Customs Service Field OrganizationCorpus Christi, Freeport and Port Lavaca-Point Comfort, Texas as Ports of Entry

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Part 101

[T.D. 96-68]

Customs Service Field Organization--Corpus Christi, Freeport and

Port Lavaca-Point Comfort, Texas as Ports of Entry

AGENCY: U.S. Customs Service, Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule; technical correction.

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SUMMARY: This document corrects an error in the Customs Regulations

regarding the listing of ports of entry in the State of Texas as the

listing does not reflect the proper status of Corpus Christi, Freeport

and Port Lavaca-Point Comfort as separate ports of entry. This

technical correction has no operational impact, since all three of

these locations have consistently operated as separate ports of entry,

notwithstanding the technical error in the Customs Regulations.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 2, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Harry Denning, Office of Field Operations, Resource Management

Division, (202) 927-0196.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

It has come to the attention of the Customs Service that the

listing of the ports of entry in the State of Texas in Sec. 101.3,

Customs Regulations (19 CFR 101.3) does not reflect the proper status

of Corpus Christi, Freeport and Port Lavaca-Point Comfort as separate

ports of entry.

When Customs amended its regulations in T.D. 95-77, published in

the Federal Register (60 FR 50008) on September 27, 1995, to reflect

Customs new organizational structure, the listing of Customs ports of

entry in Sec. 101.3 was redrafted, for ease of reference, to list the

ports of entry by State. Previously, the listing of ports was organized

by districts and regions. Districts and regions were eliminated in

Customs new organizational structure set forth in T.D. 95-77.

Despite the fact that the port description of the Houston-Galveston

consolidated port in T.D. 95-77 merely reiterated a previously

published description of the port (with minor editorial changes), the

new method of listing the ports of entry in Sec. 101.3 set forth in

T.D. 95-77 first brought to the attention of certain readers of the

Customs Regulations that Corpus Christi, Freeport and Port Lavaca-Point

Comfort, Texas, were not listed as separate ports of entry, but were

included within the consolidated port of entry of Houston-Galveston.

Corpus Christi, Freeport and Port Lavaca-Point Comfort have

consistently operated as separate ports, with separate port codes.

Research reveals that the incorrect description of the Houston-

Galveston port stems from an earlier punctuation error--periods were

inadvertently converted to commas--in the regulations by T.D. 83-209,

published in the Federal Register (48 FR 45538) on October 6, 1983.

This typographical error has been carried forward in each volume of the

regulations since that date. T.D. 83-209, the purpose of which was to

reflect a 1983 reorganization of Customs field organization, was

intended to have no effect on services provided by Customs. However,

because of the punctuation errors, Corpus Christi, Freeport and Port

Lavaca-Point Comfort appeared as part of the description of the

Houston-Galveston port of entry rather than as separate port of entry

listings under the Houston-Galveston district.

Further research reveals that this listing was in error because

when the districts and ports of Galveston and Houston were consolidated

in 1981 pursuant to T.D. 81-160, the port limits of the consolidated

port of entry of Houston and Galveston were set forth to encompass

Galveston, including Port Bolivar and Texas City, Texas, and the area

within the present Houston, Texas limits including territory described

in T.D. 54409. Corpus Christi, Freeport and Port Lavaca-Point Comfort

were listed as separate ports of entry in the Houston-Galveston

consolidated district in T.D. 81-160. It is noted that the port limits

of the consolidated port of Houston-Galveston were later amended by

T.D. 82-15, but that change also did not affect Corpus Christi,

Freeport or Port Lavaca-Point Comfort.

In accordance with the above discussion, in this document, Customs

is correcting the listing of the ports of entry in the State of Texas

in Sec. 101.3 of the Customs Regulations to accurately reflect that

Corpus Christi, Freeport and Port Lavaca-Point Comfort, which have

consistently operated as separate ports of entry with separate port

codes, are indeed separate ports of entry, outside the Houston-

Galveston consolidated port of entry.

Regulatory Flexibility Act, Executive Order 12866, Inapplicability of

Public Notice and Comment Requirements, and Delayed Effective Date

Requirements

Inasmuch as this document relates to agency management, merely

corrects a typographical error and has no operational impact, it is not

subject to the notice and public procedure requirements or the delayed

effective date requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553. Because the document

relates to agency management and organization and is not subject to

notice and public comment, the document is not subject to the

regulatory analysis or other requirements of 5 U.S.C. 603 or 604.

Agency organization matters such as this are exempt from Executive

Order 12866.

List of Subjects in Part 101

Customs duties and inspection, Harbors, Organization and functions

(Government agencies), Seals and insignia, Vessels.

Amendments to the Regulations

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, part 101 of the Customs

Regulations (19 CFR part 101) is amended as set forth below:

PART 101--GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The general authority citation for part 101 and the relevant

specific authority citation continue to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 2, 66, 1202 (General Note 20,

Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States), 1623, 1624.

Sections 101.3 and 101.4 also issued under 19 U.S.C. 1 and 58b;

* * * * *

2. In the table under Sec. 101.3(b)(1), the listings for the State

of Texas are amended by revising the entry for Houston--Galveston and

adding in appropriate alphabetical order entries

[[Page 51364]]

for Corpus Christi, Freeport, and Port Lavaca-Point Comfort to read as

follows:

Sec. 101.3 Customs service ports and ports of entry.

* * * * *

(b) List of Ports of Entry and Service Ports. * * *

(1) Customs ports of entry. * * *

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Ports of entry Limits of port

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* * * * *

Texas

* * * * *

Corpus Christi............................ E.O. 8288, Nov. 22, 1939 (4

FR 4691), and territory

described in T.D. 78-130.

* * * * *

Freeport.................................. E.O. 7632, June 15, 1937 (2

FR 1245).

* * * * *

+ Houston-Galveston....................... Consolidated port includes

territory lying within

corporate limits of both

Houston and Galveston, and

remaining territory in

Harris and Galveston

Counties, T.D.s 81-160 and

82-15.

* * * * *

Port Lavaca-Point Comfort................. T.D. 56115.

* * * * *

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+ Indicates Drawback unit/office.

George J. Weise,

Commissioner of Customs.

Approved: September 4, 1996.

John P. Simpson,

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

[FR Doc. 96-25151 Filed 10-1-96; 8:45 am]

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