CBP announces 26 additional partnerships for new and expanded services

WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection made 26 tentative selections in late October that will promote cross-border trade and essential travel to the United States under the Reimbursable Services Program, which allows private sector and state and local governments to reimburse the agency for additional inspection services that would not otherwise be available.

“The CBP Reimbursable Services Program stops bottlenecks and greatly enhances CBP’s ability to respond to processing needs without delay,” stated CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott. “This mutually beneficial program enables CBP to continue providing crucial support at remote locations, and outside of typical port hours.”

CBP’s Reimbursable Services Program agreements enhance services in response to requests from private sector and government partners. Through these agreements, select partners enable the expansion of critical services, including customs processing, agricultural inspections, border security operations, immigration inspections, and other support functions at ports of entry.

These public-private partnerships allow approved private sector and state and local government entities to reimburse CBP for expanded services for incoming commercial and cargo traffic and international traveler arrivals in Alaska, Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia,  Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois,  Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

CBP has expanded the Reimbursable Services Program to include 637 stakeholders since the program’s inception in 2013. The program has provided more than 1.65 million additional processing hours at the request of CBP’s partners, accounting for the processing of more than 21.8 million travelers and more than 2.4 million personal and commercial vehicles.

Reimbursable service agreements are authorized by Section 481 of The Homeland Security Act of 2002. The statute includes several limitations at CBP-serviced airports. Reimbursable services are limited to overtime costs and support services for airports with 100,000 or more arriving international passengers annually. Airports with fewer than 100,000 arriving international passengers annually may offset CBP for the salaries and expenses of not more than five full-time equivalent CBP officers.  Reimbursable services agreements will not replace existing services.

The entities selected for reimbursable services agreements in the air environment were:

• Aurora Aviation, Inc. dba Upper Jets (Wilmington International Airport; DeKalb-Peachtree Airport; Nashville International Airport; Cleveland Hopkins International Airport; Jacksonville International Airport; Palm Beach International Airport; Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport; Helena Regional Airport; Buffalo Niagara International Airport; Charlotte Douglas International Airport);
• China Airlines Ltd. (Seattle–Tacoma International Airport);
• Click Aviation Network DMCC (Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport; San Jose International Airport; Bangor International Airport; Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport; Teterboro Airport; Westchester County Airport; Portsmouth International Airport at Pease; Charleston International Airport; Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport; Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport);
• Colorado Air and Space Port (Colorado Air and Space Port);
• CST Flight Services (Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport; Treasure Coast International Airport; Palm Beach International Airport; Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport; Nashville International Airport; San Antonio International Airport; Los Angeles International Airport; DeKalb-Peachtree Airport; Jacksonville International Airport; King County International Airport - Boeing Field; Tampa International Airport);
• ElectAviation, LLC (Piedmont Triad International Airport);
• Flagship Private Air LLC (Bangor International Airport; Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport; Palm Beach International Airport; Washington Dulles International Airport; Midway International Airport; Teterboro Airport; Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport; Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport);
• Florida AeroCharter, Inc., DBA Air Key West (Key West International Airport);
• Indy Jet Management, LLC (Indianapolis International Airport);
• Innovation Air, LLC (Raleigh–Durham International Airport);
• J New Aviation, LLC (Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport);
• Jackson Air Charter, Inc (Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport);
• Kalahari Management Co., LLC (Wilmington International Airport; Treasure Coast International Airport; Quad Cities International Airport; Bangor International Airport);
• Keith Norman Chase (Glacier Park International Airport);
• Nestle Purina PetCare Company (St. Louis Lambert International Airport; King County International Airport - Boeing Field; Cleveland Hopkins International Airport; Palm Beach International Airport; Bangor International Airport; Spirit of St. Louis Airport);
• Norfolk Airport Authority (Norfolk International Airport);
• Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. (Bradley International Airport);
• Remuda Steel Corporation (Great Falls International Airport; Glacier Park International Airport; Spokane International Airport; Bellingham International Airport; Boise International Airport; Williston Basin International Airport; Portland International Airport; Casper–Natrona County International Airport);
• Silk Way West Airlines LLC (Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport; Huntsville International Airport; George Bush Intercontinental Airport; Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport);
• Stark Airways, LLC (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport; Nashville International Airport; DeKalb-Peachtree Airport; Cleveland Hopkins International Airport; Akron-Canton Airport; Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport; Francis S. Gabreski Airport; George Bush Intercontinental Airport; Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport; Tampa International Airport);
• VantageDLH LLC (Duluth International Airport);
• WestJet (Newark Liberty International Airport; Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport).

The entities selected for reimbursable services agreements in the sea environment were:

• Borinken Marine Group, LLC (Ponce, PR);
• Dae Han Shipping Agency Inc (Hilo, HI; Kahului, HI; Honolulu, HI; Kona, HI; Kalaeloa, HI);
• Nord-Sud Shipping Inc (Gramercy, LA; Baton Rouge, LA; Morgan City, LA; Lake Charles, LA; Port Arthur, TX; Galveston, TX; Houston, TX; Mobile, AL; Panama City, FL; Port Manatee, FL; New Orleans, LA).

The entity selected for reimbursable services agreements in both the air and the sea environment was:

• Bertel Shipping Co Inc. (Pascagoula, MS; Gramercy, LA; Baton Rouge, LA; Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport; New Orleans, LA).

CBP used a rigorous, multi-layered process to evaluate selectees’ proposals and ensure compatibility with CBP’s mission priorities. The reimbursable services authority is a key component of CBP’s Resource Optimization Strategy, and will allow CBP to provide new or expanded services at domestic ports of entry.