[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 26, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29403-29404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12576]
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 26, 2010 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 29403]]
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 67
[Docket No. FAA-2009-0773]
Special Issuance of Airman Medical Certificates to Applicants
Being Treated With Certain Antidepressant Medications; Re-Opening of
Comment Period
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Policy statement; re-opening of comment period.
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SUMMARY: This action re-opens the comment period on a policy statement
published April 5, 2010, related to special issuance of airmen medical
certificates to applicants using certain antidepressant medication. The
comment period is re-opened for 30 days and responds to a request from
the Air Line Pilots Association, International.
DATES: The comment period for the policy statement published April 5,
2010, closed May 5, 2010, is re-opened until June 25, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments identified by Docket Number FAA-2009-
0773 using 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 to Docket Operations, M-30; U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room W12-
140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket
Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200
New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
Privacy: We will post all comments we receive, without change, to
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information you
provide. Using the search function of our docket Web site, anyone can
find and read the electronic form of all comments received into any of
our dockets, including the name of the individual sending the comment
(or signing the comment for 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://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
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, Docket Operations in Room
W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor 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: Judi Citrenbaum, Federal Air Surgeon's
Office, Office of Aerospace Medicine, Federal Aviation Administration,
800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202)
267-9689; facsimile (202) 267-5200, e-mail [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
The FAA invites interested persons to participate in formulating
this policy 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 it. The most helpful
comments explain (with pertinent references to the text of the policy)
the reason for any recommended change, and include supporting data. To
ensure the docket does not contain duplicate comments, please send only
one copy of written comments, or if you are filing comments
electronically, please submit your comments only one time.
We will file in the docket all comments we receive. We will
consider all comments we receive on or before the closing date for
comments. We will consider comments filed after the comment period has
closed if it is possible to do so without incurring expense or delay.
We may make changes in light of the comments we receive.
Availability of the Policy Statement
You can get an electronic copy using the Internet by:
(1) Searching the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov;
(2) Visiting the Office of Rulemaking's Web page at http://www.faa.gov/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 or notice number of this rulemaking.
Background
On April 5, 2010 [64 FR 17047], the Federal Aviation Administration
published a policy statement entitled ``Special Issuance of Airman
Medical Certificates to Applicants Being Treated With Certain
Antidepressant Medications.'' The FAA established a public docket for
this policy (FAA-2009-0773) and opened a 30-day comment period until
May 5, 2010. The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA)
submitted a comment, dated May 5, 2010, requesting that the FAA extend
the comment period.
In its comment ALPA stated this policy change is ``an important
step in the direction of increasing airline safety.'' In ALPA's view,
however, ``the new protocol has raised a substantial number of
questions regarding its application.'' ALPA requested an opportunity
for a 45-day comment period and specified that this comment period
should begin ``after the FAA has had the opportunity to answer the
specific questions raised about the policy's practical application.''
The FAA has evaluated ALPA's request for additional time to comment
and is not opposed to re-opening the comment period. Re-opening the
comment period for 45 days appears unwarranted, however, given the few
comments received regarding the policy
[[Page 29404]]
and its practical application during the original 30-day comment
period. Therefore, the FAA will re-open the comment period for 30 days.
ALPA has not formally submitted to the public docket its specific
questions about the policy's practical application and, as mentioned,
few commenters provided input in this regard during the open comment
period. To receive appropriate consideration, therefore, the FAA
requests specific information regarding these concerns be provided
during the next 30 days of the re-opened comment period.
Re-Opening of Comment Period
In accordance with Sec. 11.47(c) of title 14, Code of Federal
Regulations, the FAA has reviewed ALPA's comment for extension of the
comment period to Docket FAA-2009-0773. Since the comment period has
already closed, the FAA will re-open it for a period of 30 days. The
petitioner has shown a substantive interest in the policy and has
provided good cause to grant re-opening of the comment period. The FAA
has determined that re-opening the comment period is consistent with
the public interest and that good cause exists for taking this action.
Accordingly, the comment period is re-opened until June 25, 2010.
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 20, 2010.
Frederick E. Tilton,
Federal Air Surgeon.
[FR Doc. 2010-12576 Filed 5-25-10; 8:45 am]
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