The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that they will retain the current Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection (AQI) user fee exemption for certain passenger aircraft with 64 or fewer seats.
As a result of efforts led by NATA, alongside support from Part 135 operators and their customers, APHIS reversed its decision to eliminate the exemption by June 2025 and will now maintain it indefinitely.
Following a directive of the Trump administration, the regulatory change that would have removed the exemption was paused and re-evaluated. APHIS subsequently announced a delay in the exemption’s elimination, reopening the issue for public comment.
In response, the NATA-led efforts to protect the exemption for Part 135 air carriers included submitting formal comments and actively encouraging industry stakeholders to provide their input.
“Removing the small aircraft exemption would have unfairly burdened the part 135 sector, mostly comprising small businesses. We are pleased APHIS recognized the minimal inspection demands and low agricultural risk of these operations by continuing the exemption,” said NATA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Jenny Ann Urban.
NATA’s comments urged APHIS to maintain the existing exemption to ensure equitable cost allocation and support the economic viability of small aviation businesses.
“This is one of many examples of NATA's success, as a national association, in fighting to protect the membership from onerous regulations and ensuring the voices of part 135 operators are elevated. We applaud the leadership of APHIS for its rapid review of the comments submitted and its recognition of the unfair burden the imposition of the aircraft clearance fee would place on the industry,” added Urban.
NATA’s comments included the following arguments:
Given the limited payload capacities and overall small aircraft size, any burden for inspection service is minimal and often de minimis. The aircraft in the part 135 class pose a lower agricultural risk compared to large freighters or scheduled airliners, which often carry thousands of bags and palletized cargo.
- A subset of part 135 operations are providers of medical transportation services, both for emergency and non-emergency flights. Given the medical safety standards and protocols necessary, these flights represent a lower agricultural risk.
- Charging part 135 operators the same fee as large cargo carriers or scheduled airlines would misallocate inspection costs. This approach would have subsidized large corporations at the expense of small businesses, contradicting APHIS’s mandate to ensure fees align with the cost of services provided.
