80 FR 63702, Oct. 21, 2015, unless otherwise noted.
Certifications and copies of public records and documents on file with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will be furnished on the following basis, pursuant to USDOT Freedom of Information Act regulations at 49 CFR part 7:
(a) Certificate of the Director, Office of Management Information and Services, as to the authenticity of documents, $12;
(b) Service involved in locating records to be certified and determining their authenticity, including clerical and administrative work, at the rate of $21 per hour;
(c) Copies of the public documents, at the rate of $.80 per letter size or legal size exposure. A minimum charge of $5 will be made for this service; and
(d) Search and copying services requiring information technology (IT), as follows:
(1) A fee of $50 per hour for professional staff time will be charged when it is required to fulfill a request for electronic data.
(2) The fee for computer searches will be set at the current rate for computer service. Information on those charges can be obtained from the Office of Management Information and Services (MC-MM).
(3) Printing will be charged at the rate of $.10 per page of computer-generated output with a minimum charge of $1. There will also be a charge for the media provided (e.g., CD ROMs) based on the Agency's costs for such media.
(e) Exception. No fee shall be charged under this section to the following entities:
(1) Any Agency of the Federal Government or a State government or any political subdivision of any such government for access to or retrieval of information and data from the Unified Carrier Registration System for its own use; or
(2) Any representative of a motor carrier, motor private carrier, broker, or freight forwarder (as each is defined in 49 U.S.C. 13102) for the access to or retrieval of the information related to such entity from the Unified Carrier Registration System for the individual use of such entity.
[80 FR 63702, Oct. 21, 2015, as amended at 83 FR 48725, Sept. 27, 2018]
Certifications and copies of public records and documents on file with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be furnished on the following basis, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act regulations at 49 CFR part 7:
(a) Certificate of the Director, Office of Management Information and Services, as to the authenticity of documents, $9.00;
(b) Service involved in checking records to be certified to determine authenticity, including clerical work, etc., incidental thereto, at the rate of $16.00 per hour;
(c) Copies of the public documents, at the rate of $.80 per letter size or legal size exposure. A minimum charge of $5.00 will be made for this service; and
(d) Search and copying services requiring ADP processing, as follows:
(1) A fee of $42.00 per hour for professional staff time will be charged when it is required to fulfill a request for ADP data.
(2) The fee for computer searches will be set at the current rate for computer service. Information on those charges can be obtained from the Office of Management Information and Services (MC-MM).
(3) Printing shall be charged at the rate of $.10 per page of computer generated output with a minimum charge of $.25. A charge of $30 per reel of magnetic tape will be made if the tape is to be permanently retained by the requestor.
[82 FR 5297, Jan. 17, 2017, as amended at 83 FR 22873, May 17, 2018; 83 FR 48725, Sept. 27, 2018]
(a) Manner of payment.
(1) Except for the insurance fees described in the next sentence, all filing fees must be paid at the time the application, petition, or other document is electronically filed. The service fee for insurance, surety or self-insurer accepted certificate of insurance, surety bond or other instrument submitted in lieu of a broker surety bond must be charged to an insurance service account established by FMCSA in accordance with paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
(2) Billing account procedure. A request must be submitted to the Office of Registration and Safety Information (MC-RS) at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov to establish an insurance service fee account.
(i) Each account will have a specific billing date within each month and a billing cycle. The billing date is the date that the bill is prepared and printed. The billing cycle is the period between the billing date in one month and the billing date in the next month. A bill for each account that has activity or an unpaid balance during the billing cycle will be sent on the billing date each month. Payment will be due 20 days from the billing date. Payments received before the next billing date are applied to the account. Interest will accrue in accordance with 31 CFR 901.9.
(ii) The Federal Claims Collection Standards, including disclosure to consumer reporting agencies and the use of collection agencies, as set forth in 31 CFR part 901, will be utilized to encourage payment where appropriate.
(iii) An account holder who files a petition for bankruptcy or who is the subject of a bankruptcy proceeding must provide the following information to the Office of Registration and Safety Information (MC-RS) at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov:
(A) The filing date of the bankruptcy petition;
(B) The court in which the bankruptcy petition was filed;
(C) The type of bankruptcy proceeding;
(D) The name, address, and telephone number of its representative in the bankruptcy proceeding; and
(E) The name, address, and telephone number of the bankruptcy trustee, if one has been appointed.
(3) Fees will be payable through the U.S. Department of Treasury secure payment system, Pay.gov, and are made directly from the payor's bank account or by credit/debit card.
(b) Any filing that is not accompanied by the appropriate filing fee will be rejected.
(c) Fees not refundable. Fees will be assessed for every filing listed in the schedule of fees contained in paragraph (f) of this section, titled, “Schedule of filing fees,” subject to the exceptions contained in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section. After the application, petition, or other document has been accepted for filing by FMCSA, the filing fee will not be refunded, regardless of whether the application, petition, or other document is granted or approved, denied, rejected before docketing, dismissed, or withdrawn.
