[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 187 (Friday, September 26, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57782-57783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22939]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

19 CFR Part 122

[CBP Dec. 14-10]


Technical Amendment to List of User Fee Airports: Addition of 
John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California and Renaming of Williams 
Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport

AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) regulations by revising the list of user fee airports to reflect 
the recent user fee airport designation for the John Wayne Airport in 
Santa Ana, California and the renaming of the Williams Gateway Airport 
in Mesa, Arizona to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. User fee airports 
are those airports which, while not qualifying for designation as 
international or landing rights airports, have been approved by the 
Commissioner of CBP to receive, for a fee, the services of CBP officers 
for the processing of aircraft entering the United States, and the 
passengers and cargo of those aircraft.

DATES: Effective Date: September 26, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roger Kaplan, Office of Field 
Operations, [email protected] or 202-325-4543.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Title 19, part 122, Code of Federal Regulations (19 CFR part 122), 
sets forth regulations relating to the entry and clearance of aircraft 
in international commerce and the transportation of persons and cargo 
by aircraft in international commerce.
    Generally, a civil aircraft arriving from a place outside of the 
United States is required to land at an airport designated as an 
international airport. Alternatively, the pilot of a civil aircraft may 
request permission to land at a specific airport, and, if landing 
rights are granted by CBP, the civil aircraft may land at that landing 
rights airport.
    Section 236 of the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-573), 
codified at 19 U.S.C. 58b, created an option for civil aircraft 
desiring to land at an airport other than an international airport or a 
landing rights airport. A civil aircraft arriving from a place outside 
of the United States may ask for permission to land at an airport 
designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security as a user fee airport.
    Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 58b, an airport may be designated as a user 
fee airport if the Commissioner of CBP, as delegated by the Secretary 
of Homeland Security, determines that the volume of business at the 
airport is insufficient to justify customs services at the airport and 
the governor of the state in which the airport is located approves the 
designation.
    As the volume of business anticipated at this type of airport is 
insufficient to justify its designation as an international or landing 
rights airport, the availability of customs services is not paid for 
out of appropriations from the general treasury of the United States. 
Instead, customs services are provided on a fully reimbursable basis to 
be paid for by the user fee airport on behalf of the recipients of the 
services. Generally, the type of airport that would seek designation as 
a user fee airport would be one at which a company, such as an air 
courier service, has a specialized interest in regularly landing.
    The Commissioner of CBP designates airports as user fee airports 
pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 58b. If the Commissioner decides that the 
conditions for designation as a user fee airport are satisfied, a 
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is executed between the Commissioner of 
CBP and the local responsible official signing on behalf of the state, 
city, or municipality in which the airport is located. In this manner, 
user fee airports are designated on a case-by-case basis.
    The fees which are to be charged at user fee airports shall be paid 
by each person using the customs services at the airport and shall be 
in the amount equal to the expenses incurred by the Commissioner of CBP 
in providing customs services which are rendered to such person at such 
airport, including the salary and expenses of those employed by the 
Commissioner of CBP

[[Page 57783]]

to provide the customs services. To implement this provision, 
generally, the airport seeking the designation as a user fee airport or 
that airport's authority agrees to pay a flat fee for which the users 
of the airport are to reimburse the airport/airport authority. The 
airport/airport authority agrees to set and periodically review the 
charges to ensure that they are in accord with the airport's expenses.
    The regulation pertaining to user fee airports is 19 CFR 122.15. It 
addresses the procedures for obtaining permission to land at a user fee 
airport, the grounds for withdrawal of a user fee designation and 
includes the list of user fee airports designated by the Commissioner 
of CBP in accordance with 19 U.S.C. 58b.
    Periodically, CBP updates the list of user fee airports at 19 CFR 
122.15(b) to reflect those that have been recently designated by the 
Commissioner and other changes, such as a name change for a listed user 
fee airport. On April 15, 2012, the Commissioner of CBP signed a MOA 
approving the designation of user fee status for the John Wayne 
Airport. This document updates the list of user fee airports by adding 
John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California to the list.
    On September 17, 2007, the Williams Gateway Airport Authority 
approved the renaming of the Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona 
to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. This name change went into effect 
on October 15, 2007. This document updates the list of user fee 
airports to reflect the renaming of the Williams Gateway Airport to the 
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

II. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements

A. Inapplicability of Public Notice and Delayed Effective Date 
Requirements

    Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553(b)), an agency 
may waive the normal notice and comment requirements if it finds, for 
good cause, that they are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to 
the public interest. This final rule updates the list of user fee 
airports to add an airport that has already been designated by the 
Commissioner of CBP in accordance with 19 U.S.C. 58b as a user fee 
airport and to reflect a name change for one of the listed airports. 
These amendments are conforming changes to update the list of user fee 
airports. Therefore, notice and comment for this rule is unnecessary 
because the rule has no substantive impact, is technical in nature, and 
it relates only to management, organization, procedure, and practice. 
For the same reasons, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), a delayed 
effective date is not required.

B. The Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866

    Because no notice of proposed rulemaking is required, the 
provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) do 
not apply. This amendment does not meet the criteria for a 
``significant regulatory action'' as specified in Executive Order 
12866, as supplemented by Executive Order 13563.

C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    This rule will not result in the expenditure by State, local, and 
tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 
million or more in any one year, and it will not significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments. Therefore, no actions are necessary 
under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.

D. Executive Order 13132

    The 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. Therefore, in accordance with section 6 of Executive 
Order 13132, this rule does not have sufficient federalism implications 
to warrant the preparation of a federalism summary impact statement.

E. Signing Authority

    This document is limited to technical amendments of CBP 
regulations. Accordingly, it is being signed under the authority of 19 
CFR 0.1(b).

List of Subjects in 19 CFR Part 122

    Air carriers, Aircraft, Airports, Customs duties and inspection, 
Freight.

Amendments to Regulations

    For the reasons set forth above, part 122, Code of Federal 
Regulations (19 CFR part 122) is amended as set forth below:

PART 122--AIR COMMERCE REGULATIONS

0
1. The authority citation for Part 122 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 58b, 66, 1431, 1433, 1436, 
1448, 1459, 1590, 1594, 1623, 1624, 1644, 1644a, 2071 note.


Sec.  122.15  [Amended]

0
2. The listing of user fee airports in Sec.  122.15(b) is amended as 
follows:
0
a. Add, in alphabetical order, in the ``Location'' column ``Santa Ana, 
California'' and add on the same line, in the ``Name'' column ``John 
Wayne Airport.''; and
0
b. In the ``Name'' column adjacent to the listing in the ``Location'' 
column of ``Mesa, Arizona'', remove ``Williams Gateway Airport.'' and 
add in its place ``Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.''

    Dated: September 22, 2014.
R. Gil Kerlikowske,
Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
[FR Doc. 2014-22939 Filed 9-25-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P