In the American Rescue Plan Act, enacted on March 11, 2021, Congress provided the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) with $100 million in budget authority to reduce the costs of overtime inspection for small and very small official meat and poultry establishments and egg products plants. FSIS will implement this provision by reducing overtime and holiday inspection fees for small establishments by 30 percent and very small establishments by 75 percent. FSIS has developed an Overtime/Holiday Rate Reduction form that official establishments will need to submit to request an overtime or holiday inspection fee reduction. FSIS will review the form to determine whether an establishment qualifies for the fee reduction. This notice contains information on how to complete and submit the form to FSIS and describes the procedures FSIS will follow to implement the American Rescue Plan Act's overtime and holiday inspection fee reduction provisions.

Dates

Establishments are encouraged to submit their completed Overtime/Holiday Rate Reduction forms by August 16, 2021 to expedite the process. However, establishments may submit their forms at any time. All establishments that submit their forms by March 11, 2022, and that qualify for a fee reduction, will receive a partial refund for overtime and holiday inspection fees paid since October 11, 2020, i.e., the first day of the pay period after beginning of Fiscal Year 2021.

Addresses

Small and very small establishments should submit their completed forms to the FSIS inspection personnel assigned to their establishment or, alternatively, FAX the completed form to the appropriate FSIS District Office, “Attention Grant Curator.” Contact information for the FSIS District Offices, including FAX numbers, is available at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/contactus/fsis-offices/office-field-operations-ofo.