(d) Multiple authorities.
(1) A separate filing fee is required for each type of authority sought, for example broker authority requested by an entity that already holds motor property carrier authority or multiple types of authority requested in the same application.
(2) Separate fees will be assessed for the filing of temporary operating authority applications as provided in paragraph (f)(2) of this section, regardless of whether such applications are related to an application for corresponding permanent operating authority.
(e) Waiver or reduction of filing fees. It is the general policy of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration not to waive or reduce filing fees except as follows:
(1) Filing fees are waived for an application that is filed by a Federal government agency, or a State or local government entity. For purposes of this section the phrases “Federal government agency” or “government entity” do not include a quasi-governmental corporation or government subsidized transportation company.
(2) Filing fees are waived for a motor carrier of passengers that receives a grant from the Federal Transit Administration either directly or through a third-party contract to provide passenger transportation under an agreement with a State or local government pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5307, 5310, 5311, 5316, or 5317.
(3) The FMCSA will consider other requests for waivers or fee reductions only in extraordinary situations and in accordance with the following procedure:
(i) When to request. At the time that a filing is submitted to FMCSA, the applicant may request a waiver or reduction of the fee prescribed in this part. Such request should be addressed to the Director, Office of Registration and Safety Information.
(ii) Basis. The applicant must show that the waiver or reduction of the fee is in the best interest of the public, or that payment of the fee would impose an undue hardship upon the requester.
(iii) FMCSA action. The Director, Office of Registration and Safety Information, will notify the applicant of the decision to grant or deny the request for waiver or reduction.
(f) Schedule of filing fees:
| Type of proceeding | Fee | |
|---|---|---|
| Part I: Registration | ||
| (1) | An application for USDOT Registration pursuant to 49 CFR part 390, subpart E | $300. |
| (2) | An application for motor carrier temporary authority to provide emergency relief in response to a national emergency or natural disaster following an emergency declaration under § 390.23 of this subchapter | $100. |
| (3) | Biennial update of registration | $0. |
| (4) | Request for change of name, address, or form of business | $0. |
| (5) | Request for cancellation of registration | $0. |
| (6) | Request for registration reinstatement | $10. |
| (7) | Designation of process agent | $0. |
| (8) | Notification of Transfer of Operating Authority | $0. |
| Part II: Insurance | ||
| (9) | A service fee for insurer, surety, or self-insurer accepted certificate of insurance, surety bond, and other instrument submitted in lieu of a broker surety bond | $10 per accepted certificate, surety bond or other instrument submitted in lieu of a broker surety bond. |
| (10) | (i) An application for original qualification as self-insurer for bodily injury and property damage insurance (BI&PD) | $4,200. |
| (ii) An application for original qualification as self-insurer for cargo insurance | $420. |
(a) Manner of payment.
(1) Except for the insurance fees described in the next sentence, all filing fees will be payable at the time and place the application, petition, or other document is tendered for filing. The service fee for insurance, surety or self-insurer accepted certificate of insurance, surety bond or other instrument submitted in lieu of a broker surety bond must be charged to an insurance service account established by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in accordance with paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
(2) Billing account procedure. A written request must be submitted to the Office of Registration and Safety Information (MC-RS) to establish an insurance service fee account.
(i) Each account will have a specific billing date within each month and a billing cycle. The billing date is the date that the bill is prepared and printed. The billing cycle is the period between the billing date in one month and the billing date in the next month. A bill for each account which has activity or an unpaid balance during the billing cycle will be sent on the billing date each month. Payment will be due 20 days from the billing date. Payments received before the next billing date are applied to the account. Interest will accrue in accordance with 4 CFR 102.13.
(ii) The Debt Collection Act of 1982, including disclosure to the consumer reporting agencies and the use of collection agencies, as set forth in 4 CFR 102.5 and 102.6 will be utilized to encourage payment where appropriate.
(iii) An account holder who files a petition in bankruptcy or who is the subject of a bankruptcy proceeding must provide the following information to the Office of Registration and Safety Information (MC-RS):
(A) The filing date of the bankruptcy petition;
(B) The court in which the bankruptcy petition was filed;
(C) The type of bankruptcy proceeding;
(D) The name, address, and telephone number of its representative in the bankruptcy proceeding; and
(E) The name, address, and telephone number of the bankruptcy trustee, if one has been appointed.
(3) Fees will be payable to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration by a check payable in United States currency drawn upon funds deposited in a United States or foreign bank or other financial institution, money order payable in United States' currency, or credit card (VISA or MASTERCARD).
(b) Any filing that is not accompanied by the appropriate filing fee is deficient except for filings that satisfy the deferred payment procedures in paragraph (a) of this section.
