Department of Transportation May 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, FRA seeks approval of the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below. Before submitting this ICR to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives notice of its intent to seek approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of the collection of the Report of Fuel Cost, Consumption, and Surcharge Revenue, as described below. The Board previously published a notice about this collection in the Federal Register on April 17, 2020 (85 FR 21496). That notice allowed for a 60-day public review and comment period. No comments were received.

FMCSA announces its decision to deny applications from 21 individuals who requested an exemption from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) prohibiting persons with a clinical diagnosis of epilepsy or any other condition that is likely to cause a loss of consciousness or any loss of ability to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) from operating CMVs in interstate commerce.

The FHWA, on behalf of Caltrans, is issuing this notice to announce actions taken by Caltrans that are final. The actions relate to a proposed highway project, the State Route 74 Lower Ortega Highway Widening Project within the City of San Juan Capistrano and unincorporated Orange County (12-ORA-74 p.m. 1.0/2.1), in the State of California. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comments. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information collection was published on March 16, 2020.

This action amends Class E airspace, designated as a surface area, at Dillon Airport, Dillon, MT. This action reduces the radius of the airspace and adds an extension to the northeast of the airport. This action also amends the Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface, the action reduces the circular radius around the airport and adds an extension to the southwest of the airport and an extension to the north of the airport. Additionally, this action amends the Class E airspace extending upward from 1,200 feet above the surface. The action significantly reduces the dimensions of the area to properly size it to contain IFR aircraft transitioning to/from the terminal or en route environments. Lastly, this action implements an administrative correction to the Class E airspace designated as a surface area.

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.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for MD Helicopters Inc., (MDHI) Model 369D, 369E, 369FF, 369H, 369HE, 369HM, 369HS, 500N, and 600N helicopters. This AD was prompted by a report of non-conforming main rotor (M/R) hub lead-lag bolts (bolts). This AD requires removing certain bolts from service. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of $1.25 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Public Transportation Innovation Program funds to demonstrate and evaluate innovative technologies and designs to improve the state of good repair for transit agencies. Public transit is an essential and integral part of America's transportation infrastructure. When transit assets are not in a state of good repair, the consequences include increased safety risks, decreased system reliability, higher maintenance costs, and lower system performance. The Real-Time Transit Infrastructure and Rolling Stock Condition Assessment Demonstration Program supports the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Infrastructure strategic goal, and the strategic objective of life cycle and preventive maintenance to field asset management planning and innovative maintenance strategies to keep public transit assets in a state of good repair. This demonstration program will fund innovative approaches to eliminate or mitigate known infrastructure deficiencies in public transportation via innovative technologies and designs. FTA is seeking applications for demonstration projects that deploy cutting edge technologies to provide real-time condition assessment of transit infrastructure and rolling stock conditions. An eligible lead applicant under this notice must be an existing FTA grant recipient and eligible project partners and sub-recipients under this program may include, but are not limited to, providers of public transportation; State and local governmental entities; departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government, including Federal laboratories; private or non-profit organizations; institutions of higher education; and technical and community colleges. This notice solicits competitive proposals addressing priorities established by FTA for these research areas, provides instructions for submitting proposals, and describes criteria FTA will use to identify meritorious proposals for funding, and the process to apply for funding. This announcement is also available on the FTA website at: https://www.transit.dot.gov/grants. A synopsis of this funding opportunity will be posted in the FIND module of the government-wide electronic grants website at https:// www.grants.gov. The funding Opportunity ID is FTA-2020-013-TRI-TIR and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number FTA's Public Transportation Innovation Program, (49 U.S.C. 5312) is 20.530.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Helicopters Model EC120B helicopters. This AD was prompted by a report of recurrent loss of tightening torque on several attachment bolts of the tail rotor hub body. This AD requires repetitive inspections of the tail rotor hub body for cracks and applicable corrective actions if necessary, and repetitive replacement of the attachment bolts, washers, and nuts of the tail rotor hub body. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2016-07- 28, which applied to all The Boeing Company Model DC-9-81 (MD-81), DC- 9-82 (MD-82), DC-9-83 (MD-83), and DC-9-87 (MD-87) airplanes, and Model MD-88 airplanes. AD 2016-07-28 required repetitive eddy current high frequency (ETHF) inspections for any cracking in the left and right side center wing lower skin, and repair if any crack was found. This AD continues to require repetitive ETHF inspections for any cracking in the left and right side center wing lower skin, and repair if any crack is found. This AD also requires expanding the inspection area to include adjacent stringers with similar stress levels and to perform repetitive inspections with increased sensitivity for crack detection. This AD was prompted by a report of a crack at a certain stringer not addressed by AD 2016-07-28, and cracks at certain other stringers and associated end fittings, and skins in the center wing fuel tank where the stringers meet the end fittings addressed by AD 2016-07-28. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus SAS Model A330-202, -203, -223, -243, -301, -321, - 322, -323, -341, -342, and -343 airplanes; and Model A340-200 and -300 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report indicating that the allowable load limits on the vertical tail plane could be reached and possibly exceeded in cases of multiple rudder doublet inputs. This proposed AD would require upgrading the flight control data concentrator (FCDC), associated flight control primary computer (FCPC), and flight warning computer (FWC), and activation of the stop rudder input aural warning (SRIW) device, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which will be incorporated by reference. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announces its decision to grant the Lytx Inc. (Lytx) application for a limited five-year exemption to allow its advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) to be mounted lower in the windshield on commercial motor vehicles (CMV) than is currently permitted. The Agency has determined that lower placement of the ADAS would not have an adverse impact on safety and that adherence to the terms and conditions of the exemption would achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety provided by the regulation.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) is adopting a final rule amending its railroad performance data reporting regulations to include chemical and plastics traffic as a distinct reporting category for the ``cars-held'' metric.

