Department of Transportation 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FHWA, on behalf of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), is issuing this notice to advise the public that the Notice of Intent (NOI) published on April 23, 2008, to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed 24th Street Improvement Project in Kern County, California, is being rescinded.

The Federal Aviation Administration is requesting public comment on the Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP), Ronkonkoma, New York, notice of proposed release from aeronautical use of approximately 17.69 acres of airport property, to allow for non-aeronautical development. The parcel is located on the northeast corner of the Long Island MacArthur Airport. The tract currently consists of 17.69 acres of land and it is currently vacant. The requested release is for the purpose of permitting the airport owner to sell and convey title of 17.62 acres for use by the Long Island Rail Road. Documents reflecting the Sponsor's request are available, by appointment only, for inspection at the Airport Managers office and the FAA New York Airport District Office.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Park Service (NPS), in accordance with the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000, announce the next meeting of the National Parks Overflights Advisory Group (NPOAG) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). This notification provides the dates, location, and agenda for the meeting. Dates and Location: The NPOAG ARC will meet on November 30, 2010 and December 1, 2010. The meeting will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn, 7830 South Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89123. The phone number is (702) 453-7830. The meetings will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 30th and from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on December 1st. This NPOAG meeting will be open to the public.

FRA proposes to prescribe regulations for certification of conductors, as required by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. The proposed rule would require railroads to have a formal program for certifying conductors. As part of that program, railroads would be required to have a formal process for training prospective conductors and determining that all persons are competent before permitting them to serve as a conductor. FRA is proposing this regulation to ensure that only those persons who meet minimum Federal safety standards serve as conductors, to reduce the rate and number of accidents and incidents, and to improve railroad safety. Although this NPRM does not propose any specific amendments to the regulation governing locomotive engineer certification, it does highlight areas in that regulation that may require conforming changes.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Model 750 airplanes. This proposed AD would require an inspection to determine the serial numbers of the auxiliary power unit (APU) generator and the left and right engine direct current (DC) generators, and related corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD would also require revising the airplane flight manual. This proposed AD results from a report of a DC generator overvoltage event which caused smoke in the cockpit and damage to numerous avionics and electrical components. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct an overvoltage condition on the DC electrical busses caused by exciter stator winding failures, and subsequent failure of the generator control unit (GCU) overvoltage protection circuitry, which could result in damage to critical electrical and avionics components.

DOT proposes to modify a system of records under the Privacy Act of 1974. The system is FAA's Aviation Records on Individuals, which is being modified to reflect: (1) One new routine use and (2) clarity to the purpose of the system. This system would not duplicate any other DOT system of records.

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:

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:

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:

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. That AD currently requires repetitive high frequency eddy current inspections to detect cracking in the vertical radius (also known as the ``vertical leg'') of the upper cap of the center wing rear spar, and repair if necessary. This new AD expands the area to be inspected by including inspections to detect cracking of the horizontal flange of the upper cap of the left and right center wing rear spar, and repair if necessary. This new AD also adds certain airplanes to the applicability. This AD was prompted by reports of cracking in the vertical radius of the upper cap of the center wing rear spar, and the horizontal flange on the inboard side of the of the rear spar upper cap, which resulted from stress corrosion. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracking in the vertical leg or the horizontal flange of the upper cap of the left or right center wing rear spar, which could cause a possible fuel leak, damage to the wing skin, and structural failure of the upper cap, and result in reduced structural integrity of the airplane.

This final rule revises FRA's existing regulations addressing accident/incident reporting in order to clarify ambiguous regulations and to enhance the quality of information available for railroad casualty analysis. In addition, FRA has revised the FRA Guide for Preparing Accident/Incident Reports (FRA Guide), its accident/incident recording and reporting forms and its Companion Guide: Guidelines for Submitting Accident/Incident Reports by Alternative Methods (Companion Guide).

