Department of Transportation June 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action clarifies the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) policy on the calculation of derived noise levels submitted for publication in Advisory Circular (AC) 36-3, Estimated Airplane Noise Levels in A-Weighted Decibels. This action is intended to provide guidance on calculating the derived levels used in that publication.

This action amends Class E airspace at Cleveland, OH. Additional controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate Area Navigation (RNAV) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAP) at Lorain County Regional Airport, Lorain, OH. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) operations at Lorain County Regional Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces its determination that the noise exposure maps submitted by the city of San Antonio, Texas for San Antonio International Airport under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 47501 et seq. (Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act) and 14 CFR part 150 are in compliance with applicable requirements.

The FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) revision of a current information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on December 23, 2008, vol. 73, no. 247, page 78866. The information collected on the FAA Form 8120-11 is used by those who wish to report suspected unapproved parts to the FAA for review.

The FAA is issuing an order to show cause, which solicits the views of interested persons on the FAA's tentative determination to extend through October 30, 2010, the May 15, 2008 order limiting the number of scheduled aircraft arrivals at Newark Liberty International Airport during peak operating hours. The text of the order to show cause is set forth in this notice.

These special conditions are issued for all models of Bombardier Inc. DHC-8-100, -200, and -400 Series Airplanes and for Bombardier Models DHC-8-301, DHC-8-311, and DHC-8-315 airplanes in the DHC-8-300 series. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with seats that include non-traditional, large, non-metallic panels that would affect survivability during a post-crash fire event. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

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:

The FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) revision of a current information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on December 23, 2008, vol. 73, no. 247, pages 78865-78866. The collection of this information is necessary to ensure safety of flight by ensuring complete and adequate training, testing, checking, and experience is obtained and maintained by those who conduct flight simulation training.

Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Requirements (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICRs describe the nature of the information collections and their expected burdens. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collections of information was published on March 24, 2009 (74 FR 12443).

These special conditions are issued for the Spectrum Aeronautical, LLC Model S-40 airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with the use of an electronic engine control system instead of a traditional mechanical control system. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of RTCA Special Committee 159: Global Positioning System (GPS).

The FHWA is issuing this Notice to advise the public, Tribes, and agencies that it intends to prepare a Second Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SSDEIS) for a proposed highway project to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct (SR 99) in Seattle, King County, Washington. This Notice revises a Notice of Intent for the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Project, which was published on August 3, 2005 (70 FR 44716). Furthermore, this Notice rescinds the Notice of Intent published on July 16, 2008 (73 FR 40908). The 2008 Notice of Intent anticipated the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement that would evaluate various transportation modes and systems between the south Seattle city limits and N. 85th Street and Elliott Bay and Lake Washington, in addition to replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall. Rather than pursuing this more broad, multi-agency proposal, this Notice re-establishes FHWA's intent to continue the process begun with the publication of a Notice of Intent on June 22, 2001 (66 FR 33602), as revised on September 26, 2003 (68 FR 55712), and again in 2005. That process has resulted in the issuance of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement in March 2004, and a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement in July 2006. The planned SSDEIS will build on these earlier documents and the alternatives evaluated therein. However, there are some important changes to the earlier proposal. The major change is that this proposal will now consider one or more alternatives that no longer include the seawall along the Elliott Bay shoreline, known as the Alaskan Way Seawall. The Seawall was the subject of a Notice of Intent issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on March 31, 2006 (71 FR 16293). The SSDEIS will also set forth a revised Purpose and Need for the proposed project, re-evaluate previous Viaduct replacement alternatives in light of the revised Purpose and Need, and introduce and evaluate at least one new build alternativea bored tunnel.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is amending an error in its emission standards for turbine engine powered airplanes. The paragraph that describes the sampling and analytical procedures for measuring smoke exhaust emissions contains an erroneous cross reference which was included in the final rule. This document corrects that error so that the reader is able to locate the correct information.

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval to renew an information collection, which is summarized below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We published a Federal Register Notice with a 60-day public comment period on this information collection on March 16, 2009. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 2006 BMW M3 passenger cars manufactured before September 1, 2006 that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) are eligible for importation into the United States because (1) they are substantially similar to vehicles that were originally manufactured for sale in the United States and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards (the U.S.-certified version of the 2006 BMW M3 passenger cars manufactured before September 1, 2006) and (2) they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

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:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The purpose of this new information collection is to acquire general information regarding the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driving population and specific information on driver work history, work scheduling, and compensation. This information is needed in many different types of analyses conducted by the FMCSA and would benefit the agency in understanding the impacts of proposed rules and the improvement of its safety programs. On December 12, 2008, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment period on the ICR. One comment was received.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 6 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from the vision requirement if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The Agency has concluded that granting these exemption renewals will provide a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 18 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from the vision requirement if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The Agency has concluded that granting these exemption renewals will provide a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

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 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 March 24, 2009 [Volume 74, No. 55, Page 12455].

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Boeing Model 747-400, 747-400D, and 747-400F series airplanes. For all airplanes, this proposed AD would require installing new pump control and time delay relays, doing related investigative and corrective actions if necessary, and changing the wiring for the center and main fuel tanks override/jettison fuel pumps; and, for certain airplanes, installing new relays and wiring for the horizontal stabilizer override/jettison fuel pumps. This proposed AD would also require a revision to the maintenance program to incorporate Airworthiness Limitation No. 28-AWL-24 and No. 28-AWL-26. For certain airplanes, this proposed AD would also require installing an automatic shutoff system for the horizontal stabilizer tank fuel pumps and installing a new integrated display system. This proposed AD results from fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer. We are proposing this AD to prevent uncommanded operation of certain override/ jettison pumps which could cause overheat, electrical arcs, or frictional sparks, and could lead to an ignition source inside a fuel tank. This condition, in combination with flammable fuel vapors, could result in a fuel tank explosion and consequent loss of the airplane.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain McDonnell Douglas Model MD-90-30 airplanes. This AD requires installing fuses and wire protection in certain wing and fuel tank spars. This AD results from fuel system reviews conducted by the manufacturer. We are issuing this AD to prevent possible damage to the fuel level float or pressure switch wires. Such damage could become a potential ignition source inside the fuel tank, and, when combined with flammable fuel vapors, could result in a fuel tank explosion and consequent loss of the airplane.