H.R. 4336 — CBP SPACE Act

This section expands the Secretary of the Treasury's authority under 19 U.S.C. 58c(a)(9)(B)(i) to adjust the merchandise processing fee (MPF)—an ad valorem fee of 0.211% (within a range of 0.15% to 0.211%) charged on formally entered or released merchandise—to offset capital costs incurred by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in addition to salaries and expenses. The section further authorizes use of fees deposited in the Customs User Fee Account to pay capital costs associated with passenger inspection services (19 U.S.C. 58c(f)(3)(A)(i)(VI)). It states the sense of Congress that the Secretary and CBP Commissioner should jointly set MPF levels to fund equipment upgrades and facilities construction, improvement, and maintenance at U.S. sea ports of entry. The amendments take effect 180 days after enactment.

This section prohibits the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from requesting or requiring a sea port of entry to provide or maintain administrative, training, or recreational facilities for purposes of facilitating CBP inspection services. A rule of construction clarifies that this prohibition does not affect CBP's authority under section 482 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 301a) to accept donations of personal property, money, nonpersonal services, or real property (subject to specified limits) at eligible sea, air, or land ports of entry for related Office of Field Operations activities.

This section directs the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to submit to the appropriate congressional committees (i.e., Senate Committees on Finance, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Appropriations; and House Committees on Ways and Means, Homeland Security, and Appropriations), beginning one year after enactment and annually thereafter, a report specifying (1) the amount of merchandise processing fee proceeds collected in the preceding year under section 13031(a)(9) of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (as amended by section 1 of this bill), (2) the amount of such proceeds directed to inspection facilities at seaports of entry, and (3) the outstanding capital needs of such facilities.