Ensuring Safe Accommodations for Air Travelers With Disabilities Using Wheelchairs, 38852-38853 [2024-09976]

Download as PDF 38852 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 90 / Wednesday, May 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules actions required by paragraph (h)(4)(i) of this AD, using the torque value information identified in paragraph (g) of this AD as applicable to your model helicopter, inspect the torque applied on each bolt. Thereafter, repeat the torque inspection of those bolts after accumulating 1 hour TIS, but not to exceed 5 hours TIS, to determine if the torque has stabilized. Do not exceed three torque inspections total for those bolts and accomplish the actions required by paragraphs (h)(2)(i) and (ii) of this AD. (5) As of the effective date of this AD, do not install the following parts identified in paragraphs (h)(5)(i) and (ii) of this AD on any helicopter. (i) For Model 204B helicopters; steel alloy nut P/N NAS679A, NAS1291, or MS21042. (ii) For Model 205A, 205A–1, 205B, and 210 helicopters; steel alloy barrel nut P/N NAS577B9A, P/N NAS577B8A, or P/N NAS577B6A. (i) Special Flight Permit A one-time special flight permit may be issued in accordance with 14 CFR 21.197 and 21.199 in order to fly to a maintenance area to perform the required actions in this AD. (j) Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOCs) (1) The Manager, Central Certification Branch, FAA, has the authority to approve AMOCs for this AD, if requested using the procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19. In accordance with 14 CFR 39.19, send your request to your principal inspector or local Flight Standards District Office, as appropriate. If sending information directly to the manager of the certification office, send it to the attention of the person identified in paragraph (k) of this AD. Information may be emailed to fwaco@ faa.gov. (2) Before using any approved AMOC, notify your appropriate principal inspector, or lacking a principal inspector, the manager of the local flight standards district office/ certificate holding district office. lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1 (k) Related Information For more information about this AD, contact Michael Perrin, Aviation Safety Engineer, FAA, 1801 S Airport Road, Wichita, KS 67209; phone: (562) 627–5362; email: Michael.j.perrin@faa.gov. (l) Material Incorporated by Reference (1) The Director of the Federal Register approved the incorporation by reference (IBR) of the service information listed in this paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. (2) You must use this service information as applicable to do the actions required by this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise. (i) Bell Alert Service Bulletin 210–21–15, Revision A, dated February 23, 2022. (ii) [Reserved] (3) For service information identified in this AD, contact Bell Textron Inc., P.O. Box 482, Fort Worth, TX 76101; phone (450) 437– 2862 or (800) 363–8023; fax (450) 433–0272; email productsupport@bellflight.com; or website: bellflight.com/support/contactsupport. VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:06 May 07, 2024 Jkt 262001 (4) You may view this service information at the FAA, Office of Regional Counsel, Southwest Region, 10101 Hillwood Pkwy., Fort Worth, TX 76177. For information on the availability of this material at the FAA, call (817) 222–5110. (5) You may view this material at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, visit www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ ibr-locations or email fr.inspection@nara.gov. Issued on April 26, 2024. James D. Foltz, Deputy Director, Compliance & Airworthiness Division, Aircraft Certification Service. [FR Doc. 2024–09572 Filed 5–1–24; 4:15 pm] BILLING CODE 4910–13–P DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Office of the Secretary 14 CFR Part 382 [Docket No. DOT–OST–2022–0144] RIN 2105–AF14 Ensuring Safe Accommodations for Air Travelers With Disabilities Using Wheelchairs Office of the Secretary (OST), Department of Transportation (DOT or the Department). ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period. AGENCY: The Department is extending through June 12, 2024, the period for interested persons to submit comments to its proposed rule on Ensuring Safe Accommodations for Air Travelers with Disabilities Using Wheelchairs. DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published March 12, 2024, at 89 FR 17766, is extended. Comments should be filed by June 12, 2024. Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable. ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by the docket number DOT– OST–2022–0144 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, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 20590–0001. • Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 • Fax: (202) 493–2251. Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number DOT– OST–2022–0144 or the Regulatory Identification Number (RIN 2105–AF14) for the rulemaking at the beginning of your comment. All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. Privacy Act: Anyone can 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, business, 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:// www.transportation.gov/privacy. Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents and 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: Christopher Miller, Staff Attorney, Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590, 202–366–9342 (phone), 202– 366–7152 (fax), christopher.miller1@ dot.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 29, 2024, the Department publicly announced and posted to its website a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to ensure airline passengers who use wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity. In the NPRM, which was published in the Federal Register on March 12, 2024, the Department proposed to change the way airlines provide accommodations for individuals who use wheelchairs. The NPRM proposed to set new standards for prompt, safe, and dignified assistance, to mandate enhanced training for airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with disabilities and handle passengers’ wheelchairs, and to specify actions that airlines must take to protect passengers when a wheelchair is damaged during transport. The proposed rulemaking also clarified that any mishandling of a passenger’s checked wheelchair or other assistive device is a violation of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and proposed to make the mishandling of a wheelchair or other assistive device a per se violation. In addition, the Department solicited comment on various issues including the size standards for E:\FR\FM\08MYP1.SGM 08MYP1 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 90 / Wednesday, May 8, 2024 / Proposed Rules lavatories on twin-aisle aircraft and reimbursements of the fare difference when the fare on a flight a wheelchair user took and the fare on a