The FTA in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) is issuing this notice to advise the public that the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 Project in eastern Los Angeles County, California is being rescinded.

The FAA is revising an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD) for Airbus Helicopters Model SA330J helicopters that proposed to require replacing certain left-hand (LH) and right-hand (RH) hydraulic pumps. The NPRM was prompted by reports that bolts that attach the cover of the hydraulic pump were broken. This action revises the NPRM by expanding the applicability, changing the proposed requirements, and correcting nomenclature. Since this imposes an additional burden over that proposed in the NPRM, the FAA is reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these changes.

This action removes exclusionary language from the Final Rule published in the Federal Register on March 31, 2020 for Mountain Home Municipal Airport's Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface. If the exclusionary language remains in the Final Rule, the FAA's Aeronautical Information Service will be required to recalculate the airport's airspace boundaries whenever Mountain Home Air Force Base's Class D and E Surface areas are modified. However, the removal of the language does not affect the charted boundaries or operating requirements of the airspace.

The FHWA and the State of Utah, acting by and through its Department of Transportation (State), propose a renewal of the State's participation in the State Assumption of Responsibility for Categorical Exclusions. This program allows FHWA to assign to States its authority and responsibility for determining whether certain designated activities within the geographic boundaries of the State, as specified in the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), are categorically excluded from preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act. An amended MOU would renew the State's participation in the program. The MOU will be amended by incorporating the following changes: Clarifying that this assignment applies to highway projects; and including provisions for UDOT's use of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Federal Transit Administration's (FRA) CEs for highway projects. In order to use FTA or FRA's CEs, UDOT will consult with FTA or FRA, as appropriate, and report to FHWA at the end of the calendar year the instances where it applied a CE using this provision.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Leonardo S.p.a. (Leonardo) Model AW189 helicopters. This proposed AD would require various repetitive inspections of the main rotor (MR) damper. This proposed AD is prompted by reports of in- service MR damper failures and the development of an improved MR damper. This condition, if not corrected, could lead to loss of the lead-lag damping function of the MR blade, possibly resulting in damage to adjacent critical rotor components and subsequent loss control of the helicopter. The actions of this proposed AD are intended to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes. This AD was prompted by a report that certain elevator power control unit (PCU) arm fittings have nonconforming fillet radii. This AD requires an inspection for affected elevator PCU assemblies, inspections of affected elevator PCU arm fittings for nonconforming fillet radii and cracks, replacement if necessary, and re- identification of the affected elevator PCU assemblies. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2020-03- 12, which applied to all Airbus SAS Model A350-941 and -1041 airplanes. AD 2020-03-12 required revising the existing airplane flight manual (AFM) to define a liquid-prohibited zone in the flight deck and provide procedures following liquid spillage on the center pedestal. This AD continues to require revising the existing AFM, and also requires installing a removable integrated control panel (ICP) cover in the flight deck and further revising the AFM to include instructions for ICP cover use, as specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is incorporated by reference. This AD was prompted by the FAA's determination that a removable integrated control panel (ICP) cover must be installed to prevent damage from spillage and that the existing AFM must be revised. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

PHMSA is withdrawing the January 18, 2017, ANPRM concerning vapor pressure for crude oil transported by rail. PHMSA's decision is based on comments received to the ANPRM, as well as an extensive study conducted by the Sandia National Laboratories which found that the vapor pressure of crude oil is not a significant factor in the severity of pool fire or fireball scenarios, and concluded that results of the study do not support creating a regulatory distinction for crude oils based on vapor pressure. In withdrawing the ANPRM, PHMSA is providing notice of its determination that the establishment of vapor pressure limits would not improve the safety of rail transportation of crude oil. Therefore, PHMSA is no longer considering vapor pressure limits for the transportation of crude oil by rail or any other mode. Furthermore, PHMSA is also providing notice that, after considering comments received to the ANPRM, it is no longer considering imposing vapor pressure standards for other unrefined petroleum-based products and Class 3 flammable liquid hazardous materials by any mode.

FMCSA announces its decision to exempt 11 individuals from the hearing requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in interstate commerce. The exemptions enable these hard of hearing and deaf individuals to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew exemptions for 17 individuals from the requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) that interstate commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers have ``no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of epilepsy or any other condition which is likely to cause loss of consciousness or any loss of ability to control a CMV.'' The exemptions enable these individuals who have had one or more seizures and are taking anti-seizure medication to continue to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.