Fees for Sanitation Inspections of Cruise Ships

AGENCY:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces fees for vessel sanitation inspections for fiscal year 2001: October 1, 2000, through September 30, 2001.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David L. Forney, Chief, Vessel Sanitation Program, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Mailstop F-16, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, telephone (770) 488-7333, E-mail: Dforney@cdc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Background

The fee schedule for sanitation inspections of passenger cruise ships currently inspected under the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) was first published in the Federal Register (52 FR 45019) on November 24, 1987, and CDC began collecting fees on March 1, 1988. Since then, CDC has published the fee schedule annually. This notice announces fees effective October 1, 2000.

The formula used to determine the fees is as follows:

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The average cost per inspection is multiplied by a size/cost factor to determine the fee for vessels in each size category. The size/cost factor was established in the proposed fee schedule published in the Federal Register (52 FR 27060) on July 17, 1987, and revised in a schedule published in the Federal Register (54 FR 48942) on November 28, 1989. The revised size/cost factor is presented in Appendix A.

Fee

The fee schedule is presented in Appendix A and will be effective October 1, 2000, through September 30, 2001. This fee schedule represents a 7% increase over the current fee schedule which became effective October 1, 1997. The increase is primarily due to substantial increases in the cost of air transportation and personnel. If travel expenses continue to increase, it may be necessary to readjust the fees before September 30, 2001, since travel constitutes a sizable portion of the program's costs. If such a readjustment in the fee schedule is necessary, a notice will be published in the Federal Register 30 days before the effective date.

Applicability

The fees will be applicable to all passenger cruise vessels for which inspections are conducted as part of CDC's VSP.

Inspections and re-inspections involve the same procedure, require the same amount of time, and are, therefore, charged at the same rate.