Federal Register: December 30, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 249)

DOCID: FR Doc 03-31798

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration

NOTICE: NOTICES

DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice of fee adjustments.

SUBJECT CATEGORY:

Fee Adjustments for Testing, Evaluation, and Approval of Mining Products

DATES: This fee schedule is effective from January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2004.

DOCUMENT SUMMARY:

This notice revises our [MSHA Approval and Certification Center (A&CC)] user fees. Fees compensate us for the costs that we incur for testing, evaluating, and approving certain products for use in underground mines. We based the 2004 fees on our actual expenses for fiscal year 2003. The fees reflect changes both in our approval processing operations and in our costs to process approval actions.

SUMMARY:

Mining products; testing, evaluation, and approval; user fee adjustments,

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

Background

On May 8, 1987 (52 FR 17506), we published a final rule, 30 CFR Part 5Fees for Testing, Evaluation, and Approval of Mining Products. The rule established specific procedures for calculating,
administering, and revising user fees. We have revised our fee schedule for 2004 in accordance with the procedures of that rule and include this new fee schedule below. For approval applications postmarked before January 1, 2004, we will continue to calculate fees under the previous (2003) fee schedule, published on December 31, 2002. Fee Computation

In general, we computed the 2004 fees based on fiscal year 2003 data. We calculated a weightedaverage, direct
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cost for all the services that we provided during fiscal year 2003 in the processing of requests for testing, evaluation, and approval of certain products for use in underground mines. From this cost, we calculated a single hourly rate to apply uniformly across all of the product approval categories during 2004.

Dated: December 18, 2003.
John R. Correll,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health. Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2004
[Based on FY 2003 data]
Action title Hourly rate Fees for Testing, Evaluation, and Approval of all Mining $63 Products \1\.............................................. Retesting for Approval as a Result of PostApproval Product
Audit \2\
30 CFR Part 15Explosives Testing
Permissibility Tests for Explosives:
Weighin................................................. 462 Physical Exam: First size................................ 325 Chemical Analysis........................................ 1,977 Air GapMinimum Product Firing Temperature.............. 460 Air GapRoom Temperature................................ 352 Pendulum Friction Test................................... 163 Detonation Rate.......................................... 352 Gallery Test 7........................................... 7,436 Gallery Test 8........................................... 5,533 Toxic Gases (Large Chamber).............................. 805 Permissibility Tests for Sheathed Explosives:
Physical Examination..................................... 128 Chemical Analysis........................................ 1,044 Gallery Test 9........................................... 1,944 Gallery Test 10.......................................... 1,944 Gallery Test 11.......................................... 1,944 Gallery Test 12.......................................... 1,944 Drop Test................................................ 648 Temperature Effects/Detonation........................... 672 Toxic Gases.............................................. 580 \1\ Full approval fee consists of evaluation cost plus applicable test costs.
\2\ Fee based upon the approval schedule in effect at the time of retest.

Note: When the nature of the product requires that we test and evaluate it at a location other than our premises, you must reimburse us for the traveling, subsistence, and incidental expenses of our representative in accordance with standardized government travel regulations. This reimbursement is in addition to the fees charged for evaluation and testing.
[FR Doc. 0331798 Filed 122903; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 451043P

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Steven J. Luzik, Chief, Approval and Certification Center (A&CC), 3045472029 or 3045470400.