[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 217 (Tuesday, November 10, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 62975-62976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29951]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT
14 CFR Part 71
[Airspace Docket No. 97-ASW-24]
Proposed Modification to the Gulf of Mexico High Offshore
Airspace Area
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: This action proposes to amend the Gulf of Mexico High Offshore
Airspace Area. The proposed action would extend the present airspace
area east and south to the boundary of the Houston Air Route Traffic
Control Center (ARTCC) Flight Information Region/Control Area (FIR/
CTA). Additionally, this action proposes to increase the vertical
limits of the proposed airspace area from Flight Level (FL) 280 up to
and including FL 600. This proposed action would provide additional
airspace in which domestic air traffic procedures may be used to
separate and manage aircraft operations. This proposed change would
enhance the efficient utilization of that airspace.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 29, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Send comments on the proposal in triplicate to: Manager, Air
Traffic Division, ASW-500, Docket No. 97-ASW-24, Federal Aviation
Administration, 2601 Meacham Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76193-0001.
The official docket may be examined in the Rules Docket, Office of
the Chief Counsel, Room 916, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington,
DC, weekdays, except Federal holidays, between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
An informal docket may also be examined during normal business
hours at the office of the Regional Air Traffic Division, Federal
Aviation Administration, 2601 Meacham Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76193-
0001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Sheri Edgett Baron, Airspace and
Rules Division, ATA-400, Office of Air Traffic Airspace Management,
Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20591; telephone: (202) 267-8783.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
Interested parties are invited to participate in this proposed
rulemaking by submitting such written data, views, or arguments as they
may desire. Comments that provide the factual basis supporting the
views and suggestions presented are particularly helpful in developing
reasoned regulatory decisions on the proposal. Comments are
specifically invited on the overall regulatory, aeronautical, economic,
environmental, and energy-related aspects of the proposal.
Communications should identify the airspace docket number and be
submitted in triplicate to the address listed above. Commenters wishing
the FAA to acknowledge receipt of their comments on this notice must
submit with those comments a self-addressed, stamped postcard on which
the following statement is made: ``Comments to Airspace Docket No. 97-
ASW-24.'' The postcard will be date/time stamped and returned to the
commenter. All communications received on or before the specified
closing date for comments will be considered before taking action on
the proposed rule. The proposal contained in this notice may be changed
in light of comments received. All comments submitted will be available
for examination in the Rules Docket both before and after the closing
date for comments. A report summarizing each substantive public contact
with FAA personnel concerned with this rulemaking will be filed in the
docket.
Availability of NPRM's
Any person may obtain a copy of this NPRM by submitting a request
to the Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Air Traffic Airspace
Management, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591, or by
calling (202) 267-8783. Communications must identify the notice number
of this NPRM. Persons interested in being placed on a mailing list for
future NPRM's should call the FAA's Office of Rulemaking, (202) 267-
9677, for a copy of Advisory Circular No. 11-2A, Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking Distribution System, which describes the application
procedure.
Background
On March 2, 1993, the FAA published a final rule (58 FR 12128)
which, in part, redesignated certain control areas over international
waters as offshore airspace areas. The redesignations were necessary to
comply with the Airspace Reclassification final rule issued on December
17, 1991 (56 FR 65638).
One of the areas affected by the March 2, 1993, final rule was the
Gulf of Mexico Control Area. This area was divided vertically into two
areas, one of which was redesignated as the Gulf of Mexico High
Offshore Airspace Area.
In June of 1996 the FAA completed an evaluation of the airspace
over the Gulf of Mexico. The evaluation was a combined effort with
representatives from the FAA, Servicios a la Navegacion en El Espacio
Aereo Mexicano, and other airspace users. The objective of the
evaluation was, in part, to identify areas where air traffic services,
air traffic operations, and utilization of airspace could be improved.
One conclusion of this evaluation was the determination that system
capacity would be enhanced by modifying air traffic control (ATC)
procedures used to control aircraft
[[Page 62976]]
operations in the airspace over the Gulf of Mexico.
Currently, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) oceanic
ATC procedures are used to separate and manage aircraft operations that
extend beyond the lateral boundary of the existing Gulf of Mexico High
Offshore Airspace Area. Modifying the Gulf of Mexico High Offshore
Airspace Area by extending the boundaries further east and south of the
current location to the Houston ARTCC FIR/CTA, will allow the
application of domestic ATC separation procedures over a larger area.
This proposal to modify the offshore airspace area would enhance system
capacity and allow for more efficient utilization of that airspace.
