[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62613-62614]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27782]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Transportation Security Administration

[Docket No. TSA-2003-16345]


Notice Requesting Comment on the Imposition of the Aviation 
Security Infrastructure Fee

AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration (TSA), DHS.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: TSA seeks comment on possible changes to the way it sets the 
Aviation Security Infrastructure Fee (ASIF), which is a fee imposed on 
air carriers and foreign air carriers to help pay the Government's 
costs of providing civil aviation security services. Beginning in 
fiscal year 2005, TSA may set the per-carrier fee based on each 
carrier's market share or other appropriate factors. TSA seeks comments 
on issues such as how to impose the ASIF, and whether, when, and how 
often the ASIF should be adjusted.

DATES: Submit comments by January 5, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments Submitted by Mail or In Person: Address written, 
signed comments to the Docket Management System, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Room Plaza 401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590-0001.
    Comments that include trade secrets, confidential commercial or 
financial information, or sensitive security information (SSI) should 
not be submitted to the public regulatory docket. Please submit such 
comments separately from other comments. Comments containing trade 
secrets, confidential commercial or financial information, or SSI 
should be appropriately marked as containing such information and 
submitted by mail to the individual listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.
    Comments Filed Electronically: You may also submit comments through 
the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov. Please be aware that anyone is able 
to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of 
these dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or 
signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, 
business, labor union, etc.). You may review the applicable Privacy Act 
Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000, (65 FR 
19477) or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.
    Reviewing Comments In the Docket: All submissions to the public 
docket may be viewed in person in the Dockets Office between 9 a.m. and 
5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The Dockets 
Office is on the plaza level of the NASSIF Building at the Department 
of Transportation at the above address. Also, you may review public 
dockets on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for format and other information 
about comment submissions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randall Fiertz, Office of Revenue, 
Transportation Security Administration Headquarters, West Building, 
Floor 5, TSA-14, 601 South 12th Street, Arlington, VA 22202; e-mail: 
[email protected], telephone: 571-227-2323.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

    The TSA invites interested persons to submit written comments, 
data, or views on the issues described in this notice, including 
comments relating to the economic, environmental, energy, or federalism 
impacts. See ADDRESSES above for information on where to submit 
comments.
    Do not submit to the public regulatory docket any comments that you 
believe include trade secrets, confidential commercial or financial 
information, or sensitive security information (SSI) governed by 49 CFR 
part 1520. Such comments should be appropriately marked as containing 
such information and submitted by mail to the individual listed in FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. When a commenter properly designates and 
submits confidential commercial or financial information or information 
the submitter considers to be a trade secret, TSA does not place it in 
the public docket and TSA will handle it in accordance with applicable 
safeguards and restrictions on access. TSA will hold it in a separate 
file to which the public does not have access, and place a note in the 
public docket that TSA has received such materials from the commenter. 
If TSA receives a request to examine or copy this information, TSA 
would treat the request as any other request under the Freedom of 
Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552) and the Department of Homeland 
Security's FOIA regulation found in 6 CFR part 5.
    With each comment, please include your name and address, identify 
the docket number at the beginning, and give the reason for each 
comment, including any supporting data. You may submit comments and 
material electronically, in person, or by mail as provided under 
ADDRESSES, but please submit your comments and material by only one 
means. If you submit comments by mail or delivery, submit them in two 
copies, in an unbound format, no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches, suitable 
for copying and electronic filing.
    If you want the TSA to acknowledge receipt of your comments, 
include with your comments a self-addressed, stamped postcard on which 
the docket number appears. We will stamp the date on the postcard and 
mail it to you.
    Except for comments properly submitted as containing confidential 
information or SSI, we will file in the public docket all comments we 
receive. The docket is available for public inspection before and after 
the comment closing date.
    We will consider all comments we receive on or before the closing 
date for comments. We will consider comments filed late to the extent 
practicable.

Document Availability

    You can get an electronic copy using the Internet by--
    (1) Searching the Department of Transportation's electronic Docket

[[Page 62614]]

Management System (DMS) web page (http://dms.dot.gov/search);
    (2) Accessing the Government Printing Office's web page at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html; or
    (3) Visiting the TSA's Law and Policy web page at http://www.tsa.dot.gov/public/index.jsp.
    In addition, copies are available by writing or calling the 
individual in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. Make sure to 
identify the docket number.

