HQ 112650: Air Commerce; Airport; Landing Rights; Security Area; Reports; Employment Changes; 19 C.F.R. 122.12; 19 C.F.R. 122.14; 19 C.F.R. 122.182.

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 112650

                        September 1, 1993

AIR-3-03 CO:R:IT:C  112650 JBW

CATEGORY:  Carriers                                    

Mr. Thomas E. Richardson
Federal Express
Senior Trade Regulatory Specialist
International Regulatory Services
2600 Thousand Oaks Boulevard
Suite 3400
Memphis, TN 38118-5790

RE:  Air Commerce; Airport; Landing Rights; Security Area; Reports;
     Employment Changes; 19 C.F.R.   122.12; 19 C.F.R.   122.14;
     19 C.F.R.   122.182.

Dear Mr. Richardson:

     This letter is in response to your letters of March 26, 1993,
and June 28, 1993, in which you ask whether the Customs Service at
landing rights airports may require quarterly employee status
reports under 19 C.F.R.   122.12(d) (1993).  The issue underlying
this inquiry arose from the assessment of a liquidated damage claim
against Federal Express.  We note at the outset that the Customs
Service may not issue a ruling letter on an act or activity to
which the Customs laws apply that a field office has acted upon and
that is final in nature.  19 C.F.R.    177.1(a)(2)(ii) & (d)(3). 
Therefore, the effect of this letter is prospective only.

FACTS:

       Federal Express is an air courier that operates in both
domestic and international service out of numerous airports in the
United States.  As part of this operation, employees of Federal
Express are granted access to Customs security areas.  The Customs
Service in Dallas, Texas, issued a liquidated damage claim against
Federal Express for failing to file a quarterly report on the
status of employees who hold identification cards issued by Customs
to permit access to Customs security areas.  You state that Dallas
requires a quarterly report even when no employment change occurs
in that quarter.   You state that Customs supports this requirement
by citing 19 C.F.R.   122.12(d).   Federal Express has paid a
mitigated damage amount to settle the Dallas case.

ISSUE:

     Whether the Customs Service at landing rights airports may
require the filing of quarterly employee status reports under 19
C.F.R.   122.12(d).

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     The Customs Regulations establish three classes of airports
for purposes of administering customs laws and regulations.  19
C.F.R. Subpart B.  The first landing of a private or commercial
aircraft entering the United States from a foreign area must be at
an international airport, unless permission to land at a landing
rights or user fee airport has been granted.  19 C.F.R.  
122.33(a).  Regulations governing the operation of international
airports are found in 19 C.F.R.   122.12 and are applicable only
to those airports listed in 19 C.F.R.   122.13.  Grounds for denial
or withdrawal of permission to land at landing rights or user fee
airports are provided in 19 C.F.R.    122.14(d).

     Rules governing the operation of Customs security areas in
all classes of airports are found in subpart S of the part 122 of
the Customs Regulations.  Under these rules, employees of air
carriers that have unescorted access to Customs security areas must
display or produce on demand an identification card, strip, or seal
issued by the Customs Service.  19 C.F.R.   122.182(a).  Employers
are required to notify the district director in writing at the time
of changes in employment that result in an employee no longer
requiring access to a Customs security area for an extended period
of time.  19 C.F.R.   122.182(g).  The employer is required to
return the identification card, strip, or seal to Customs, and the
notification is required to include information regarding the
disposition of the identification card, strip, or seal.  Id. 
Finally, the regulations require that a summary be filed quarterly
or at shorter intervals as required by the district director of
changes in employment and disposition of identification credentials
issued by Customs.  Id.  

     Dallas-Fort Worth Airport is a landing rights airport.  We
agree that the regulations governing the operation of international
airports found under 19 C.F.R.   122.12 are not applicable to
Customs operations in Dallas-Fort Worth.  Thus, it is incorrect to
require the filing of an employee status report under 19 C.F.R.  
122.12(d) at a landing rights airport.  However, the regulations
provide that a quarterly summary be filed for changes in employment
status under 19 C.F.R.   122.182(g), and this provision is
applicable to the operation at Dallas-Fort Worth or other landing
rights airports.  This quarterly summary required under the
regulations is intended only to summarize information already
provided to Customs at the time of changes in employment. 
Consequently, if no changes in employment have occurred or have
been reported, the regulations do not require the filing of the
quarterly summary.    

HOLDING:

     The Customs Service at landing rights airports may not require
the filing of quarterly employee status reports under 19 C.F.R.  
122.12(d).  However, the regulations provide that a quarterly
summary be filed for changes in employment under 19 C.F.R.  
122.182(g), and this provision is applicable to the operation of
landing rights airports.                          


                              Sincerely,




                              Acting Chief