[Federal Register: June 17, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 115)]
[Notices]
[Page 28772-28774]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17jn09-124]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. FAA-2006-25755]
Operating Limitations At Laguardia Airport
ACTION: Notice of order to show cause and request for information.
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SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing an order to show cause, which solicits the
views of interested persons on the FAA's tentative determination to
extend through October 30, 2010, the December 13, 2006, order limiting
the number of scheduled and unscheduled operations at LaGuardia Airport
during peak operating hours. The text of the order to show cause is set
forth in this notice.
DATES: Any written information that responds to the FAA's order to show
cause must be submitted by July 1, 2009.
ADDRESSES: You may submit written information, identified by docket
number FAA-2006-25755, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://
www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for sending your
comments electronically.
Mail: Send comments by mail to Docket Operations, U.S.
Department of Transportation, M-30, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Persons wishing to receive
confirmation of receipt of their written submission
[[Page 28773]]
should include a self-addressed stamped postcard.
Hand Delivery: Deliver comments to Docket Operations in
Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the West Building at 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Facsimile: Fax comments to the docket operations personnel
at 202-493-2251.
Privacy: We will post all comments that we receive, without change,
at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information that
you provide. Using the search function of the docket Web site, anyone
can find and read the electronic form of all comments in 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,
or other entity or organization. You may review the DOT's complete
Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register at 65 FR 19477-78 (April
11, 2000), or you may find it at http://docketsinfo.dot.gov.
Reviewing the docket: To read background documents or comments
received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time and follow the
online instructions for accessing the docket; or go to Docket
Operations in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the West Building at
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James W. Tegtmeier, Associate Chief
Counsel for the Air Traffic Organization; telephone--(202) 267-8323; e-
mail_james.tegtmeier@faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Order To Show Cause
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has tentatively
determined that it will extend through October 30, 2010, the FAA's
December 13, 2006, order limiting scheduled and unscheduled operations
at LaGuardia Airport, as subsequently amended (December 2006 order).\1\
This order to show cause invites air carriers and other interested
persons to submit comments in Docket FAA-2006-25755 on this proposal to
extend the duration of the December 2006 order.\2\
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\1\ Operating Limitations at New York LaGuardia Airport, 71 FR
77,854 (Dec. 27, 2006); 72 FR 63,224 (Nov. 8, 2007) (transfer,
minimum usage, and withdrawal amendments); 72 FR 48,428 (Aug. 19,
2008) (reducing the reservations available for unscheduled
operations); 74 FR 845 (Jan. 8, 2009) (extending the expiration date
of the December 2006 order until October 24, 2009); 74 FR 2,646
(Jan. 15, 2009) (reducing the peak-hour cap on scheduled operations
to 71).
\2\ The FAA separately solicited comments on proposals to extend
the January 15, 2008, order limiting scheduled operations at John F.
Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and the May 15, 2008, order
limiting scheduled operations at Newark Liberty International
Airport (Newark). The public may file or review documents related to
these proposals in Dockets FAA-2007-29320 (JFK) and FAA-2008-0221
(Newark).
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As a result of the limited capacity of LaGuardia's two-runway
configuration, the airport cannot accommodate the number of scheduled
and unscheduled flights that operators would like to conduct there
without causing significant congestion-related delays. LaGuardia was
one of the original U.S. airports at which the FAA capped the number of
peak-hour operations under the High Density Rule.\3\ The High Density
Rule limited the number of scheduled operations at the airport to 62
per hour.
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\3\ 33 FR 17,896, 17,898 (Dec. 3, 1968); 34 FR 2,603 (Feb. 26,
1969).
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In a statute enacted in April 2000, Congress began to phase out the
High Density Rule at LaGuardia and other airports.\4\ Before fully
extinguishing the High Density Rule at LaGuardia on January 1, 2007,
the statute directed the Secretary of Transportation immediately to
grant a number of exemptions from the High Density Rule for specific
types of scheduled operations.\5\ Demand for exemptions to operate
scheduled service at LaGuardia soared. By November 2000, the
debilitating delays that resulted from the surging demand required the
FAA to roll back and limit the number of operations at LaGuardia.\6\
The FAA limited the peak-hour scheduled operations at a total of 75
hourly departures and arrivals.
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\4\ 49 U.S.C. 41715(a)(2).
\5\ 49 U.S.C. 41716.
\6\ 65 FR 69,126, 69,127-28 (Nov. 15, 2000).
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In the ensuing years, the FAA examined and proposed various
alternatives to the High Density Rule in an effort to control
congestion at LaGuardia.\7\ When it became apparent that the FAA would
not have a replacement rule in place before the High Density Rule
expired at LaGuardia, and recognizing that LaGuardia is prone to
overscheduling, the FAA issued the December 2006 order to limit the
number of scheduled and unscheduled operations at the airport until the
FAA could issue a final rule. During much of the time that the December
2006 order has remained in effect, the airport has continued to
experience significant congestion-related delays. As a result, the FAA
reduced the peak-hour limit on unscheduled operations from six to
three.\8\ More recently, the FAA reduced the peak-hour limit on
scheduled operations from 75 to 71.\9\
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\7\ 71 FR 51,360 (Aug. 29, 2006) (Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking); 73 FR 20,846 (April 17, 2008) (Supplemental Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking).
\8\ 72 FR at 48,428.
\9\ 74 FR at 2,646.
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The FAA established the order's October 2009 expiration date to
permit time for a recently issued final rule to take effect to control
congestion at LaGuardia.\10\ However, the rule was stayed by the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit prior to the
rule's effective date, and the FAA is currently soliciting comments on
a proposal to rescind the final rule.\11\ As a result of the FAA's
reconsideration of the rule, the court is holding in abeyance the
briefing schedule in the rule's associated litigation.
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\10\ 74 FR at 845.
\11\ 74 FR 22,717 (May 14, 2009).
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In light of the events that have transpired since the December 2006
order took effect, it is now unlikely that the FAA will have an
effective final rule on the order's current expiration date. In the
absence of the FAA's extension of the order, the FAA anticipates a
return of the congestion-related delays that required the FAA to limit
the number of operations at the airport. The hourly capacity at
LaGuardia has not increased since the order took effect. Because the
demand for operations at New York-area airports remains high, the FAA
has determined that an extension of the December 2006 order appears to
be appropriate while the FAA identifies the appropriate long-term
solution to congestion at LaGuardia.
Order to Show Cause:
To prevent a recurrence of overscheduling at LaGuardia during the
interim between the expiration of the December 2006 order on October
24, 2009, and the effective date of a replacement rule, the FAA
tentatively intends to extend the December 2006 order. The order will
continue to apply to both scheduled and unscheduled operations at the
airport. Maintaining the existing order for an additional, finite
period constitutes a reasonable approach to preventing unacceptable
congestion and delays at LaGuardia until a long-term measure is
implemented. The December 2006 order, as extended, would expire on
October 30, 2010.
Accordingly, the FAA directs all interested persons to show cause
why the FAA should not make final its tentative findings and tentative
decision to extend the December 2006 order through October 30, 2010, by
filing their
[[Page 28774]]
written views in Docket FAA-2006-25755. The FAA does not intend this
request for the views of interested persons to address any issues
related to the existing final rule or any future congestion management
rule. Therefore, any submission to the current docket should be limited
to the proposed extension of the December 2006 order.
Issued in Washington, DC, on June 11, 2009.
Rebecca MacPherson,
Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations.
[FR Doc. E9-14168 Filed 6-16-09; 8:45 am]
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