Department of Transportation April 12, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Continental Tire the Americas, LLC (CTA), has determined that certain Continental Tire brand T-type spare tires do not fully comply with paragraph S4.3(a) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 109, New Pneumatic and Certain Specialty Tires. CTA has filed a report dated August 25, 2015 and amended on October 1, 2015, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

Morgan 3 Wheeler Limited (Morgan) has determined that certain model year (MY) 2012 and 2013 Morgan model M3W three-wheeled motorcycles do not comply with all of the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment. Specifically, the vehicles' headlamps are spaced further apart than permitted, and do not have the required ``DOT'' marking. Morgan has petitioned for an exemption from the recall notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301``Motor Vehicle Safety'' (Vehicle Safety Act) on the grounds that the noncompliances are inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. This notice announces and explains NHTSA's denial of Morgan's petition.

FMCSA announces receipt of applications from 46 individuals for exemption from the prohibition against persons with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. If granted, the exemptions would enable these individuals with ITDM to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued Safety Advisory 16-1 regarding stop signal overruns on rail fixed guideway public transportation systems, and an accompanying letter to the State Safety Oversight (SSO) program managers and the chief safety officers of rail transit systems, seeking data and information on stop signal overruns during 2015. Safety Advisory 16-1 and the accompanying letter are available in their entirety on the FTA public Web site at https://www.fta.dot.gov/tso.html.

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, the FAA's exemption process. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, the FAA's exemption process. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, the FAA's exemption process. Neither publication of this notice nor the inclusion or omission of information in the summary is intended to affect the legal status of the petition or its final disposition.

On March 29, 2016, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in the Federal Register announcing the availability of approximately $211 million for Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities and $55 million for Low or No Emission Grants. The notice provided incomplete information regarding FTA's Buy America and Disadvantage Business Enterprise (DBE) requirements. Additionally, the NOFO was missing information in one place about how to submit applications through www.grants.gov. This notice corrects the March 29 notice.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Bombardier, Inc. Model DHC-8-102, -103, and -106 airplanes, and Model DHC-8-200 and -300 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of heat damage found on a nacelle firewall after an unsuccessful engine ground start and several events of heat damage found on direct current starter/generator terminal block assemblies. This proposed AD would require an inspection for damage on the nacelle firewalls and the terminal block assemblies and to make sure the insulating sleeves are installed and have no damage, and corrective action if necessary. We are proposing this AD to prevent arcing between the firewall and terminal blocks that are missing insulating sleeves on the conductive bushings, which could, in combination with a fuel or hydraulic fluid leak, be an ignition source for a fire.

We propose to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2008-15- 06, which applies to certain Textron Aviation Inc. Models 175 and 175A airplanes (type certificate previously held by Cessna Aircraft Company). AD 2008-15-06 currently requires checking the airplane logbook to determine if the original engine mounting brackets have been replaced. If the original engine mounting brackets are still installed, the AD requires repetitively inspecting those brackets for cracks and replacing any cracked engine mounting bracket until all four original engine mounting brackets are replaced. Replacing all four original engine mounting brackets terminates the actions required in AD 2008-15- 06. Since we issued AD 2008-15-06, we have determined that the applicability needs to be changed to add a serial number and take one out. This proposed AD would retain the actions required in AD 2008-15- 06 and would change the Applicability section. We are proposing this AD to correct the unsafe condition on these products.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A330-200 Freighter, -200, and -300 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of a manufacturing defect that affects the durability of affected parts in the cargo and cabin compartment. This proposed AD would require an inspection of affected structural parts in the cargo and cabin compartments to determine if proper heat-treatment has been done, and replacement if necessary. We are proposing this AD to prevent crack initiation and propagation, which could result in reduced structural integrity of the fuselage.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Airbus Helicopters Model AS355NP helicopters with certain fire extinguishing systems. This proposed AD would require removing and installing the fire extinguishing system so that each squib on the engine compartment fire extinguisher is controlled by a matching control button. This proposed AD is prompted by the discovery that the left-hand discharge system of the fire extinguishing system was incorrectly connected to the right-hand engine compartment and the right-hand discharge system was incorrectly connected to the left-hand engine compartment. The proposed actions would correct the connections and would prevent the fire extinguishing system discharging to the wrong engine compartment, failure of the fire extinguishing system to control a fire, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.