[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 20, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19316-19317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9776]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 71

[Airspace Docket No. 99-AAL-5]


Proposed Establishment of Class E Airspace; Palmer, AK

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This action proposes to establish Class E airspace at Palmer, 
AK. The establishment of Global Positioning System (GPS) instrument 
approach at the Palmer Municipal Airport has made this action 
necessary. The Palmer Municipal Airport status will change from Visual 
Flight Rules (VFR) to Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). Adoption of this 
proposal would result of adequate controlled airspace for Instrument 
Flight Rules (IFR) operations at Palmer, AK.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 4, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on the proposal in triplicate to: Manager, 
Operations Branch, AAL-530, Docket No. 99-AAL-5, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 222 West 7th Avenue, Box 14, Anchorage, AK 99513-7587.
    The official docket may be examined in the Office of the Regional 
Counsel for the Alaskan Region at the same address.
    An informal docket may also be examined during normal business 
hours in the Office of the Manager, Operations Branch, Air Traffic 
Division, at the address shown above and on the Internet at Alaskan 
Region's homepage at http://www.alaska.faa.gov/at or at address http://
162.58.28.41/at.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Durand, Operations Branch, AAL-
531, Federal Aviation Administration, 222 West 7th Avenue, Box 14, 
Anchorage, AK 99513-7587; telephone number (907) 271-5898; fax: (907) 
271-2850; email: Bob.D[email protected]. Internet address: http://
www.alaska.faa.gov/at or at address http://162.58.28.41/at.

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. 99-
AAL-5.'' 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 Operations Branch, Air Traffic Division, Federal 
Aviation Administration, 222 West 7th Avenue, Box 14, Anchorage, AK, 
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 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(NPRM) by submitting a request to the Operations Branch, AAL-530, 
Federal Aviation Administration, 222 West 7th Avenue, Box 14, 
Anchorage, AK 99513-7587. Communications must identify the notice 
number of this NPRM. Persons interested in being placed on a mailing 
list for future NPRM's should also request a copy of Advisory Circular 
No. 11-2A which describes the application procedure.
    Internet users may reach the Federal Register's web page for access 
to recently published rulemaking documents at http://
www.access.gpo.gov/su__docs/aces/aces 140.html.
    An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded, using a 
modem and suitable communications software, from the FAA regulations 
section of the Fedworld electronic bulletin board service (telephone: 
703-321-3339) or the Federal Register's electronic bulleting board 
service (telephone: 202-512-1661).

The Proposal

    The FAA proposes to amend 14 CFR part 71 by establishing Class E 
airspace at Palmer, AK, due the to establishment of a GPS instrument 
approach procedure at Palmer, AK. The Palmer Airport status will be 
upgraded from VFR to IFR. The intended effect of this proposal is to 
provide adequate controlled airspace for IFR operations at Palmer, AK.
    The area would be depicted on aeronautical charts for pilot 
reference. The coordinates for this airspace docket are based on North 
American Datum 83. The Class E airspace areas designated as 700/1200 
foot transition areas are published in paragraph 6005 in FAA Order 
7400.9F, Airspace Designations and Reporting Points, dated September 
10, 1998, and effective September 16, 1998, which is incorporated by 
reference in 14 CFR 71.1 (63 FR 50139; September 21, 1998). The Class E 
airspace listed in this document would be published in the Order.
    The FAA has determined that these proposed regulations only involve 
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.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71

    Airspace, Incorporation by reference, Navigation (air).

The Proposed Amendment

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Federal Aviation 
Administration

[[Page 19317]]

proposes to amend 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 14 CFR 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 Federal 
Aviation Administration Order 7400.9F, Airspace Designations and 
Reporting Points, dated September 10, 1998, and effective September 16, 
1998, is to be amended as follows:

Paragraph 6005  Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet or 
more above the surface of the earth.

* * * * *

AAL AK E5  Palmer, AK [ New ]

Palmer Municipal Airport, AK
    (Lat. 61 deg.35'41'' N., long. 149 deg.05'20'' W.)

    That airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface 
within a 6.5-mile radius of Palmer Municipal Airport.
* * * * *
    Issued in Anchorage, AK, on April 9, 1999.
Willis C. Nelson,
Manager, