[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 111 (Wednesday, June 9, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32312-32317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-12722]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 594

[Docket No. NHTSA 2004-17987; Notice 1]
RIN 2127-AJ34


Schedule of Fees Authorized by 49 U.S.C. 30141

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document proposes fees for Fiscal Year 2005 and until 
further notice, as authorized by 49 U.S.C. 30141, relating to the 
registration of importers and the importation of motor vehicles not 
certified as conforming to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards 
(FMVSS). These fees are needed to maintain the registered importer (RI) 
program.

DATES: You should submit your comments early enough to ensure that 
Docket Management receives them not later than July 26, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit your comments in writing to: Docket 
Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.
    Alternatively, you may submit your comments electronically by 
logging onto the Docket Management System (DMS) Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help & Information'' of ``Help/Info'' to view 
instructions for filing your comments electronically. Regardless of how 
you submit your comments, you should mention the docket and notice 
number of this document. You can find the number at the beginning of 
this document.
    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our 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 DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Coleman Sachs, Office of Vehicle 
Safety Compliance, NHTSA (202-366-5291). For legal issues, you may call 
Michael Goode, Office of Chief Counsel, NHTSA (202-366-5263). You may 
call Docket Management at 202-366-9324. You may visit the Docket in 
person from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    On June 24, 1996, at 61 FR 32411, we published a notice that 
discussed in full the rulemaking history of 49 CFR part 594 and the 
fees authorized by the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act of 1988, 
Public Law 100-562, since recodified as 49 U.S.C. 30141-47. The reader 
is referred to that notice for background information relating to this 
rulemaking action. Certain fees were initially established to become 
effective January 31, 1990, and have been in effect and occasionally 
modified since then.
    The fees applicable in any fiscal year are to be established before 
the beginning of such year. We are proposing fees that would become 
effective on October 1, 2004, the beginning of FY 2005. The statute 
authorizes fees to cover the costs of the importer registration 
program, to cover the cost of making import eligibility determinations, 
and to cover the cost of processing the bonds furnished to the 
Department of Homeland Security (Customs). We last amended the fee 
schedule in 2002. See final rule published on September 26, 2002 at 67 
FR 60596 (corrected on October 9, 2002 at 67 FR 62897). Those fees 
apply to Fiscal Years 2003 and 2004.
    The proposed fees are based on actual time and costs associated 
with the tasks for which the fees are assessed and reflect the slight 
increase in hourly costs in the past two fiscal years attributable to 
the approximately 4.27 and 4.42 percent raises (including the locality 
adjustment for Washington, DC) in salaries of employees on the General 
Schedule that became effective on January 1, 2003, and on January 1, 
2004, respectively.

Requirements of the Fee Regulation

Section 594.6--Annual Fee for Administration of the Importer 
Registration Program

    Section 30141(a)(3) of title 49, U.S. Code provides that RIs must 
pay the annual fee the Secretary of Transportation establishes ``* * * 
to

[[Page 32313]]

pay for the costs of carrying out the registration program for 
importers. * * *'' This fee is payable both by new applicants and by 
existing RIs. To maintain its registration, each RI, at the time it 
submits its annual fee, must also file a statement affirming that the 
information it furnished in its registration application (or in later 
submissions amending that information) remains correct (49 CFR 
592.5(e)).
    In compliance with the statutory directive, we reviewed the 
existing fees and their bases in an attempt to establish fees that 
would be sufficient to recover the costs of carrying out the 
registration program for importers for at least the next two fiscal 
years. The initial component of the Registration Program Fee is the fee 
attributable to processing and acting upon registration applications. 
We have tentatively determined that this fee should be decreased from 
$395 to $293 for new applications. We have also tentatively determined 
that the fee for the review of the annual statement should be increased 
from $195 to $208. The proposed adjustments reflect our time 
expenditures in reviewing both new applications and annual statements 
with accompanying documentation, as well as the inflation factor 
attributable to Federal salary increases and locality adjustments in 
the two years since the regulation was last amended.
    We must also recover costs attributable to maintenance of the 
registration program that arise from the need for us to review a 
registrant's annual statement and to verify the continuing validity of 
information already submitted. These costs also include anticipated 
costs attributable to the possible revocation or suspension of 
registrations and reflect the amount of time that we have devoted to 
those matters in the past two years.
    Based upon our review of these costs, the portion of the fee 
attributable to the maintenance of the registration program is 
approximately $537 for each RI, an increase of $277. When this $537 is 
added to the $293 representing the registration application component, 
the cost to an applicant comes to $830, which is the fee we propose. 
This represents an increase of $186 over the existing fee. When the 
$537 is added to the $208 representing the annual statement component, 
the total cost to the RI comes to $745, which represents an increase of 
$290.
    Section 594.6(h) enumerates indirect costs associated with 
processing the annual renewal of RI registrations. The provision states 
that these costs represent a pro rata allocation of the average salary 
and benefits of employees who process the annual statements and perform 
related functions, and ``a pro rata allocation of the costs 
attributable to maintaining the office space, and the computer or word 
processor.'' For the purpose of establishing the fees that are 
currently in existence, indirect costs were calculated at $14.85 per 
man-hour. We are proposing to increase this figure by $5.22, to $20.07. 
Although this represents a substantial increase, it is necessitated by 
significantly greater expenditures for computer-related functions that 
are anticipated within the Department of Transportation over the next 
two fiscal years, and a significant reduction in the number of full 
time equivalent positions within the Department as a result of the 
transfer of the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security 
Administration to the Department of Homeland Security.

