Department of Transportation January 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On March 21, 2006, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will hold a public meeting to discuss raising the allowable operating pressure on certain natural gas transmission pipelines. Pipelines are the energy highways of the Nation that provide the most efficient means to transport vast volumes of natural gas on which we depend. Raising the maximum allowable operating pressures (MAOP) for natural gas pipelines would allow more gas to flow through these pipelines. This notice is designed to announce a public meeting and to invite papers on relevant technical subjects. Over the past 20 years, there has been a drastic improvement in technology pertaining to materials, metallurgy, controls, operations, and maintenance of the pipeline network. Based on these and other advances, PHMSA believes that certain pipelines in certain locations could be safely and reliably operated above the operating pressure established in current Federal pipeline safety regulation. There are three categories of pipelines that could realize an immediate benefit from such an increase in the MAOP: the proposed Alaska Natural Gas Transmission System; new natural gas pipelines that are being certificated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and pipelines constructed since 1980 with line pipe of known metallurgical and mechanical properties. This meeting provides the pipeline industry, Federal and State regulators, and interested members of the public an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience about the impact of increasing the MAOP to increase pipeline efficiency. Individuals that would like to make presentations should notify the individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by February 7, 2006, and submit papers at this meeting.

Section 11143 of Title XI of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users amends the Internal Revenue Code by creating a new class of tax-exempt facility bonds for qualified highway and surface freight transfer facilities. The law limits the total amount of such bonds to $15 billion and directs the Secretary of Transportation to allocate this amount among qualified facilities. This notice solicits requests for such allocations from interested entities that meet the statutory requirements. The Department also requests comments from the public that it may consider in its application of the authority provided by Section 11143.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 13 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from vision standards if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The agency has concluded that granting these exemptions will provide a level of safety that will be equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

This notice proposes to amend Part 71 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Part 71) by establishing a Class E airspace area extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at David City Municipal Airport, NE.

PHMSA and the National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives (NAPSR) are hosting this workshop to address pipeline safety issues with mechanical damage. Several pipeline industry trade associations are participating in the development of the workshop agenda. Mechanical damage from third party intrusion and latent defects caused during pipeline construction remains a leading cause of major incidents. This workshop will provide a forum to share information on mechanical damage among pipeline operators, state agencies, technical experts, and the public. Participants will discuss and learn about prevention, detection, and characterization technologies for mechanical damage. This information will aid PHMSA in coordinating actions to address the problems mechanical damage poses in operating natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines.

This notice announces the availability of materials, including a revised concept paper, presented at the public meeting on operator qualification programs on December 15, 2005. PHMSA is preparing a report to Congress on the status and results of these programs to ensure the qualifications of individuals performing safety tasks on pipelines. Participants at the meeting discussed progress on operator qualification programs to help PHMSA prepare the report to Congress. Participants also discussed the potential for strengthening operator qualification programs. PHMSA requests public comment on these matters.

Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption, part 11 of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR), this notice contains the disposition of certain petitions previously received. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of any petition or its final disposition.

