Department of Transportation August 21, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Highway Administration is issuing this notice to advise the public of its intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation, for Section II of the proposed U.S. Route 121 (previously known as the Coalfields Expressway) in Wise, Dickenson, and Buchanan Counties, Virginia. The SEIS will evaluate an alternative that was not fully evaluated in the Final Environmental Impact Statement that was approved by FHWA in 2001.

This notice announces the Twenty-second Public Meeting of members of the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network. CIREN is a collaborative effort to conduct research on crashes injury causation at six Level I Trauma Centers across the United States. The CIREN process combines prospective data collection with professional multidisciplinary analysis of medical and engineering evidence to determine injury causation in every crash investigation conducted. Researchers can review data and share expertise, which may lead to a better understanding of crash injury mechanisms and the design of safer vehicles. The six centers will give presentations on current research based on CIREN data and experience. Topics include: Research on upper extremity injury from partial ejection, knee air bag deployment and lower leg interaction, injury cost analysis for motor vehicle multi- trauma, analysis of fatal outcome and multi-trauma, research on seat interaction and lower spine injury, and design of a computed tomography-based bone mineral density evaluation methodology. The final agenda will be posted to the CIREN Web site at https://www.nhtsa.gov/ ciren. The agenda will be posted one week prior to the meeting. Dates and Time: The meeting is scheduled from 9:00 a.m.to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3, 2014.

These special conditions are issued for Airbus Model A350-900 series airplanes. These airplanes will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with the post-crash fire survivability of composite fuel tanks. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

These special conditions are issued for Airbus Model A350-900 airplanes. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with permanently installed rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and battery systems. These batteries have certain failure, operational, and maintenance characteristics that differ significantly from those of the nickel-cadmium and lead-acid rechargeable batteries currently approved for installation on large transport-category airplanes. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A330-200 Freighter, A330-200, A330-300, and A340-200, A340-300, A340-500, and A340-600 series airplanes. This AD was prompted by a determination that the service life limits of the cabin pressure control system (CPCS) safety valves installed on the aft pressure bulkhead were being exceeded. This AD requires repetitive replacement of the CPCS safety valves with serviceable valves. We are issuing this AD to prevent exceeding the service life limits of the CPCS safety valves, which, in the event of a failure, could result in excessive positive or negative differential pressure in the fuselage and consequent incapacitation or injuries to airplane occupants.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2012-10-53 for Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (ECD) (now Airbus Helicopters) Model EC135P1, EC135P2, EC135P2+, EC135T1, EC135T2, and EC135T2+ helicopters. AD 2012-10-53 required, before further flight and at specified intervals, checking and inspecting the upper and lower main rotor hub (MRH) shaft flanges for a crack, and inspecting the lower hub-shaft flange bolt attachment areas for a crack. Since we issued AD 2012-10- 53, it has been determined that it is safe to increase the visual inspection intervals of the MRH shaft flanges from 10 hours time-in- service (TIS) to 50 hours TIS and remove the inspection of the lower MRH shaft flange bolt attachment areas. This new AD continues to require checking and inspecting the upper and lower MRH shaft flanges for a crack. These actions are intended to detect a crack on the MRH shaft flange, which if not corrected, could result in failure of the MRH and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directives (AD) 2006-21-08, AD 2007-14-01, AD 2008-25-02, AD 2010-04-09, AD 2011-01-02, and AD 2012-16-05, for certain Airbus Model A330 and A340 series airplanes. AD 2006-21-08, AD 2007-14-01, AD 2008-25-02, AD 2010-04-09, AD 2011-01-02, and AD 2012-16-05 required revising the maintenance program or inspection program to incorporate certain maintenance requirements and airworthiness limitations for fuel tank systems. This new AD requires a new maintenance or inspection program revision. This AD was prompted by a determination that more restrictive maintenance requirements and airworthiness limitations are necessary. We are issuing this AD to prevent the potential of ignition sources inside fuel tanks, which, in combination with flammable fuel vapors, could result in fuel tank explosions and consequent loss of the airplane.