Clarification of Implementation of Regulations and Exemption Policy With Regard to Early Implementation and Transition, 59226-59228 [2013-23516]

Download as PDF 59226 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 187 / Thursday, September 26, 2013 / Rules and Regulations Issued in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 16, 2013. Pat Mullen, Acting Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. [FR Doc. 2013–22979 Filed 9–25–13; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910–13–P DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 117 [Docket No. FAA–2013–0655] Clarification of Implementation of Regulations and Exemption Policy With Regard to Early Implementation and Transition Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Clarification and Exemption Policy. AGENCY: The FAA has issued a final flight, duty, and rest rule that will go into effect on January 4, 2014. This document provides an interpretation clarifying that the new flight, duty, and rest rule will apply to a flight duty period that begins on or after January 4, 2014. This document also clarifies FAA policy with regard to: exemption petitions asking for an early implementation date for the requirements of part 117; and exemption petitions asking for an early transition to the requirements of part 117. SUMMARY: Send exemption requests to the docket on or before October 15, 2013. ADDRESSES: Send exemption requests identified by docket number FAA– 2013–0655 using any of the following methods: • Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for making your submission electronically. • Mail: Send the exemption petition to Docket Operations, M–30; U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Room W12–140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590–0001. • Hand Delivery or Courier: Take the exemption petition to Docket Operations in Room W12–140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. • Fax: Fax the exemption petition to Docket Operations at 202–493–2251. Docket: Documents received may be read at https://www.regulations.gov at mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES DATES: VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:00 Sep 25, 2013 Jkt 229001 any time. Follow the online instructions for accessing the docket or go to the Docket Operations in Room W12–140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical questions, contact Dale E. Roberts, Air Transportation Division, Flight Standards Service, Federal Aviation Administration; email dale.e.roberts@faa.gov. For legal questions, contact Alex Zektser, Office of the Chief Counsel, Regulations Division, Federal Aviation Administration; email alex.zektser@ faa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background On January 4, 2012, the FAA published a final rule entitled, ‘‘Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements.’’ 1 In that rule, the FAA created a new part, part 117, which generally contains new flight, duty, and rest regulations for part 121 passenger operations and certain part 91 operations. Part 117 will go into effect on January 4, 2014.2 Recently, the FAA received questions about the exact time at which part 117 will apply to a certificate holder’s operations on or after January 4, 2014. The FAA also received a petition, submitted by Airlines for America (A4A) and the Regional Airline Association (RAA), asking for an industry-wide exemption to permit certificate-holder implementation of part 117 prior to January 4. In addition, representatives from American Airlines and A4A have met with FAA officials and requested that FAA consider allowing airlines to switch to part 117 in a phased approach over a multi-day period. This document responds to the concerns raised in the implementation questions, the A4A/RAA exemption petition, and the American Airlines/ A4A meeting. First, this document provides an interpretation clarifying at which point on or after January 4, 2014, a certificate holder must apply part 117 to its operations. Second, this document makes several findings with regard to exemption petitions from individual certificate holders asking for permission to implement part 117 prior to January 4. Third, this document clarifies FAA policy with regard to exemption 1 Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements Final Rule, 77 FR 330 (Jan. 4, 2012). 2 Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements; Technical Correction, 78 FR 11090 (Feb. 15, 2013). PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 petitions from individual certificate holders asking for a phased transition to the requirements of part 117. Fourth, this document provides some guidelines to individual certificate holders for submitting exemption petitions for early implementation and/or early transition to part 117. Discussion A. Applicability of Part 117 on January 4, 2014 As stated above, part 117 will become effective on January 4, 2014.3 The regulatory text of part 117 does not contain a grandfather clause that would exempt operations that commence prior to January 4. Thus, part 117 could be interpreted as immediately applying to all part 121 passenger operations taking place at midnight on January 4. However, such an interpretation would take a narrow view regarding how part 121 passenger operations are to transition to the new part 117 requirements. This is because § 117.25 requires that a flightcrew member be provided with a 10-hour rest period that includes an 8-hour sleep opportunity immediately prior to beginning a flight duty period (FDP) under part 117. If part 117 was to become immediately applicable on midnight January 4, flightcrew members conducting part 121 passenger operations at that time would be confronted with the requirements of § 117.25 in the middle of their duty day. To avoid this scenario, the FAA clarifies the implementation of part 117 as follows. A flightcrew member who begins a duty day under part 121 prior to January 4, 2014 is allowed to complete that duty day on January 4 under the flight, duty, and rest rules in effect at the time that the duty day commenced. However, once the duty day ends and the flightcrew member is released to begin a rest period, that flightcrew member is then subject to the provisions of part 117. We note that there are some provisions in the flight, duty, and rest regulations of part 121 that, in certain situations, require an extended rest period after a duty day ends.4 Accordingly, we emphasize that the rest period received by a flightcrew member switching from part 121 flight, duty, and rest rules to part 117 must comply with both § 117.25 and the pertinent flight, duty, and rest rules of part 121.5 3 Id. 4 See, e.g., 14 CFR 121.503(b) (requiring a 16-hour rest period if a pilot has flown for more than eight hours in a 24-consecutive-hour period). 