Reports by Air Carriers on Incidents Involving Animals During Air Transport, 53779-53780 [2012-21615]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
• Office of the Secretary

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 4, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53779-53780]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21615]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 171 / Tuesday, September 4, 2012 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 53779]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 235

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2010-0211]
RIN 2105-AE07


Reports by Air Carriers on Incidents Involving Animals During Air 
Transport

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), Department of Transportation 
(DOT).

ACTION: Extension of comment period on proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This action extends the comment period of an NPRM on the 
reporting of incidents involving animals during air transport that was 
published in the Federal Register on June 29, 2012. See 77 FR 38747. 
The Department of Transportation is extending the period for interested 
persons to submit comments on this rulemaking from August 28, 2012, to 
September 27, 2012. This extension is a result of a request to extend 
the comment period for the proposal.

DATES: Comments must be received by September 27, 2012. Comments 
received after this date will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by the docket number DOT-
OST-2010-0211 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Room W12-140, Washington, DC 
20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number 
DOT-OST-2010-0211 or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for the 
rulemaking at the beginning of your comment. All comments will be 
posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received in any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment if submitted on behalf 
of an association, a business, a labor union, etc.). You may review 
DOT's complete Privacy Act statement in the Federal Register published 
on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78), or you may visit https://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov or to the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
docket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vinh Q. Nguyen, Trial Attorney, Office 
of the Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and 
Proceedings, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 
SE., Washington, DC 20590, 202-366-9342 (phone), 202-366-7152 (fax), 
vinh.nguyen@dot.gov. You may also contact Blane A. Workie, Deputy 
Assistant General Counsel, Office of the Assistant General Counsel for 
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590, 202-
366-9342 (phone), 202-366-7152 (fax), blane.workie@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 29, 2012, the Department published a 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concerning the requirement for air 
carriers to report to the Department incidents involving the loss, 
injury, or death of an animal during air transport. The NPRM proposed 
to: (1) Expand the reporting requirement to U.S. carriers that operate 
scheduled service with at least one aircraft with a design capacity of 
more than 60 seats; (2) expand the definition of ``animal'' to include 
all cats and dogs transported by the carriers, regardless of whether 
the cat or dog is transported as a pet by its owner or as part of a 
commercial shipment (e.g., shipped by a breeder); and (3) require all 
covered carriers to provide in their December reports for each year the 
total number of animals that were lost, injured, or died during air 
transport for the calendar year. We also sought comment on requiring 
carriers to report the total number of animals transported in the 
calendar year in the December reports. Comments on the matters proposed 
were to be received 60 days after publication of the NPRM, or by August 
28, 2012.

Request for Comment Period Extension

    We received a joint request for an extension of time in the comment 
period for this rulemaking from Airlines for America (A4A), the 
Regional Airline Association (RAA), the Air Carrier Association of 
America, Inc. (ACAA), and their respective members (the petitioners). 
According to the request, the extension of time is needed so interested 
parties have sufficient time to review and comment on the preliminary 
regulatory analysis (PRA). The petitioners state that as of July 20, 
2012, the docket associated with this rulemaking did not yet include 
the Department's PRA, which provides the cost and benefit analysis 
underpinning the proposal. The petitioners state that comment 
development cannot progress until the PRA is available. The PRA was 
posted in the docket on July 24, 2012.
    Under the circumstances, we concur with the request for an 
extension of the comment period. We have decided to grant an extension 
of 30 days, or until September 27, 2012, for the public to comment on 
the NPRM. In doing so, we have balanced the stated need for additional 
time for comments with the need to proceed expeditiously with this 
important rulemaking. We take note of the fact that with the additional 
30 days we are granting here, interested parties will have more than 
two months to comment on the PRA, which we believe is adequate time for 
analysis and coordination regarding the proposals. Accordingly, the 
Department finds that good cause exists to extend the time for comments 
on the proposed rule from August 28, 2012, to September 27, 2012. We do 
not anticipate any further extension of the comment period for this 
rulemaking. Comments received after September 27, 2012, will be 
considered to the extent practicable.

