Department of Transportation January 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

On October 18, 2017, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a notice in the Federal Register to invite comments on an information collection under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control No. 2137-0629 to revise Form PHMSA F 7100.1-1 Annual ReportGas Distribution System, and the instructions associated with this Form. During the 60-day comment period, PHMSA received five comments in response to this information collection from the stakeholders. PHMSA is publishing this notice to respond to the comments received and to announce that the information collection will be submitted to OMB for approval.

The FHWA, on behalf of Caltrans, is issuing this notice to announce actions taken by Caltrans, and USFWS. The actions relate to a proposed highway project on Interstate 10 (I-10), the I-10/Avenue 50 New Interchange Project, located in the eastern portion of the City of Coachella in the County of Riverside, State of California. The proposed interchange is located approximately 3.4 miles east of the existing I- 10/Dillon Road interchange, and approximately 9.1 miles west of the existing Cactus City Safety Road Rest Area. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is issuing this notice to inform other Federal agencies that FTA intends to authorize Pierce Transit to convey certain property in Gig Harbor, Washington (Property) to the City of Gig Harbor to use as a community service facility if no Federal agency expresses an interest in acquiring the Property for a Federal government use.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Honeywell International Inc. (Honeywell) TPE331 turboprop and TSE331 turboshaft engines. This AD was prompted by reports that combustion chamber case assemblies have cracked and ruptured. This AD requires inspection of the affected combustion chamber case assembly, replacement of those assemblies found cracked, and removal of affected assemblies on certain TPE331 and TSE331 engines. We are issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

We are revising an earlier proposal for Zodiac Aero Evacuation Systems (formerly known as Air Cruisers) fusible plugs installed on emergency evacuation equipment for various transport category airplanes. This action revises the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) by extending the proposed compliance time, clarifying the applicability, and clarifying certain proposed requirements. We are proposing this airworthiness directive (AD) to address the unsafe condition on these products. Since these actions would impose an additional burden over those in the NPRM, we are reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these changes.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics invites the general public, industry and other governmental parties to comment on the continuing need for and usefulness of BTS collecting financial, traffic and operating statistics from small certificated and commuter air carriers. Small certificated air carriers (operate aircraft with 60 seats or less or with 18,000 pounds of payload capacity or less) currently must file the two quarterly schedules listed below: F-1 Report of Financial Data, F-2 Report of Aircraft Operating Expenses and Related Statistics, and Commuter air carriers must file the Schedule F-1 Report of Financial Data, Commenters should address whether BTS accurately estimated the reporting burden and if there are other ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected.

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a new information collection, which is summarized below under Supplementary Information. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of Eighty Seventh RTCA SC-147 Plenary Session.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Piper Aircraft, Inc. Models PA-28-140, PA-28-150, PA-28-151, PA-28-160, PA-28-161, PA-28-180, PA-28-181, PA-28-236, PA-28-201T, PA-28R-180, PA-28R-200, PA-28R-201, PA-28R-201T, PA-28RT-201, and PA-28RT-201T airplanes. This AD requires inspecting the fuel tank selector cover to verify the left and right fuel tank selector placards are located at the proper positions and replacing those that are improperly located with new placards. This AD was prompted by a quality control issue at the manufacturer that resulted in the installation of the fuel tank selector covers with the left and right fuel tank selector placards improperly located. We are issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

In a final rule published on January 19, 2017, federal departments and agencies listed in this document made revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted the same regulatory changes in a separate final rule published on September 18, 2017. The revised policy, reflected in both final rules, is described here as the ``2018 Requirements.'' The 2018 Requirements are scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2018, with a general compliance date of January 19, 2018 (with the exception of the revisions to the cooperative research provision). This interim final rule delays the effective date and general compliance date of the 2018 Requirements to July 19, 2018. The federal departments and agencies listed in this document are in the process of developing a proposed rule to further delay implementation of the 2018 Requirements. The limited implementation delay accomplished by this interim final rule both provides additional time to regulated entities for the preparations necessary to implement the 2018 Requirements, and additional time for the departments and agencies listed in this document to seek input from interested stakeholders through a notice and comment rulemaking process that allows for public engagement on the proposal for a further implementation delay.

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, this aspect of the FAA's regulatory activities. 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 Airbus Model A330-301, -321, -322 and -342 airplanes. This AD requires contacting the FAA to obtain instructions for addressing the unsafe condition on these products, and doing the actions specified in those instructions. This AD was prompted by a report of cracking in the top skin of the horizontal stabilizer (HS) center box (CB) of an airplane in pre-modification 41330 configuration. We are issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

Sumitomo Rubber USA, LLC (SRUSA), has determined that certain Sumitomo Kelly brand commercial truck tires do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New Pneumatic Tires for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of more than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) and Motorcycles. SRUSA filed a noncompliance report dated January 3, 2017. SRUSA also petitioned NHTSA on January 31, 2017, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.

