Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) Threat Assessment Program Security Threat Assessment Fees for Non-Agent States, 70201-70202 [2024-19412]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 168 / Thursday, August 29, 2024 / Notices
[FR Doc. 2024–19434 Filed 8–28–24; 8:45 am]
I. HME Program
HME Fee Changes for Non-Agent States
BILLING CODE 9110–12–P
Background
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
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.
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.
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
Transportation Security
Administration, DHS.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Notice.
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.
SUMMARY:
The fee changes in this notice are
effective December 2, 2024.
DATES:
Julie
Labra, Transportation Security
Administration, 6595 Springfield Center
Drive, Springfield, VA 20598–6047;
240–568–5698; or email at
HME.Question@tsa.dhs.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
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 HME.Question@tsa.dhs.gov.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
70201
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
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:16 Aug 28, 2024
Jkt 262001
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
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.
1 See
49 CFR 1572.15.
70 FR 2542 (Jan. 13, 2005).
3 The eight Non-Agent states include Florida,
Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania,
Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin, at the time of this
publication.
2 See
PO 00000
Frm 00041
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
4 See
49 CFR 1572.403(a)(2).
31 U.S.C. 3512 (the Chief Financial Officers
Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101–576, 104).
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®). Non-Agent States may offer a
‘‘reduced or comparable fee’’ if the applicant
maintains a valid TWIC®.
5 See
E:\FR\FM\29AUN1.SGM
29AUN1
70202
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 168 / Thursday, August 29, 2024 / Notices
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.
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.
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
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.
DATES:
Dated: August 23, 2024.
Chad M. Gorman,
Deputy Executive Assistant Administrator,
Operations Support.
ADDRESSES:
Current
New
Current
New
$ 34.00
$ 57.25
$ 29.00
$ 31.00
The meeting will be held on
Wednesday, September 18, 2024, from
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and on Thursday,
September 19, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to
3:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
The meeting will be held in
the TownPlace Suites, 17717 SE Mill
Plain Blvd., Vancouver, WA 98683.
Members of the public may attend the
meeting in person or can attend via
webinar. Comments can be sent by
email to gmayberry@usgs.gov.
[FR Doc. 2024–19412 Filed 8–28–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110–05–P
Gari
Mayberry, Volcano Hazard Program
Coordinator, USGS, by mail at 12201
Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 905, Reston,
VA 20192; by email at gmayberry@
usgs.gov; or by telephone at (703) 648–
6711.
Individuals in the United States who
are deaf, blind, hard of hearing, or have
a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY,
TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services.
Individuals outside the United States
should use the relay services offered
within their country to make
international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Geological Survey
[GX24GH00COM0000]
Public Meeting of the National Volcano
Early Warning System Advisory
Committee
U.S. Geological Survey,
Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA) of 1972, the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) is publishing this notice
to announce that a Federal Advisory
Committee meeting of the National
Volcano Early Warning System
Advisory Committee (NVEWSAC) will
take place and is open to members of
the public.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
7 See
8 See
6 U.S.C. 469(a).
31 U.S.C. 501 et seq.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:16 Aug 28, 2024
This
meeting is being held under the
provisions of the FACA of 1972 (5
U.S.C. Ch. 10), the Government in the
Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as
amended), and 41 CFR part 102–3.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
9 See
Purpose of the Meeting: The
NVEWSAC provides advice and
recommendations to the Secretary of the
Interior through the Director of the
USGS on the implementation of the
National Volcano Early Warning and
Monitoring System (NVEWS).
Additional information about the
NVEWSAC is available.
Agenda Topics:
—USGS and the Volcano Hazards
Program
—Volcano Science Center and the USGS
observatory system
—NVEWS
—The NVEWS Fumes Act
—NVEWSAC member updates
—Plan development progress
—Public comments
Meeting Accessibility/Special
Accommodations: Please make requests
in advance for sign language interpreter
services, assistive listening devices,
language translation services, or other
reasonable accommodations. We ask
that you contact the person listed in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section of this notice at least seven (7)
business days prior to the meeting to
give the Department of the Interior
sufficient time to process your request.
All reasonable accommodation requests
are managed on a case-by-case basis.
Seating for in-person attendees may be
limited due to room capacity. Webinar/
conference line instructions will be
OMB Circulars a–25.
70 FR 2542 (Jan. 13, 2005).
10 See
Jkt 262001
PO 00000
Frm 00042
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
E:\FR\FM\29AUN1.SGM
29AUN1
Agencies
[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