Department of Transportation October 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

This action proposes to amend Class D and E airspace at Bethel, AK. The Airport and Navigation Aids will be soon undergoing a magnetic variation change. This change will result in the necessity to revise the airspace descriptions. Additionally, the present 1,200 foot airspace is no longer necessary, because Bethel lies within a larger section of controlled airspace called the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Class E airspace covering the area required for the airport. Adoption of this proposal would result in amendment of existing Class D and E airspace upward from the surface, and from 700 feet (ft.) and 1,200 ft. above the surface at the Bethel Airport, Bethel, AK.

The Board will meet with Christensen Associates at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 6, 2008, in the Hearing Room on the first floor of the Board's headquarters in Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss Christensen Associates' independent study entitled Report to the U.S. STB on Competition and Related Issues in the U.S. Freight Railroad Industry. The report assesses the current state of competition in the United States freight railroad industry. The meeting will be open for public observation but not public participation.

This notice announces the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) approval of the information collection requirement contained in the FAA's final rule, ``Special Awareness Training for the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area,'' which was published on August 12, 2008.

In response to a Congressional directive to conduct a flight attendant fatigue study, FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, will initiate a comprehensive analysis of fatigue in flight attendants across a range of operational conditions.

The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an Environmental Impact Statement is being prepared for a proposed highway improvement project on State Trunk Highway 15 in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, to be conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The Notice of Intent (NOI) was originally prepared in 2003 but was inadvertently overlooked for submittal to the Federal Register for publication. Environmental activities, including involvement of state and federal agencies and other stakeholders, proceeded since the initiation of the project in 2003. Over five years have passed, and the process is now at the final Environmental Impact Statement stage. FHWA acknowledges the oversight and has now begun activities to recover from the inadvertent omission. The Environmental process will be brought up to date and made compliant with the 2005 SAFETEA-LU Environmental Review process, including development of a coordination plan and impact assessment methodologies. In the event other items in the process need to be updated to comply with SAFETEA- LU, the FHWA and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation will ensure those items are revised, as well.

This notice announces actions taken by the FHWA and other Federal agencies that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to the proposed Interstate 90 (I-90) Snoqualmie Pass East Project, located between Hyak and Easton (Milepost 55.1 to 70.3) in the County of Kittitas, within the State of Washington. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project. The project will add one additional lane eastbound and westbound within a 15-mile section of I-90. Specific actions include acquiring additional easement and right-of-way, replacing the existing snowshed, replacing and adding new bridges and culverts, adding snow support structures (avalanche control), extending chain up/off areas, adding wildlife overcrossings, removing and placing fill, removing vegetations and trees, and providing stormwater treatment for both new and existing surfaces. The project also includes extensive mitigation and restoration actions which are compatible with land use plans.

FRA hereby gives notice that it is seeking emergency approval processing from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) for the information collection request (ICR) listed below. FRA requests that OMB authorize the collection of information identified below on or before October 31, 2008, for a period of 180 days after the date of issuance of this notice in the Federal Register. On October 7, 2008, in response to the September 12, 2008, Chatsworth, California, collision of a Union Pacific (UP) freight train and a Metrolink commuter train, which resulted in the deaths of 25 people and numerous injuries, as well as other recent accidents/incidents involving cell phone use and use of electronic/electrical devices, FRA published in the Federal Register Emergency Order No. 26 (E.O. 26) (see 73 FR 58702) restricting on-duty railroad operating employees' use of cell phones and other distracting electronic and electronic devices. Because E.O. 26 goes into effect on October 27, 2008, and because E.O. 26 imposes information collection requirements that must be fulfilled by the nation's railroads, FRA is seeking emergency approval for the proposed collection of information to enforce compliance with E.O. 26 and to ensure the safety of affected railroad employees and the general public during train operations throughout the United States.

The FAA amends the airworthiness standards for issuance of original and amended type certificates for airplane propellers. The previous propeller requirements did not adequately address the technological advances of the past twenty years. The new standards address these advances in technology and harmonize FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency propeller certification requirements, thereby simplifying airworthiness approvals for imports and exports.

Section 1301 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59; 119 Stat. 1144) established a program to provide grants to States for Projects of National and Regional Significance (PNRS) to improve the safe, secure, and efficient movement of people and goods throughout the United States and to improve the health and welfare of the national economy. Section 1301 requires the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to establish regulations on the manner in which the proposed projects will be evaluated and rated, in order to determine which projects shall receive grant funding. This rule establishes the required evaluation and rating guidelines for proposed projects. Under this rule, a proposed project would be eligible for funding under the PNRS Program (Program) only if the Secretary finds that the project meets the eligibility requirements of the rule. The Secretary will then evaluate and rate each project as ``highly recommended,'' ``recommended,'' or ``not recommended'' based on the results of preliminary engineering, the project justification criteria, and the degree of non-Federal financial commitment. All funds authorized by section 1101(a)(15) of SAFETEA-LU for the Program are fully designated to the 25 projects listed in section 1301(m) of SAFETEA-LU. For the duration of SAFETEA-LU there are no additional funds available for distribution beyond those already designated, and there are no assurances that any additional funds will become available. Funding in future highway reauthorization bills is at the discretion of Congress.

