54.27—Fees and other charges for service.
Fees and other charges equal as nearly as may be to the cost of the services rendered shall be assessed and collected from applicants in accordance with the following provisions unless otherwise provided in the cooperative agreement under which the services are furnished, or as provided in § 54.6.
(a) Fees for Service on Noncommitment Basis (Hourly Rates).
Except as otherwise provided in this section, fees for service shall be based on the time required to render the service, calculated to the nearest 15-minute period, including official grader's travel and certificate(s) preparation time in connection with the performance of service. A minimum charge of one-half hour shall be made for service pursuant to each request notwithstanding that the time required to perform service may be less than 30 minutes. The base hourly rate for noncommitment applicants shall be $71 per hour for 8 hours or less of work performed between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on legal holidays; $78 per hour for work performed in excess of 8 hours per day for each assigned official grader and for work performed before 6 a.m. and after 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and any time Saturday or Sunday, except on Federal legal holidays; and $122 per hour for all work performed on Federal legal holidays.
(b) Fees for Service on Commitment Basis.
Minimum fees for service performed under a commitment agreement or an agreement by memorandum shall be on the basis of 8 hours per day, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal legal holidays occurring Monday through Friday on which no grading and certification services are performed. The base hourly rate for service performed under such agreements shall be $61 per hour for 8 consecutive hours or less of work performed between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on Federal legal holidays; $78 per hour for work performed in excess of 8 hours per day for each assigned official grader and for work performed before 6 a.m. and after 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and any time Saturday or Sunday, except on Federal legal holidays; and $122 per hour for all work performed on Federal legal holidays. The Agency reserves the right under such a commitment agreement or agreement by memorandum to use any grader assigned to the plant on a commitment basis to perform service for other applicants, as provided in § 54.6(c), crediting the commitment applicant with the number of hours charged to the other applicant, provided the allowable credit hours plus hours actually worked for the applicants do not exceed 8 hours on any day, Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.
(c) Travel charges.
When service is requested at a place so distant from an official grader's headquarters, or place of prior assignment on a circuitous routing that a total of one-half hour or more is required for the grader to travel to such place and back to the headquarters, or to the next place of assignment on a circuitous routing, the charge for such service shall include a mileage charge administratively determined by the Chief, and travel tolls, if applicable, for such travel prorated against all the applicants furnished the service involved on an equitable basis, or where the travel is made by public transportation (including hired vehicles), a fee equal to the actual cost thereof. However, the applicant will not be charged a new mileage rate without notification before the service is rendered.
(d) Per diem charges.
When service is requested at a place away from the official grader's headquarters, the fee for such service shall include a per diem charge if the employee performing the service is paid per diem in accordance with existing travel regulations. Per diem charges to applicants will cover the same period of time for which the grader receives per diem reimbursement. The per diem rate will be administratively determined by the Chief. However, the applicant will not be charged a new per diem rate without notification before the service is rendered.
(e) Fees for appeal service.
Fees for appeal service shall be determined on the basis of the time, of two official graders, required to render the service, calculated to the nearest fifteen-minute period, including the time required for the preparation of certificates and travel of such graders in connection with the performance of the service, at the applicable hourly rate prescribed in paragraph (a) of this section, plus any travel charges and per diem for such graders ordinarily chargeable under paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section: Provided, That when on appeal it is found that there was error in the original determination equal to or exceeding ten percent of the total number of similar units of the products involved, no charge will be made for the appeal service unless a special agreement therefor was made with the applicant in advance.
(f) Fees for extra copies of certificates.
In addition to copies of certificates furnished under § 54.14, any financially interested person may obtain not to exceed three copies of any such certificate within one year from its date of issuance upon payment of a fee of $1.00, and not to exceed three copies of any such certificate at any time thereafter, while a copy of such certificate is on file in the Department, upon payment of a fee of $5.00.
(g) Other charges.
When costs, other than costs specified in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of this section, are involved in providing the services, the applicant will be charged for these costs. The amount of these charges will be determined administratively by the Chief. However, the applicant will not be charged for such cost without notification before the service is rendered of the charge for such item of expense.