Department of Transportation September 11, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is correcting a final rule published on August 29, 2017. In that final rule, which became effective on the date of publication, the FAA reissued a prohibition of certain flight operations in the Damascus (OSTT) Flight Information Region (FIR) by all U.S. air carriers; U.S. commercial operators; persons exercising the privileges of an airman certificate issued by the FAA, except such persons operating a U.S.-registered aircraft for a foreign air carrier; and operators of U.S.-registered civil aircraft, except where the operator is a foreign air carrier. The FAA inadvertently failed to include an Amendment Number for that final rule. This document corrects that error.

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) invites public comments on our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. The information collection is for midshipmen or graduates of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) or cadets or graduates of a State Maritime Academy (SMA) who received Student Incentive Payment (SIP) Program payments to determine if: (1) A waiver should be granted of all or a portion of the service obligation contract in cases where there would be undue hardship or impossibility of performance due to accident, illness or other justifiable reasons; (2) a deferment of all or a portion of the service obligation should be granted for the purpose of entering a marine or maritime-related graduate course of study; or (3) an original decision of items 1 or 2 should be overturned based on a student or graduate's appeal. Their service obligation is required by law. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

In accordance with the procedures, Volkswagen Group of America (Volkswagen, or Petitioner) has petitioned the agency for a temporary exemption from certain headlamp requirements of FMVSS No. 108 to allow the use of adaptive driving beam headlights. Volkswagen requests the exemption on the basis that it would facilitate the development or field evaluation of a new motor vehicle safety feature providing a safety level at least equal to that of the standard. NHTSA has made no judgment on the merits of the application. This notice of receipt of an application for a temporary exemption is published in accordance with statutory and administrative provisions.

This rule establishes, amends, suspends, or removes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures (ODPs) for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A350-941 airplanes. This AD requires repetitive on-ground power cycles to reset the internal timer. This AD was prompted by the in-service loss of communication between some avionics systems and the avionics network. We are issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2016-11-20 for certain B/E Aerospace protective breathing equipment (PBE) that is installed on airplanes. AD 2016-11-20 required replacing part number (P/N) 119003-11 PBE units. Since we issued AD 2016-11-20, we received a report that PBE units, P/N 119003-21, within a certain serial number range are made with candle tube material determined to have a low yield strength and may be volatile upon use or disposal. This AD retains the actions required in AD 2016-11-20 and requires inspecting and replacing P/N 119003-11 and 119003-21 PBE units. We are issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.