Customs Service Field Organization: Establishment of Port of Entry in Fort Myers, FL

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Parts 101 and 122

Customs Service Field Organization: Establishment of Port of

Entry in Fort Myers, FL

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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

SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend the Customs Regulations

pertaining to the field organization of the Customs Service by

designating Fort Myers, Florida, as a port of entry. The new port of

entry would include Southwest Florida International Airport, which is

currently a user fee airport. The geographical boundaries of the new

port will be the same as those of Lee County, Florida. The change is

being proposed as part of Customs continuing program to obtain more

efficient use of its personnel, facilities, and resources, and to

provide better service to carriers, importers and the general public.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 18, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments (preferably in triplicate) may be submitted

to the Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, U.S.

Customs Service, Third Floor, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20229.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harry Denning, Office of Field

Operations, 202-927-0196.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

As part of a continuing program to obtain more efficient use of its

personnel, facilities, and resources, and to provide better service to

carriers, importers, and the general public, Customs is proposing to

amend Secs. 101.3(b)(1) and 122.15(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR

101.3(b)(1) and 122.15(b)), by designating Fort Myers, Florida, as a

port of entry. The Lee County Port Authority of Florida requested this

designation. The geographical boundaries of the new port will be the

same as those of Lee County, Florida, and will include the Southwest

Florida International Airport (hereafter known as SFIA). SFIA is

currently a user fee airport.

The criteria used by Customs in determining whether to establish a

port of entry are found in T.D. 82-37 (47 FR 10137), as revised by T.D.

86-14 (51 FR 4559) and T.D. 87-65 (52 FR 16328). Under these criteria,

which are not absolute, a community requesting a port of entry

designation must: (1) Demonstrate that the benefits to be derived

justify the Federal Government expense involved; (2) be serviced by at

least two major modes of transportation (rail, air, water or highway);

(3) have a minimum population of 300,000 within the immediate service

area (approximately a 70 mile radius); and (4) make a commitment to

make optimal use of electronic data transfer capabilities to permit

integration with Customs Automated Commercial System (ACS), which

provides a means for the electronic processing of entries

[[Page 13026]]

of imported merchandise. Further, the actual or potential Customs

workload (i.e., number of transactions per year) at the proposed port

of entry must meet one of several alternative minimum requirements,

among which are 15,000 passenger arrivals per year. Finally, facilities

at the proposed port of entry must include cargo and passenger

facilities, warehousing space for the secure storage of imported cargo

pending final Customs inspection and release, and administrative office

space, inspection areas, storage areas and other space necessary for

regular Customs operations.

The request for port of entry status states that there will be

several Federal Government benefits if the port of entry is approved.

As tourism is on the rise in the Fort Myers area and there is an ever

increasing demand for goods in that area, the SFIA airport located

within the proposed port of entry would assist in moving aircraft,

passengers and cargo efficiently.

The proposed port of Fort Myers is serviced by air, by highway and

by railroad spur. SFIA is ranked the 56th busiest airport in North

America. It is located three miles from Interstate 75, providing easy

access to other points in Florida and the United States. The airport is

adjacent to a railroad spur which allows Seminole Gulf Railway to

provide freight service to the area.

The proposed port of Fort Myers includes all of Lee County,

Florida. In a 70 mile radius, including Sarasota, the population is

already well over one million people.

The proposed port of Fort Myers meets the criteria for a port of

entry in terms of number of international passengers; SFIA far exceeds

the 15,000 international passengers per year criterion. In 1996,

Customs cleared flights carrying 57,962 arriving international

passengers at SFIA. There were 58,431 outbound international passengers

during the same time period.

All the U.S. government agencies which must be included in a port

are already in place because SFIA is currently a user fee airport. In

addition, Customs has the concurrence of other necessary federal

agencies. The facilities required for these other federal agencies are

already present because SFIA is a user fee airport. The requisite

electronic data processing systems are also in place.

Based on the information provided above, Customs believes that Fort

Myers meets the current standards for port of entry designations set

forth in T. D. 82-37, as revised by T. D. 86-14 and T. D. 87-65. If

Fort Myers is established as a port of entry, SFIA would lose its

status as a user fee airport.

Proposed Limits of Port of Entry

The geographical limits of the proposed port of entry of Fort

Myers, Florida, would be the same as those of Lee County, Florida,

which includes SFIA and the city of Fort Myers.

Proposed Amendments

If the proposed port of entry designation is adopted, the list of

Customs ports of entry in 19 CFR 101.3(b)(1) and the list of user fee

airports in Sec. 122.15(b) will be amended accordingly.

Comments

Before adopting this proposal, consideration will be given to any

written comments timely submitted to Customs. Comments submitted will

be available for public inspection in accordance with the Freedom of

Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), Sec. 1.4, Treasury Department

Regulations (31 CFR 1.4) and Sec. 103.11(b), Customs Regulations (19

CFR 103.11(b)), on regular business days between the hours of 9 a.m.

and 4:30 p.m. at the Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and

Rulings, U.S. Customs Service, Third Floor, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue

N.W., Washington, D.C.

Authority

This change is proposed under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 301 and 19

U.S.C. 2, 66 and 1624.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866

Customs establishes, expands, and consolidates Customs ports of

entry throughout the United States to accommodate the volume of

Customs-related activity in various parts of the country. Although this

document is being issued for public comment, it is not subject to the

notice and public procedure requirements of 5 U.S.C. 553 because it

relates to agency management and organization. Accordingly, this

document is not subject to the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility

Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Agency organization matters such as this

are exempt from consideration under Executive Order 12866.

Drafting Information: The principal author of this document was

Janet L. Johnson, Regulations Branch. However, personnel from other

offices participated in its development.

D. M. Browning,

Acting Commissioner of Customs.

Approved: February 23, 1998.

Dennis M. O'Connell,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

[FR Doc. 98-6882 Filed 3-16-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820-02-P