[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70201-70202]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19412]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Transportation Security Administration

[Docket No. TSA-2004-19605]


Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) Threat Assessment Program 
Security Threat Assessment Fees for Non-Agent States

AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) administers 
the Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) vetting program. TSA conducts 
a security threat assessment (STA) of HME applicants in accordance with 
statutory requirements and collects fees to recover TSA's costs to 
conduct the STA and administer the program. Some States have elected to 
collect the information and fees from the applicant directly, and 
transmit such information and fees to TSA for the STA. In this notice, 
TSA announces that the fee to conduct the STA for these States will be 
increased to fully recover the costs to administer the program.

DATES: The fee changes in this notice are effective December 2, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie Labra, Transportation Security 
Administration, 6595 Springfield Center Drive, Springfield, VA 20598-
6047; 240-568-5698; or email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    You can find an electronic copy of this rulemaking using the 
internet by accessing the Government Publishing Office's web page at 
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/FR/ to view the daily published 
Federal Register edition or accessing the Office of the Federal 
Register's web page at https://www.federalregister.gov. Copies are also 
available by writing or calling the individual in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section, or by email at [email protected].

Abbreviations and Terms Used in This Document

CDL--Commercial Driver's License
HME--Hazardous Materials Endorsement
STA--Security Threat Assessment
TWIC--Transportation Workers Identification Credential

I. HME Program

Background

    Under 49 U.S.C. 5103a, a State is prohibited from issuing or 
renewing an HME for a commercial driver's license (CDL) unless TSA has 
first determined that the driver does not pose a security threat. To 
make this security determination, TSA conducts an STA by comparing 
applicant biographic and biometric information to criminal, 
immigration, and security databases, and adjudicating any derogatory 
information against the standards set forth in 49 CFR part 1572. If TSA 
determines the individual meets the STA standards, TSA notifies the 
State, and the State may issue the HME. TSA is required to recover its 
vetting program costs through user fees, in accordance with 6 U.S.C. 
469, and consequently, TSA collects fees from applicants during the STA 
process.
    Under TSA's regulations, States may collect and transmit the 
fingerprints and applicant information from drivers who apply to obtain 
or renew an HME; or elect to use TSA's agent to collect and transmit 
the information and fees for the STA.\1\ States that use TSA's agent to 
collect and transmit information and fees are known as Agent States. 
Current Agent States include 42 states and the District of Columbia. 
Applicants in these Agent States pay a fee to cover the cost of (1) 
collecting and transmitting the information and fees to TSA; (2) TSA's 
completion of the STA and any related redress; and, (3) the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation fee to process the criminal check.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See 49 CFR 1572.15.
    \2\ See 70 FR 2542 (Jan. 13, 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    States that choose to collect applicant information and submit it 
to TSA are known as Non-Agent States. There are currently eight Non-
Agent States.\3\ Applicants in these States provide their information 
and TSA's fees to the State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and the 
State transmits the information and fees to TSA. Applicants in these 
Non-Agent States pay the fee for TSA to conduct the STA and the FBI fee 
to process the criminal history checks. Non-Agent States also may 
charge applicants a State fee for its costs to collect and transmit 
information, and TSA has no authority to establish, determine, or limit 
the amount of that fee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ The eight Non-Agent states include Florida, Kentucky, 
Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin, at 
the time of this publication.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HME Fee Changes for Non-Agent States

