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

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Boeing Company Model 777-200, -200LR, and -300ER series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report from the manufacturer indicating that the lowered ceiling support structure of Section 41, in airplanes incorporating the overhead space utilization (OSU) option, was found to be under-strength when subjected to a 9.0 g forward load. This proposed AD would require installing new structural members in and new tie rod(s) and attach fittings on the left and right sides of the lowered ceiling support structure. We are proposing this AD to prevent the forward lowered ceiling panels and support structure from becoming dislodged during an occurrence of a 9.0 g forward load and consequent injury to personnel or interference with an emergency evacuation.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announces its decision to grant an exemption to allow commercial motor vehicle operators to use trailer-mounted electric brake controllers which monitor and actuate electric trailer brakes based on inertial forces developed in response to the braking action of the towing vehicle. FMCSA believes that the use of trailer-mounted electric brake controllers will maintain a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety achieved without the exemption.

FMCSA announces and requests public comment on data and information concerning the Pre-Authorization Safety Audits (PASAs) for motor carriers that have applied to participate in the Agency's long- haul pilot program to test and demonstrate the ability of Mexico- domiciled motor carriers to operate safely in the United States beyond the municipalities in the United States on the United States-Mexico international border or the commercial zones of such municipalities. This action is required by the ``U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007'' and all subsequent appropriations.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Requests (ICR) abstracted below will be forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comments. The ICRs describe the nature of the information collections and their expected burden. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on these collections of information was published in the Federal Register on September 14, 2011 [76 FR 56872] under Docket No. PHMSA-2011-0223 (Notice No. 11-9).

As authorized by 46 U.S.C. 12121, the Secretary of Transportation, as represented by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), is authorized to grant waivers of the U.S.-build requirement of the coastwise laws under certain circumstances. A request for such a waiver has been received by MARAD. The vessel, and a brief description of the proposed service, is listed below.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Honeywell International Inc. ALF502L-2C, ALF502R-3, ALF502R-3A, ALF502R-5, LF507-1F, and LF507-IH turbofan engines. This AD requires removing from service certain second stage high pressure compressor (HPC2) discs. This AD was prompted by a report of cracks found in an HPC2 disc during routine inspection. We are issuing this AD to prevent the affected discs from fracturing before reaching the currently published life limit. A disc fracture could result in an uncontained failure of the disc and damage to the airplane.

This action establishes Class E airspace for Nashville, AR, to accommodate new Area Navigation (RNAV) Standard Instrument Approach Procedures at Howard County Airport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action amends Class E airspace for Winters, TX. Decommissioning of the Winters non-directional beacon (NDB) and cancellation of the NDB Standard Instrument Approach Procedure (SIAP) at Winters Municipal Airport, Winters, TX, as well as the addition of new area navigation (RNAV) SIAPs, has made this action necessary to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) operations at the airport.

This action amends Class E airspace for Ardmore, OK. Decommissioning of the Arbuckle non-directional beacon (NDB) and cancellation of the NDB Standard Instrument Approach Procedure (SIAP) at Ardmore Municipal Airport, Ardmore, OK, as well as the addition of new area navigation (RNAV) SIAPs, has made this action necessary to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) operations at the airport. This action also updates the geographic coordinates of the airport.

The FHWA is issuing this rescinded notice to advise the public that the FHWA will not be preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed project involving approximately 3.8 miles of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), Interstate 278 (I-278) in Kings County, New York (Project Identification Number X729.94). This segment of the BQE referred to as the Gowanus Expressway, extends from Sixth Avenue to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and contains 23 structures with a total deck area of approximately 2,000,000 square feet. A Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS was published in the Federal Register in November 1996.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Model A340-200 and -300 series airplanes. 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 certain Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation Model GV and GV-SP airplanes. This AD was prompted by notification from the airplane manufacturer that the third fire extinguisher bottle is mounted in a small-fragment impact zone. This AD requires inspecting to determine whether a third Halon fire extinguisher bottle is installed in the auxiliary power unit (APU) fragment impact zone, revising the limitations section of the airplane flight manual to add restrictions for APU usage for certain airplanes having a third fire extinguisher bottle, and removing the third fire extinguisher bottle from certain airplanes. We are issuing this AD to prevent penetration of the bottle by fragments released due to a failure of the APU rotor system. The bottle could rupture and cause substantial damage to primary airframe structure and primary flight controls.

