Fees and Charges for Special Services

PART 389—FEES AND CHARGES FOR SPECIAL SERVICES

Subpart A—General Provisions

§ 389.1 Policy and scope.

Pursuant to the provisions of 31 U.S.C. 9701, Fees and charges for Government services and things of value, and as implemented by the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-25, dated July 8, 1993, the Department sets forth in this part fees and charges to be paid for the use of certain services and resources of the Department as prescribed in this part.

Subpart B—Fees for Special Services

§ 389.10 Applicability of subpart.

This subpart describes certain services and resources made available by the Department and prescribes the fees and charges for those services and resources.

§ 389.11 Available services and resources.

Upon request and payment of fees as provided in this part, there are available, with respect to documents subject to inspection, services as follows:

(a) Locating and copying records and documents;

(b) Certification of copies of documents under seal of the Department; and

(c) Transcripts of hearings and proceedings.

§ 389.12 Payment of fees and charges.

The fees charged for services and resources shall be paid for electronically at http://www.pay.gov, a secure government-wide collection portal, except for charges for reporting services that are performed under competitive bid contracts with non-Government firms. Fees for reporting are payable to the firms providing the services. Payments to pay.gov can be made directly from a bank account or by credit/debit card.

§ 389.13 Fees for services.

Fees for services and resources described in this subpart and subpart C of this part are pursuant to those fees set forth in 49 CFR part 7, subpart F, §§ 7.41 through 7.43, 7.45 and 7.46.

Subpart C—Filing and Processing License Fees

§ 389.20 Applicability of subpart.

(a) This subpart applies to the filing of certain documents and records with the Department by non-government parties, and prescribes fees for their processing.

(b) For the purpose of this subpart, record means an electronic tariff record submitted to the Department under subpart R of 14 CFR part 221, and contains a set of information that describes one (1) tariff fare, or a set of information that describes one (1) related element associated with such tariff fare.

§ 389.21 Payment of fees.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, any document for which a filing fee is required by § 389.25 shall be paid for electronically at http://www.pay.gov, a secure government-wide collection portal, unless a waiver or modification of the filing fee has been requested and approved. Payments can be made directly from a bank account or by credit/debit card.

(b) Registration for all air taxi operators shall be accompanied by an 8 dollar ($8) registration filing fee in the form of a check, draft, or postal money order payable to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

(c) Where a document seeks authority or relief in the alternative and therefore would otherwise be subject to more than one filing fee, only the highest fee shall be required.

(d) Where a document relating to a single transaction or matter seeks multiple authorities or relief and therefore would otherwise be subject to more than one filing fee, only the highest fee shall be required. Where a document relating to more than one transaction or matter seeks multiple authorities or relief, the required filing fee shall be determined by combining the highest fees for each transaction or matter. For purposes of this paragraph (d), a specific number of charters or inclusive tours described in one application will be regarded as a single transaction or matter.

(e) No fee shall be returned after the document has been filed with the Department, except as provided in §§ 389.23 and 389.27.

§ 389.22 Failure to make proper payment.

In accordance with 49 CFR part 7, subpart F, § 7.42, the Department will assess interest on unpaid fees on the 31st day following the day on which a notice of the amount due is first mailed to the requestor, unless the Department has granted an application for waiver or modification of the fees.

§ 389.23 Application for waiver or modification of fees.

(a) Applications may be filed asking for waiver or modification of any fee paid under this subpart. Each applicant shall set forth the reasons why a waiver or modification should be granted, and by what legal authority.

(b) Applications asking for a waiver or modification of fees shall be sent to the Director, Office of Aviation Analysis, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. This provision is in accordance § 385.30 of this chapter. When no petition for review is filed with the Department, or when the Department reviews the Director's decision, if the amount found due is not paid within 10 days after receipt of notification of the final determination, the document shall be returned to the filing party.

§ 389.24 Foreign air carriers.

A foreign air carrier, or such carriers, if from the same country, acting jointly, may apply for a waiver of the requirements of this part based on reciprocity for U.S. air carriers contained in the requirement of their home governments, or as provided in a treaty or agreement with the United States. To apply for a waiver under this section, foreign air carriers shall send waiver requests to the Director, Office of International Aviation. The request should include applicable official government rules, decisions, statements of policy, or comparable evidence concerning filing fees for U.S. air carriers, or for all carriers serving that country. Once a waiver has been granted for a specific country, no further waiver applications need be filed for that country.

§ 389.25 Schedule of processing fees.

(a) Document-filing fees.

(b) Electronic tariff filing fees. The filing fee for one (1) or more transactions proposed in any existing record, or for any new or canceled records, shall be 5 cents per record; Provided: That no fee shall be assessed for those records submitted to the Department pursuant to 14 CFR 221.500(b).

§ 389.26 Special rules for tariff page filings.

(a) Tariffs issued by carriers. The filing fee for tariff pages filed by U.S. air carriers will be charged even if the tariff includes matters involving participating foreign air carriers. It will also be charged if the tariff is issued by a foreign air carrier and includes matters involving participating U.S. air carriers, unless the foreign air carrier has obtained a waiver under § 389.24. The fee will not be charged for a blank looseleaf page unless it cancels matter in the preceding issue of the page.

(b) Tariffs issued by publishing agents. (1) If the tariff is issued for one or more air carriers exclusively, the fee will be charged for each page.

(2) If the tariff is issued for one or more air carriers and one or more foreign air carriers, the fee will be charged for each page, except for those pages that the issuing agent states contain only:

(i) Matters pertaining exclusively to foreign air carriers that have been granted a waiver; or

(ii) Changes in matters pertaining to foreign air carriers that have been granted a waiver and that are included on the same page with other matters that are reissued without change.

(3) The fee will not be charged for a blank looseleaf page unless it cancels matters in the preceding page.

(4) No fee will be charged when two pages are published back-to-back, one page is not subject to the fee under paragraph (b)(2) of this section, and the page on the reverse is issued without substantive change.

(5) The fee will be charged for two looseleaf pages containing a correction number check sheet unless all other pages of the tariff are exempt from the fee.

§ 389.27 Refund of fee.

Any fee charged under this part may be refunded in full or in part upon request if the document for which it is charged is withdrawn before final action is taken. Such requests shall be filed in accordance with § 389.23.