Department of Transportation September 14, 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FHWA, on behalf of Caltrans, is issuing this notice to announce actions taken by Caltrans, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) that are final. The actions relate to a proposed highway project on the Interstate 5 (I-5) and State Route 56 (SR 56) from postmile (PM) I-5: R32.7 to R34.8 and SR 56: 0.00 to 2.5 in the County of San Diego, State of California. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

FMCSA announces that the Power and Communication Contractors Association (PCCA) has requested an exemption from the requirement that a motor carrier install and require each of its drivers to use an electronic logging device (ELD) to record the driver's hours-of-service (HOS) no later than December 18, 2017. PCCA requests the exemption for all operators of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in the power and communications construction industry. Construction contractors spend considerable time working off-road on varying jobsites, and a single CMV may have several different drivers over the course of a day, moving the vehicle short distances around the jobsite. Because of the limited time within a workday that their drivers spend driving on public roads, PCCA states that ELD and record of duty status (RODS) requirements for drivers in their industries do not result in a significant safety benefit. PCCA's drivers would remain subject to the standard HOS limits and maintain a paper RODS for HOS compliance. PCCA believes that the exemption, if granted, will achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent the exemption. FMCSA requests public comment on PCCA's application for exemption.

This notice contains a summary of a petition seeking relief from specified requirements of Federal Aviation 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.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Dassault Aviation Model FALCON 900EX airplanes. This AD was prompted by a determination that new or more restrictive maintenance requirements and/or airworthiness limitations are necessary. This AD requires revising the maintenance or inspection program, as applicable, to incorporate new or more restrictive maintenance requirements and/or airworthiness limitations. We are issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein.

We are superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2004-23-20, which applied to certain Airbus Model A300, A300 B4-600, and A300 B4- 600R series airplanes; and Model A300 F4-605R and A300 C4-605R Variant F airplanes. AD 2004-23-20 required, for certain airplanes, repetitive inspections for cracking around certain attachment holes, installation of new fasteners for certain airplanes, and follow-on corrective actions if necessary. AD 2004-23-20 also required modifying certain fuselage frames, which terminated certain repetitive inspections. This new AD reduces certain compliance times, expands the applicability, and requires an additional repair on certain modified airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report indicating that the material used to manufacture the upper frame feet was changed and negatively affected the fatigue life of the frame feet. We are issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A300 B4-600R and Model A300 F4-600R series airplanes; Model A300 B4-603, B4-622, and C4-605R Variant F airplanes; and Model A310-203, -221, -222, -304, -322, -324, and -325 airplanes. This AD was prompted by an evaluation by the design approval holder indicating that a section of the fuselage structure above the forward cargo door is subject to widespread fatigue damage (WFD). This AD requires an inspection for cracks of the fastener and tooling holes at certain locations and a check of the diameter of the holes, and repair or modification of the affected fuselage structure if necessary. We are issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.