This document revises an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to Boeing Model 747-400, 777-200, and 777- 300 series airplanes, that would have required an inspection of the flight deck humidifier to determine certain part numbers. That proposed AD also would have required, for certain airplanes, replacing the cell stack of the flight deck humidifier with a supplier-tested cell stack, or replacing the cell stack with a blanking plate and subsequently deactivating the flight deck humidifier, if necessary. For other airplanes, that proposed AD would have required replacing the cell stack with a supplier-tested cell stack, or replacing the cell stack with a blanking plate and subsequently deactivating the humidifier system, if necessary. The proposed AD also would have allowed blanking plates to be replaced with cell stacks. This new action revises the proposed rule by adding airplanes to the applicability, requiring an inspection of the flight deck humidifier to determine certain part numbers on certain airplanes, and requiring replacement of the cell stack on certain other airplanes. The actions specified by this new proposed AD are intended to prevent an increased pressure drop across the humidifier and consequent reduced airflow to the flight deck, which could result in the inability to clear any smoke that might appear in the flight deck. This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all EMBRAER Model ERJ 170 airplanes. This proposed AD would require revising the Airworthiness Limitations section (ALS) of the airplane maintenance manual (AMM) to include new, specific maintenance tasks related to the incorporation of a new horizontal stabilizer actuator. This proposed AD also would require revising the ALS of the AMM to include revised repetitive inspection intervals for certain tasks in the maintenance plan related to the aileron and flap/slat flight controls system. This proposed AD results from safety assessments of the aileron and flap/slat flight controls system, conducted after the type certification of the airplane, which showed that some dormant faults did not comply with the safety assessment criteria. We are proposing this AD to prevent failure of the aileron and flap/slat controls system, which could result in reduced controllability of the airplane.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Fokker Model F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100 airplanes. This proposed AD would require an inspection of the main landing gear (MLG) main fitting for cracks, and repair if necessary. This proposed AD would also require installing a placard and revising the airplane flight manual to include procedures to prohibit the application of brakes during backward movement of the airplane. This proposed AD results from a report that an MLG main fitting failed on an airplane that was braking while moving backward. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct cracks in the MLG main fitting, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the MLG main fitting.

The FAA is adopting a new noise standard for single-engine propeller driven small airplanes. This noise standard ensures that the latest available noise reduction technology is incorporated into new aircraft designs. This noise standard is also intended to harmonize the noise certification standard for propeller driven small airplanes newly certificated in the United States with those airplanes that meet the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 16 noise standard.

The FAA is correcting a typographical error in an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that was published in the Federal Register on December 5, 2005 (70 FR 72366). The error resulted in an incorrect telephone number for the FAA's point of contact. This AD applies to all EMBRAER Model EMB-120, -120ER, -120FC, -120QC, and -120RT airplanes. This AD requires modifying electrical harnesses located at the left- and right-hand wing roots, and re-routing and modifying the harness of the right-hand outboard flap actuator.

This notice grants the Cross Lander USA (``Cross Lander'') application for a temporary exemption from the requirements of S4.2 and S14 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, Occupant crash protection. The exemption applies to the Cross Lander 244X vehicle line. In accordance with 49 CFR part 555, the basis for the grant is that compliance would cause substantial economic hardship to a manufacturer that has tried in good faith to comply with the standard.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is issuing this notice to advise the public that it has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact/Record of Decision (FONSI/ROD), effective December 8, 2005, for the Final Environmental Assessment that evaluated the proposed extension of Runway 6-24 at Erie International Airport (ERI), Tom Ridge Field, Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its findings on the noise compatibility program submitted by Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. (the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act, hereinafter referred to as ``the Act'' and 14 CFR Part 150. These findings are made in recognition of the description of Federal and nonfederal responsibilities in Senate Report No. 96-52 (1980). On June 7, 2005, the FAA determined that the noise exposure maps submitted by Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority under Part 150 were in compliance with applicable requirements. On December 2, 2005, the FAA approved the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport noise compatibility program. Both of the recommendations of the program were approved. No program elements relating to new or revised flight procedures for noise abatement were proposed by the airport sponsor.

This notice proposes to amend the regulations that implement the section 410 program, under which States can receive incentive grants for alcohol-impaired driving prevention programs. The proposed amendments implement changes that were made to the section 410 program by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy For Users (SAFETEA-LU). As a result of SAFETEA-LU, States are provided with two alternative means to qualify for a section 410 grant. Under the first alternative, States may qualify as a ``low fatality rate State'' if they have an alcohol-related fatality rate of 0.5 or less per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Under the second alternative, States may qualify as a ``programmatic State'' if they demonstrate that they meet three of eight grant criteria for fiscal year 2006, four of eight grant criteria for fiscal year 2007, and five of eight grant criteria for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. Qualifying under both alternatives would not entitle the State to receive additional grant funds. SAFETEA-LU also provides for a separate grant to the ten States that are determined to have the highest rates of alcohol-related driving fatalities. This notice of proposed rulemaking proposes criteria States must meet and procedures they must follow to qualify for section 410 grants, beginning in fiscal year 2006.