Sections 594.7, 594.8--Fees To Cover Agency Costs in Making Importation 
Eligibility Determinations

    Section 30141(a)(3) also requires registered importers to pay other 
fees the Secretary of Transportation establishes to cover the costs of 
``* * * (B) making the decisions under this subchapter.'' This includes 
decisions on whether the vehicle sought to be imported is substantially 
similar to a motor vehicle that was originally manufactured for 
importation into and sale in the United States and certified by its 
original manufacturer as complying with all applicable FMVSS, and 
whether the vehicle is capable of being readily altered to meet those 
standards. Alternatively, where there is no substantially similar U.S. 
certified motor vehicle, the decision is whether the safety features of 
the vehicle comply with or are capable of being altered to comply with 
the FMVSS based on destructive test information or such other evidence 
NHTSA deems to be adequate. These decisions are made in response to 
petitions submitted by RIs or manufacturers, or on the Administrator's 
own initiative.
    The fee for a vehicle imported under an eligibility decision made 
in response to a petition is payable in part by the petitioner and in 
part by other importers. The fee to be charged for each vehicle is the 
estimated pro rata share of the costs in making all the eligibility 
determinations in a fiscal year.
    Inflation and General Schedule raises must also be taken into 
account in the computation of costs. We have reduced processing costs 
through issuing a single Federal Register notice to announce import 
eligibility decisions made on multiple vehicles and achieved other 
efficiencies through improved computerization methods. Despite the cost 
savings that have accrued from these practices, we have had to devote 
an increasing share of staff time in the past two years to the review 
and processing of import eligibility petitions owing to a 
proportionately greater number of comments being submitted in response 
to these petitions, as well as complications that result when the 
petitioner or one or more commenters request confidentiality for 
information they submit to the agency. Additional staff time is also 
needed to analyze the petitions and any comments received owing to new 
requirements being adopted in the FMVSS. Despite the additional 
resources that are needed to review import eligibility petitions, we 
are not proposing to increase the current fee of $175 that covers the 
initial processing of a ``substantially similar'' petition. Instead, as 
discussed below, we are proposing to address these additional costs by 
increasing the pro-rata share of petition costs that are assessed 
against the importer of each vehicle covered by the decision to grant 
import eligibility. Likewise, we are also proposing to maintain the 
existing fee of $800 to cover the initial costs for processing 
petitions for vehicles that have no substantially similar U.S.-
certified counterpart.
    In the event that a petitioner requests an inspection of a vehicle, 
the fee for such an inspection will increase to $827 from $550 for 
vehicles that are the subject of either type of petition. This $277 
increase reflects current per diem and airfare costs.
    Importers of vehicles determined to be eligible for importation 
pay, upon the importation of those vehicles, a pro rata share of the 
total cost for making the eligibility decision. The importation fee 
varies depending upon the basis on which the vehicle is determined to 
be eligible. For vehicles covered by an eligibility decision on the 
agency's own initiative (other than vehicles imported from Canada that 
are covered by VSA Nos. 80-83, for which no eligibility decision fee is 
assessed), the fee will remain $125. NHTSA determined that the costs 
associated with previous eligibility determinations on the agency's own 
initiative were fully recovered by October 1, 2000. We apply the fee of 
$125 per vehicle only to vehicles covered by determinations made by the 
agency on its own initiative on or after October 1, 2000.
    The agency's costs for making an import eligibility decision 
pursuant to a petition are borne in part by the petitioner and in part 
by the importers of vehicles imported under the petition.

