[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 203 (Monday, October 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48982-48985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22953]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[Docket No.: 170413395-7395-02]
RIN 0625-XCO3


2017 Fee Schedule for National Travel and Tourism Office for the 
Advance Passenger Information System (APIS)/I-92 Program, I-94 
International Arrivals Program, and Survey of International Air 
Travelers Program

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Final notice of implementation of user fees.

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SUMMARY: The International Trade Administration (ITA) solicited public 
feedback on its proposal to adjust the National Travel & Tourism Office 
(NTTO) 2017 I-94/APIS & SIAT data user fees for three programs after 
considering an independent cost study which concluded that ITA is not 
fully covering its costs for providing services under the current fee 
structure. Federal agencies are directed by Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) Circular A-25 to ensure they recoup their costs when 
providing certain services. The NTTO provides key market intelligence 
to the government and travel industry to help U.S. businesses expand 
travel exports. ITA, through the NTTO, will continue to

[[Page 48983]]

provide information and services that benefit the general public 
without charge. No changes were made to the proposed user fees in 
response to public feedback, although the NTTO did expand the number of 
surveys for the 2017 Survey of International Air Travelers from 77,000 
to 80,000. As part of this announcement, ITA announces the final user 
fees schedule for its 2017 data.

DATES: The user fees schedule will be applicable November 22, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Champley at (202) 482-4753 or 
[email protected]; or Claudia Wolfe at (202) 482-4555 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    There are three main research programs through which the public may 
obtain data on international travelers to and from the United States 
additional to the free information already posted to the NTTO Web site. 
The proposed 2017 data fees are for (1) the monthly, quarterly and 
annual data from the APIS/I-92 Program, (2) the I-94 International 
Arrivals Program, and (3) the annual custom reports, data tables and 
files from the Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT) Program.
    Consistent with the guidelines in OMB Circular A-25 federal 
agencies are responsible for conducting a biennial review of all 
programs to determine the types of activities subject to user fees and 
the basis upon which user fees are to be set.
    In addition to OMB Circular A-25, the NTTO also follows OMB 
Circular A-130, which mandates federal agencies to develop and to 
maintain a comprehensive set of information management policies for use 
across the government, and to promote the application of information 
technology to improve the use and dissemination of information in the 
operation of Federal programs. The role of NTTO is to enhance the 
international competitiveness of the U.S. travel and tourism industry 
and to increase its exports, thereby creating U.S. employment and 
economic growth. The primary functions of the NTTO are: (1) Management 
of the travel and tourism statistical system for assessing the economic 
contribution of the industry and providing the sole source for 
characteristic statistics on international travel to and from the 
United States; (2) design and administration of export expansion 
activities; (3) development and management of tourism policy, strategy 
and advocacy; and (4) technical assistance for expanding this key 
export (international tourism) and assisting in domestic economic 
development.
    The NTTO has provided the I-94/APIS & SIAT data for many years and 
has developed a subscriber base for each of these programs. The fees 
collected for these reports pay for ITA costs to develop the reports 
and support research for the continuation and expansion of improvements 
to the data provided by NTTO. In 2016, the NTTO issued Fee Schedule 
increases for the APIS/I-92 program, the I-94 International Arrivals 
Program and the SIAT Program. The contractor prices are six percent 
greater than the 2016 contract prices for the SIAT base program and 27 
percent greater for the I-94 program. This increase is due in part to 
increased quality management checks associated with this program. 
Additionally, there is a nearly 30 percent increase in the cost for 
custom reports for both programs. Custom reports costs increased 
because of the necessity to combine multiple years of sample, as well 
as incorporate additional data in Table 1A and Table 1. Fees for the 
APIS/I-92 program are being increased to help offset an ITA budget cut 
and the much larger increases in costs to the I-94 and SIAT program, 
because all three programs are interdependent upon one another and used 
to provide the SIAT data.
    Additionally, for 2017 data, to ameliorate the increased costs 
while keeping the program fees as low as possible, ITA proposed to cut 
the SIAT sample from 96,000 surveys in 2016 to 77,000 surveys in 2017, 
but because of the overwhelming response to the Federal Register 
Notice, the NTTO has decided the sample will be set at 80,000, up from 
77,000. NTTO anticipates that the 2018 sample level will also be 80,000 
depending upon the FY2018 budget. The increased fees for 2017 data are 
necessary to avoid additional cuts. The NTTO had asked about the 
industry's preference on a cut in sample as a method to keep the fee 
increases lower. The response was overwhelmingly against cutting the 
sample.

