed 
on passengers of air carriers and foreign air carriers providing air 
transportation, foreign air transportation, and intrastate 
transportation originating at airports in the United States. 
Approximately 195 air carriers and foreign air carriers are required to 
submit quarterly reports to TSA. In addition, the approximately 133 air 
carriers and foreign air carriers that collect the September 11th 
Security Fee from more than 50,000 passengers annually must conduct an 
audit of their fee collection and accounts and will have additional 
record keeping burdens.
    Estimated Annual Burden Hours: Using the above estimate of 195 
carriers a year who may have to submit quarterly reports, with an 
estimated 1 hour of preparation to collect and provide the information, 
at an assumed rate of $20 an hour, the annual estimated cost of 
collecting and preparing the information necessary for 780 quarterly 
reports is $15,600. Adding in a postage cost of $288.60 (780 reports at 
a cost of 37 cents to mail each one), we estimate that it will cost 
$15,888.60 a year to prepare and submit the information necessary to 
satisfy the general information collection requirement. Air carriers 
and foreign air carriers who will also have to conduct audits of their 
September 11th Security Fee activities and accounts will have an 
additional record-keeping burden. Using the above estimate of 133 
carriers a year who may have to conduct audits, with an estimated 20 
hours of preparation per audit, at an assumed rate of $150 an hour, the 
estimated cost of these audits is about $399,000 annually. The total 
estimated cost of preparing and submitting quarterly reports and 
conducting audits is $414,888.60 and the total estimated burden hours 
are 3,440. However, we believe the actual burden will be lower because 
TSA is providing a mechanism for the electronic submission of quarterly 
reports, which will reduce compliance time and costs.
    Number of Respondents: We estimate that there will be 195 
respondents per year for the general information collection and 133 
respondents for the audit-related collection.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: For purposes of 
collecting funds to pay for the costs of providing civil aviation 
security services as described in 49 U.S.C. 44940, air carriers and 
foreign air carriers will be required to track passenger emplanements 
involved in air transportation sold for flights originating at airports 
in the United States if the enplanement is on either (1) a scheduled 
passenger or public charter passenger operation with an aircraft having 
passenger seating configuration of more than 60 seats or (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. 
These air carriers must submit quarterly reports on the total September 
11th Security Fees imposed, collected, refunded and remitted for each 
month of the quarter.
    Additionally, each air carrier and foreign air carrier that 
collects September 11th Security Fees from more than 50,000 passengers 
annually must provide for an audit at least annually of its September 
11th Security Fee activities and accounts. The accountant conducting 
such an audit must include in it 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.

    Issued on: July 5, 2002.
Robert Gardner,
Associate Under Secretary for Finance and Administration/CFO, 
Transportation Security Administration, Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 02-17351 Filed 7-9-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P