Department of Transportation April 28, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the Research, Engineering & Development Advisory Committee meeting.

FMCSA and FRA announce three public listening sessions on May 12, 17, and 25, 2016, to solicit information on the prevalence of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among individuals occupying safety sensitive positions in highway and rail transportation, and of its potential consequences for the safety of rail and highway transportation. FMCSA and FRA (collectively ``the Agencies'') also request information on potential costs and benefits from possible regulatory actions that address the safety risks associated with motor carrier and rail transportation workers in safety sensitive positions who have OSA. The listening sessions will provide interested parties an opportunity to share their views and any data or analysis on this topic with representatives of both Agencies. The Agencies will transcribe all comments and place the transcripts in the dockets referenced above for the Agencies' consideration. The Agencies will webcast the entire proceedings of all three meetings.

This action corrects a final rule published in the Federal Register of March 29, 2016, amending Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Deer Lodge-City-County Airport, Deer Lodge, MT. The FAA identified that the Class E airspace area extending upward from 1,200 feet above the surface was omitted from the Class E airspace description for the airport.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all The Boeing Company Model 737-400 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of cracks in the upper chord of the overwing stub beams at body station (STA) 578 emanating from the rivet location common to the crease beam inner chord and the overwing stub beam upper chord. This proposed AD would require repetitive inspections for cracking, and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. Replacement of the overwing stub beam would terminate the repetitive inspections for cracking at the replacement location only, and post-replacement inspections would be required if the replacement was done. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct cracking in the upper chord of the overwing stub beam caused by high flight cycle fatigue stresses from both pressurization and maneuver loads. Cracking of the overwing stub beam could adversely affect the fuselage structural integrity and result in possible decompression of the airplane.