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above that would supersede an existing AD. 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:

We propose to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 87-20-03 R2, which applies to certain Cessna Aircraft Company (Cessna) 150, 152, 170, 172, 175, 177, 180, 182, 185, 188, 190, 195, 206, 207, 210, T303, 336, and 337 series airplanes. AD 87-20-03 R2 currently requires repetitive inspections and replacement of parts, if necessary, of the seat rail and seat rail holes; seat pin engagement; seat rollers, washers, and axle bolts or bushings; wall thickness of roller housing and the tang; and lock pin springs. Since we issued AD 87-20-03 R2, we have added steps to the inspection procedures, added revised figures, and clarified some of the existing steps. Consequently, this proposed AD would retain all of the actions from the previous AD and add steps to the inspection procedures in the previous AD. We are proposing this AD to prevent seat slippage or the seat roller housing from departing the seat rail, which may consequently cause the pilot/copilot to be unable to reach all the controls. This failure could lead to the pilot/copilot losing control of the airplane.

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of 14 CFR. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a Technical Report on its existing Safety Standard 213, Child Restraint Systems. The report's title is: Booster Seat Effectiveness Estimates Based on CDS and State Data.

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of Title 14. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

This action proposes to amend Class E airspace at La Porte, IN, to accommodate new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAP) for the La Porte Hospital Heliport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the heliport.

This action amends Class E airspace for Kennett, MO. Decommissioning of the Kennett non-directional beacon (NDB) at Kennett Memorial Airport, Kennett, MO, has made this action necessary to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action proposes to amend Class E airspace at Lafayette, IN, to accommodate new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAP) for the Clarian Arnett Heliport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the heliport.

This action proposes to establish Class E airspace at New Hampton, IA, to accommodate new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAP) for the Mercy Medical Center Heliport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces that it is reviewing a proposed noise compatibility program that was submitted for Kona International Airport at Keahole under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 47501 et seq. (the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act, hereinafter referred to as ``the Act'') and 14 CFR part 150 by the State of Hawaii, Department of TransportationAirports Division. This program was submitted subsequent to a determination by FAA that associated noise exposure maps submitted under 14 CFR part 150 for Kona International Airport at Keahole were in compliance with applicable requirements, effective January 12, 2010 (Federal Register/Volume 75/Number 15/Page 3959/January 25, 2010/Notices). The proposed noise compatibility program will be approved or disapproved on or before April 24, 2011.

The FAA proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to all Model DC-10-10, DC-10-10F, DC-10-15, DC-10-30, DC-10-30F (KC-10A and KDC-10), DC-10-40, DC-10-40F, MD-10- 10F, MD-10-30F, MD-11, and MD-11F airplanes. The existing AD currently requires an inspection to determine if a certain fuel pump housing electrical connector is installed. The existing AD also requires a revision to the FAA-approved airplane flight manual (AFM) to advise the flightcrew of the appropriate procedures for disabling certain fuel pump electrical circuits following failure of a fuel pump housing electrical connector if applicable. The existing AD also requires the deactivation of certain fuel tanks or fuel pumps and the installation of placards if applicable. The existing AD allows the optional replacement of the fuel pump housing electrical connectors with new, improved parts, which would terminate the AFM revisions, deactivation of certain fuel tanks and fuel pumps, and placard installation. This proposed AD would instead require replacing the fuel pump housing electrical connector assembly with a new part and doing repetitive inspections for continuity, resistance, and insulation resistance, and doing corrective actions if necessary. This proposed AD results from reports of failures of a certain fuel pump housing electrical connector. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct insulation resistance degradation and arcing in the potted backside of the electrical connector assembly of the fuel boost/transfer pump housing, which could compromise its performance and cause an ignition source in the fuel tank, resulting in a fuel tank explosion and consequent loss of the airplane.

Currently, during passenger boarding and deplaning, all flight attendants are required to be on board the airplane. This final rule will allow one required flight attendant to deplane during passenger boarding, to conduct safety-related duties, as long as certain conditions are met. In addition, this rule will allow a pilot or flight engineer not assigned to the flight to substitute for a flight attendant when that flight attendant does not remain within the immediate vicinity of the door through which passengers are boarding. This rule will also allow a reduction of flight attendants remaining on board the airplane during passenger deplaning, as long as certain conditions are met. The FAA has determined that these revisions to current regulations can be made as a result of recent safety enhancements to airplane equipment and procedures. These changes have mitigated the risks to passengers during ground operations that previously required all flight attendants to be on board the airplane during passenger boarding and deplaning.