5 We note, however, that the regulations do not require that the rest period provided under § 117.25 be kept separate from the rest period provided E:\FR\FM\26SER1.SGM 26SER1 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 187 / Thursday, September 26, 2013 / Rules and Regulations implementation of part 117 would be in the public interest. B. FAA Findings With Regard to Exemption Petitions Asking for Early Implementation The A4A and RAA exemption petition asks the FAA to provide an exemption to A4A and RAA members and all similarly situated air carriers that would allow those carriers to implement part 117 early (between December 9, 2013 and January 4, 2014). In lieu of granting A4A and RAA’s exemption petition, the FAA makes the following findings with regard to individual certificate holder exemption petitions asking for an early implementation of part 117. In order to grant an exemption, the FAA must find that granting the exemption: (1) would not have an adverse effect on safety; and (2) would be in the public interest.6 As discussed below, we find that granting an individual certificate holder’s exemption petition asking for early implementation of part 117 would not have an adverse effect on safety and would be in the public interest. We also find that these individual certificate holder exemption petitions do not need to be published in the Federal Register. 1. No Adverse Effect on Safety We note that, as A4A and RAA’s petition points out, the regulatory standards in part 117 contain the latest fatigue-related safety standard promulgated by the FAA. Because granting an exemption petition asking for early implementation of part 117 would result in a certificate holder voluntarily switching sooner to this latest safety standard, we find that early implementation of part 117 in a certificate holder’s operations would not adversely affect safety. mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES 2. Public Interest With regard to public interest, A4A and RAA’s petition points out that allowing carriers to implement part 117 on different days will reduce the system vulnerability caused by an entire industry switching crew planning software and algorithms on the same day. The petition also states that switching to part 117 prior to January 4 will allow carriers to make the switch prior to the heaviest holiday travel days. We agree with these points and accordingly find that granting an individual exemption for early under Subparts Q, R, and S of part 121. A single rest period would be sufficient if it satisfies all of the pertinent flight, duty, and rest requirements. For example, a 16-hour rest period with an 8-hour sleep opportunity would satisfy both § 117.25(e) and § 121.503(b). 6 See 14 CFR 11.81(d) and (e). VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:00 Sep 25, 2013 Jkt 229001 3. Public Comment on Individual Exemption Petitions The FAA generally publishes a summary of an exemption petition in the Federal Register and invites public comment on the petition.7 However, in certain circumstances, the FAA does not seek public comment on a petition for an exemption. One of those circumstances is present when delaying action on the petition would result in an adverse effect.8 In this case, the individual petitions for exemption would deal with a final rule that will go into effect on January 4, and those petitions will seek to implement the rule prior to January 4. Because this implementation is close and because there are multiple significant tasks that must be done in order to prepare for the implementation, we find that delaying action on an individual petition requesting an exemption to implement part 117 early would result in an adverse effect. Thus, individual exemption petitions asking for early implementation of part 117 do not need to be published for notice and comment in the Federal Register. C. FAA Policy With Regard to Exemption Requests Asking for Early Transition We note that under both the clarification and early-implementation exemption discussed above, a certificate holder would have to essentially switch all of its affected operations to part 117 in about a 24-hour period. If an individual certificate holder chooses to obtain an early-implementation exemption, that certificate holder will still have to switch its operations in the manner discussed in Section A above; the date of the switch will simply be different. However, as American Airlines and A4A pointed out, some certificate holders plan their schedules in multiday blocks, and switching their affected operations in 24-hour period could be burdensome. To address this concern, the FAA will consider individual certificate-holder petitions asking for an exemption to conduct a phased early transition to part 117. Part 117 early-transition exemptions will work as follows. A certificate holder will establish an early-transition date. During the time between the transition and implementation dates, the certificate holder will be permitted to switch individual flightcrew 7 See members to operate under part 117 without having to switch all of its operations and flightcrew members into part 117. Under this exemption, once a flightcrew member has been switched to part 117, that flightcrew member would not be permitted to switch back to the part 121 flight, duty, and rest rules during the transition period. The FAA believes that this approach may benefit some certificate holders, as it would permit them to conduct a phased switch of their operations to part 117 over the course of a longer period of time instead of switching all affected operations in a single day. As such, the FAA finds, for the reasons stated in the previous section, that granting individual exemption petitions asking for an early transition period would: (1) Not adversely affect safety; (2) be in the public interest; and (3) not need to be published for notice and comment in the Federal Register because delaying action