Amendments to Original User Fee Proposal in Response to Public Comments

    ITA solicited public comment on the proposed revisions to the user 
fees during a 30-day period from June 26, 2017 to July 26, 2017 (82 FR 
28820, June 26, 2017). Over 40 comments were received in response to 
the proposal. The individual comments can be viewed on the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal: www.Regulations.gov. The identification number is 
ITA-2017-0005. All comments received during this time were reviewed and 
considered with respect to the final user fee schedule. A summary of 
the comments is provided below:
    Comment: The overwhelming response to the Federal Register Notice 
was related to the proposed cut in the 2017 sample from 96,000 to 
77,000. Nearly 95 percent of the respondents registered their complaint 
about the sample size reductions.
    Response: The last two years for the SIAT were the largest sample 
ever for this program. In 2015 it was nearly 97,000, and in 2016 it was 
over 96,000. Prior to those two years, the NTTO SIAT sample had been 
between 73,500 to 80,000 from 2007 to 2013 and lower in previous years. 
As stated previously, sharply increasing costs in 2017 and budget 
uncertainty for future fiscal years required a sample size cut. The 
NTTO takes this opportunity to remind users that most clients combine 
samples for their custom reports and with the two highest sample years 
prior to 2017, clients will benefit from those years. In response to 
overwhelming comments for a larger sample, the NTTO has issued a task 
order to set the 2017 sample to 80,000, up from the initial 77,000 
surveys.
    Comment: Nearly 50 percent of the respondents expressed concern 
over the reliability or related terms of the sample due to the 
reductions.
    Response: The SIAT sample is not the only item used to provide the 
visitation, spending, and traveler characteristics data from the SIAT. 
The data is weighted to the I-94 count of overseas and Mexican air 
travelers to the USA and to the ports of entry data. The weights for 
each respondent are assigned to all responses so when the SIAT 
estimates for country of residency and port of entry are compared to 
the I-94 population counts, the variance is 0.0 percent, showing the 
weighting aligns the sample with the travel population. This weighting 
coupled with two years of robust sample sizes in 2015 and 2016 ensures 
the reliability of the data.
    Comment: 40 percent of the respondents supported the fee increase 
to mitigate the cut in sample, while only 14% objected to the fee 
increase.
    Response: The NTTO will implement the proposed fee increase for the 
2017 data given the majority of customers requested a greater sample 
size and 40 percent of the respondents are willing to accept the 15 
percent fee increase.
    Comment: 40 percent of the respondents noted that the decline in 
the sample for 2017 would have a larger

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impact on small and medium size destinations.
    Response: Unfortunately, in a representative sample of the 
international travel market to and from the U.S., the top destinations 
will obtain a larger sample. It should be noted that the NTTO reviews 
the sample collections yearly and tries to adjust it to keep the sample 
representative of both the inbound and outbound travel population. ITA 
is considering encouraging additional destinations/ports to cooperate 
in our Supplemental Airport Survey Program to increase the data 
supplied from small and medium size destinations.
    Comment: 14 percent of the respondents opposed the fee increase 
stating it would hurt smaller destinations more than larger ones.
    Response: 40 percent of respondents supported the increase, many of 
which are small businesses or destinations. As noted above, the demand 
for a larger sample, the increasing costs of operating the program and 
declining budget require ITA to raise fees.
    Comment: 10 percent of the respondents commented that these 
programs should continue to be adequately funded and sustained because 
the research and data is important to the industry.
    Response: Congress has mandated, through the Travel Promotion Act, 
that the Department of Commerce continue and expand its research 
programs. ITA will continue to provide this program if it is supported 
by the Department of Commerce and Congress.
    Comment: 10 percent of the respondents commented about the 
continued delays and lack of timeliness in delivery of the data, 
especially given the fee increase.
    Response: The NTTO and its contractors work very hard to provide 
quality and timely data. However, I-94 automation issues and APIS/I-92 
data delays have negatively impacted timely delivery due to additional 
time required to review and revise the data when necessary. Delays 
related to the I-94 and APIS/I-92 programs cause corresponding delays 
in release of the SIAT data because the SIAT data is weighted to the I-
94 and APIS/I-92 program data.
    Comment: There were a few comments in which industry clients tried 
to calculate the SIAT's share of the travel population based on total 
arrivals to the U.S.
    Response: The NTTO wants to remind the industry that the travel 
population for this program is both inbound and outbound travelers and 
that it only includes all overseas (all countries except Canada & 
Mexico) and Mexican air travelers. The NTTO has travel population 
totals from the I-94 (for the inbound markets) and APIS/I-92 for the 
U.S. outbound market. The share of the inbound travel population is 
around 0.3 percent. This is much smaller than the 1 percent sample 
mandated by the Travel Promotion Act (TPA) and Congress has not 
provided dedicated funding. The NTTO has conducted several tests to 
reduce program costs and improve the quality of the data. To date, the 
current survey method delivers more complete results than any of the 
tests. The program is competitively bid.
    Comment: A few comments included a request to reduce the sample of 
U.S. residents and to equivalently increase the non-resident side.
    Response: The non-resident sample has traditionally been higher 
than the U.S. resident sample; decreasing the sample from one part of 
the program to benefit another would drive up costs and not allow the 
NTTO to fulfill its mandate to federal agencies that depend upon the 
U.S. outbound SIAT data.
    Comment: There was a comment on preventing future significant cost 
increases.
    Response: To control costs this contract is competitively bid every 
three years. The low-cost contractor wins the bid.
    The NTTO wants to thank everyone who responded to this notice and 
greatly appreciates the feedback and concerns. The NTTO is in the 
process of preparing a request for information to solicit ideas from 
the industry to improve the SIAT program.

