2022 Rate Changes for the Basetime, Overtime, Holiday, Laboratory Services, and Export Application Fees
| Published date | 29 December 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 74063 |
| Record Number | 2021-28300 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Agriculture Department,Food Safety And Inspection Service |
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 247 (Wednesday, December 29, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74063-74065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-28300]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 247 / Wednesday, December 29, 2021 /
Notices
[[Page 74063]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket Number FSIS-2021-0029]
2022 Rate Changes for the Basetime, Overtime, Holiday, Laboratory
Services, and Export Application Fees
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing
the 2022 rates it will charge meat and poultry establishments, egg
products plants, and importers and exporters for providing voluntary,
overtime, and holiday inspection and identification, certification, and
laboratory services. Additionally, FSIS is announcing that there will
be no changes to the fee FSIS assesses to exporters that choose to
apply for export certificates electronically through the export
component of the Agency's Public Health Information System.
The new rates will be applied on January 2, 2022.
DATES: FSIS will charge the rates announced in this notice beginning
January 2, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact
Michael Toner, Director, Budget Division, Office of the Chief Financial
Officer, FSIS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room 2159, South
Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-3700;
Telephone: (202) 690-8398, Fax: (202) 690-4155.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On April 12, 2011, FSIS published a final rule amending its
regulations to establish formulas for calculating the rates it charges
meat and poultry establishments, egg products plants, and importers and
exporters for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and
identification, certification, and laboratory services (76 FR 20220).
In the final rule, FSIS stated that it would use the formulas to
calculate the annual rates, publish the rates in Federal Register
notices prior to the start of each calendar year, and apply the rates
on the first FSIS pay period at the beginning of the calendar year.
This notice provides the 2022 rates, which will be applied starting on
January 2, 2022.
On September 6, 2017, FSIS published a Federal Register notice,
``Public Health Information System (PHIS) Export Component Country
Implementation'' (FR 82 42056). The notice announced the delayed
implementation of the export component to ensure sufficient testing and
outreach to stakeholders and that the application fee would be
recalculated based on available costs and number of applications, but
would not be assessed prior to January 1, 2019. In addition, FSIS
announced that it would implement the PHIS Export Component with a
limited number of countries and gradually expand implementation to
additional countries.
On April 29, 2019, FSIS published a Federal Register notice,
``Public Health Information System Export Component Fee'' (84 FR
17999). The notice announced that starting June 1, 2019, FSIS would
assess a fee of $4.01 to exporters that chose to apply for export
certificates electronically through the export component of PHIS. As
noted below, that fee remains unchanged since 2019.
On July 15, 2021, FSIS published a Federal Register notice,
``Overtime and Holiday Inspection Fee Reductions for Small and Very
Small Establishments'' (86 FR 37276). The noticed explained that the
American Rescue Plan Act provided FSIS with $100 million in budget
authority to reduce the costs of overtime inspection for small and very
small official meat and poultry establishments and egg products plants.
The notice also announced that FSIS implemented this provision by
reducing overtime and holiday inspection fees for small establishments
by 30 percent and very small establishments by 75 percent. More
information on how to apply for the fee reduction is available at:
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/federal-register-rulemaking/federal-register-notices/overtime-and-holiday-inspection-fee.
2022 Rates and Calculations
The following table lists the 2022 Rates per hour, per employee, by
type of service:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022 Rate
(estimates
rounded to
Service reflect
billable
quarters)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basetime................................................ $67.00
Overtime................................................ 2.60
Holiday................................................. 98.20
Laboratory.............................................. 85.72
Export Application...................................... * 4.01
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Per application.
The regulations that cover these fees (other than the export
application fee) state that FSIS will calculate the rates using
formulas that include the Office of Field Operations (OFO) inspection
program personnel's previous fiscal year's regular direct pay and
regular hours (9 CFR 391.2, 391.3, 391.4, 590.126, 590.128, 592.510,
592.520, and 592.530).
FSIS determined the 2022 rates using the following calculations:
Basetime Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of Field
Operations (OFO) inspection program personnel's previous fiscal year's
regular direct pay by the previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus
the quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of cost of
living increase, plus the benefits rate, plus the travel and operating
rate, plus the overhead rate, plus the allowance for bad debt rate.
The calculation for the 2022 basetime rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2021 OFO Regular Direct Pay divided by the previous fiscal year's
Regular Hours ($456,808,446/15,032,156)] = $30.39 + ($30.39 * 2.7%
(calendar year 2021 Cost of Living Increase)) = $31.21 + $11.86
(benefits rate) + $2.48 (travel and operating rate) + $21.45(overhead
rate) + $0.00 (bad debt allowance rate) = $67.00, which is divisible by
4.
Overtime Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of Field
Operations (OFO) inspection program personnel's previous fiscal year's
regular direct pay by the previous fiscal year's regular
[[Page 74064]]
hours, plus that quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage
of cost of living increase, multiplied by 1.5 (for overtime), plus the
benefits rate, plus the travel and operating rate, plus the overhead
rate, plus the allowance for bad debt rate.
The calculation for the 2022 overtime rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2021 OFO Regular Direct Pay divided by previous fiscal year's
Regular Hours ($456,808,446/15,032,156)] = $30.39 + ($30.39 * 2.7%
(calendar year 2021 Cost of Living Increase)) = $31.21 * 1.5 = $46.82 +
$11.86 (benefits rate) + $2.48 (travel and operating rate) + $21.45
(overhead rate) + $0.00 (bad debt allowance rate) = $82.61, rounded
down to $82.60, so that it is divisible by 4.