on the petition would result in an adverse effect. D. Guidelines for Submission of Exemption Petitions We note that the FAA is currently undergoing an internal transition to administering and overseeing part 117. As such, an exemption petition asking to implement or transition to part 117 earlier than December 1, 2013, will be denied, as the FAA may not have completed its internal transition prior to December 1. Exemption petitions asking for early transition and/or early implementation of part 117 should be submitted to Docket No. FAA–2013–0655. The FAA will respond to all individual certificate holder exemption petitions asking for early implementation and/or early transition to part 117 prior to the date that the carrier wishes to begin using the exemption if the exemption request is received in Docket No. FAA–2013–0655 on or before October 15, 2013. The FAA will consider exemption petitions filed after October 15, but due to workload, a carrier submitting an exemption petition after October 15, 2013, may not get an FAA response to its petition within the desired timeframe. In addition, we ask that an exemption petition: (1) specify whether the petition is seeking early implementation of part 117, an early transition to part 117, or both; and (2) specify the dates for early implementation and/or early transition to part 117. 14 CFR 11.85. 8 § 11.87(c). PO 00000 Frm 00065 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 59227 E:\FR\FM\26SER1.SGM 26SER1 59228 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 187 / Thursday, September 26, 2013 / Rules and Regulations Issued in Washington, DC, on September 19, 2013. Mark W. Bury, Acting Assistant Chief Counsel for International Law, Legislation and Regulations. John S. Duncan, Director, Flight Standards Service. [FR Doc. 2013–23516 Filed 9–24–13; 11:15 am] BILLING CODE 4910–13–P DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Internal Revenue Service 26 CFR Part 53 [TD 9629] RIN 1545–BL58 Requirement of a Section 4959 Excise Tax Return and Time for Filing the Return; Correction Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Final and temporary regulations; correction AGENCY: This document contains corrections to final and temporary regulations (TD 9629) that were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, August 15, 2013 (78 FR 49681). The regulations provide guidance to charitable hospital organizations regarding the requirement of a return to accompany payment of the excise tax, enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, for failure to meet the community health needs assessment (CHNA) requirements for any taxable year. DATES: This correction is effective on September 26, 2013 and applicable beginning August 15, 2013. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy F. Giuliano, at (202) 622–6070 (not a toll free number). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:00 Sep 25, 2013 Jkt 229001 Background The final and temporary regulations (TD 9629) that are the subject of this correction relate to the reporting of the excise tax under section 4959 of the Internal Revenue Code. Need for Correction As published, the final and temporary regulations (TD 9629) contain errors that may prove to be misleading and are in need of clarification. Correction of Publication Accordingly, the final and temporary regulations (TD 9629), that are the subject of FR Doc. 2013–19931, are corrected as follows: ■ 1. In the heading, the subagency should read ‘‘Internal Revenue Service’’. ■ 2. On page 49682, column 1, in the preamble, under the paragraph heading ‘‘Background’’, line 7 from the top of the page, the language ‘‘Excise Taxes under Chapters 41 and 42’’ is corrected to read ‘‘Excise Taxes Under Chapters 41 and 42’’. ■ 3. On page 49682, column 1, in the preamble, under the paragraph heading ‘‘Background’’, line 16 from the top of the page, the language ‘‘Federal Register (REG–130233–11; 78’’ is corrected to read ‘‘Federal Register (REG–106499– 12; 78’’. Martin V. Franks, Chief, Publications and Regulations Branch, Legal Processing Division, Associate Chief Counsel, (Procedure and Administration). [FR Doc. 2013–23411 Filed 9–25–13; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4830–01–P DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY ACTION: Correcting amendments. The Department of the Treasury published a document in the Federal Register on July 31, 2013 (78 FR 46426), revising the Uniform Offering Circular to accommodate the public offering of floating rate notes. This document corrects the final regulations by revising an error in some equations and by restating a variable. SUMMARY: DATES: Effective September 26, 2013. Lori Santamorena, Executive Director, or Chuck Andreatta, Associate Director, Government Securities Regulations Staff, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Department of the Treasury, (202) 504– 3632. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: This is the third set of corrections. The first set of corrections was published in the Federal Register on August 19, 2013 (78 FR 50335). The second set of corrections was published in the Federal Register on August 27, 2013 (78 FR 52857). This document augments those corrections. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 356 Bonds, Federal Reserve System, Government Securities, Securities. Accordingly, 31 CFR part 356 is corrected by making the following correcting amendments: PART 356—SALE AND ISSUE OF MARKETABLE BOOK-ENTRY TREASURY BILLS, NOTES, AND BONDS (DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CIRCULAR, PUBLIC DEBT SERIES NO. 1–93) Fiscal Service 1. The authority citation for part 356 continues to read as follows: ■ 31 CFR Part 356 [Docket No. Fiscal–BPD–2013–0001] Sale and Issue of Marketable BookEntry Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds; Corrections AGENCY: PO 00000 Fiscal Service, Treasury. Frm 00066 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 3102, et seq.; 12 U.S.C. 391. 2. In Appendix B to Part 356: a. In Section IV, subsection C, in the Formula, remove the first equation ■ ■ E:\FR\FM\26SER1.SGM 26SER1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 187 (Thursday, September 26, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 59226-59228]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23516]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 117

