Department of Transportation November 7, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

PHMSA is co-sponsoring a one-day Emergency Responder Forum with the National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives and the United States Fire Administration. The purpose of the forum is to convene a meeting of emergency response and management community leaders, pipeline safety regulators, pipeline industry representatives, and interested members of the public to solicit expert counsel that will inform the development of a strategy for improving emergency responders' ability to prepare for and respond to natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline emergencies.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects funded under two discretionary programs: Bus and Bus Facilities and Alternatives Analysis, in support of DOT's Livability Initiative, which was announced in the Discretionary Livability Funding Opportunity notice of funding availability on June 27, 2011. The Bus Livability program makes funds available to public transit providers to finance capital projects to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities, including programs of bus and bus- related projects for assistance to subrecipients that are public agencies, private companies engaged in public transportation, or private non-profit organizations. The Alternatives Analysis program makes funds available to States, authorities of States, metropolitan planning organizations, and local governmental authorities to develop alternatives analyses. The Alternatives Analysis Program assists potential sponsors of major transit capital investments (``New Starts'' and ``Small Starts'' projects) in the evaluation of all reasonable modal and multimodal alternatives and general alignment options to address transportation needs in a defined travel corridor. Through these funding awards, FTA will support a limited number of alternatives analyses, or technical work conducted as part of proposed or on-going alternatives analyses, that seek to advance major transit investments that foster the six livability principles of the DOT-HUD-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain The Boeing Company Model 737-100, -200, -200C, and -300 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report from the airplane manufacturer that airplanes were assembled with air distribution ducts in the environmental control system (ECS) wrapped with Boeing Material Specification (BMS) 8-39 or Aeronautical Materials Specifications (AMS) 3570 polyurethane foam insulation, a material with fire-retardant properties that deteriorate with age. This proposed AD would require reworking certain air distribution ducts in the ECS. We are proposing this AD to prevent ignition of the BMS 8-39 or AMS 3570 polyurethane foam insulation on the duct assemblies of the ECS due to a potential electrical arc, which could start a small fire and lead to a larger fire that may spread throughout the airplane through the ECS.

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:

On November 3, 2011, the Board served a decision announcing the 2010 revenue adequacy determinations for the Nation's Class I railroads. One carrier, Union Pacific Railroad Company, was found to be revenue adequate.

We are revising an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD) for RR RB211-Trent 800 series turbofan engines. That NPRM proposed to revise the Trent 800 Time Limits Manual (TLM) of the Trent 800 engine maintenance manuals (EMMs). That NPRM was prompted by RR reducing the life limits of certain critical engine parts. This action revises that NPRM by proposing to supersede an existing AD to prohibit installation of one certain critical part and to increase the life of another critical part whose lives were previously reduced by that existing AD. We are proposing this supplemental NPRM to prevent the failure of critical rotating parts, which could result in uncontained failure of the engine and damage to the airplane. Because of the extensive changes since the NPRM was issued, we are reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these proposed changes.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for PW4000 series turbofan engines. This proposed AD would require replacing the fuel metering unit (FMU), part number (P/N) 50U150, at the next shop visit after the effective date of this proposed AD. This proposed AD was prompted by an engine overspeed event that occurred during taxi and resulted in a high-pressure compressor (HPC) surge and tailpipe fire. We are proposing this AD to prevent engine overspeed on these engines, which could result in an uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) for the engines identified above. That AD currently requires initial and repetitive visual inspections of the forward engine mount assembly side links for cracks, stripping and reapplying the Sermetel W coating on the side links at every exposure of the side link. This new AD requires those same inspections, stripping and reapplying the Sermetel W coating, and adds two part numbers to the applicability. This AD was prompted by a review of the inspection program, which revealed that GE had omitted two affected side link part numbers from the applicability. We are issuing this AD to prevent failure of the side links and possible engine separation from the airplane.