Today the Federal Register published the Department of Transportation’s Semiannual Regulatory Agenda. Buried deep within its agenda, the DOT states that the FAA will be issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) addressing fees so the agency can “recover the estimated costs of the various services and activities for which fees would be established or revised.”
The proposed rulemaking will:
- Set fees for airman certificates, medical certificates, and for providing legal opinions with respect to aircraft registration or recordation. Interestingly, the FAA does not currently charge a fee for providing this type of legal opinion.
- Revise existing fees for aircraft registration, recording of security interests in aircraft or aircraft parts, and replacement of an airman certificate. Of note, these fees are incredibly minimal compared to similar fees one would be charged in connection with registering a car or real estate. And they haven’t changed in many years. So, this proposal isn’t really a surprise and, in fact, is probably overdue.
The agenda indicates that the NPRM is to be released in April, 2018. Of course, as with any NPRM, the devil will be in the details. So, we won’t know the amount of the proposed new and increasing fees until the NPRM is issued. Stay tuned.
