[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 145 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43808-43809]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15045]



[[Page 43808]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Bureau of Customs and Border Protection

19 CFR Parts 101 and 122

[DHS Docket Number DHS-2005-0050]


Establishing a New Port-of-Entry in the Tri-Cities Area of 
Tennessee and Virginia and Terminating the User-Fee Status of the Tri-
Cities Regional Airport

AGENCY: Customs and Border Protection, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend the Department of Homeland 
Security regulations pertaining to the Bureau of Customs and Border 
Protection's field organization by establishing a new port-of-entry in 
the Tri-Cities area of the States of Tennessee and Virginia, including 
the Tri-Cities Regional Airport. The new port-of-entry would include 
the same geographical boundaries of the current Customs and Border 
Protection User Fee Port No. 2082, which encompasses Sullivan County, 
Tennessee; Washington County, Tennessee; and Washington County, 
Virginia. The user-fee status of Tri-Cities Regional Airport, located 
in Blountville, Tennessee, will be terminated. These changes will 
assist the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection in its continuing 
efforts to provide better service to carriers, importers and the 
general public.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 27, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket Number DHS-
2005-0050, by one of the following methods:
     EPA Federal Partner EDOCKET Web site: http://www.epa.gov/feddocket. Follow instructions for submitting comments on the Web site.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail and Hand Delivery/Courier: Regulations Branch, Office 
of Regulations and Rulings, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, 
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., (Mint Annex), Washington, DC 20229.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number DHS-2005-0050. All comments received will be posted 
without change to http://www.epa.gov/feddocket, including any personal 
information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.epa.gov/feddocket. You may also 
access the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. 
Submitted comments may also be inspected at the Regulations Branch, 
Office of Regulations and Rulings, Bureau of Customs and Border 
Protection, 799 9th Street, NW., 5th Floor, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Dore, Office of Field 
Operations, 202-344-2776.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    As part of its continuing efforts to provide better service to 
carriers, importers, and the general public, the Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS), Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is 
proposing to amend 19 CFR 101.3(b)(1) by establishing a new port-of-
entry at Tri-Cities Regional Airport and the area which it services in 
the states of Tennessee and Virginia. The new port-of-entry would 
include the same geographical boundaries of the current CBP User Fee 
Port No. 2082, which encompasses Sullivan County, Tennessee; Washington 
County, Tennessee; and Washington County, Virginia. The boundaries 
would include Tri-Cities Regional Airport, located in Blountville, 
Tennessee, which currently operates and is listed as a user-fee airport 
at 19 CFR 122.15(b). This proposed change of status for Tri-Cities 
Regional Airport from a user-fee airport to inclusion within the 
boundaries of a port-of-entry would subject the airport to the 
passenger processing fee provided for at 19 U.S.C. 58c(a)(5)(B).

Port-of-Entry Criteria

    The criteria considered by CBP in determining whether to establish 
a port-of-entry are found in Treasury Decision (T.D.) 82-37 (Revision 
of Customs Criteria for Establishing Ports of Entry and Stations, 47 FR 
10137), as revised by T.D. 86-14 (51 FR 4559) and T.D. 87-65 (52 FR 
16328). Under these criteria, CBP will evaluate whether there is a 
sufficient volume of import business (actual or potential) to justify 
the expense of maintaining a new office or expanding service at an 
existing location. Specifically, CBP will consider whether the proposed 
port-of-entry location can:
    (1) Demonstrate that the benefits to be derived justify the Federal 
Government expense involved;
    (2) Except in the case of land border ports, be serviced by at 
least two major modes of transportation (rail, air, water, or highway); 
and
    (3) Except in the case of land border ports, have a minimum 
population of 300,000 within the immediate service area (approximately 
a 70-mile radius).
    In addition, one of the following actual or potential workload 
criteria (minimum number of transactions per year), or an appropriate 
combination thereof, must be met in the area to be serviced by the 
proposed port-of-entry:
    (1) 15,000 international air passengers;
    (2) 2,500 formal consumption entries (each valued over $2,000), 
with the applicant location committing to optimal use of electronic 
data input means to permit integration with any CBP system for 
electronic processing of entries, with no more than half of the 2,500 
entries being attributed to one private party;
    (3) For land border ports, 150,000 vehicles;
    (4) 2,000 scheduled international aircraft arrivals (passengers 
and/or crew); or
    (5) 350 cargo vessel arrivals.
    Finally, facilities at the proposed port of entry must include, 
where appropriate, wharfage and anchorage adequate for oceangoing 
vessels, cargo and passenger facilities, warehouse space for the secure 
storage of imported cargo pending final CBP inspection and release, and 
administrative office space, inspection areas, storage areas, and other 
space as necessary for regular CBP operations.

