Department of Transportation March 14, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain M7 Aerospace LP SA226 and SA227 series airplanes. This proposed AD would require you to inspect electrical wires/components, hydraulic and bleed air tube assemblies at left-hand (LH) and right-hand (RH) inboard wing leading edge/battery box areas, LH/RH wing stations 51.167 to 81.174, and at all feed-through locations into the LH/RH inboard keelson. If chafing/arcing is found, this proposed AD would require you to reposition, repair, and/or replace all chafed electrical wires, components, and hydraulic and bleed air tube assemblies, as required. This proposed AD would also require you to reposition the battery lead cables, cover four-gauge wires leaving the battery box with firesleeving and secure with clamps, and protect the battery power cable. This proposed AD results from five reports of chafing between the bleed air tube and the electrical starter cables with one incident resulting in a fire. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct chafing/arcing of electrical wires, components, and bleed air lines. This condition could result in arcing of the exposed wires and burn a hole in the bleed air line or the nearby hydraulic line, and lead to a possible hydraulic fluid leak and fire in the engine nacelle compartment.

This action proposes to establish Class D airspace and amend Class E airspace at Southwest Oregon Regional Airport, North Bend, OR. The establishment of an air traffic control tower has made this action necessary for the safety and management of aircraft within this airspace. This action will also update the name of the airport from North Bend Municipal Airport, North Bend, OR.

FMCSA has received from Cummins, Inc. (``Cummins'') an application for an exemption from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations regarding maximum driving time for drivers of passenger- carrying vehicles. The exemption would allow Cummins' drivers delivering new buses without any passengers in a driveaway operation to be governed by the hours-of-service (HOS) requirements for drivers of property-carrying vehicles. Cummins' drivers are operating these motor vehicles as test vehicles to determine the performance of various types of engines as well as components that are closely related to the design and manufacture of the described engines. Cummins states that the level of safety will be equivalent or greater than the level of safety that would be obtained by complying with the HOS regulations for drivers of passenger-carrying vehicles. FMCSA requests public comment on Cummins' application for exemption.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) originated by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as:

FMCSA announces a public meeting of the Agency's MRB. The MRB public meeting will provide the public an opportunity to observe and participate in MRB deliberations about the revision and development of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation (FMCSR) medical standards, in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted regarding the Petitions for Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collections and their expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period was published on October 2, 2007 (72 FR 56130). The agency received no comments.

The FHWA is issuing this notice of cancellation to advise the public that we are no longer lead Federal Agency for preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed highway project in Manatee County, Florida. This is formal cancellation of the Notice of Intent that was published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2004.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its findings on the noise compatibility program submitted by Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) 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 April 3, 2006, the FAA determined that the noise exposure maps submitted by MAA under Part 150 were in compliance with applicable requirements. On February 26, 2008, the FAA approved the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport noise compatibility program update. All of the recommendations of the program were approved.

In January 2008, NHTSA published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking in connection with its ongoing rulemaking to upgrade the Federal motor vehicle safety standard on roof crush resistance. That rulemaking is part of a comprehensive plan for reducing the serious risk of rollover crashes and the risk of death and serious injury in those crashes. We received a petition from Public Citizen and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety requesting an extension of the comment period. After considering the petition, we are extending the comment period by 10 days, from March 17, 2008, to March 27, 2008.