[Docket No. FAA-2013-0655]

Clarification of Implementation of Regulations and Exemption
Policy With Regard to Early Implementation and Transition

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Clarification and Exemption Policy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The FAA has issued a final flight, duty, and rest rule that
will go into effect on January 4, 2014. This document provides an
interpretation clarifying that the new flight, duty, and rest rule will
apply to a flight duty period that begins on or after January 4, 2014.
This document also clarifies FAA policy with regard to: exemption
petitions asking for an early implementation date for the requirements
of part 117; and exemption petitions asking for an early transition to
the requirements of part 117.

DATES: Send exemption requests to the docket on or before October 15,
2013.

ADDRESSES: Send exemption requests identified by docket number FAA-
2013-0655 using any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for making your
submission electronically.
Mail: Send the exemption petition to Docket Operations, M-
30; U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE., Room W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-
0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: Take the exemption petition to
Docket Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: Fax the exemption petition to Docket Operations at
202-493-2251.
Docket: Documents received may be read at https://www.regulations.gov at any time. Follow the online instructions for
accessing the docket or go to the Docket Operations in Room W12-140 of
the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical questions, contact Dale
E. Roberts, Air Transportation Division, Flight Standards Service,
Federal Aviation Administration; email dale.e.roberts@faa.gov. For
legal questions, contact Alex Zektser, Office of the Chief Counsel,
Regulations Division, Federal Aviation Administration; email
alex.zektser@faa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On January 4, 2012, the FAA published a final rule entitled,
``Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements.'' \1\ In that rule, the
FAA created a new part, part 117, which generally contains new flight,
duty, and rest regulations for part 121 passenger operations and
certain part 91 operations. Part 117 will go into effect on January 4,
2014.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements Final Rule, 77
FR 330 (Jan. 4, 2012).
\2\ Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements; Technical
Correction, 78 FR 11090 (Feb. 15, 2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recently, the FAA received questions about the exact time at which
part 117 will apply to a certificate holder's operations on or after
January 4, 2014. The FAA also received a petition, submitted by
Airlines for America (A4A) and the Regional Airline Association (RAA),
asking for an industry-wide exemption to permit certificate-holder
implementation of part 117 prior to January 4. In addition,
representatives from American Airlines and A4A have met with FAA
officials and requested that FAA consider allowing airlines to switch
to part 117 in a phased approach over a multi-day period.
This document responds to the concerns raised in the implementation
questions, the A4A/RAA exemption petition, and the American Airlines/
A4A meeting. First, this document provides an interpretation clarifying
at which point on or after January 4, 2014, a certificate holder must
apply part 117 to its operations. Second, this document makes several
findings with regard to exemption petitions from individual certificate
holders asking for permission to implement part 117 prior to January 4.
Third, this document clarifies FAA policy with regard to exemption
petitions from individual certificate holders asking for a phased
transition to the requirements of part 117. Fourth, this document
provides some guidelines to individual certificate holders for
submitting exemption petitions for early implementation and/or early
transition to part 117.