[[Page 32314]]

In 2003, the most recent year for which complete data exists, the 
agency expended over $99,000 in making import eligibility decisions 
based on petitions. The petitioners paid nearly $9,000 of that amount 
in the processing fees that accompanied the filing of their petitions, 
leaving the remaining $90,000 to be recovered from the importers of the 
nearly 600 vehicles imported that year pursuant to petition-based 
import eligibility decisions. Dividing $90,000 by 600 yields a pro-rata 
fee of $150 for each vehicle imported pursuant to an eligibility 
decision that resulted from the granting of a petition. The agency is 
proposing this as the pro rata fee to be paid by the importer of each 
such vehicle. The same $150 fee would be paid regardless of whether the 
vehicle was petitioned under 49 CFR 593.6(a), based on the substantial 
similarity of the vehicle to a U.S. certified model, or was petitioned 
under 49 CFR 593.6(b), based on the safety features of the vehicle 
complying with, or being capable of being modified to comply with all 
applicable FMVSS. This would represent an increase of $45 over the $105 
that is currently paid by the importers of vehicles determined eligible 
based on their substantial similarity to a U.S. certified vehicle, and 
an increase of $25 over the $125 that is currently paid by the 
importers of vehicles determined eligible based on their capability of 
being modified to comply.

Section 594.9--Fee To Recover the Costs of Processing the Bond

    Section 30141(a)(3) also requires a registered importer to pay any 
other fees the Secretary of Transportation establishes ``* * * to pay 
for the costs of--(A) processing bonds provided to the Secretary of the 
Treasury * * *'' upon the importation of a nonconforming vehicle to 
ensure that the vehicle will be brought into compliance within a 
reasonable time, or if it is not brought into compliance within such 
time, that it be exported, without cost to the United States, or 
abandoned to the United States.
    The Department of Homeland Security (Customs) now exercises the 
functions associated with the processing of these bonds. The statute 
contemplates that we will make a reasonable determination of the cost 
that Department incurs in processing the bonds. In essence, the cost to 
Customs is based upon an estimate of the time that a GS-9, Step 5 
employee spends on each entry, which Customs has judged to be 20 
minutes.
    Based on General Schedule salary and locality raises that were 
effective in January 2003 and 2004 and the inclusion of costs for 
benefits that were previously omitted, we are proposing that the 
processing fee be increased by $3.10, from $6.20 per bond to $9.30. 
This fee would more closely reflect the direct and indirect costs that 
are actually associated with processing the bonds.

Section 594.10--Fee for Review and Processing of Conformity Certificate

    Each RI is currently required to pay $18 per vehicle to cover the 
costs the agency incurs in reviewing a certificate of conformity. We 
have found that these costs continue to average $18 per vehicle for 
vehicles for which a paper entry and fee payment is made, and we 
therefore are not proposing to change this fee. However, if a RI enters 
a vehicle through the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) system, has an 
e-mail address to receive communications from NHTSA, and pays the fee 
by credit card, the cost savings that we realize allow us to 
significantly reduce the fee to $6.00. We propose to maintain the fee 
of $6.00 per vehicle if all the information in the ABI entry is 
correct. Errors in ABI entries not only eliminate any time savings, but 
also require additional staff time to be expended in reconciling the 
erroneous ABI entry information to the conformity data that is 
ultimately submitted. Recent experience with these errors has shown 
that staff members must examine records, make time-consuming long 
distance telephone calls, and often consult supervisory personnel to 
resolve the conflicts in the data. We have calculated this staff and 
supervisory time, as well the telephone charges, to amount to 
approximately $42 for each erroneous ABI entry. Adding this to the $6 
fee for the review of conformity packages on automated entries yields a 
total of $48, representing a $30 increase over the fee that is 
currently charged when there are errors to resolve in the entry or in 
the statement of conformity. We are proposing this fee to review each 
conformity package for which there are one or more errors in the ABI 
entry or in the statement of conformity.

