Guidance on Review and Approval of Public Charter Prospectuses, 69692-69693 [2012-28060]
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69692
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 20, 2012 / Notices
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
[Disaster Declaration #13382 and #13383]
North Carolina Disaster #NC–00046
U.S. Small Business
Administration.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Numbers 59002 and 59008)
This is a notice of an
Administrative declaration of a disaster
for the State of North Carolina dated 11/
08/2012.
Incident: Hurricane Sandy.
Incident Period: 10/27/2012 through
10/30/2012.
Effective Date: 11/08/2012.
Physical Loan Application Deadline
Date: 01/07/2013.
Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan
Application Deadline Date: 08/08/2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan
applications to: U.S. Small Business
Administration, Processing and
Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport
Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A.
Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance,
U.S. Small Business Administration,
409 3rd Street SW., Suite 6050,
Washington, DC 20416.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is
hereby given that as a result of the
Administrator’s disaster declaration,
applications for disaster loans may be
filed at the address listed above or other
locally announced locations.
The following areas have been
determined to be adversely affected by
the disaster:
Primary Counties: Dare.
Contiguous Counties:
North Carolina: Currituck; Hyde;
Tyrrell.
SUMMARY:
wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with
The Interest Rates are:
For Physical Damage:
Homeowners With Credit Available Elsewhere ......................
Homeowners Without Credit
Available Elsewhere ..............
Businesses With Credit Available Elsewhere ......................
Businesses
Without
Credit
Available Elsewhere ..............
Non-Profit Organizations With
Credit Available Elsewhere ...
Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere .....................................
For Economic Injury:
Businesses & Small Agricultural
Cooperatives Without Credit
Available Elsewhere ..............
Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere .....................................
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:12 Nov 19, 2012
The number assigned to this disaster
for physical damage is 133828 and for
economic injury is 133830.
The State which received an EIDL
Declaration # is North Carolina.
Dated: November 8, 2012.
Karen G. Mills,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2012–28256 Filed 11–19–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
Guidance on Review and Approval of
Public Charter Prospectuses
Office of the Secretary,
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Guidance on Review and
Approval of Public Charter
Prospectuses.
AGENCY:
The Department is publishing
the following notice on new policies
affecting the review and approval of
public charter filings under 14 CFR Part
380 and related changes in the
Department’s enforcement policies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nicholas Lowry, Attorney, Office of
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings
(C–70), 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE.,
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366–9349.
SUMMARY:
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
Washington, DC
Guidance on Review and Approval of
Public Charter Prospectuses
Notice
The abrupt cessation of service by the
Percent
public charter operator, Southern Sky
Air & Tours, LLC d/b/a Direct Air, in
March 2012, and its subsequent
3.375 bankruptcy, resulted in the cancellation
of numerous charter flights and
1.688 disrupted the travel plans of thousands
of consumers. In light of the Direct Air
6.000 collapse, the Office of International
Aviation’s Special Authorities Division,
4.000
in conjunction with the Office of
3.125 Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings
(Enforcement Office), has revised its
policies regarding the review and
3.000 approval of public charter prospectuses
filed under 14 CFR Part 380 and the
related enforcement policy.
A number of practices followed by
4.000 Direct Air may have exacerbated
consumer harm. Among these were
Direct Air’s contracting out of its
3.000
reservations process to a third party,
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PO 00000
Frm 00103
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
and its entry into direct air carrier
contracts that were apparently limited
to providing aircraft, crew, maintenance
and insurance (ACMI). The public
charter operator separately contracted
on its own behalf directly with fuel
suppliers and perhaps ground handlers.
In addition, the charter operator
collected consumer funds, accepting
debit as well as credit card payments,
through a voucher program in which
consumers paid in advance for flights
without selecting specific travel dates
and without entering into the formal
operator-participant contracts required
by Part 380.
In the future, pursuant to the public
interest responsibilities we have under
14 CFR 380.24, we will no longer
approve public charter prospectus
filings that do not, as part of the filings,
contain:
(1) A statement, in addition to that
required under section 380.28(a)(1)(iii),
confirming that the contracts between
the public charter operator and the
direct air carriers include the full cost
of the direct air service; that is, contracts
between the tour operator and the direct
air carriers must be all-inclusive and
cannot be ACMI (i.e., fuel or ground
handling cannot be addressed in
separate contracts between the public
charter operator and a third-party
vendor); and
(2) A statement that the public charter
operator will retain direct control of all
passenger reservation records and will
share those records with the direct air
carrier to ensure that, in the event of a
major disruption in the program as
occurred with Direct Air, the direct air
carrier would be able to identify and
contact tour participants regarding
returning flights, and to ensure that the
charter operator can fulfill its obligation
to provide appropriate cancellation
notices to those with reservations more
than 10 days in the future; if a public
charter operator contracts with a thirdparty for reservations service, a
duplicate, current copy of all
reservations records must be accessible
to the tour operator at all times.