The Proposal
The FAA is proposing an amendment to part 71 of the Federal
Aviation Regulations (14 CFR part 71) to modify the Gulf of Mexico High
Offshore Airspace Area, by extending the present airspace area east and
south to the Houston ARTCC FIR/CTA. The proposed modification would
allow the application of domestic ATC separation procedures, in lieu of
ICAO separation procedures, enhancing system capacity, and allowing for
more efficient use of the airspace.
Offshore airspace area designations are published in paragraph 2003
of FAA Order 7400.9F, dated September 10, 1998, and effective September
16, 1998, which is incorporated by reference in 14 CFR 71.1. The
offshore airspace area designation listed in this document would be
published subsequently in the Order.
The FAA has determined that this proposed regulation only involves
an established body of technical regulations for which frequent and
routine amendments are necessary to keep them operationally current.
It, therefore: (1) Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under
Executive Order 12866; (2) is not a ``significant rule'' under DOT
Regulatory Policies and Procedures (44 FR 11034; February 26, 1979);
and (3) does not warrant preparation of a Regulatory Evaluation as the
anticipated impact is so minimal. Since this is a routine matter that
will only affect air traffic procedures and air navigation, it is
certified that this rule, when promulgated, will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the
criteria of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
ICAO Considerations
As part of this proposal relates to navigable airspace outside the
United States, this notice is submitted in accordance with the ICAO
International Standards and Recommended Practices.
The application of International Standards and Recommended
Practices by the FAA, Office of Air Traffic Airspace Management, in
areas outside U.S. domestic airspace is governed by the Convention on
International Civil Aviation. Specifically, the FAA is governed by
Article 12 and Annex 11, which pertain to the establishment of
necessary air navigational facilities and services to promote the safe,
orderly, and expeditious flow of civil air traffic. The purpose of the
document is to ensure that civil aircraft operations on international
air routes are performed under uniform conditions.
The International Standards and Recommended Practices in Annex 11
apply to airspace under the jurisdiction of a contracting state,
derived from ICAO. Annex 11 provisions apply when air traffic services
are provided and a contracting state accepts the responsibility of
providing air traffic services over high seas or in airspace of
undetermined sovereignty. A contracting state accepting this
responsibility may apply the International Standards and Recommended
Practices that are consistent with standards and practices utilized in
its domestic jurisdiction.
In accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, state owned
aircraft are exempt from the Standards and Recommended Practices of
Annex 11. The United States is a contracting state to the Convention.
Article 3(d) of the Convention provides that participating state
aircraft will be operated in international airspace with due regard for
the safety of civil aircraft.
Since this action involves, in part, the designation of navigable
airspace outside the United States, the Administrator is consulting
with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense in accordance
with the provisions of Executive Order 10854.
List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71
Airspace, Incorporation by reference, Navigation (air).
The Proposed Amendment
In consideration of the foregoing, the FAA proposes to amend part
71 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR part 71) as follows:
PART 71--DESIGNATION OF CLASS A, CLASS B, CLASS C, CLASS D, AND
CLASS E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIRWAYS; ROUTES; AND REPORTING POINTS
1. The authority citation for part 71 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40103, 40113, 40120; E.O. 10854, 24
FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959-1963 Comp., p. 389.
Sec. 71.1 [Amended]
2. The incorporation by reference in 14 CFR 71.1 of the Federal
Aviation Administration Order 7400.9F, Airspace Designations and
Reporting Points, dated September 10, 1998, and effective September 16,
1998, is amended as follows:
Paragraph 2003 Offshore Airspace Areas
* * * * *
Gulf of Mexico High [Revised]
That airspace extending upward from FL 280 to and including FL
600 bounded on the west, north, and east by a line 12 miles offshore
and parallel to the Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and
Florida shorelines; bounded on the south from east to west by the
southern boundary of the Jacksonville ARTCC, Miami Oceanic CTA/FIR;
Merida UTA/FIR; Monterey UTA/UIR, Houston CTA/FIR; to the point of
beginning, and that airspace extending upward from 18,000 feet MSL
to and including FL 280 bounded on the west, north, and east by a
line 12 miles offshore and parallel to the Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida shorelines bounded on the south
from east to west by the southern boundary of the Jacksonville
ARTCC, Miami Oceanic CTA/FIR, Houston CTA/FIR and lat.
26 deg.00'00''N.
* * * * *
Issued in Washington, DC, on November 2, 1998.
John S. Walker,
Program Director for Air Traffic Airspace Management.
[FR Doc. 98-29951 Filed 11-9-98; 8:45 am]
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