    In this notice, TSA is announcing that the fee to Non-Agent States 
will be increased to recover TSA's costs to process these applications. 
Under TSA's regulations, TSA may revise fees for the STA by publishing 
a notice in the Federal Register.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ See 49 CFR 1572.403(a)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    TSA reviews the costs associated with conducting STAs at least once 
every 2 years.\5\ Upon review, TSA will adjust the fee if the agency 
finds that the fees collected exceed the total cost to provide the 
services or do not cover the total costs for services. Fees are 
influenced by several factors, including changes in contractual 
services, personnel costs, and operations and maintenance costs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ See 31 U.S.C. 3512 (the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 
(Pub. L. 101-576, 104).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In 2022, TSA analyzed the costs associated with the HME Non-Agent 
State STAs and found that the current fees to process these 
applications do not cover TSA's costs. The fees TSA charges the Non-
Agent States have not been revised since 2005, and many recent 
information technology and customer service improvements, and increased 
contract costs have not been accounted for in the fees. Also, the Non-
Agent State submissions require TSA to expend additional program 
oversight, case management, and manual intervention to ensure that the 
biographic information is attached to the correct biometric 
information. Consequently, TSA has had to hire more staff to accurately 
process these submissions.
    Based on this analysis, TSA determined that the fees for TSA's 
processing the Non-Agent State STAs need to be increased from $34.00 
per application to $57.25 per application for standard STAs in order to 
comply with 6 U.S.C. 469 and recoup vetting costs. Similarly, for STAs 
in which the applicant has already completed a comparable STA and does 
not need to undergo the full standard STA, the reduced fee needs to 
increase from $29.00 to $31.00.\6\ These increases ensure that fees 
collected by TSA in both Agent State and Non-Agent States are 
consistent to cover costs associated with commercial driver vetting, 
adjudication, and customer service.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ In accordance with 49 CFR 1572.5(e), TSA has determined that 
the STA for HME is comparable to the STA for Transportation Workers 
Identification Credential (TWIC[supreg]). Non-Agent States may offer 
a ``reduced or comparable fee'' if the applicant maintains a valid 
TWIC[supreg].

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 70202]]

II. Calculation of Fees

    As discussed above, Congress directed TSA to collect user fees to 
cover the costs of its transportation vetting and credentialing 
programs.\7\ TSA must collect fees to pay for conducting all portions 
of an STA, including adjudicating the vetting results; administering 
the redress process, including requests for correction of records, 
appeals, and waivers; information technology development and 
maintenance; personnel; billing and collections; and any other costs 
related to administering the STA. The statute requires that any fee 
collected must be used only to pay for the costs incurred in providing 
services associated with the STA. The funds generated by the fee do not 
have a limited period of time in which they must be used; as fee 
revenue and service costs do not always match perfectly for a given 
period, a program may need to carry over funding from one fiscal year 
to the next to ensure that sufficient funds are available to continue 
normal program operations. TSA complies with applicable requirements, 
such as the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 \8\ and Office of 
Management and Budget Circular A-25,\9\ and regularly reviews the fees 
to ensure they recover, but do not exceed, the full cost of services.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See 6 U.S.C. 469(a).
    \8\ See 31 U.S.C. 501 et seq.
    \9\ See OMB Circulars a-25.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    TSA established the methodology for calculating the vetting fees 
for the HME program were explained in detail in the preamble to the HME 
Fees Final Rule.\10\ In finalizing these HME methodologies, TSA 
considered comments from individual commercial drivers; labor 
organizations; trucking industry associations; State Departments of 
Motor Vehicles; associations representing the agricultural, chemical, 
explosives, maritime, and petroleum industries; and associations 
representing State governments. TSA has not changed the methodologies 
for determining these fees. TSA used that same methodology to evaluate 
the current HME fees and establish new fee amounts. See the Fee 
Development Report posted in the docket for additional details.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ See 70 FR 2542 (Jan. 13, 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The new HME fees for STA applications for Non-Agent States are set 
forth below.

              Table--Comparison of Current and New HME Fees for Non-Agent States by Enrollment Type
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Standard fee                       Reduced fee
               Non-agent state               -------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Current            New            Current            New
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     $ 34.00          $ 57.25          $ 29.00          $ 31.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applicants in Non-Agent States may also have to pay the fee the 
State has established to recover its costs to collect and transmit 
information and fees to TSA.

    Dated: August 23, 2024.
Chad M. Gorman,
Deputy Executive Assistant Administrator, Operations Support.
[FR Doc. 2024-19412 Filed 8-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-05-P