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This 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:

The FAA proposes to rule and invites public comment on the applications to impose and use the revenue from a PFC at Chicago Midway International Airport under the provisions of the 49 U.S.C. 40117 and Part 158 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Part 158).

This notice announces two fact-finding informal airspace meetings to solicit information from airspace users and others, concerning a proposal to revise the Class B airspace area at Charlotte, NC. The purpose of these meetings is to provide interested parties an opportunity to present views, recommendations, and comments on the proposal. All comments received during these meetings will be considered prior to any issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking.

The FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve a current information collection. Information to be collected supports FAA in determining the amount of required liability insurance for a reentry operator after examining the risk associated with a reentry vehicle, its operational capabilities, and its designated reentry site.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for General Electric Company (GE) CF6-80C2 series and CF6-80E1 series turbofan engines. This AD requires installing skin doubler pads and deflectors on stage 5 of certain low-pressure turbine (LPT) cases, or replacing those LPT cases with LPT cases that have skin doubler pads and deflectors already installed. This AD results from four events in which hardware fragments were liberated into the engine flowpath and wore through LPT cases on CF6-80C2 and CF6-80E1 series engines. We are issuing this AD to prevent an uncontained release of engine debris and loss of the structural integrity of the mount system that supports the engine. Loss of the mount system structural integrity could result in the engine separating from the airplane.

We propose to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2008-11- 17, which applies to certain Air Tractor, Inc. Models AT-200, AT-300, AT-400, AT-500, AT-600, and AT-800 series airplanes. AD 2008-11-17 currently requires you to install an overturn skid plate kit or a modification to the overturn skid plate already installed. Since we issued AD 2008-11-17, the manufacturer has notified us that Model AT- 401B airplanes also require a modification to the overturn skid plate. Consequently, this proposed AD would retain the actions of AD 2008-11- 17 and add the requirement to modify the overturn skid plate installed on Model AT-401B airplanes. We are proposing this AD to prevent the front and rear connections of the overturn skid plate to the airplane from breaking, which could allow foreign debris to enter the cockpit during an airplane overturn. This condition, if not corrected, could lead to pilot injury.

This action would require operators of U.S. registered civil aircraft flying outside the United States to carry aircraft noise certification information on board the aircraft. This proposed rule is needed to ensure that U.S. operators have consistent noise certification information on board when they fly outside the United States. The intended effect of this proposal is to ensure consistent compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization, Annex 16, Volume 1, Amendment 8 that requires certain noise information be carried on board the aircraft.

The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an environmental impact statement will not be prepared for the Lake County, Illinois, Transportation Improvement Project.

The FMCSA announces its acceptance of the State of Massachusetts' periodic inspection (PI) program for commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). The Agency has reviewed the State's inspection program for CMVs and determined that it should be added to the list of programs which have been determined to be comparable to, or as effective as, the Federal PI requirements contained in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). The State requires CMVs to be inspected annually or within 7 days of registration for newly acquired vehicles. The agency has published a list of such programs in the Federal Register previously, and this list has been revised occasionally. Including Massachusetts, 22 States, the Alabama Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board, the District of Columbia, 10 Canadian Provinces, and one Canadian Territory have PI programs which have been determined to be comparable to, or as effective as, the Federal PI requirements.

FMCSA announces its decision to exempt thirty-nine individuals from its rule prohibiting persons with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) from operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. The exemptions will enable these individuals to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

This action establishes Class E Airspace at Morehead, KY. Airspace is needed to support new Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) that have been developed for Morehead-Rowan County Airport. As a result, controlled airspace extending upward from 700 feet Above Ground Level (AGL) is needed to contain the SIAP and for Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) operations at Morehead-Rowan County Airport. The operating status of the airport will change from Visual flight Rules (VFR) to include IFR operations concurrent with the publication of the SIAP. This action enhances the safety and airspace management of Morehead-Rowan County Airport, Morehead, KY.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for various transport category airplanes. This AD requires deactivation of PATS Aircraft, LLC, auxiliary fuel tanks. This AD results from fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer, which identified unsafe conditions for which the manufacturer has not provided corrective actions. We are issuing this AD to prevent the potential of ignition sources inside fuel tanks, which, in combination with flammable fuel vapors, could result in fuel tank explosions and consequent loss of the airplane.

This action updates the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) policy on noise limits for future civil supersonic aircraft to reflect current U.S. noise regulations. This action is intended to provide guidance on noise limits to manufacturers that are considering designs for supersonic aircraft.