(c) Fees not refundable. Fees will be assessed for every filing in the type of proceeding listed in the schedule of fees contained in paragraph (f) of this section, subject to the exceptions contained in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section. After the application, petition, or other document has been accepted for filing by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the filing fee will not be refunded, regardless of whether the application, petition, or other document is granted or approved, denied, rejected before docketing, dismissed, or withdrawn.
(d) Related or consolidated proceedings.
(1) Separate fees need not be paid for related applications filed by the same applicant which would be the subject of one proceeding. (This does not mean requests for multiple types of operating authority filed on forms in the OP-1 series under the regulations at 49 CFR part 365. A separate filing fee is required for each type of authority sought in each transportation mode, e.g., common, contract, and broker authority for motor property carriers.)
(2) Separate fees will be assessed for the filing of temporary operating authority applications as provided in paragraph (f)(6) of this section, regardless of whether such applications are related to an application for corresponding permanent operating authority.
(3) The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration may reject concurrently filed applications, petitions, or other documents asserted to be related and refund the filing fee if, in its judgment, they embrace two or more severable matters which should be the subject of separate proceedings.
(e) Waiver or reduction of filing fees. It is the general policy of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration not to waive or reduce filing fees except as described as follows:
(1) Filing fees are waived for an application or other proceeding which is filed by a Federal government agency, or a State or local government entity. For purposes of this section the phrases “Federal government agency” or “government entity” do not include a quasi-governmental corporation or government subsidized transportation company.
(2) In extraordinary situations the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will accept requests for waivers or fee reductions in accordance with the following procedure:
(i) When to request. At the time that a filing is submitted to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration the applicant may request a waiver or reduction of the fee prescribed in this part. Such request should be addressed to the Director, Office of Registration and Safety Information (MC-RS).
(ii) Basis. The applicant must show the waiver or reduction of the fee is in the best interest of the public, or that payment of the fee would impose an undue hardship upon the requestor.
(iii) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration action. The Director, Office of Registration and Safety Information (MC-RS), will notify the applicant of the decision to grant or deny the request for waiver or reduction.
(f) Schedule of filing fees.
| Type of proceeding | Fee | |
|---|---|---|
| Part I: Licensing: | ||
| (1) | An application for motor carrier operating authority, a certificate of registration for certain foreign carriers, property broker authority, or freight forwarder authority | $300. |
| (2) | A petition to interpret or clarify an operating authority | 3,000. |
| (3) | A request seeking the modification of operating authority only to the extent of making a ministerial correction, when the original error was caused by applicant, a change in the name of the shipper or owner of a plant site, or the change of a highway name or number | 50. |
| (4) | A petition to renew authority to transport explosives | 250. |
| (5) | An application for authority to deviate from authorized regular-route authority | 150. |
| (6) | An application for motor carrier temporary authority issued in an emergency situation | 100. |
| (7) | Request for name change of a motor carrier, property broker, or freight forwarder | 14. |
| (8) | An application involving the merger, transfer, or lease of the operating rights of motor passenger and property carriers, property brokers, and household goods freight forwarders under 49 U.S.C. 10321 and 10926 | 300. |
| (9)-(49) | [Reserved] | |
| Part II: Insurance: | ||
| (50) | (i) An application for original qualification as self-insurer for bodily injury and property damage insurance (BI&PD) | 4,200. |
| (ii) An application for original qualification as self-insurer for cargo insurance | 420. | |
| (51) | A service fee for insurer, surety, or self-insurer accepted certificate of insurance, surety bond, and other instrument submitted in lieu of a broker surety bond | $10 per accepted certificate, surety bond or other instrument submitted in lieu of a broker surety bond. |
| (52) | A petition for reinstatement of revoked operating authority | 80. |
| (53)-(79) | [Reserved] | |
| Part III: Services: | ||
| (80) | Request for service or pleading list for proceedings | 13 per list. |
| (81) | Faxed copies of operating authority to applicants or their representatives who did not receive a served copy | 5. |
(g) Returned check policy.
(1) If a check submitted to the FMCSA for a filing or service fee is dishonored by a bank or financial institution on which it is drawn, the FMCSA will notify the person who submitted the check that:
(i) All work will be suspended on the filing or proceeding, until the check is made good;
(ii) A returned check charge of $6.00 and any bank charges incurred by the FMCSA as a result of the dishonored check must be submitted with the filing fee which is outstanding; and
(iii) If payment is not made within the time specified by the FMCSA, the proceeding will be dismissed or the filing may be rejected.
(2) If a person repeatedly submits dishonored checks to the FMCSA for filing fees, the FMCSA may notify the person that all future filing fees must be submitted in the form of a certified or cashier's check, money order, or credit card.
