Department of Transportation March 16, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice is to advise the public that FRA and the California High Speed Rail Authority (Authority) will jointly prepare a project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and project Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Merced-to-Bakersfield section of the Authority's proposed California High-Speed Train (HST) System in compliance with relevant State and Federal laws, in particular the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In 2001, the Authority and FRA started a tiered environmental review process for the HST system and in 2005, completed the first tier California High Speed Train Program EIR/EIS and approved the statewide HST system for intercity travel in California between the major metropolitan centers of Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area in the north, through the Central Valley, to Los Angeles and San Diego in the south. The approved HST system would be about 800-miles long, with electric propulsion and steel-wheel-on-steel-rail trains capable of operating speeds of 220 miles per hour (mph) on a dedicated system of fully grade-separated, access-controlled steel tracks and with state- of-the-art safety, signaling, communication, and automated train control systems. In approving the HST system, the Authority and FRA also selected preferred corridor alignments and station location options throughout most of the system. In 2008, the Authority and FRA completed a second program EIR/EIS to evaluate alignments and station locations within the broad corridor between and including the Altamont Pass and the Pacheco Pass to connect the Bay Area and Central Valley portions of the HST system. The Authority and FRA selected the Pacheco Pass with San Francisco and San Jose termini network alternative, as well as preferred corridor alignments and station location options. The selected alignment uses the Union Pacific (UPRR) railroad corridor through the portion of the Central Valley from just north of Madera to just south of Stockton and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) alignment from Madera to Bakersfield, as selected with the Statewide Program EIR/EIS. The preparation of the Merced to Bakersfield HST Project EIR/EIS will involve development of preliminary engineering designs and assessment of environmental effects associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of the HST system, including track, ancillary facilities and stations, along the preferred alternative corridors from Merced to Bakersfield.

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a new information collection, which is summarized below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations (49 CFR Part 107, Subpart B), notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein. This notice is abbreviated to expedite docketing and public notice. Because the sections affected, modes of transportation, and the nature of application have been shown in earlier Federal Register publications, they are not repeated here. Request of modifications of special permits (e.g. to provide for additional hazardous materials, packaging design changes, additional mode of transportation, etc.) are described in footnotes to the application number. Application numbers with the suffix ``M'' demote a modification request. There applications have been separated from the new application for special permits to facilitate processing.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Model A321-131 airplanes. This AD requires repetitive ultrasonic inspections to detect cracks in the wing inner rear spars at the attachment holes of the Main Landing Gear (MLG) forward pintle fitting, the actuator cylinder anchorage fitting, and rib 5 fitting; and repair of the sealant or repair of any crack. This AD results from a finding that certain A321-131 airplanes may not reach the design life goal due to differences in thickness of the inner rear spars and that fatigue cracks may develop on inner rear spars starting from the fastener holes for the attachment of gear rib 5, the forward pintle fitting, and the actuating cylinder anchorage on these airplanes. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct such fatigue cracks, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the airplane.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Boeing Model 747-100, 747-100B, 747-100B SUD, 747-200B, 747-200C, 747- 200F, 747-300, 747-400, 747SR, and 747SP series airplanes. This AD requires inspecting for skin cracks at the shear tie end fastener locations of the fuselage frames, and repairing cracks if necessary. This AD results from a wide-spread fatigue damage assessment of Model 747 airplanes. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracks in the fuselage skin that can propagate and grow, resulting in a loss of structural integrity and a sudden decompression of the airplane during flight.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Eurocopter France (Eurocopter) Model EC 155B and EC155B1 helicopters. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is the Technical Agent for the Member States of the European Community. The MCAI states that ``the Airworthiness Directive (AD) is prompted by the discovery of a short circuit evidence in hoist connector ``24 Delta'' even though the hoist was removed from the rotorcraft. The short circuit generated sufficient heat to ignite the paint on the cooler support cowling near the hoist cut-off connector ``24 Delta.'' This condition, if not corrected, could result in a fire in this area which could propagate to surrounding zones.'' This AD requires actions that are intended to address this unsafe condition.

This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the Trimble or FreeFlight Systems 2101 I/O Approach Plus global positioning system (GPS) navigation system (2101 I/O Approach Plus system) that requires a software upgrade for this system. This amendment is prompted by an incident that led to the discovery of several annunciation errors with the 2101 I/O Approach Plus system. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent a pilot from making an unsafe decision based on erroneous information provided by the 2101 I/O Approach Plus system, which could result in loss of control of the aircraft.