Effective Date

    The proposed effective date of the final rule is October 1, 2004.

Rulemaking Analyses

A. Executive Order 12866 and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures

    NHTSA has considered the impact of this rulemaking action under 
Executive Order 12866 and the Department of Transportation's regulatory 
policies and procedures. This rulemaking is not significant. 
Accordingly, the Office of Management and Budget has not reviewed this 
rulemaking document under Executive Order 12886. Further, NHTSA has 
determined that the rulemaking is not significant under Department of 
Transportation's regulatory policies and procedures. Based on the level 
of the fees and the volume of affected vehicles, NHTSA currently 
anticipates that the costs of the final rule will be so minimal as not 
to warrant preparation of a full regulatory evaluation. The action does 
not involve any substantial public interest or controversy. There will 
be no substantial effect upon State and local governments. There will 
be no substantial impact upon a major transportation safety program. A 
regulatory evaluation analyzing the economic impact of the final rule 
establishing the registered importer program, adopted on September 29, 
1989, was prepared, and is available for review in the docket.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The agency has also considered the effects of this rulemaking 
action under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). I 
certify that this action will not have a significant economic impact 
upon a substantial number of small entities.
    The following is NHTSA's statement providing the factual basis for 
the certification (5 U.S.C. 605(b)). The proposed amendment would 
primarily affect entities that currently modify nonconforming vehicles 
and which are small businesses within the meaning of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act; however, the agency has no reason to believe that 
these companies will be unable to pay the fees proposed by this action. 
In most instances, these fees would be only modestly increased (and in 
some instances decreased) from the fees now being paid by these 
entities. Moreover, consistent with prevailing industry practices, 
these fees should be passed through to the ultimate purchasers of the 
vehicles that are altered and, in most instances, sold by the affected 
registered importers. The cost to owners or purchasers of nonconforming 
vehicles that are altered to conform to the FMVSS may be expected to 
increase (or decrease) to the extent necessary to reimburse the 
registered importer for the fees payable to the agency for the cost of 
carrying out the registration program and making eligibility decisions, 
and to compensate Customs for its bond processing costs.
    Governmental jurisdictions will not be affected at all since they 
are generally

[[Page 32315]]

neither importers nor purchasers of nonconforming motor vehicles.

C. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)

    Executive Order 13132 on ``Federalism'' requires NHTSA to develop 
an accountable process to ensure ``meaningful and timely input by State 
and local officials in the development of regulatory policies that have 
Federalism implications.'' Executive Order 13132 defines the term 
``policies that have federalism implications'' to include regulations 
that have ``substantial direct effects on the States, on the 
relationship between the national government and the States, or on the 
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 
government.'' Under Executive Order 13132, NHTSA may not issue a 
regulation that has federalism implication, that imposes substantial 
direct compliance costs, and that is not required by statute, unless 
the Federal government provides the funds necessary to pay the direct 
compliance costs incurred by State and local governments, or NHTSA 
consults with State and local officials early in the process of 
developing the proposed regulation.
    The proposed rule will not have substantial direct effects on the 
States, on the relationship between the national government and the 
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the 
various levels of government as specified in Executive Order 13132. 
Thus, the requirements of section 6 of the Executive Order do not apply 
to this rulemaking action.

D. National Environmental Policy Act

    NHTSA has analyzed this action for purposes of the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The action will not have a significant effect 
upon the environment because it is anticipated that the annual volume 
of motor vehicles imported through registered importers will not vary 
significantly from that existing before promulgation of the rule.

E. Executive Order 12778 (Civil Justice Reform)

    This proposed rule would not have any retroactive or preemptive 
effect. Judicial review of a rule based on this proposal may be 
obtained pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 702. That section does not require that a 
petition for reconsideration be filed prior to seeking judicial review.

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4) requires 
agencies to prepare a written assessment of the costs, benefits, and 
other effects of proposed or final rules that include a Federal mandate 
likely to result in the expenditure by State, local, or tribal 
governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of more than 
$100 million annually (adjusted for inflation with the base year of 
1995). Because a final rule based on this proposal would not require 
the expenditure of resources beyond $100 million annually, no Unfunded 
Mandates assessment has been prepared.

