Federal Aviation Administration August 16, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This action proposes to amend Class D and Class E airspace at Klamath Falls, OR. Decommissioning of the Merrill Non-Directional Radio Beacon (NDB) at Klamath Falls Airport has made this action necessary for the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport. This action also would adjust the geographic coordinates of the airport and a navigation aid, and would change the name of the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration amends the airworthiness standards applicable to transport category airplanes to clarify that flying at or below the design maneuvering speed does not allow a pilot to make multiple large control inputs in one airplane axis or single full control inputs in more than one airplane axis at a time without endangering the airplane's structure. The FAA is issuing this final rule to prevent pilots from misunderstanding the meaning of an airplane's maneuvering speed, which could cause or contribute to a future accident.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347 (as amended), Council on Environmental Quality NEPA implementing regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 1500 to 1508), and FAA Order 1050.1E, Change 1, the FAA is announcing the availability of a FONSI/ROD, based on the analysis and findings of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) August 2009 Environmental Assessment for the Expansion of the Wallops Flight Facility Launch Range (the EA). The FAA (Office of Commercial Space Transportation) participated as a cooperating agency with NASA in the preparation of the EA, which evaluates the potential environmental impacts of the proposed expansion of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). As the MARS expansion would require Federal actions (as defined in 40 CFR Section 1508.18) involving both NASA and the FAA, the EA was prepared to satisfy the NEPA obligations of both agencies. NASA, as the WFF property owner and lead agency, is responsible for ensuring overall compliance with applicable environmental statutes, including NEPA. The FAA served as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EA because of its role in (1) licensing the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA) which operates MARS as a commercial launch site and (2) issuing licenses or permits to operate commercial launch and reentry vehicles at MARS. The FAA has formally adopted the EA and is using the FONSI/ROD to support the modification or renewal of VCSFA's Launch Site Operator License and issuance of licenses or experimental permits for commercial launch and reentry vehicles at MARS.