Department of Transportation December 24, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has tentatively determined that it is necessary to amend further its December 12, 2006 Order that temporarily caps scheduled operations at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LaGuardia), pending the implementation of a longer- term regulation to manage congestion at the airport. In particular, we now propose to accept from air carriers voluntary reductions in scheduled operations at the airport to a targeted average of 71 hourly scheduled operations for the duration of the Order. This proposed reduction in flight operations at LaGuardia would not affect the number of unscheduled operations at the airport. The FAA is separately extending the Order's expiration until 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on October 24, 2009.

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 below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for extension of currently approved collections. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on October 7, 2008 (73 FR 58708).

FMCSA announces the rejection of a petition for preemption of California laws and regulations requiring employers to provide employees with meal and rest breaks. The petition does not satisfy the threshold requirement for preemption under 49 U.S.C. 31141(c) because the provisions at issue are not ``laws and regulations on commercial motor vehicle safety,'' but rather laws and regulations applied generally to California employers.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 216: Aeronautical Systems Security.

This final rule amends the design factor and design pressure limits for natural gas pipelines made from new Polyamide-11 (PA-11) thermoplastic pipe. Together, these two changes in the regulations allow pipeline operators to operate certain pipelines constructed of new PA-11 pipe at higher operating pressures than is currently allowed for other plastic pipe materials.

This notice provides guidance concerning best practices to be followed by importers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment to reduce the likelihood of importing products that contain defects related to motor vehicle safety or do not comply with applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is issuing this notice to advise the public that the Notice of Intent published on November 7, 2002, at 67 FR 67893, to prepare a Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed North Second Street Connector in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, is being rescinded.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Piper Aircraft, Inc. (Piper) Models PA-46-350P, PA-46R-350T, and PA-46- 500TP airplanes. This AD requires you to install a stall warning heat control modification kit. This AD results from ice forming on the stall vane heater during flights into icing conditions with the landing gear down. We are issuing this AD to prevent ice from forming on the stall vane, which may result in failure of the stall warning system. This failure could result in the pilot being unaware of an approaching stall situation.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all McDonnell Douglas airplanes identified above. This AD requires repetitive inspections of the lower skin and stringers at stations Xw=408 and Xw408, and corrective actions if necessary. This AD results from reports of cracks in the skins and stringers at the end fasteners common to the stringer end fittings at stations Xw= 408 and Xw408 wing splice joints. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking in the skins and stringers at the end fasteners common to the stringer end fittings at certain station and wing splice joints, which could result in wing structure that might not sustain limit load, and consequent loss of structural integrity of the wing.

We are adopting a new 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 is superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD), which applies to certain Cessna Model 560 airplanes. That AD currently requires installing new minimum airspeed placards to notify the flightcrew of the proper airspeeds for operating in both normal and icing conditions. That AD also requires revising the airplane flight manual to provide limitations and procedures for operating in icing conditions, for operating with anti-ice systems selected ``on'' independent of icing conditions, and for recognizing and recovering from inadvertent stall. That AD also provides an optional terminating action for the placard installation. This new AD requires the previously optional terminating action. This AD results from an evaluation of in-service airplanes following an accident. The evaluation indicated that some airplanes might have an improperly adjusted stall warning system. We are issuing this AD to prevent an inadvertent stall due to the inadequate stall warning margin provided by an improperly adjusted stall warning system, which could result in loss of controllability of the airplane.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) to supersede 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 need a modification to the overturn skid plate. Consequently, this 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 issuing 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 document publishes in the Federal Register an amendment adopting Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2008-17-51, which was sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of MD Helicopters, Inc. (MDHI) Model MD900 helicopters by individual letters. This AD requires, before further flight, fluorescent magnetic particle inspecting the aft threads of the forward directional control cable (control cable) for a crack and replacing the control cable with an airworthy part if you find a crack. If you do not find a crack, this AD requires that you demagnetize the cable threads until you reach a certain gauss level. This AD also requires visually inspecting the aft cable attach bracket for a crack and for interference with movement of the control cable or for deformation of the aft cable attach bracket. If a crack or interference with movement of the control cable or deformation of the aft cable attach bracket exists, this AD requires replacing the bracket with an airworthy part. This AD also requires modifying the control cable conduit and the rotating cone control rod and identifying the rotating cone control rod with a certain part number. This amendment is prompted by three reports of in-flight failure of the control cable and loss of yaw control resulting in emergency landings and subsequent damage to the helicopter. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent loss of yaw control and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.