Torres Leads Effort to Protect ONT from Abrupt Federal Fee Hikes
POMONA – Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35) today led a bipartisan group of 14 lawmakers in demanding answers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) about an abrupt new fee structure impacting approximately 60 airports across the United States – including Ontario International Airport (ONT) – with significant cost increases at a time when they are already suffering great losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airports impacted by CBP's User Fee program rely on CBP for necessary homeland security review of international cargo and passenger shipments.
Torres is joined on her letter by lawmakers from across the Inland Empire and broader region. The lawmakers ask, in part:
- What authority did CBP rely on when creating a new system for calculating fees, and what is the rationale for the new fee structure?
- For airports that decide to terminate or reduce service as a result of these fees, will the agency promptly return officers to those locations when air operations demand comes back?
- What avenues are available for airports to delay implementation of this fee schedule change or seek financial relief?
Rep. Torres released the following statement:
"Airports already struggling under incredible economic pressure from COVID-19 need genuine partnership from the federal government – instead, they're getting a shakedown," Rep. Torres said. "These fees threaten our transportation infrastructure and the logistics industry that coordinates all shipping for the entire western United States. These stakes are way too high – we need to know exactly what authority CBP is relying on as they thrust these last-minute price hikes on airports, and how they can possibly justify this policy change at a time like this."
Rep. Torres is a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which authorizes all federal funding and has oversight over how agencies spend their budgets.
The full text of Rep. Torres' letter is available here.
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