flight that a wheelchair would have taken if the wheelchair had been able to fit in the aircraft differ. The NPRM provided for a comment period of 60 days after publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register, i.e., May 13, 2024. On March 20, 2024, Airlines for America, the International Air Transport Association, the National Air Carriers Association, the Regional Airline Association, and the Airline Service Providers Association (collectively ‘‘Associations’’) filed a joint request to extend the public comment period for an additional 90 days. The Associations state that this additional time is needed because of the number of questions and requests for comment posed in the NPRM and the significance of the proposed changes to the accessibility obligations of airlines and airlines’ service providers. The Associations also ask questions regarding the proposal and assert that answers to these questions are necessary to understand the NPRM’s benefits and impact. The Department’s responses to the questions raised in the joint request are posted in the rulemaking docket at https:// www.regulations.gov/docket/DOT-OST2022-0144. On April 26, 2024, 16 disability rights organizations filed a joint comment urging the Department to deny the Associations’ requests for an extension to the comment period for the NPRM. These organizations are: Access Living, American Association of People with Disabilities, The Arc of the United States, Blinded Veterans Association, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Cure SMA, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, Epilepsy Foundation, I AM ALS, Muscular Dystrophy Association, National Council on Independent Living, National Disability Rights Network, National MS Society, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, and United Spinal Association. The disability rights organizations assert the Department has provided a sufficient time for relevant stakeholders to review and comment on the NPRM considering the multiple years’ effort to improve the air travel experience of passengers who are wheelchair users, and the significant concerns for their safety and dignity in air travel. The Department has carefully considered the request for extension of the comment period and the request to deny the extension and has determined to extend the comment period for the proposed rule for 30 days from May 13, VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:06 May 07, 2024 Jkt 262001 2024, to June 12, 2024. The Department believes that granting a one-month extension of the original comment period is sufficient to allow stakeholders to review potential impacts, to assess the Department’s responses to the clarification requests, and to prepare comments. Given the request from the disability rights organizations to deny the request to extend the comment period, the Department encourages all persons to submit comments when ready rather than waiting until the end of the extended period. Signed in Washington, DC, on or around this 1st day of May 2024, under authority delegated at 49 CFR 1.27(n). Blane A. Workie, Assistant General Counsel DOT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection. [FR Doc. 2024–09976 Filed 5–7–24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard 33 CFR Part 110 [Docket No. USCG–2023–0749] RIN 1625–AA01 Establish Anchorage Ground; Port Westward Anchorage, Columbia River, Oregon and Washington Coast Guard, DHS. Notice; reopening of comment AGENCY: ACTION: period. The Coast Guard is reopening the comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) entitled ‘‘Establish Anchorage Ground; Port Westward Anchorage, Columbia River, Oregon and Washington,’’ published on December 28, 2023. Reopening the comment period will allow additional time for the public to review and submit comments on the proposed rule. DATES: The comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking published on December 28, 2023 (88 FR 89644) is reopened. Comments and related material must be submitted to the docket by June 7, 2024. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG– 2023–0749 using the Federal Decision Making Portal at https:// www.regulations.gov. See the ‘‘Public Participation and Request for Comments’’ portion of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for further instructions on submitting comments. SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 38853 For information about this document call or email LT Carlie Gilligan, Sector Columbia River Waterways Management Division, U.S. Coast Guard; telephone 503–240–9319, email SCRWWM@ uscg.mil. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Participation and Request for Comments The Coast Guard views public participation as essential to effective rulemaking and will consider all comments and material received on this notice of proposed rulemaking during the comment period. Your comment can help shape the outcome of this rulemaking. If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this proposed rule, indicate the specific section of this document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or recommendation. Submitting comments. We encourage you to submit comments through the Federal Decision Making Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. To do so, go to https://www.regulations.gov, type USCG–2023–0749 in the search box and click ‘‘Search.’’ Next, look for this document in the Search Results column, and click on it. Then click on the Comment option. If you cannot submit your material by using https:// www.regulations.gov, call or email the person in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this proposed rule for alternate instructions. Viewing material in docket. To view documents mentioned in this as being available in the docket, find the docket as described in the previous paragraph, and then select ‘‘Supporting & Related Material’’ in the Document Type column. Public comments will also be placed in our online docket and can be viewed by following instructions on the https://www.regulations.gov Frequently Asked Questions web page. We review all comments received, but we will only post comments that address the topic of the document. We may choose not to post off-topic, inappropriate, or duplicate comments that we receive. Personal information. We accept anonymous comments. Comments we post to https://www.regulations.gov will include any personal information you have provided. For more about privacy and submissions to the docket in response to this document, see DHS’s eRulemaking System of Records notice (85 FR 14226, March 11, 2020). Public meeting. We are not planning to hold a public meeting but will consider doing so if we determine from public comments that a meeting would E:\FR\FM\08MYP1.SGM 08MYP1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 8, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38852-38853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09976]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 382