Tri-Cities' Workload Statistics

    The proposal in this document to establish the Tri-Cites area as a 
port of entry is based on CBP's analysis of the following information:
    1. Tri-Cities is serviced by three modes of transportation:
    (a) Rail (The Norfolk Southern Railway and the CSX Corporation);
    (b) Air (Tri-Cities Regional Airport); and
    (c) Highway (three major U.S. highways: I-81; I-26; and U.S. 23).
    2. The current population within a 60-mile service area of the Tri-
Cities
    Regional Airport is 1,905,491.
    3. Regarding the five actual or potential workload criteria, 3,522 
entries were filed at Tri-Cities Regional User Fee Airport in 2003, 
with no more than half of the entries attributable to any one private 
party. The airport has averaged 3,540 entries annually over the past 
several years with the average value of each entry being $24,620. In 
the past eight (8) years, Tri-Cities has experienced a growth rate of 
409 percent in the number of entries filed.

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Approximately 251 companies (primarily importers) are currently 
serviced by the airport.
    CBP facilities are already in place at the Tri-Cities Regional User 
Fee Airport. CBP believes that the establishment of this port will 
provide significant benefits to the local community, further enhancing 
the economic growth that is already being experienced in this area, by 
providing enhanced business competitiveness for existing enterprises 
and enabling the retention and expansion of the number of jobs in the 
area.
    The Tri-Cities Regional Airport is committed to continue making the 
optimal use of electronic data transfer capability to permit 
integration with the CBP Automated Commercial System for processing 
entries. This commitment is shown in the current financial support, 
furnished by the Tri-Cities Airport Commission, of an interstate 
dedicated data line and computer upgrades. Since October 1, 2003, two 
companies, each with the automated capacity to interface with CBP, have 
occupied established offices in the Tri-Cities Airport.

Description of Proposed Port-of-Entry Limits

    The geographical limits of the proposed Tri-Cities, TN/VA, port of 
entry would be as follows:
    The contiguous outer boundaries of Sullivan County, Tennessee; 
Washington County, Tennessee; and Washington County, Virginia.

Proposed Amendments to Regulations

    If the proposed port of entry designation is adopted, the list of 
CBP ports of entry at 19 CFR 101.3(b)(1) will be amended to add Tri-
Cities, TN/VA, as a port of entry in Tennessee, and ``Tri-City Regional 
Airport'' will be deleted from the list of user-fee airports at 19 CFR 
122.15(b). Note that the regulations currently refer to the airport as 
``Tri-City'' rather than the correct ``Tri-Cities.''

Comments

    Before adopting this proposal, consideration will be given to any 
written comments that are timely submitted to CBP. All such comments 
received from the public pursuant to this notice of proposed rulemaking 
will be available for public inspection in accordance with the Freedom 
of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and 19 CFR 103.11(b), during regular 
business days between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the 
Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, Customs and 
Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, 799 9th Street, 
NW., Washington, DC. Arrangements to inspect submitted comments should 
be made in advance by calling Mr. Joseph Clark at (202) 572-8768. 
Comments may also be accessed on the EPA Partner EDOCKET Web site or 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. For additional information on accessing 
comments via the EPA Partner EDOCKET Web Site or Federal eRulemaking 
Portal, see the ADDRESSES section of this document.

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

    With DHS approval, CBP establishes, expands and consolidates CBP 
ports of entry throughout the United States to accommodate the volume 
of CBP-related activity in various parts of the country. The Office of 
Management and Budget has determined that this regulatory action is not 
significant within the meaning of Executive Order 12866. This proposed 
rule also will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. Accordingly, it is certified that this 
document is not subject to the additional requirements of the 
provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

Signing Authority

    The signing authority for this document falls under 19 CFR 0.2(a) 
because the establishment of a new port-of-entry and the termination of 
the user-fee status of an airport are not within the bounds of those 
regulations for which the Secretary of the Treasury has retained sole 
authority. Accordingly, this notice of proposed rulemaking may be 
signed by the Secretary of Homeland Security (or his or her delegate).

    Dated: July 25, 2005.
Michael Chertoff,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-15045 Filed 7-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4820-02-P