In addition, to ensure that consumers
not paying in cash receive the
protections of the Fair Credit Billing Act
(15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), public charter
operators may accept payment, as the
explicit language of section 380.31
currently provides, only by credit card,
but not by debit card.1 The Department
will consider exemptions to this
requirement provided it can be assured
that debit card issuers, their merchant
1 In a future rulemaking, the Department may
address the use of debit cards in purchasing charter
air transportation.
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20NON1
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 20, 2012 / Notices
banks and credit card/debit card
processors, will provide the same
chargeback protections to those using
debit cards as credit card users receive
under the Fair Credit Billing Act.
Finally, as a matter of enforcement
policy, the Enforcement Office will
consider any voucher program such as
that offered by Direct Air a per se
violation of 14 CFR Part 380, and if that
office discovers such a program it will
pursue immediate enforcement action.
A voucher program that accepts
consumer funds without the consumer
entering into a contract with specific
flight dates is not the equivalent of the
operator-participant contract required
under Part 380 and does not provide
protection of consumer funds under the
escrow provisions of section 380.34.
This revised policy regarding
approval of charter prospectuses will
take effect 30 days from the date of this
notice. Prospectuses filed after that date
will not be accepted without the
supplemental statements, outlined
above. The Enforcement Office intends
to undertake enforcement action, where
appropriate, if it obtains evidence of
violations of commitments made in
those statements, or of the acceptance of
debit purchases, or of sales initiatives
such as the voucher program described
above. Questions regarding this notice
may be addressed to the Office of
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings
(C–70), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC 20590.
An electronic version of this
document is available at https://
www.regulations.gov
Dated: November 13, 2012.
Paul L. Gretch,
Director, Office of International Aviation.
Samuel Podberesky,
Assistant General Counsel for Aviation
Enforcement and Proceedings.
[FR Doc. 2012–28060 Filed 11–19–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with
November 14, 2012.
The Department of the Treasury will
submit the following information
collection request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, Public Law 104–13, on or after the
date of publication of this notice.
DATES: Comments should be received on
or before December 20, 2012 to be
assured of consideration.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:12 Nov 19, 2012
Jkt 229001
Send comments regarding
the burden estimate, or any other aspect
of the information collection, including
suggestion for reducing the burden, to
(1) Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for
Treasury, New Executive Office
Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC
20503, or email at
OIRA_Submission@OMB.EOP.GOV and
(2) Treasury PRA Clearance Officer,
1750 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite
8140, Washington, DC 20220, or email
at PRA@treasury.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Copies of the submission(s) may be
obtained by calling (202) 927–5331,
email at PRA@treasury.gov, or the entire
information collection request maybe
found at www.reginfo.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Generic Clearances for
Meaningful Access Information
Collections.
OMB Control Number: NEW.
Abstract: A court order was issued in
American Council of the Blind v.
Paulson, 591 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C.
2008) (‘‘ACB v. Paulson’’) requiring the
Department of the Treasury and BEP to
‘‘provide meaningful access to United
States currency for blind and other
visually impaired persons, which steps
shall be completed, in connection with
each denomination of currency, not
later than the date when a redesign of
that denomination is next approved by
the Secretary of the Treasury * * *.’’
In compliance with the court’s order,
BEP intends to meet individually with
blind and visually impaired persons and
request their feedback about tactile
features that BEP is considering for
possible incorporation into the next U.S.
paper currency redesign. BEP
employees will attend national
conventions and conferences for
disabled persons. At those gatherings,
BEP employees will invite blind and
visually impaired persons to provide
feedback about certain tactile features
being considered for inclusion in future
United States currency paper designs.
The BEP also intends to contract with
specialists in the field of visual acuity
to develop methodologies for
conducting scientific tests. Using those
methodologies, the BEP or its contracted
specialists will conduct acuity testing
with select groups of blind and visually
impaired volunteers. The acuity tests
will help either confirm or provide
other perspectives on the results of
BEP’s information collections at
national conferences and conventions.
The acuity tests will also help ground
bases for which BEP determines the
ADDRESSES:
PO 00000
Frm 00104
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
69693
tactile feature to be incorporated into
the next United States paper currency
design.
The BEP’s information collection
activities at national conferences will
use identical methodologies or
otherwise share a common element.
Similarly, the BEP’s scientific studies
will use very similar methodologies or
share a common element. Thus the BEP,
in order to comply with the court’s
order in ACB v. Paulson requests OMB
approval for two generic clearances to
conduct various information collection
activities. Over the next three years, the
BEP anticipates undertaking a variety of
new information collection activities
related to BEP’s efforts to provide
meaningful access to U.S. paper
currency for blind and visually
impaired persons. Following standard
OMB requirements, for each information
collection that BEP proposes to
undertake under each of these generic
clearances, the OMB will be notified at
least two weeks in advance and
provided with a copy of the information
collection instrument along with
supportive materials. The BEP will only
undertake a new collection if the OMB
does not object to the BEP’s proposal.
Type of Review: New Collection.
