[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 28, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36812-36813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10174]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Fees for Sanitation Inspections of Cruise Ships

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Request for public comment on proposed modification of fee 
structure for vessel sanitation inspections beginning fiscal year 2007.

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SUMMARY: CDC began charging fees to conduct sanitation inspections of 
cruise vessels in 1988. The purpose of these charges is to recover full 
costs of operating the Vessel Sanitation Program. CDC is requesting 
comments to the modified fee schedule; the modified fee schedule 
includes an additional vessel size, the ``mega-sized'' vessel, for any 
vessel that is greater than 120,000 Gross Registered Tons (GRT). A 
modified fee schedule would go into effect in the beginning of the next 
fiscal year, October 2007.

DATE: Submit all comments on or before August 1, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: David L. Forney, Chief, Vessel Sanitation 
Program, National Center for Environmental Health/VSP, Centers for 
Disease Control, 4770 Buford Highway, NE., Mailstop F-23, Atlanta, 
Georgia 30341-3724; Telephone: (770) 488-7333; E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose

    The purpose of revising the fee schedule is to cover increasing 
operational costs of the Vessel Sanitation Program. Because of the 
significant increase in complexity and size, mega-category vessels will 
require more inspectors in order to conduct a comprehensive sanitation 
inspection within the timeframe that a vessel is in port. Currently, 
the extra large category (i.e. all ships greater than 60,000 GRT) is 
the largest vessel category in the fee schedule. When the schedule was 
created in 1988, no vessels larger than 60,000 GRT existed. VSP is 
proposing the revised fee schedule to accommodate the current trends in 
vessel size and complexity.

Proposed Modifications to the Fee Schedule

    The proposed modification to the fee schedule adds a mega-category 
ship which includes any vessel greater than 120,000 GRT. In 2007, 
approximately eight ships will meet this criterion.

Formula for the Fee Schedule

    The formula used to determine the fees is as follows:
    [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN28JN06.001
    
    2. Average cost per inspection x Approximate cost ($US) Per GRT = 
per-ship inspection cost.
    To get the per-ship inspection cost:
    1. Divide the total operating cost of VSP by estimated number of 
inspections to get the average cost per inspection and then;
    2. Multiply the average inspection cost by a factor based on the 
ship size/cost factor to arrive at an approximate per-ship inspection 
cost.
    The size/cost factor was established in the proposed fee schedule 
published in the Federal Register on July 17, 1987 (52 FR 27060), and 
revised in a schedule published in the Federal Register on November 28, 
1989 (54 FR 48942). The proposed revised size/cost factor is presented 
in Appendix A.

Background

    The CDC conducts sanitation inspections of passenger cruise ships 
under 42 CFR 71.41.
    The fee schedule for sanitation inspections of passenger cruise 
ships inspected under the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) was first 
published in the Federal Register on November 24, 1987 (52 FR 45019), 
and CDC began collecting fees on March 1, 1988. The fee structure 
covers the operating cost of the VSP which includes salaries, benefits, 
travel and per diem, supplies, contract services, printing, shipping, 
average equipment and instrument requirements, and appropriate support 
costs.

Applicability

    The fees will apply to all passengers cruise vessels for which 
inspections are conducted as part of CDC's VSP.

    Dated: June 20, 2006.
James D. Seligman,
Chief Information Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC).

Appendix A

                            Size/Cost Factor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Approximate
               Vessel size                     GRT \1\        cost ($US)
                                                               per GRT
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Extra Small.............................            < 3,001         0.25
Small...................................       3,001-15,000         0.50
Medium..................................      15,001-30,000         1.00
Large...................................      30,001-60,000         1.50
Extra Large.............................     60,000-120,000         2.00
Mega*...................................           >120,001         2.50
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*New Vessel Size Category.
\1\ Gross register tonnage in cubic feet, as shown in Lloyd's Register
  of Shipping.


                          Example Fee Schedule
                    [Based on fiscal year 2006 Fees]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Vessel size                     GRT \1\       Fee ($U.S.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Extra Small.............................            < 3,000        1,300
Small...................................       3,001-15,000        2,600
Medium..................................      15,001-30,000        5,200
Large...................................      30,001-60,000        7,800
Extra Large.............................     60,001-120,000       10,400
Mega*...................................           >120,001       15,600
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*New Vessel Size Category.
\1\ Gross register tonnage in cubic feet, as shown in Lloyd's Register
  of Shipping.


[[Page 36813]]

    Inspections and reinspections involve the same procedure, 
require the same amount of time, and are therefore charged at the 
same rate.
 [FR Doc. E6-10174 Filed 6-27-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P