Discussion

A. Applicability of Part 117 on January 4, 2014

As stated above, part 117 will become effective on January 4,
2014.\3\ The regulatory text of part 117 does not contain a grandfather
clause that would exempt operations that commence prior to January 4.
Thus, part 117 could be interpreted as immediately applying to all part
121 passenger operations taking place at midnight on January 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\3\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

However, such an interpretation would take a narrow view regarding
how part 121 passenger operations are to transition to the new part 117
requirements. This is because Sec. 117.25 requires that a flightcrew
member be provided with a 10-hour rest period that includes an 8-hour
sleep opportunity immediately prior to beginning a flight duty period
(FDP) under part 117. If part 117 was to become immediately applicable
on midnight January 4, flightcrew members conducting part 121 passenger
operations at that time would be confronted with the requirements of
Sec. 117.25 in the middle of their duty day.
To avoid this scenario, the FAA clarifies the implementation of
part 117 as follows. A flightcrew member who begins a duty day under
part 121 prior to January 4, 2014 is allowed to complete that duty day
on January 4 under the flight, duty, and rest rules in effect at the
time that the duty day commenced. However, once the duty day ends and
the flightcrew member is released to begin a rest period, that
flightcrew member is then subject to the provisions of part 117.
We note that there are some provisions in the flight, duty, and
rest regulations of part 121 that, in certain situations, require an
extended rest period after a duty day ends.\4\ Accordingly, we
emphasize that the rest period received by a flightcrew member
switching from part 121 flight, duty, and rest rules to part 117 must
comply with both Sec. 117.25 and the pertinent flight, duty, and rest
rules of part 121.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\4\ See, e.g., 14 CFR 121.503(b) (requiring a 16-hour rest
period if a pilot has flown for more than eight hours in a 24-
consecutive-hour period).
\5\ We note, however, that the regulations do not require that
the rest period provided under Sec. 117.25 be kept separate from
the rest period provided under Subparts Q, R, and S of part 121. A
single rest period would be sufficient if it satisfies all of the
pertinent flight, duty, and rest requirements. For example, a 16-
hour rest period with an 8-hour sleep opportunity would satisfy both
Sec. 117.25(e) and Sec. 121.503(b).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 59227]]

