Department of Transportation December 23, 2024 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On October 29, 2024, FRA published an NPRM proposing to update FRA's procedures for waivers and safety-related proceedings to define the two components of the statutory waiver and suspension standard, "in the public interest" and "consistent with railroad safety." By this notice, FRA is extending the NPRM's comment period by 15 days.

On October 28, 2024, FRA published an NPRM proposing to amend certain regulations governing positive train control (PTC) systems. Through oversight and continued engagement with the industry, FRA has found that its existing PTC regulations do not adequately address temporary situations during which PTC technology is not enabled, including after certain initialization failures or in cases where a PTC system needs to be temporarily disabled to facilitate repair, maintenance, infrastructure upgrades, or capital projects. FRA expects PTC systems to be reliable and robust, further reducing the occurrence of initialization failures and outages. The NPRM proposes to establish strict parameters and operating restrictions under which railroads may continue to operate safely in certain necessary scenarios when PTC technology is temporarily not governing rail operations. By this notice, FRA is extending the NPRM's comment period, which will close on December 27, 2024, by 15 days.

The FAA proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Airbus Helicopters Model EC225LP helicopters. This proposed AD was prompted by the identification of missing electrical bonding on a certain part-numbered additional and optional search light (search light). This proposed AD would require installing an electrical bonding braid modification and prohibit installing that part-numbered search light unless the modification is done. These actions are specified in a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is proposed for incorporation by reference. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2023-09-06, which applies to all CFM International, S.A. Model (CFM) LEAP-1A23, LEAP-1A24, LEAP-1A24E1, LEAP-1A26, LEAP-1A26CJ, LEAP-1A26E1, LEAP-1A29, LEAP-1A29CJ, LEAP-1A30, LEAP-1A32, LEAP-1A33, LEAP-1A33B2, and LEAP-1A35A (LEAP-1A) engines. AD 2023-09-06 requires replacement of certain high-pressure turbine (HPT) rotor stage 1 disks (HPT stage 1 disks), forward outer seals, and compressor rotor stages 6-10 spools. AD 2023-09-06 also prohibits installation of an HPT stage 1 disk, forward outer seal, or compressor rotor stages 6-10 spool that has a part number and serial number identified in the service information onto any engine. Since the FAA issued AD 2023-09-06, the manufacturer identified additional affected parts that were manufactured from material suspected to have reduced material properties due to iron inclusion, which prompted this AD. This proposed AD would retain the requirements to replace certain HPT stage 1 disks, forward outer seals, and compressor rotor stages 6-10 spools and expand the applicability to include additional affected parts manufactured from the same material suspected to have reduced material properties due to iron inclusion. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests approval to revise and renew an ICR titled "Driver Qualification Files," OMB Control Number 2126-0004. The ICR estimates the burden commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and motor carriers incur to comply with the reporting and recordkeeping tasks required for motor carriers to maintain driver qualification (DQ) files. The Agency's regulations pertaining to maintaining DQ files are unchanged and impose no increased information collection (IC) burden on individual drivers and motor carriers. However, the Agency increases its estimate of the total IC burden of these regulations primarily because both the number of CMV drivers and the frequency of their hiring have increased since the Agency's 2022 estimate of this burden.

This action modifies the Class D airspace and Class E airspace designated as a surface area and revokes the Class E airspace designated as an extension to the Class D or Class E surface area at Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, CO. Additionally, this action modifies the administrative portions of the airport's legal descriptions to match the FAA's database. These actions will support the safety and management of instrument flight rules (IFR) and visual flight rules (VFR) operations at the airport.

This action modifies the Class D airspace, Class E airspace area designated as a surface area (Class E2 surface area), and Class E airspace area extending upward from 700 feet or more above the surface of the earth (Class E5 airspace area) at Camp Guernsey Airport, Guernsey, WY. This modification supports the containment of instrument flight rules (IFR) operations at the airport. Additionally, this action updates the administrative caption of the airport's legal descriptions.