Department of Transportation February 13, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On December 26, 2018, the Department of Transportation published a Request for Comments that discussed numerous issues concerning vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communications, collectively known as ``V2X.'' The original comment period for this request would have closed on January 25, 2019. Prior to that time, the Department announced on its website, https://www.transportation.gov/v2x, that it would consider all comments submitted within 30 calendar days of January 25, 2019. Today's notice makes clear that the comment period has been extended and will now close on February 25, 2019.

This action establishes Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface, and modifies Class E surface area airspace at Ephrata Municipal Airport, Ephrata, WA. This action also updates the geographic coordinates of the airport in the associated Class E airspace areas to match the FAA's aeronautical database. These changes are necessary to accommodate airspace redesign for the safety and management of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations within the National Airspace System. Also, an editorial change would be made to the Class E surface airspace legal description replacing ``Airport/ Facility Directory'' with the term ``Chart Supplement''.

This action amends Class D airspace, and Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface, and establishes Class E surface area airspace at Wheeler Army Airfield (AAF), Honolulu, HI. This action also updates the airport name and geographic coordinates in the associated Class D and E airspace areas to match the FAA's aeronautical database, and replaces outdated language in the airspace description, and makes an editorial change to the airspace designations.

This action modifies Class E airspace at Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport, Oscoda, MI. This action is required due to the decommissioning of the Au Sable VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) navigation aid, which provided navigation guidance for the instrument procedures at the airport, as part of the VOR Minimum Operational Network (MON) Program. Also, the geographic coordinates for the airport in the associated airspace are updated to coincide with the FAA' s aeronautical database. Airspace redesign is necessary for the safety and management of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations at this airport.

This interim final rule requires small unmanned aircraft owners to display the unique identifier assigned by the FAA upon completion of the registration process (registration number) on an external surface of the aircraft. Small unmanned aircraft owners are no longer permitted to enclose the FAA-issued registration number in a compartment.

The FAA proposes to amend its rules applicable to the operation of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This rulemaking would allow operations of small unmanned aircraft over people in certain conditions and operations of small UAS at night without obtaining a waiver. It would also require remote pilots in command to present their remote pilot in command certificate as well as identification to certain Federal, State, or local officials, upon request, and proposes to amend the knowledge testing requirements in the rules that apply to small UAS operations to require training every 24 calendar months. This proposal would be the next phase in integrating small UAS using a risk-based approach. These amendments would allow expanded small UAS operations and reduce the knowledge testing burden on remote pilot in command certificate holders.