Fees paid by transporters to fund the federal Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grants program will be slashed by 50 to 85% under a final rule published in the Federal Register January 9. The grants support state and local hazmat emergency response planning and training, but the fees were raised to a level higher than needed in 2000.
Consequently, DOT said it would lower the annual registration fee from $300 to $150 for small businesses and nonprofit organizations, and from $2,000 to $300 for other businesses, including a $25 processing fee. DOT also announced that approximately 4,550 advance registrants for 2003-04 and 2004-05, mostly small businesses, would receive refunds of the excess amounts they had prepaid.
