In 2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service implemented a new user fee system intended to recover the costs of the compliance portion of the wildlife inspection program. Since that time, we have been made aware that we may have placed an undue economic burden on businesses that exclusively trade in small volumes of low-value, non-Federally protected wildlife parts and products. To address this issue, we are implementing a program that exempts certain businesses from the designated port base inspection fees as an interim measure while we reassess the current user fee system. To participate in our user fee exemption program for low-risk importations and exportations, importers or exporters must certify in writing that they meet the criteria for inclusion in the program.
On December 9, 2008, we published a final rule (73 FR 74615) implementing a new user fee system intended to recover the costs of the compliance portion of the wildlife inspection program. Since implementation of the user fee system, we have been made aware that we may have placed an undue economic burden on businesses that exclusively trade in small volumes of low-value, non-Federally protected wildlife parts and products. The continued expansion of the internet as a tool for commerce has made it not only possible, but imperative, in recent years for more and more businessesÂespecially small businessesÂto sell directly to individual consumers. The ServiceÂs inspection fee schedule may have resulted in inordinate and unsustainable inspection costs for imports and exports that have disproportionately undercut the ability of certain businesses to respond to growing pressure to deal directly with consumers via internet-based purchases and other small shipping practices and do so profitably.
We are taking immediate action to address this possible fee inequity in advance of a planned reassessment of our wildlife inspection user fee schedule. We are using the Âgood cause exemptions under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) and (d)(3) to issue an interim rule establishing the fee exemption program, without first invoking the usual notice and public comment procedure. The interim rule will be effective upon publication, but we will accept comments on the program for 60 days. As we begin the process to reexamine our fee structure, we need to collect data regarding both the impact of changing the user fee structure on the business community and its ability to fully fund the wildlife inspection program. This interim rule will allow us to collect data with relatively low risk to our conservation goals and assist at least some businesses that may be currently experiencing an undue economic hardship. We are committed to finalizing this rule after careful consideration of both public comments and collection of additional data. It is important to note that this proposed collection of data will only involve the analysis of FWS Form 3-177s submitted electronically after businesses have been included in the user fee exemption program, and that those businesses will not be required to produce any documentation to justify their inclusion in the user fee exemption program.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Certification for User Fee Exemption