Department of Transportation April 14, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is superseding Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2021-04-16 which applied to certain Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Sikorsky) Model S-92A helicopters. AD 2021-04-16 required a one-time inspection of the landing gear for components with non-conforming threads and removal of any non-conforming threaded hinge pin and main landing gear (MLG) and nose landing gear (NLG) actuator pins. AD 2021-04-16 also prohibited installing certain part-numbered hinge and actuator pins on any helicopter. This AD requires the same actions but corrects erroneous part numbers. This AD was prompted by the discovery that certain part numbers listed in AD 2021-04-16 are incorrect. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

This document grants in full the Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.'s (Volkswagen) petition for exemption from the Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard (theft prevention standard) for its Taos vehicle line beginning in model year (MY) 2022.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Department of Transportation (DOT) provides notice that it will submit an information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency approval of a proposed information collection. DOT requests that OMB authorize the collection of information on or before May 15, 2021, for 180 days after the date of approval by OMB. Upon receiving the requested six-month emergency approval by OMB, DOT will follow the normal PRA procedures to obtain extended approval for this proposed information collection. The purpose of this collection is to enable eligible business entities to apply for payroll assistance under the ``Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection'' (AMJP) program, established by the ``American Rescue Plan Act of 2021'' (ARPA), which was enacted on March 11, 2021. DOT is requesting emergency approval due to the urgency of making the associated funds available to business entities that meet the eligibility requirements under the law. The continued viability of these business entities is crucial to supporting the aviation industry and economic recovery in the United States. Because ARPA requires DOT to reduce funding on a pro rata basis if eligible requests exceed available funds, DOT must identify the full universe of eligible businesses and the magnitude of their funding requests before issuing the first agreement. The statutory requirements of the AJMP also establish a strict six-month timeframe during which DOT must enter into payroll support agreements with eligible businesses.