Establishment of Port of Entry in Fort Myers, Florida

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Parts 101 and 122

[T.D. 99-9]

Establishment of Port of Entry in Fort Myers, Florida

AGENCY: Customs Service, Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the Customs Regulations pertaining to the

field organization of the Customs Service by designating Fort Myers,

Florida, as a port of entry. The geographical area of the new port

consists of both Lee and Collier Counties in Florida, including

Southwest Florida International Airport and the foreign trade zone at

Immokalee Regional Airport. The change is being made 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.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 18, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harry Denning, Office of Field

Operations, 202-927-0196.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Federal

Register (63 FR 13025) on March 17, 1998, Customs proposed to amend the

Customs Regulations pertaining to the field organization of the Customs

Service by designating Fort Myers, Florida, as a port of entry. Customs

proposed that Fort Myers be designated as a port of entry because it

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. The geographical

boundaries of the proposed port were to be the same as those of Lee

County, Florida, including Southwest Florida International Airport. It

was also proposed to remove the user fee designation of Southwest

Florida International Airport.

Five comments were received in response to the proposal.

Analysis of Comments

Comment: The commenters all supported the designation of Lee County

including Southwest Florida International Airport as a Customs port of

entry. In addition, they all requested that the port limits be expanded

to include Collier County as well as Lee County.

According to the commenters, Collier County is one of the fastest

growing areas in the country. Its rapid population growth is projected

to continue into the next century, with population doubling by the year

2020. Collier County is involved in international trade by virtue of

its foreign trade zone at Immokalee Regional Airport, created by the

Department of Commerce in 1997, and the foreign trade zone workload is

projected to increase.

Response: Customs believes that the commenters have presented

sufficient information about the benefits of including Collier County

in the new port to expand the geographical description of Fort Myers to

include Collier County. Ample evidence has been provided to convince

Customs that because Collier County is a growing county with regard to

population, trade and economic structure, the economic viability of a

Fort Myers port of entry will be enhanced by the inclusion of Collier

County. Customs believes that the new two-county port can be

efficiently managed by available Customs resources.

Conclusion

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 amending

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 and removing the designation of Southwest Florida

Regional Airport as a user fee airport.

Port Limits

The geographic area of the port of Fort Myers consists of Lee

County, Florida, including Southwest Florida International Airport, and

Collier County, Florida, including the foreign trade zone at Immokalee

Regional Airport.

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 a

notice was issued for public comment on this subject matter, because

the subject matter relates to agency management and organization, it is

not subject to the notice and public procedure requirements of 5 U.S.C.

553. 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.

[[Page 7502]]

List of Subjects

19 CFR Part 101

Customs duties and inspection, Exports, Imports, Organization and

functions (Government agencies).

19 CFR Part 122

Administrative practice and procedure, Air carriers, Aircraft,

Airports, Customs duties and inspection, Freight, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Amendments to the Regulations

For the reasons set forth above, part 101 and part 122 of the

Customs Regulations are amended as set forth below.

PART 101--GENERAL PROVISIONS

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

authority citation for Sec. 101.3 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, 1646a.

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

* * * * *

Sec. 101.3 [Amended]

2. The list of ports in Sec. 101.3(b)(1) is amended by adding, in

alphabetical order under the state of Florida, ``Fort Myers'' in the

``Ports of entry'' column and ``T.D. 99-9 `` in the adjacent ``Limits

of port'' column.

PART 122--AIR COMMERCE REGULATIONS

1. The general authority for part 122 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 58b, 66, 1433, 1436, 1448,

1459, 1590, 1594, 1623, 1624, 1644, 1644a.

Sec. 122.15 [Amended]

2. The list of user fee airports in Sec. 122.15(b) is amended by

removing ``Fort Myers, Florida'' from the ``Location'' column and, on

the same line, ``Southwest Florida Regional Airport'' from the ``Name''

column.

Raymond W. Kelly,

Commissioner of Customs.

Approved: January 15, 1999.

John P. Simpson,

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

[FR Doc. 99-3472 Filed 2-12-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820-02-P