B. FAA Findings With Regard to Exemption Petitions Asking for Early
Implementation

The A4A and RAA exemption petition asks the FAA to provide an
exemption to A4A and RAA members and all similarly situated air
carriers that would allow those carriers to implement part 117 early
(between December 9, 2013 and January 4, 2014). In lieu of granting A4A
and RAA's exemption petition, the FAA makes the following findings with
regard to individual certificate holder exemption petitions asking for
an early implementation of part 117.
In order to grant an exemption, the FAA must find that granting the
exemption: (1) would not have an adverse effect on safety; and (2)
would be in the public interest.\6\ As discussed below, we find that
granting an individual certificate holder's exemption petition asking
for early implementation of part 117 would not have an adverse effect
on safety and would be in the public interest. We also find that these
individual certificate holder exemption petitions do not need to be
published in the Federal Register.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\6\ See 14 CFR 11.81(d) and (e).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. No Adverse Effect on Safety
We note that, as A4A and RAA's petition points out, the regulatory
standards in part 117 contain the latest fatigue-related safety
standard promulgated by the FAA. Because granting an exemption petition
asking for early implementation of part 117 would result in a
certificate holder voluntarily switching sooner to this latest safety
standard, we find that early implementation of part 117 in a
certificate holder's operations would not adversely affect safety.
2. Public Interest
With regard to public interest, A4A and RAA's petition points out
that allowing carriers to implement part 117 on different days will
reduce the system vulnerability caused by an entire industry switching
crew planning software and algorithms on the same day. The petition
also states that switching to part 117 prior to January 4 will allow
carriers to make the switch prior to the heaviest holiday travel days.
We agree with these points and accordingly find that granting an
individual exemption for early implementation of part 117 would be in
the public interest.
3. Public Comment on Individual Exemption Petitions
The FAA generally publishes a summary of an exemption petition in
the Federal Register and invites public comment on the petition.\7\
However, in certain circumstances, the FAA does not seek public comment
on a petition for an exemption. One of those circumstances is present
when delaying action on the petition would result in an adverse
effect.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\7\ See 14 CFR 11.85.
\8\ Sec. 11.87(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this case, the individual petitions for exemption would deal
with a final rule that will go into effect on January 4, and those
petitions will seek to implement the rule prior to January 4. Because
this implementation is close and because there are multiple significant
tasks that must be done in order to prepare for the implementation, we
find that delaying action on an individual petition requesting an
exemption to implement part 117 early would result in an adverse
effect. Thus, individual exemption petitions asking for early
implementation of part 117 do not need to be published for notice and
comment in the Federal Register.

C. FAA Policy With Regard to Exemption Requests Asking for Early
Transition

We note that under both the clarification and early-implementation
exemption discussed above, a certificate holder would have to
essentially switch all of its affected operations to part 117 in about
a 24-hour period. If an individual certificate holder chooses to obtain
an early-implementation exemption, that certificate holder will still
have to switch its operations in the manner discussed in Section A
above; the date of the switch will simply be different.
However, as American Airlines and A4A pointed out, some certificate
holders plan their schedules in multi-day blocks, and switching their
affected operations in 24-hour period could be burdensome. To address
this concern, the FAA will consider individual certificate-holder
petitions asking for an exemption to conduct a phased early transition
to part 117.
Part 117 early-transition exemptions will work as follows. A
certificate holder will establish an early-transition date. During the
time between the transition and implementation dates, the certificate
holder will be permitted to switch individual flightcrew members to
operate under part 117 without having to switch all of its operations
and flightcrew members into part 117. Under this exemption, once a
flightcrew member has been switched to part 117, that flightcrew member
would not be permitted to switch back to the part 121 flight, duty, and
rest rules during the transition period.
The FAA believes that this approach may benefit some certificate
holders, as it would permit them to conduct a phased switch of their
operations to part 117 over the course of a longer period of time
instead of switching all affected operations in a single day. As such,
the FAA finds, for the reasons stated in the previous section, that
granting individual exemption petitions asking for an early transition
period would: (1) Not adversely affect safety; (2) be in the public
interest; and (3) not need to be published for notice and comment in
the Federal Register because delaying action on the petition would
result in an adverse effect.

D. Guidelines for Submission of Exemption Petitions

We note that the FAA is currently undergoing an internal transition
to administering and overseeing part 117. As such, an exemption
petition asking to implement or transition to part 117 earlier than
December 1, 2013, will be denied, as the FAA may not have completed its
internal transition prior to December 1.
Exemption petitions asking for early transition and/or early
implementation of part 117 should be submitted to Docket No. FAA-2013-
0655. The FAA will respond to all individual certificate holder
exemption petitions asking for early implementation and/or early
transition to part 117 prior to the date that the carrier wishes to
begin using the exemption if the exemption request is received in
Docket No. FAA-2013-0655 on or before October 15, 2013. The FAA will
consider exemption petitions filed after October 15, but due to
workload, a carrier submitting an exemption petition after October 15,
2013, may not get an FAA response to its petition within the desired
timeframe. In addition, we ask that an exemption petition: (1) specify
whether the petition is seeking early implementation of part 117, an
early transition to part 117, or both; and (2) specify the dates for
early implementation and/or early transition to part 117.

[[Page 59228]]

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 19, 2013.
Mark W. Bury,
Acting Assistant Chief Counsel for International Law, Legislation and
Regulations.
John S. Duncan,
Director, Flight Standards Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-23516 Filed 9-24-13; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.