Department of Transportation January 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of a new information collection that is summarized below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This is a notice and request for comments on a draft Section 4(f) Policy Paper that will provide guidance on the procedures the FHWA will follow when approving the use of land from publicly owned public parks, recreation areas, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and public or private historic sites for Federal highway projects.

This rule amends the FAA's existing flight, duty and rest regulations applicable to certificate holders and their flightcrew members operating under the domestic, flag, and supplemental operations rules. The rule recognizes the universality of factors that lead to fatigue in most individuals and regulates these factors to ensure that flightcrew members in passenger operations do not accumulate dangerous amounts of fatigue. Fatigue threatens aviation safety because it increases the risk of pilot error that could lead to an accident. This risk is heightened in passenger operations because of the additional number of potentially impacted individuals. The new requirements eliminate the current distinctions between domestic, flag and supplemental passenger operations. The rule provides different requirements based on the time of day, whether an individual is acclimated to a new time zone, and the likelihood of being able to sleep under different circumstances.

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.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The nature of the information collection is described as well as its expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on September 28, 2011, and comments were due by November 28, 2011. No comments were received.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Dassault Aviation Model FALCON 7X airplanes equipped with certain ram air turbine (RAT) transformer rectifier units (TRUs). This AD was prompted by a report of incorrect design of the TRU part of the RAT system. This AD requires replacing any affected RAT TRU with a modified RAT TRU. We are issuing this AD to prevent loose internal wiring in the RAT generator, which could result in degraded direct current power to essential airplane systems while the RAT is deployed, which could adversely affect continued safe flight and landing of the airplane.

This action modifies Class E airspace at Kwigillingok, AK. The revision of two standard instrument approach procedures at the Kwigillingok Airport has made this action necessary to enhance safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations.

This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is intended to further the safety of passenger train occupants through both enhancements and additions to FRA's existing requirements for emergency systems on passenger trains. In this NPRM, FRA is proposing to add requirements for interior vestibule doors and enhance emergency egress and rescue access signage requirements. FRA is also proposing to establish requirements for low-location emergency exit path markings to assist occupants in reaching and operating primary emergency exits, particularly under conditions of darkness or smoke. Further, FRA is proposing to add minimum emergency lighting standards for all existing passenger cars so that emergency lighting systems are provided in all passenger cars, and FRA is proposing to enhance requirements for the survivability of emergency lighting systems in new passenger cars. Finally, FRA is clarifying existing requirements for participation in debriefing and critique sessions following emergency situations and full-scale simulations.