We are superseding an existing airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to all BAE SYSTEMS (Operations) Limited Model BAe 146- 100A, -200A, and -300A airplanes; and Model Avro 146-RJ70A, 146-RJ85A, and 146-RJ100A airplanes. 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 certain Model DC-10-10, DC-10-10F, and MD-10-10F airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of three instances of fuel leaks in the lower cap splice of the wing rear spar at station Xors=409. Investigation revealed the fuel leak was due to a crack in the lower cap. If not corrected, this condition could result in fuel leaks or cracking of the lower wing skin and structure, causing possible inability of the structure to sustain the limit load and adversely affecting the structural integrity of the airplane. This AD requires repetitive inspections for cracking on the lower cap of the rear spar of the left and right wings between stations Xors=417 and the outboard edge of the lower cap splice of the wing rear spar at station Xors=400; temporary and permanent repairs if necessary; and repetitive inspections of repaired areas, and corrective actions if necessary. We are issuing this AD to correct the unsafe condition on these products.

We propose to supersede two existing airworthiness directives (AD) that apply to Model 737-100, -200, -200C, -300, -400, and -500 series airplanes. The first existing AD currently requires, for certain airplanes, repetitive inspections of the Station (STA) 348.2 frame to detect cracking under the stop fittings and intercostal flanges at stringers S-14L, S-15L, and S-16L, and corrective action if necessary. The second existing AD currently requires repetitive inspections to detect cracking of the intercostal webs, attachment clips, and stringer splice channels, and corrective action if necessary. Since we issued those ADs, we have received reports of cracking of the STA 348.2 frame above the two outboard fasteners attaching the frame inner chord and door stop fittings, and in the outboard chord at stringer S-16L. We have also received reports of missing fasteners in the STA 348.2 frame inner chord. This proposed AD would require additional airplanes to do the inspection for cracking under the stop fittings; extend the repetitive interval for certain airplanes; add a one-time inspection to detect missing fasteners; and update or add certain inspection and repair instructions. This proposed AD would also require, for certain airplanes, repetitive inspections of the cargo barrier net fitting for cracking and repair if necessary. This proposed AD would also add, for certain airplanes, repetitive inspections for cracking of the S-15L aft intercostal, and repair if necessary. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the intercostals on the forward and aft sides of the forward entry door cutout, which could result in loss of the forward entry door and rapid decompression of the airplane.

This action proposes to establish Class E airspace at Boyne City, MI. Controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAP) at Boyne City Municipal Airport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations for SIAPs at the airport.

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, (Goodyear),\1\ has determined that approximately 14,826 passenger car replacement tires manufactured between August of 2007 and May of 2009, do not fully comply with paragraph S5.5(f) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for Light Vehicles. Goodyear has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports (Dated July 8, 2009).

JCA Corporation (JCA)\1\, has determined that certain Trail America brand Special Trailer ``ST'' tires that it imported failed to meet the requirements of paragraph S6.5(d) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New Pneumatic Tires for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of more than 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 Pounds) and Motorcycles. JCA has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports (dated October 19, 2009).

This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a Technical Report reviewing and evaluating its existing Safety Standard 201, Occupant Protection in Interior Impact. The report's title is: Evaluation of the 1999-2003 Head Impact Upgrade of FMVSS No. 201 Upper-Interior Components: Effectiveness of Energy-Absorbing Materials Without Head-Protection Air Bags.

This rule increases the rail equipment accident/incident reporting threshold from $9,400 to $9,500 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that occur during calendar year 2012. This action is needed to ensure that FRA's reporting requirements reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last published in December of 2010.

This action corrects a final rule published by the FAA in the Federal Register on September 19, 2011, that amends and establishes nine Air Traffic Service Routes (ATS) in the Northeast United States. This action provides more accurate latitude/longitude coordinates for one waypoint (WP) in the description of area navigation (RNAV) route Q- 480.

This action proposes to establish restricted area airspace within the Devils Lake Military Operations Area (MOA), overlying Camp Grafton Range, in the vicinity of Devils Lake, ND. The new restricted areas would permit realistic training in modern tactics to be conducted at Camp Grafton Range while ensuring the safe and efficient use of the National Airspace System (NAS) in the Devils Lake, ND, area. Unlike restricted areas which are designated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 73, MOAs are not rulemaking airspace actions. However, since the proposed restricted areas overlap the Devils Lake East MOA, the FAA is including a description of the Devils Lake East MOA change in this NPRM. The MOA change described herein will also be published in the National Flight Data Digest (NFDD).

This action amends Class D and Class E airspace at Baltimore, MD, as the Martin Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) has been decommissioned and new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures have been developed at Martin State Airport. This action also updates the geographic coordinates of the Baltimore VORTAC and makes a minor adjustment to the geographic coordinates of the airport. This action enhances the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.