G. Plain Language

    Executive Order 12866 and the President's memorandum of June 1, 
1998, require each agency to write all rules in plain language. 
Application of the principles of plain language includes consideration 
of the following questions:

--Have we organized the material to suit the public's needs?
--Are the requirements in the proposed rule clearly stated?
--Does the proposed rule contain technical language or jargon that is 
unclear?
--Would a different format (grouping and order of sections, use of 
heading, paragraphing) make the rule easier to understand?
--Would more (but shorter) sections be better?
--Could we improve clarity by adding tables, lists, or diagrams?
--What else could we do to make the rule easier to understand?

    If you have any responses to these questions, please include them 
in your comments on this document.

H. Paperwork Reduction Act

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, a person is not required 
to respond to a collection of information by a Federal agency unless 
the collection displays a valid OMB control number. This proposal would 
require no information collections.

I. Executive Order 13045

    Executive Order 13045 applies to any rule that (1) is determined to 
be ``economically significant'' as defined under E.O. 12866, and (2) 
concerns an environmental, health, or safety risk that NHTSA has reason 
to believe may have a disproportionate effect on children. If the 
regulatory action meets both criteria, we must evaluate the 
environmental health or safety effects of the planned rule on children, 
and explain why the planned rule is preferable to other potentially 
effective and reasonably feasible alternatives considered by us. This 
rulemaking is not economically significant.

J. Comments

How Do I Prepare and Submit Comments?
    Your comments must be written in English. To ensure that your 
comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the docket 
number of this document in your comments.
    Your comments must not be more than 15 pages long (49 CFR 553.21). 
We established this limit to encourage you to write your primary 
comments in a concise fashion. However, you may attach necessary 
additional documents to your comments. There is no limit on the length 
of the attachments.
    Please submit two copies of your comments, including the 
attachments, to Docket Management at the beginning of this document, 
under ADDRESSES.
How Can I Be Sure That My Comments Were Received?
    If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of 
your comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the 
envelope containing your comments. Upon receiving your comments, Docket 
Management will return the postcard by mail.
How Do I Submit Confidential Business Information?
    If you wish to submit any information under a claim of 
confidentiality, you should submit three copies of your complete 
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential 
business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the address given 
at the beginning of this document under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT. In addition, you should submit two copies from which you have 
deleted the claimed confidential business information, to Docket 
Management at the address given at the beginning of this document under 
ADDRESSES. When you send a comment containing information claimed to be 
confidential business information, you should include a cover letter 
setting forth the information specified in our confidential business 
information regulation, 49 CFR part 512.
Will the Agency Consider Late Comments?
    We will consider all comments that Docket Management receives 
before the close of business on the comment

[[Page 32316]]

closing date indicated at the beginning of this notice under DATES. To 
the extent possible, we will also consider comments that Docket 
Management receives after that date. If Docket Management receives a 
comment too late for us to consider in developing a final rule, we will 
consider that comment as an informal suggestion for future rulemaking 
action.
How Can I Read the Comments Submitted by Other People?
    You may read the comments received by Docket Management at the 
address and times given near the beginning of this document under 
ADDRESSES.
    You may also see the comments on the Internet. To read the comments 
on the Internet, take the following steps:
    (1) Go to the Docket Management System (DMS) Web page of the 
Department of Transportation (http://dms.dot.gov/).
    (2) On that page, click on ``search.''
    (3) On the next page (http://dms.dot.gov/search/), type in the 
four-digit docket number shown at the heading of this document. 
Example: If the docket number were ``NHTSA-2000-1234,'' you would type 
``1234.''
    (4) After typing the docket number, click on ``search.''
    (5) The next page contains docket summary information for the 
docket you selected. Click on the comments you wish to see. You may 
download the comments. Although the comments are imaged documents, 
instead of the word processing documents, the ``pdf'' versions of the 
documents are word searchable. Please note that even after the comment 
closing date, we will continue to file relevant information in the 
Docket as it becomes available. Further, some people may submit late 
comments. Accordingly, we recommend that you periodically search the 
Docket for new material.

K. Regulation Identifier Number (RIN)

    The Department of Transportation assigns a regulation identifier 
number (RIN) to each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of 
Federal Regulations. The Regulatory Information Service Center 
publishes the Unified Agenda in April and October of each year. You may 
use the RIN that appears in the heading on the first page of this 
document to find this action in the Unified Agenda.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA proposes to amend 49 CFR 
part 594 as follows:

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 594

    Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles.

