(a) Fixed fees and hourly rates have been derived using the methodology described below to ensure full cost recovery for certification actions or approvals provided by the FAA for persons outside the United States.

(b) These rates are based on aviation safety inspector time rather than calculating a separate rate for managerial or clerical time because the inspector is the individual performing the actual service. Charging for inspector time, while building in all costs into the rate base, provides for efficient cost recovery and time management.

(c) The hourly billing rate has been determined by using the annual operations budget of the Flight Standards Service. The budget is comprised of the following:

(1) Personnel compensation and benefits, budget code series 1100 (excluding codes 1151 and 1152—overtime, Sunday and holiday pay), 1200, and 1300.

(2) Travel and transportation of persons, budget code series 2100 (excluding code 2100—site visit travel).

(3) Transportation of things, budget code series 2200.

(4) Rental, communications, utilities, budget code series 2300.

(5) Printing and reproduction, budget code series 2400.

(6) Contractual services, budget code series 2500.

(7) Supplies and materials, budget code series 2600.

(8) Equipment, budget code series 3100.

(9) Lands and structures, budget code series 3200.

(10) Insurance claims and indemnities, budget code series 4200.

(d) In order to recover overhead costs attributable to the budget, all costs other than direct inspector transportation and subsistence, overtime, and Sunday/holiday costs, are assigned to the number of inspector positions. An hourly cost per inspector is developed by dividing the annual Flight Standards Operations Budget, excluding the items enumerated above, by the number of aviation safety inspections (OMB position series 1825) on board at the beginning of the fiscal year, to determine the annual cost of an aviation safety inspector. This annual cost of an aviation safety inspector is divided by 2,087 hours, which is the annual paid hours of a U.S. Federal Government employee. This result in the hourly government paid cost of an aviation safety inspector.

(e) To ensure that the hourly inspector cost represents a billing rate that ensures full recovery of costs, the hourly cost per inspector must be multiplied by an indirect work factor to determine the hourly inspector billing rate. This is necessary for the following reasons:

(1) Inspectors spend a significant amount of time in indirect work to support their inspection activities, much of which cannot be allocated to any one client.

(2) Not all 2,087 annual paid hours are available as work hours because training, providing technical assistance, leave, and other indirect work activities reduce the work time that may be directly billed. Consequently, the hourly cost per inspector must be adjusted upwards by an indirect work factor. The calculation of an indirect work factor is discussed in paragraph (f) of this appendix.

(f)

(1) The indirect work factor is determined using the following formula:

where:

a = indirect work rate, and

b = leave usage (total leave hours divided by total hours available for work.

(2) The components of the formula are derived as follows:

(i) a = indirect work rate. Indirect work rate is take from the Flight Standards Staffing Standard Order and is used to project the amount of time an aviation safety inspector spends in indirect activities, as opposed to certification and surveillance work. The indirect work activities are:

(A) Development of master minimum equipment lists on Flight Operations Evaluation Board.

(B) Development of aircraft training documents on Flight Standardization Board.

(C) Development of Maintenance program documents on Maintenance Review Board.

(D) Providing technical assistance.

(E) Assisting legal counsel.

(F) Evaluation of technical documents.

(G) Leave (all types).

(H) Training.

(I) Administrative time.

(J) Travel for indirect work.

(ii) b = leave usage (total leave hours divided by total hours available for work). This is computed by using OMB guidelines of 280 average annual leave hours and 1,800 average annual hours available for work for computer manpower requirements.

(g) The hourly inspector cost, when multiplied by the indirect work factor, yields the hourly inspector billing rate and ensures full cost recovery by incorporating the total amount of FAA paid hours needed to produce one hour of direct billable inspector time.

(h) Certifications and approvals for which there are fixed times, such as airman tests, are determined by multiplying the time used in the Flight Standards Staffing Standard or airman test guidelines by the inspector hourly billing rate.

(i) Certifications and approvals for which there are no fixed work rates, such as airman and repair station facilities (air agencies), are billed at the hourly inspector billing rate.

(j) Actual transportation and subsistence expenses incurred in certification or approval actions will be billed in addition to the hourly inspector billing rate, where such expenses are incurred.

(k) In no event will the fees exceed the actual costs of providing certification or approval services.

(l) The methodology for computing user fees is published in this Appendix. The User fee schedule is published in an FAA Advisory Circular entitled “Flight Standards Service Schedule of Charges Outside the United States.” A copy of this publication may be obtained from: New Orders, Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954.

(m) Fees will be reviewed every year, at the beginning of the fiscal year, and adjusted either upward or downward in order to reflect the current costs of performing tests, authorizations, certifications, permits, or ratings.

(n) Notice of each change to a fee for a service described in the user fee schedule will be published in the “Notices” section of the Federal Register.

[Amdt. 187-5, 60 FR 19631, Apr. 19, 1995]