Department of Transportation August 5, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the procedures in 49 CFR part 555, Tesla Motors, Inc., has petitioned the agency for a temporary exemption from the electronic stability control requirements of FMVSS No. 126. The bases for the application are that the petitioner avers that the exemption would make the development or field evaluation of a low- emission vehicle easier and would not unreasonably lower the safety level of that vehicle and that compliance would cause it substantial economic hardship and that it has tried in good faith to comply with the standard.\1\ This notice of receipt of an application for a temporary exemption is published in accordance with statutory and administrative provisions. NHTSA has made no judgment on the merits of the application.

We propose to supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to certain Model 737-100 and -200 series airplanes. The existing AD currently requires various inspections for cracks in the outboard chord of the frame at body station (BS) 727 and in the outboard chord of stringer (S) 18A, and repair or replacement of cracked parts. Since we issued that AD, there have been several reports of fatigue cracking in the frame outboard chord at BS 727 and in the radius of the auxiliary chord on airplanes that were not affected by the existing AD. This proposed AD would add airplanes to the applicability statement in the existing AD and add inspections for cracks in the BS 727 frame outboard chords and the radius of the auxiliary chord, for certain airplanes. This proposed AD would also remove the inspections of the outboard chord of S-18A required by the existing AD. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the outboard and auxiliary chords, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the outboard chord and consequent rapid decompression of the airplane.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This AD requires a general visual inspection for cracks and holes of the main equipment center (MEC) drip shields, and repairs if necessary; installation of a fiberglass reinforcing overcoat; and, for certain airplanes, installation of stiffening panels to the MEC drip shields. This AD was prompted by a report of a loss of bus control unit number 1 and generator control units numbers 1 and 2 while the airplane was on the ground, and multiple operator reports of cracked MEC drip shields. We are issuing this AD to prevent water penetration into the MEC, which could result in the loss of flight critical systems.

This action will modify Class E airspace at Forsyth, MT. Controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate aircraft using Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) standard instrument approach procedures at Tillitt Field Airport. This action also corrects a typographical error in the regulatory text for the Class E airspace area. This action improves the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

On January 14, 2008, the agency published a final rule \1\ amending the requirements for event data recorders (EDRs). The January 2008 document responded to petitions for reconsideration of the original August 2006 final rule that established the EDR standardization requirements for those voluntarily installed. In response to the January 14, 2008, final rule, the agency received three petitions for reconsideration from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Alliance), the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, Inc. Technical Affairs Committee (AIAM), and Mr. Thomas Kowalick, a private citizen. After careful consideration, the agency is granting some aspects of the petitions, and denying others.