PART 594--SCHEDULE OF FEES AUTHORIZED BY 49 U.S.C. 30141

    1. The authority citation for part 594 would continue to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30141, 31 U.S.C. 9701; delegation of 
authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

    2. Section 594.6 would be amended by;
    (a) Revising the introductory text of paragraph (a),
    (b) Revising paragraphs (b) and (c),
    (c) Revising the year ``2002'' in paragraph (d) to read ``2004,''
    (d) Revising the final sentence of paragraph (h); and
    (e) Revising paragraph (i) to read as follows:


Sec.  594.6  Annual fee for administration of the registration program.

    (a) Each person filing an application to be granted the status of a 
Registered Importer pursuant to part 592 of this chapter on or after 
October 1, 2004, must pay an annual fee of $830, as calculated in this 
section based upon the direct and indirect costs attributable to:
* * * * *
    (b) That portion of the initial annual fee attributable to the 
processing of the application for applications filed on and after 
October 1, 2004, is $537. The sum of $537, representing this portion, 
shall not be refundable if the application is denied or withdrawn.
    (c) That portion of the initial annual fee attributable to the 
remaining activities of administering the registration program on and 
after October 1, 2004, is set forth in paragraph (i) of this section. 
This portion shall be refundable if the application is denied, or 
withdrawn before final action upon it.
* * * * *
    (h) * * * This cost is $20.07 per man-hour for the period beginning 
October 1, 2004.
    (i) Based upon the elements and indirect costs of paragraphs (f), 
(g), and (h) of this section, the component of the initial annual fee 
attributable to administration of the registration program, covering 
the period beginning October 1, 2004, is $537. When added to the costs 
of registration of $293, as set forth in paragraph (b) of this section, 
the costs per applicant to be recovered through the annual fee are 
$830. The annual renewal registration fee for the period beginning 
October 1, 2004, is $745.
    3. Section 594.7 would be amended by revising paragraph (e) to read 
as follows:


Sec.  594.7  Fee for filing petitions for a determination whether a 
vehicle is eligible for importation.

* * * * *
    (e) For petitions filed on and after October 1, 2004, the fee 
payable for seeking a determination under paragraph (a)(1) of this 
section is $175. The fee payable for a petition seeking a determination 
under paragraph (a)(2) of this section is $800. If the petitioner 
requests an inspection of a vehicle, the sum of $827 shall be added to 
such fee. No portion of this fee is refundable if the petition is 
withdrawn or denied.
* * * * *
    4. Section 594.8 would be amended by revising paragraph (b) and the 
first sentence of paragraph (c) to read as follows:


Sec.  594.8  Fee for importing a vehicle pursuant to a determination by 
the Administrator.

* * * * *
    (b) If a determination has been made pursuant to a petition, the 
fee for each vehicle is $150. The direct and indirect costs that 
determine the fee are those set forth in Sec.  594.7(b), (c), and (d).
    (c) If a determination has been made on or after October 1, 2004, 
pursuant to the Administrator's initiative, the fee for each vehicle is 
$125. * * *
    5. Section 594.9 would be amended by revising paragraph (c) to read 
as follows:


Sec.  594.9  Fee for reimbursement of bond processing costs.

* * * * *
    (c) The bond processing fee for each vehicle imported on and after 
October 1, 2004, for which a certificate of conformity is furnished, is 
$9.30.
    5. Section 594.10 would be amended by revising paragraph (d) to 
read as follows:


Sec.  594.10  Fee for review and processing of conformity certificate.

* * * * *
    (d) The review and processing fee for each certificate of 
conformity submitted on and after October 1, 2004 is $18. However, if 
the vehicle covered by the certificate has been entered electronically 
with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Automated 
Broker Interface and the registered importer submitting the certificate 
has an e-mail address, the fee for the certificate is $6, provided that 
the fee is paid by a credit card issued to the registered importer. If 
NHTSA finds that the information in the entry or the certificate is 
incorrect, requiring

[[Page 32317]]

further processing, the processing fee shall be $48.

Kenneth N. Weinstein,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 04-12722 Filed 6-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P