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2022-0144]
RIN 2105-AF14


Ensuring Safe Accommodations for Air Travelers With Disabilities 
Using Wheelchairs

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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

SUMMARY: The Department is extending through June 12, 2024, the period 
for interested persons to submit comments to its proposed rule on 
Ensuring Safe Accommodations for Air Travelers with Disabilities Using 
Wheelchairs.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published March 12, 
2024, at 89 FR 17766, is extended. Comments should be filed by June 12, 
2024. Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by the docket number DOT-
OST-2022-0144 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, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC, 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-2022-0144 or the Regulatory Identification Number (RIN 2105-
AF14) for the rulemaking at the beginning of your comment. All comments 
received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can 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, business, 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://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents and 
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: Christopher Miller, Staff Attorney, 
Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590, 202-366-
9342 (phone), 202-366-7152 (fax), [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 29, 2024, the Department 
publicly announced and posted to its website a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPRM) to ensure airline passengers who use wheelchairs can 
travel safely and with dignity. In the NPRM, which was published in the 
Federal Register on March 12, 2024, the Department proposed to change 
the way airlines provide accommodations for individuals who use 
wheelchairs. The NPRM proposed to set new standards for prompt, safe, 
and dignified assistance, to mandate enhanced training for airline 
employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with 
disabilities and handle passengers' wheelchairs, and to specify actions 
that airlines must take to protect passengers when a wheelchair is 
damaged during transport. The proposed rulemaking also clarified that 
any mishandling of a passenger's checked wheelchair or other assistive 
device is a violation of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and proposed 
to make the mishandling of a wheelchair or other assistive device a per 
se violation. In addition, the Department solicited comment on various 
issues including the size standards for

[[Page 38853]]

lavatories on twin-aisle aircraft and reimbursements of the fare 
difference when the fare on a flight a wheelchair user took and the 
fare on a flight that a wheelchair would have taken if the wheelchair 
had been able to fit in the aircraft differ. The NPRM provided for a 
comment period of 60 days after publication of the NPRM in the Federal 
Register, i.e., May 13, 2024.
    On March 20, 2024, Airlines for America, the International Air 
Transport Association, the National Air Carriers Association, the 
Regional Airline Association, and the Airline Service Providers 
Association (collectively ``Associations'') filed a joint request to 
extend the public comment period for an additional 90 days. The 
Associations state that this additional time is needed because of the 
number of questions and requests for comment posed in the NPRM and the 
significance of the proposed changes to the accessibility obligations 
of airlines and airlines' service providers. The Associations also ask 
questions regarding the proposal and assert that answers to these 
questions are necessary to understand the NPRM's benefits and impact. 
The Department's responses to the questions raised in the joint request 
are posted in the rulemaking docket at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/DOT-OST-2022-0144.
    On April 26, 2024, 16 disability rights organizations filed a joint 
comment urging the Department to deny the Associations' requests for an 
extension to the comment period for the NPRM. These organizations are: 
Access Living, American Association of People with Disabilities, The 
Arc of the United States, Blinded Veterans Association, Christopher & 
Dana Reeve Foundation, Cure SMA, Disability Rights Education & Defense 
Fund, Epilepsy Foundation, I AM ALS, Muscular Dystrophy Association, 
National Council on Independent Living, National Disability Rights 
Network, National MS Society, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Parent 
Project Muscular Dystrophy, and United Spinal Association. The 
disability rights organizations assert the Department has provided a 
sufficient time for relevant stakeholders to review and comment on the 
NPRM considering the multiple years' effort to improve the air travel 
experience of passengers who are wheelchair users, and the significant 
concerns for their safety and dignity in air travel.
    The Department has carefully considered the request for extension 
of the comment period and the request to deny the extension and has 
determined to extend the comment period for the proposed rule for 30 
days from May 13, 2024, to June 12, 2024. The Department believes that 
granting a one-month extension of the original comment period is 
sufficient to allow stakeholders to review potential impacts, to assess 
the Department's responses to the clarification requests, and to 
prepare comments.
    Given the request from the disability rights organizations to deny 
the request to extend the comment period, the Department encourages all 
persons to submit comments when ready rather than waiting until the end 
of the extended period.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on or around this 1st day of May 2024, 
under authority delegated at 49 CFR 1.27(n).
Blane A. Workie,
Assistant General Counsel DOT's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection.
[FR Doc. 2024-09976 Filed 5-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P

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