Holiday Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of Field
Operations (OFO) inspection program personnel's previous fiscal year's
regular direct pay by the previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus
that quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of cost of
living increase, multiplied by 2 (for holiday pay), plus the benefits
rate, plus the travel and operating rate, plus the overhead rate, plus
the allowance for bad debt rate.
The calculation for the 2022 holiday rate per hour per program
employee calculation is:
[FY 2021 OFO Regular Direct Pay divided by Regular Hours ($456,808,446/
15,032,156)] = $30.39 + ($30.39 * 2.7% (calendar year 2021 Cost of
Living Increase)) = $31.21* 2 = $62.42 + $11.86 (benefits rate) + $2.48
(travel and operating rate) + $21.45 (overhead rate) + $0.00 (bad debt
allowance rate) = $98.21, rounded down to 98.20, so that it is
divisible by 4.
Laboratory Services Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of
Public Health Science (OPHS) previous fiscal year's regular direct pay
by the OPHS previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus the quotient
multiplied by the calendar year's percentage cost of living increase,
plus the benefits rate, plus the travel and operating rate, plus the
overhead rate, plus the allowance for bad debt rate.
The calculation for the 2022 laboratory services rate per hour per
program employee is:
[FY 2021 OPHS Regular Direct Pay/OPHS Regular hours ($25,641,975/
527,590)] = $48.60 + ($48.60 * 2.7% (calendar year 2021 Cost of Living
Increase)) = $49.91 + $11.86 (benefits rate) + $2.48 (travel and
operating rate) + $21.45 (overhead rate) + $0.00 (bad debt allowance
rate) = $85.71, rounded up to 85.72, so that it is divisible by 4.
Calculations for the Benefits, Travel and Operating, Overhead, and
Allowance for Bad Debt Rates
These rates are components of the basetime, overtime, holiday, and
laboratory services rates formulas.
Benefits Rate: The quotient of dividing the previous fiscal year's
direct benefits costs by the previous fiscal year's total hours
(regular, overtime, and holiday), plus that quotient multiplied by the
calendar year's percentage cost of living increase. Some examples of
direct benefits are health insurance, retirement, life insurance, and
Thrift Savings Plan basic and matching contributions.
The calculation for the 2022 benefits rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2021 Direct Benefits/(Total Regular hours + Total Overtime hours +
Total Holiday hours) ($214,717,112/18,590,355)] = $11.55 + ($11.55 *
2.7% (calendar year 2021 Cost of Living Increase)) = $11.86.
Travel and Operating Rate: The quotient of dividing the previous
fiscal year's total direct travel and operating costs by the previous
fiscal year's total hours (regular, overtime, and holiday), plus that
quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of inflation.
The calculation for the 2022 travel and operating rate per hour per
program employee is:
[FY 2021 Total Direct Travel and Operating Costs/(Total Regular hours +
Total Overtime hours + Total Holiday hours) ($45,098,829/18,590,355)] =
$2.43 + ($2.43 * 2.1% (2022 Inflation) = $2.48.
Overhead Rate: The quotient of dividing the previous fiscal year's
indirect costs plus the previous fiscal year's information technology
(IT) costs in the Public Health Data Communication Infrastructure
System Fund plus the provision for the operating balance less any
Greenbook costs (i.e., costs of USDA support services prorated to the
service component for which fees are charged) that are not related to
food inspection by the previous fiscal year's total hours (regular,
overtime, and holiday) worked across all funds, plus the quotient
multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of inflation.
The calculation for the 2022 overhead rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2021 Total Overhead/(Total Regular hours + Total Overtime hours +
Total Holiday hours) ($ 390,615,397/18,590,355)] = $21.01 + ($21.01 *
2.1% (2021 Inflation) = $21.45.
Allowance for Bad Debt Rate = Previous fiscal year's total
allowance for bad debt (for example, debt owed that is not paid in full
by plants and establishments that declare bankruptcy) divided by
previous fiscal year's total hours (regular, overtime, and holiday)
worked.
The 2022 calculation for bad debt rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2021 Total Bad Debt/(Total Regular hours + Total Overtime hours +
Total Holiday hours) = ($249,286/18,590,355)] = $0.01.
2022 Electronic Export Application Fee
The 2022 Electronic Export Application Fee:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN29DE21.006
As published in the 2016 final rule, the Electronic Export
Application Fee Formula is:
[[Page 74065]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN29DE21.007
FSIS stated in the 2016 final rule (81 FR 42225) and the 2017
Federal Register notice (FR 82 42056) that it would update and
recalculate the fee based on the best available estimates for costs and
number of applications; however, the number of export applications (the
denominator in the formula) cannot be accurately assessed until a
majority of countries are included in the export component. Therefore,
because a majority of countries are not yet included in the PHIS Export
component, the cost estimates and projected export applications in the
final rule remain the best estimate for 2022, leaving the electronic
export application fee unchanged.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, FSIS will announce this Federal
Register publication on-line through the FSIS website located at:
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/federal-register-rulemaking/federal-register-rules. FSIS will also announce and provide a link to this
Federal Register publication through the FSIS Constituent Update, which
is used to provide information regarding FSIS policies, procedures,
regulations, Federal Register notices, FSIS public meetings, and other
types of information that could affect or would be of interest to our
constituents and stakeholders. The Constituent Update is available on
the FSIS website. Through the website, FSIS can provide information to
a much broader, more diverse audience. In addition, FSIS offers an
email subscription service which provides automatic and customized
access to selected food safety news and information. This service is
available at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. Options range from
recalls to export information, regulations, directives, and notices.
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the
option to password protect their accounts.
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Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to
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Paul Kiecker,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021-28300 Filed 12-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P