Affected Public: Individuals,
Organizations.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
Approximately 500 per year. The BEP
will conduct the majority of its
information collection activities at
conferences and conventions of
organizations of blind and visually
impaired persons. The BEP is able to
estimate the number of attendees at
such conferences and meetings based on
historical data. The BEP, however, only
collects information from volunteers
who stop by its information booth, and
who care to take the time responding to
questions. It is difficult, therefore, to
estimate the actual number of
respondents from whom BEP may be
able to collect information in a year. The
BEP’s scientific studies may include
more focused sample sizes, comprised
of persons volunteering to participate in
the studies.
Estimated Average Time per
Respondent: 30 minutes per response.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: Approximately 250 burden
hours.
Request for Comments: Comments
submitted in response to this notice will
be summarized and/or included in the
request for Office of Management and
Budget approval. All comments will
become a matter of public record. The
public is invited to submit written
comments concerning: (a) Whether the
E:\FR\FM\20NON1.SGM
20NON1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69692-69693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-28060]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
Guidance on Review and Approval of Public Charter Prospectuses
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Guidance on Review and Approval of Public Charter Prospectuses.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department is publishing the following notice on new
policies affecting the review and approval of public charter filings
under 14 CFR Part 380 and related changes in the Department's
enforcement policies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas Lowry, Attorney, Office of
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (C-70), 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE.,
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-9349.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
Washington, DC
Guidance on Review and Approval of Public Charter Prospectuses
Notice
The abrupt cessation of service by the public charter operator,
Southern Sky Air & Tours, LLC d/b/a Direct Air, in March 2012, and its
subsequent bankruptcy, resulted in the cancellation of numerous charter
flights and disrupted the travel plans of thousands of consumers. In
light of the Direct Air collapse, the Office of International
Aviation's Special Authorities Division, in conjunction with the Office
of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (Enforcement Office), has
revised its policies regarding the review and approval of public
charter prospectuses filed under 14 CFR Part 380 and the related
enforcement policy.
A number of practices followed by Direct Air may have exacerbated
consumer harm. Among these were Direct Air's contracting out of its
reservations process to a third party, and its entry into direct air
carrier contracts that were apparently limited to providing aircraft,
crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI). The public charter operator
separately contracted on its own behalf directly with fuel suppliers
and perhaps ground handlers. In addition, the charter operator
collected consumer funds, accepting debit as well as credit card
payments, through a voucher program in which consumers paid in advance
for flights without selecting specific travel dates and without
entering into the formal operator-participant contracts required by
Part 380.
In the future, pursuant to the public interest responsibilities we
have under 14 CFR 380.24, we will no longer approve public charter
prospectus filings that do not, as part of the filings, contain:
(1) A statement, in addition to that required under section
380.28(a)(1)(iii), confirming that the contracts between the public
charter operator and the direct air carriers include the full cost of
the direct air service; that is, contracts between the tour operator
and the direct air carriers must be all-inclusive and cannot be ACMI
(i.e., fuel or ground handling cannot be addressed in separate
contracts between the public charter operator and a third-party
vendor); and
(2) A statement that the public charter operator will retain direct
control of all passenger reservation records and will share those
records with the direct air carrier to ensure that, in the event of a
major disruption in the program as occurred with Direct Air, the direct
air carrier would be able to identify and contact tour participants
regarding returning flights, and to ensure that the charter operator
can fulfill its obligation to provide appropriate cancellation notices
to those with reservations more than 10 days in the future; if a public
charter operator contracts with a third-party for reservations service,
a duplicate, current copy of all reservations records must be
accessible to the tour operator at all times.
In addition, to ensure that consumers not paying in cash receive
the protections of the Fair Credit Billing Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et
seq.), public charter operators may accept payment, as the explicit
language of section 380.31 currently provides, only by credit card, but
not by debit card.\1\ The Department will consider exemptions to this
requirement provided it can be assured that debit card issuers, their
merchant
[[Page 69693]]
banks and credit card/debit card processors, will provide the same
chargeback protections to those using debit cards as credit card users
receive under the Fair Credit Billing Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ In a future rulemaking, the Department may address the use
of debit cards in purchasing charter air transportation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, as a matter of enforcement policy, the Enforcement Office
will consider any voucher program such as that offered by Direct Air a
per se violation of 14 CFR Part 380, and if that office discovers such
a program it will pursue immediate enforcement action. A voucher
program that accepts consumer funds without the consumer entering into
a contract with specific flight dates is not the equivalent of the
operator-participant contract required under Part 380 and does not
provide protection of consumer funds under the escrow provisions of
section 380.34.
This revised policy regarding approval of charter prospectuses will
take effect 30 days from the date of this notice. Prospectuses filed
after that date will not be accepted without the supplemental
statements, outlined above. The Enforcement Office intends to undertake
enforcement action, where appropriate, if it obtains evidence of
violations of commitments made in those statements, or of the
acceptance of debit purchases, or of sales initiatives such as the
voucher program described above. Questions regarding this notice may be
addressed to the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (C-70),
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
An electronic version of this document is available at https://www.regulations.gov
Dated: November 13, 2012.
Paul L. Gretch,
Director, Office of International Aviation.
Samuel Podberesky,
Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings.
[FR Doc. 2012-28060 Filed 11-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
