[Federal Register: December 20, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 244)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 76224-76226]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20de06-30]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Parts 1, 21, 43, and 45
[Docket Nos. FAA-2006-25877 and 25882; Notice No. 06-18]
RIN 2120-AI78
Production and Airworthiness Approvals; Extension of Comment
Period
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM); extension of comment
period.
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SUMMARY: This action extends by 30 days the comment period for an NPRM
that was published on October 5, 2006. In that document, the FAA
proposed changes to its certification procedures and identification
requirements for aeronautical products and parts. This extension is a
result of requests from the Aeronautical Repair Station Association,
the Aerospace Industries Association, and the General Aviation
Manufacturers Association.
DATES: Send your comments on or before February 5, 2007.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments identified by Docket Number FAA-2006-
25877 using any of the following methods:
DOT Docket Web site: Go to http://dms.dot.gov and follow
the instructions for sending your comments electronically.
Government-wide rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov
and follow the instructions for sending your
comments electronically.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington,
[[Page 76225]]
DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
For more information on the rulemaking process, see the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
Privacy: We will post all comments we receive, without change, to
http://dms.dot.gov, including any personal information you provide. For
more information, see the Privacy Act discussion in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
Docket: To read background documents or comments received, go to
http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL-401 on the plaza level of
the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Capron, Production
Certification Branch, AIR-220, Federal Aviation Administration, 800
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-
3343.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
The FAA invites interested persons to participate in this
rulemaking by submitting written comments, data, or views. We also
invite comments relating to the economic, environmental, energy, or
federalism impacts that might result from adopting the proposals in
this document. The most helpful comments reference a specific portion
of the proposal, explain the reason for any recommended change, and
include supporting data. We ask that you send us two copies of written
comments.
We will file in the docket all comments we receive, as well as a
report summarizing each substantive public contact with FAA personnel
concerning this proposed rulemaking. The docket is available for public
inspection before and after the comment closing date. If you wish to
review the docket in person, go to the address in the ADDRESSES section
of this preamble between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. You may also review the docket using the
Internet at the Web address in the ADDRESSES section.
Privacy Act: Using the search function of our docket Web site,
anyone can find and read the comments received into any of our dockets,
including the name of the individual sending the comment (or signing
the comment on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.).
You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal
Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit
http://dms.dot.gov.
Before acting on this proposal, we will consider all comments we
receive on or before the closing date for comments. We will consider
comments filed late if it is possible to do so without incurring
expense or delay. We may change this proposal in light of the comments
we receive.
If you want the FAA to acknowledge receipt of your comments on this
proposal, include with your comments a pre-addressed, stamped postcard
on which the docket number appears. We will stamp the date on the
postcard and mail it to you.
Readers should note that the FAA has posted on its Web site (http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs
) four draft Advisory Circulars (ACs).
These ACs describe ways to comply with the requirements of this NPRM.
We are also extending by 30 days the comment period on the ACs. Send
your comments to reach us by February 5, 2007 using any of the methods
described in the ADDRESSES section of this NPRM. Note that the docket
for AC comments (FAA-2006-25882) is different from the docket for NPRM
comments.
Availability of Rulemaking Documents
You can get an electronic copy using the Internet by:
(1) Searching the Department of Transportation's electronic Docket
Management System (DMS) Web page (http://dms.dot.gov/search); (2) Visiting the Office of Rulemaking's Web page at http://
http://www.faa.gov/[fxsp0]avr/arm/index.cfm; or
(3) Accessing the Government Printing Office's Web page at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html
.
You can also get a copy by sending a request to the Federal
Aviation Administration, Office of Rulemaking, ARM-1, 800 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591, or by calling (202) 267-9680. Make
sure to identify the docket number, notice number, or amendment number
of this rulemaking.
Proprietary or Confidential Business Information
Do not file in the docket information that you consider to be
proprietary or confidential business information. Send or deliver this
information directly to the person identified in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. You must mark the
information that you consider proprietary or confidential. If you send
the information on a disk or CD ROM, mark the outside of the disk or CD
ROM and also identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the
specific information that is proprietary or confidential.
Under 14 CFR 11.35(b), when we are aware of proprietary information
filed with a comment, we do not place it in the docket. We hold it in a
separate file to which the public does not have access, and place a
note in the docket that we have received it. If we receive a request to
examine or copy this information, we treat it as any other request
under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). We process such a
request under the DOT procedures found in 49 CFR part 7.
Background
On October 5, 2006, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) entitled, Production and
Airworthiness Approvals, Part Marking, and Miscellaneous Proposals (71
FR 58915). Comments on that document were due on or before January 3,
2007.
By letter dated December 5, 2006, the Aeronautical Repair Station
Association (ARSA) asked FAA to extend the comment period for 90 days.
ARSA believes the need for an extended comment period arises from the
scope and extent of the changes proposed in the NPRM, the timing of its
release, and the impact it will have on small businesses. ARSA also
asked that we extend the comment period on the draft ACs for 90 days.
By letter dated December 6, 2006, the Aerospace Industries
Association (AIA) and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association
(GAMA) asked FAA to extend the comment period for 45 days. AIA and GAMA
cited several factors that, in their view, necessitate the extension,
including the length of time since the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory
Committee recommendation was submitted to FAA, the scope and impact of
the proposal, and the effective shortening of the comment period by
observance of the holidays.
While we concur with the petitioners' requests for an extension of
the comment period, we believe that a 45-day or 90-day extension is not
warranted. We have already provided a 90-day comment period. An
additional 90 days would result in a comment period extending for six
full months. Although we agree that additional time for comments may be
needed, this need must be balanced against the need to proceed
expeditiously with a rulemaking that first involved industry input
through an Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee in 1993. We believe
an additional 30 days allows
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adequate time for interested parties to provide meaningful comments.
Absent unusual circumstances, we do not anticipate any further
extension of the comment period for this rulemaking.
Extension of Comment Period
In accordance with Sec. 11.47(c) of Title 14, Code of Federal
Regulations, the FAA has reviewed the petitions made by ARSA, AIA, and
GAMA for extension of the comment period on the Production and
Airworthiness Approvals NPRM. The petitioners have shown a substantive
interest in the proposed rule and good cause for the extension. The FAA
also has determined that extension of the comment period is consistent
with the public interest, and that good cause exists for taking this
action.
Accordingly, we are extending the comment period for 30 days until
February 5, 2007.
Issued in Washington, DC, December 13, 2006.
Dorenda D. Baker,
Acting Director, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. E6-21657 Filed 12-19-06; 8:45 am]
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