User Fee Schedule

    Fee Schedule increases for the APIS/I-92 program, the I-94 
International Arrivals Program and the Survey of International Air 
Travelers (SIAT) Program are shown in the tables below. All fees shown 
are 15 percent greater in 2017 than in 2016, except for certain SIAT 
reports as explained above. For the I-94 program, ITA has eliminated 
the print files and will only provide a PDF and Excel file to save 
costs. The custom reports, data tables, and files will also see a 15 
percent fee increase in 2017.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             2017 Fee        2016 Fee
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APIS/I-92 Program:
    Monthly Reports printed.............          $2,295          $1,995
    Monthly Reports (PDF and Excel).....           3,435           2,985
    Quarterly Reports printed...........           2,070           1,800
    Quarterly Reports (PDF and Excel)...           3,095           2,690
    Annual Report printed...............           1,610           1,400
    Annual Report (PDF and Excel).......           2,405           2,090
    Data Files, for internal use only...          27,310          23,745
I-94 International arrivals program:
    Monthly Subscription (PDF and Excel)           2,450           2,130
    Quarterly Subscription (PDF & Excel)           2,155           1,870
    Annual Issue (PDF and Excel)........           1,485           1,290
    Annual, data file (CD-ROM)..........          16,770          14,580
    Quarterly, data file (CD-ROM).......          18,820          16,365
Combined 2015 and 2016 International I-
 94 arrivals data:
    Monthly Subscription (PDF & Excel)..           3,730           3,240
    Quarterly Subscription (PDF & Excel)           3,170           2,755
    Annual Issue (PDF and Excel)........           2,000           1,740
Survey of International Air Travelers
 program:
    CUSTOM TABLE--1st table, in Excel...           2,720           2,365
    CUSTOM TABLE--all other tables in              1,645           1,430
     Excel..............................
    Custom Reports with Excel and PDF             10,210           8,875
     (First banner).....................
    Custom Reports with Excel and PDF              9,185           7,985
     (Second banner)....................
    Custom Reports with Excel and PDF              8,220           7,145
     (Third + banners)..................
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Determining the Cost of Performing Each Service

    Please refer to the Federal Register Notice published on June 26, 
2017 (82 FR 28820) for information on how ITA determines the costs of 
performing each service.

Conclusion

    For the reasons provided above, ITA believes its revised fees are 
consistent with the objective of OMB Circular A-25 to ``promote 
efficient allocation of the Nation's resources by establishing charges 
for special benefits provided to the recipient that are at least as 
great as costs to the Government of providing the special benefits.'' 
OMB Circular A-25(5) (b). For 2017 data, the fees will be increased as 
proposed. ITA will continue to reassess the fee schedule, in accordance 
with OMB Circular A-25, at least every two years thereafter.

    Dated: October 18, 2017.
Isabel Hill,
Director, National Travel & Tourism Office, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
[FR Doc. 2017-22953 Filed 10-18-17; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 3510-DR-P