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

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Federal Register: December 18, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 243)NoticesPage 70163-70164From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID:fr18de98-120

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration

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

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Labor.

ACTION: Notice of fee adjustments.

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 1999 fees on our actual expenses for fiscal year 1998. The fees reflect changes both in our approval processing operations and in our costs to process approval actions.

DATES: These fee schedules are effective from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven J. Luzik, Chief, Approval and Certification Center (A&CC), 304-547-2029 or 304-547-0400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On May 8, 1987 (52 FR 17506), we published a final rule, 30 CFR Part 5--Fees 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 1999 in accordance with the procedures of that rule and include this new fee schedule below. For approval applications postmarked before January 1, 1999, we will continue to calculate fees under the previous (1998) fee schedule, published on December 24, 1997.

Fee Computation

In general, we computed the 1999 fees based on fiscal year 1998 data. We calculated a weighted-average, direct

[Page 70164]cost for all the services that we provided during fiscal year 1998 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 1999.

Elimination of SNAP and SRA Programs

Effective September 1998, we eliminated the Stamped Notification Acceptance Program (SNAP) and Stamped Revision Acceptance (SRA) programs. Under these programs, we charged only a nominal fee for the acceptance of certain changes to approvals. All requests for acceptance of proposed changes to approved products now require only:

  (1) A letter of application describing the proposed changes, and

  (2) The new or revised drawings and specifications that document the proposed changes.

As with original requests for approval, we will charge a single hourly rate for processing all future requests for acceptance of proposed changes to approved products.

In addition, we require you (applicant) to pre-authorize the expenditure of at least $500 for fees. If the complexity of the proposed change requires more time to evaluate than you pre-authorized, we will prepare an estimate of the total cost and send it to you. If you agree to the additional cost, we will complete the approval process. We will bill you for the actual cost of processing your application at the conclusion of the investigation.

We will continue to administer and bill certain tests and services at a flat rate. We have listed our hourly and flat-rate fees for 1999 in the following fee schedule.

Dated: December 14, 1998. J. Davitt McAteer, Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health.

Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 1999 [Based on FY 1998 data]

Action title

Hourly rate Flat rate

Fees for Testing, Evaluation, and Approval of all Mining Products \1\....

$59 Retesting for Approval as a Result of Post-Approval Product Audit \2\........ .............. Statement of Test and Evaluation (ST&E). ..............

$105 Statement of Test and Evaluation (ST&E) Extension.............................. ..............

83 Mine Wide Monitoring System (MWMS) Barrier Classification................. ..............

89

30 CFR PART 15--EXPLOSIVES TESTING

Permissibility Tests for Explosives:

Weigh-in............................................

$462

Physical Exam: First size...........................

325

Chemical Analysis...................................

1,977

Air Gap--Minimum Product Firing Temperature.........

460

Air Gap--Room 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. 98-33553Filed12-17-98; 8:45 amBILLING CODE 4510-43-P

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