FMCSA extends the public comment period for the Agency's December 20, 2017, notice announcing the proposed regulatory guidance concerning the transportation of agricultural commodities. On December 22, 2017, the American Trucking Associations, Inc. (ATA) requested a 30-day extension of the comment period. Additional requests for extension of the comment period have been received. The Agency extends the January 19, 2018, deadline for the submission of public comments to February 20, 2018.

Executive Order 12862 directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. These principles were reaffirmed in Executive Order 13571. In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a currently approved generic clearance to continue collecting feedback on our service delivery. By feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study.

FMCSA grants a limited 90-day waiver from the Federal hours- of-service (HOS) regulations pertaining to electronic logging devices (ELDs) for Old Dominion Freight Lines, Inc. (Old Dominion) and other motor carriers in similar situations due to issues concerning the integration of PeopleNet's ELD software into fleet management systems. The Agency has initiated this action in response to a waiver request from Old Dominion.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on November 3, 2017 (82 FR 51331). The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 mandates that all helicopter air ambulance operators must begin reporting the number of flights and hours flown, along with other specified information, during which helicopters operated by the certificate holder are providing helicopter air ambulance services. The helicopter air ambulance operational data provided to the FAA is used by the agency as background information useful in the development of risk mitigation strategies to reduce the helicopter air ambulance accident rate, and to meet the mandates set by Congress. In response to the November 3, 2017 notice and request for comments, the FAA received two comments. One comment from an individual and one comment from the Air Medical Operators Association (AMOA). The individual commented that the hourly burden per average response estimate has increased since the last notice was published on July 29, 2014 (79 FR 44083) and asked for the reason for the change in estimated burden. In response, the FAA clarifies that none of the requirements have changed, but operator data have changed. The overall number of operators has decreased. Additionally, the number of large operators (to which we attribute a higher hourly burden) has increased and the number of small operators (to which we attribute a lower hourly burden) has decreased. Therefore, in the aggregate, the average hourly burden increased from six (6) hours to eleven (11) hours per operator. The AMOA commented that they strongly supported the intent of the data collection requirement, but also noted that the original collection requirement should have been the subject of notice and comment rulemaking. The FAA notes, as indicated in the August 12, 2013 Requests for Comments; Clearance of a New Approval of Information Collection: Helicopter Air Ambulance Operator Reports (78 FR 48925), that prior to issuance of the first information collection notice, representatives from the Flight Standards Service, Office of Accident Investigation and Prevention, and the Office of the Chief Counsel met with representatives from AMOA to discuss the FAA's approach to this data collection. Meetings were held on October 15, 2012 and May 17, 2013. On June 28, 2013 AMOA submitted a response to the FAA discussing its view of the method to collect the data being pursued by the FAA. A copy of that letter was placed in the docket (FAA-2013-0684) and was considered by the agency. AMOA also commented that the FAA has underestimated the hourly burden for both large and small operators. Although AMOA did not provide any specific data to support its comment, in response the FAA has increased the estimates of hourly burden for both large and small operators in this notice and request for comments. AMOA also requested information from the FAA's Office of Accident Investigation and Prevention and commented on the FAA's implementation of certain provisions of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which are both beyond the scope of this clearance of a renewed approval of information collection.

This notice announces actions taken by the FHWA that are final pursuant to the statute. The actions relate to a proposed highway project, Toll Locations 1 and 2 in the Towns of Hopkinton, Richmond, and Exeter in the State of Rhode Island, FHWA Project Number T0LL002, Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) Contract Number 2017- OT-002.

The FAA assigned the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) a new task to identify and develop recommendations on low energy alerting requirements to supplement previous work accomplished on low speed alerting in new transport category airplanes. This notice informs the public of the new ARAC activity.

The FAA assigned the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) a new task to provide recommendations on ice crystal icing (ICI) requirements. Because more extensive ICI data is available today, the FAA needs to determine if current regulations accurately reflect the existing ICI environment. This notice informs the public of the new ARAC activity and solicits membership for the new Ice Crystal Icing Working Group (ICIWG).

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. Each mode of transportation for which a particular special permit is requested is indicated by a number in the ``Nature of Application'' portion of the table below as follows: 1 Motor vehicle, 2Rail freight, 3Cargo vessel, 4Cargo aircraft only, 5Passenger-carrying aircraft.