Background

    Section 118 of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) 
(Pub. L. 107-71, November 19, 2001), as codified in 49 U.S.C. 44940, 
authorized TSA to impose fees known as the September 11th Security Fee 
and the Aviation Security Infrastructure Fee (ASIF) to help pay TSA's 
costs of providing civil aviation security services. In imposing these 
fees, TSA must ensure they are reasonably related to TSA's costs of 
providing services rendered. 49 U.S.C. 44940(b).
    TSA has imposed the September 11th Security Fee and the ASIF 
through regulations that appear at 49 CFR parts 1510 and 1511. The 
September 11th Security Fee is a fee in the amount of $2.50 per 
enplanement imposed by TSA on passengers of domestic and foreign air 
carriers in air transportation and intrastate air transportation 
originating at airports in the United States. This fee is limited to 
$2.50 per enplanement for up to two enplanements (or up to $5) per one-
way trip or four enplanements (or up to $10) per round trip. 49 CFR 
1510.5(a).
    Section 118 of the ATSA authorizes TSA to impose the ASIF to the 
extent that the September 11th Security Fee is insufficient to pay 
TSA's costs of providing civil aviation security services. 
Specifically, the annual aggregate amount of the ASIF may not exceed 
the difference between TSA's estimate of the total cost of providing 
civil aviation security services listed in 49 U.S.C. 44940(a)(1) and 
TSA's estimate of its September 11th Security Fee collections. 49 
U.S.C. 44940(a)(2)(A).
    In addition, section 118 provides that through the end of fiscal 
year 2004, the amount of ASIF collected by TSA from the carriers, both 
overall and per carrier, cannot exceed the carriers' aggregate and 
individual costs, respectively, for screening passengers and property 
in calendar year 2000. 49 U.S.C. 44940(a)(2)(B)(i), (ii). Beginning in 
fiscal year 2005, TSA is authorized to change the way the per-carrier 
limit is determined. TSA may set the limit based on market share or 
other appropriate measure in lieu of the carriers' actual screening 
costs in calendar year 2000. 49 U.S.C. 44940(a)(2)(B)(iii).
    In setting the ASIF at its current level, TSA solicited information 
from all carriers engaged in air transportation and intrastate air 
transportation in 2000 on their calendar year 2000 costs related to 
screening passengers and property. Within the parameters of section 
44940(a) and (b), TSA set the ASIF at the maximum allowable amount by 
requiring each carrier engaged in air transportation and intrastate air 
transportation to remit to TSA, on a monthly basis, an amount equal to 
8.333 percent of the total amount that the carrier indicated in its 
calendar year 2000 screening costs submission. Consistent with section 
44940, TSA determined that those carriers currently engaged in air 
transportation and intrastate air transportation, but with no costs for 
screening passengers and property in calendar year 2000, are not 
subject to the imposition of the ASIF at this time.
    After TSA initially imposed the ASIF through issuance of an interim 
final rule on February 20, 2002 (66 FR 7926), the agency received 
various comments and correspondence suggesting that this formula for 
imposing each carrier's ASIF should be adjusted. Reasons given for this 
proposed adjustment include: (1) The ASIF does not adequately take into 
account the economic hardship faced by the aviation industry since 
September 11, 2001; (2) the ASIF does not take into account any growth 
or reduction in a carrier's business since calendar year 2000; (3) the 
ASIF provides an unfair advantage to new carriers; (4) the ASIF rewards 
carriers who spent less on security in 2000; (5) the ASIF discriminates 
against smaller carriers who had higher costs for the same services; 
(6) basing the ASIF on calendar year 2000 costs prioritizes industry 
stability over individual equity; and (7) the ASIF does not pass on to 
the carriers any savings achieved by the Government due to economies of 
scale, consolidation of overhead, and by other means. TSA will respond 
fully to these and other comments on the ASIF, as well as issue a 
regulatory evaluation and any necessary regulatory amendments, when we 
finalize the interim final rule.

Request for Comments

    TSA is requesting public comment to assist the agency in 
determining whether to change the way it sets the per-carrier limit for 
the ASIF in fiscal year 2005 and for subsequent years, whether on the 
basis of market share or another factor(s).
    Due to the carriers' various sizes, business models, and other 
factors, there are many ways to define both what the ``market'' is and 
what constitutes a carrier's ``share'' of the market. For example, a 
carrier's market share could be based on its passenger enplanements, 
passenger revenue miles, tickets sold, revenues, or other factors or 
combinations of factors. Therefore, TSA seeks input into: (1) Whether 
to adjust the current system of determining each carrier's ASIF 
limitation based on its screening-related costs in calendar year 2000; 
(2) when to make such an adjustment; (3) how to determine the new basis 
for the per-carrier limitation on imposition of the ASIF; and (4) how 
often imposition of the ASIF should be updated based on the new 
factors. TSA seeks proposals on factors for TSA to consider in reaching 
each of these determinations. This input may also address procedural 
details, such as how to deal with carriers exiting and entering the 
market between updates of the per-carrier imposition of the fee, or how 
to collect and confirm relevant market data, from whom, and how often. 
TSA also seeks any other information that the commenter believes would 
be helpful to TSA in considering this matter.

    Issued in Arlington, VA, on October 30, 2003.
James M. Loy,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 03-27782 Filed 11-4-03; 8:45 am]
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