[82 FR 5297, Jan. 17, 2017, as amended at 83 FR 22873, May 17, 2018]
(a) Update. Each fee established in this subpart may be updated, as deemed necessary by FMCSA.
(b) Publication and effective dates. Notice of updated fees shall be published in the Federal Register and shall become effective 30 days after publication.
(c) Payment of fees. Any person submitting a filing for which a filing fee is established must pay the fee applicable on the date of the filing or request for services.
(d) Method of updating fees. Each fee shall be updated by updating the cost components comprising the fee. However, fees shall not exceed the maximum amounts established by law. Cost components shall be updated as follows:
(1) Direct labor costs shall be updated by multiplying base level direct labor costs by percentage changes in average wages and salaries of FMCSA employees. Base level direct labor costs are direct labor costs determined by the cost study in Regulations Governing Fees For Service, 1 I.C.C. 2d 60 (1984), or subsequent cost studies. The base period for measuring changes shall be April 1984 or the year of the last cost study.
(2) Operations overhead shall be developed on the basis of current relationships existing on a weighted basis, for indirect labor applicable to the first supervisory work centers directly associated with user fee activity. Actual updating of operations overhead shall be accomplished by applying the current percentage factor to updated direct labor, including current governmental overhead costs.
(3)
(i) Office general and administrative costs shall be developed on the basis of current levels costs, i.e., dividing actual office general and administrative costs for the current fiscal year by total office costs for the office directly associated with user fee activity. Actual updating of office general and administrative costs shall be accomplished by applying the current percentage factor to updated direct labor, including current governmental overhead and current operations overhead costs.
(ii) The FMCSA general and administrative costs shall be developed on the basis of current level costs; i.e., dividing actual FMCSA general and administrative costs for the current fiscal year by total Agency expenses for the current fiscal year. Actual updating of FMCSA general and administrative costs shall be accomplished by applying the current percentage factor to updated direct labor, including current governmental overhead, operations overhead and office general and administrative costs.
(4) Publication costs shall be adjusted on the basis of known changes in the costs applicable to publication of material in the Federal Register or FMCSA Register.
(e) Rounding of updated fees. Updated fees shall be rounded as follows. (This rounding procedure excludes copying, printing and search fees.)
(1) Fees between $1 and $30 shall be rounded to the nearest $1;
(2) Fees between $30 and $100 shall be rounded to the nearest $10;
(3) Fees between $100 and $999 shall be rounded to the nearest $50; and
(4) Fees above $1,000 shall be rounded to the nearest $100.
(a) Update. Each fee established in this part may be updated in accordance with this section as deemed necessary by the FMCSA.
(b) Publication and effective dates. Updated fees shall be published in the Federal Register and shall become effective 30 days after publication.
(c) Payment of fees. Any person submitting a filing for which a fee is established shall pay the fee in effect at the time of the filing.
(d) Method of updating fees. Each fee shall be updated by updating the cost components comprising the fee. Cost components shall be updated as follows:
(1) Direct labor costs shall be updated by multiplying base level direct labor costs by percentage changes in average wages and salaries of FMCSA employees. Base level direct labor costs are direct labor costs determined by the cost study in Regulations Governing Fees For Service, 1 I.C.C. 2d 60 (1984), or subsequent cost studies. The base period for measuring changes shall be April 1984 or the year of the last cost study.
(2) Operations overhead shall be developed each year on the basis of current relationships existing on a weighted basis, for indirect labor applicable to the first supervisory work centers directly associated with user fee activity. Actual updating of operations overhead will be accomplished by applying the current percentage factor to updated direct labor, including current governmental overhead costs.
(3)
(i) Office general and administrative costs shall be developed each year on the basis of current levels costs, i.e., dividing actual office general and administrative costs for the current fiscal year by total office costs for the office directly associated with user fee activity. Actual updating of office general and administrative costs will be accomplished by applying the current percentage factor to updated direct labor, including current governmental overhead and current operations overhead costs.
(ii) FMCSA general and administrative costs shall be developed each year on the basis of current level costs; i.e., dividing actual FMCSA general and administrative costs for the current fiscal year by total agency expenses for the current fiscal year. Actual updating of FMCSA general and administrative costs will be accomplished by applying the current percentage factor to updated direct labor, including current governmental overhead, operations overhead and office general and administrative costs.
(4) Publication costs shall be adjusted on the basis of known changes in the costs applicable to publication of material in the Federal Register or FMCSA Register. (This rounding procedures excludes copying, printing and search fees.)
(e) Rounding of updated fees. Updated fees shall be rounded in the following manner:
(1) Fees between $1 and $30 will be rounded to the nearest $1;
(2) Fees between $30 and $100 will be rounded to the nearest $10;
(3) Fees between $100 and $999 will be rounded to the nearest $50; and
(4) Fees above $1,000 will be rounded to the nearest $100.
[82 FR 5298, Jan. 17, 2017]