Request for Clarification

    In addition to requesting that the comment period be extended, the 
petitioners posed a number of questions

[[Page 53780]]

to the Department concerning the proposed requirement that carriers 
report the total number of animals transported during a calendar year 
with that year's December reports, the cost to carriers of amending the 
definition of ``animal'' for reporting purposes, and the number of 
carriers affected by the reporting requirement.

Issues Concerning the Proposed Requirement That Carriers Report the 
Total Number of Animals Transported in the Calendar Year in the 
December Reports

    The petitioners state that there are conflicting statements between 
the NPRM summary and the NPRM Regulatory Analyses and Notices (RAN) 
section with respect to the proposed requirement that carriers report 
the total number of animals transported in the calendar year in the 
December reports. They state that while the RAN section indicates that 
carriers would be required to report only during the months where the 
carriers experience a reportable animal incident, the preamble asks 
whether carriers should be required to file reports in months when no 
incident takes place. The petitioners seek clarification on this issue 
and request that the RAN section of the preamble be clarified if the 
proposal is that carrier be required to file negative reports.
    As stated in the RAN section, in addition to proposing that covered 
carriers report the total number of animals transported in the calendar 
year in their December reports, the Department proposed that covered 
carriers only submit a report during the months when the carriers have 
a reportable animal incident. However, we also sought comment on 
whether to require carriers to file reports even if the carriers did 
not have any incidents involving the loss, injury, or death of an 
animal during a particular month. This is not inconsistent. The NPRM is 
not proposing that carriers file a negative report but is soliciting 
comment on this point so we can determine whether the final rule should 
include a general requirement that covered carriers must submit reports 
each month even if the carriers do not have any reportable incidents 
during a particular month or perhaps a requirement that carriers must 
file a December report regardless of whether any incidents occurred in 
that month to cover the total number of animals transported that year.

Issues Concerning the Cost to Covered Carriers of Amending the 
Definition of Animal

    The petitioners state that for the 15 carriers that are currently 
required to report incidents involving the loss, injury, or death of an 
animal during air transport, the RAN is incorrect in stating that there 
would be no additional costs associated with amending the definition of 
``animal'' for reporting purposes to include all cats and dogs 
transported by the carrier regardless of whether the cat or dog is 
transported as a pet by its owner or as part of a commercial shipment. 
They state that the 15 carriers already subject to the reporting 
requirement would likely incur additional costs, and the Department 
should correct the RAN.
    The statement in the RAN that there would be no additional costs to 
the 15 carriers that already collect information on incidents involving 
loss, injury, or death of an animal refers to costs associated with 
actually filing monthly reports. The Department acknowledges that there 
would be costs associated with collecting more information to report, 
i.e., not only on incidents involving pets but also incidents involving 
dogs and cats that are shipped commercially. In the NPRM, the 
Department states that it believes the cost of the proposed expanded 
definition of an animal covered by the reporting rule would impact 
airlines but the cost would still be minimal. We encourage comments and 
data about expected costs resulting from the expansion of the 
definition of ``animal.''

Issues Concerning the Scope of the Reporting Requirement

    The petitioners state that although the RAN states that the scope 
of the carriers covered by the animal incident reporting requirements 
would expand under the NPRM proposal from 15 to 36 carriers, the NPRM 
does not list the carriers so there is no way to verify if the list is 
accurate. They point out that presumably the PRA lists the potentially 
impacted carriers and that informed comment cannot progress until the 
PRA and that information is available.
    The PRA does in fact list the carriers that would be affected by 
the NPRM and, as noted above, the PRA was posted in the docket on July 
24, 2012. The public is invited to comment on the accuracy of that 
list.

    Issued this 28th day of August, 2012, in Washington, DC under 
authority delegated in 14 CFR part 1.
Robert S. Rivkin,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-21615 Filed 8-31-12; 8:45 am]
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