§ 946 — User Fees

(a) A fee or charge for a service or thing of value provided by the Coast Guard shall be prescribed as provided in section 9701 of title 31. (b) Amounts collected by the Secretary for a service or thing of value provided by the Coast Guard shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury as proprietary receipts of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating and ascribed to Coast Guard activities. (c) In addition to the collection of fees and charges established under this section, the Secretary may recover from the person liable for the fee or charge the costs of collecting delinquent payments of the fee or charge, and enforcement costs associated with delinquent payments of the fees and charges. (1) The Secretary may employ any Federal, State, or local agency or instrumentality, or any private enterprise or business, to collect a fee or charge established under this section. (2) A private enterprise or business employed by the Secretary to collect fees or charges— (A) shall be subject to reasonable terms and conditions agreed to by the Secretary and the enterprise or business; (B) shall provide appropriate accounting to the Secretary; and (C) may not institute litigation as part of that collection. (1) In addition to the collection of fees and charges established under this section, in the provision of a service or thing of value by the Coast Guard the Secretary may accept in-kind transportation, travel, and subsistence. (2) The value of in-kind transportation, travel, and subsistence accepted under this paragraph may not exceed applicable per diem rates set forth in regulations prescribed under section 464 of title 37. (f) The Secretary shall account for the agency’s costs of collecting a fee or charge as a reimbursable expense, subject to the availability of appropriations, and the costs shall be credited to the account from which expended. (g) Before January 1 of each year, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate that includes— (1) a verification of each activity for which a fee or charge is collected under any law stating— (A) the amount collected in the prior fiscal year; and (B) that the amount spent on that activity in that fiscal year is not less than the amount collected; and (2) the amount expected to be collected under any law in the current fiscal year for each activity for which a fee or charge is expected to be collected. (h) In this section the term “costs of collecting a fee or charge” includes the reasonable administrative, accounting, personnel, contract, equipment, supply, training, and travel expenses of calculating, assessing, collecting, enforcing, reviewing, adjusting, and reporting on a fee or charge.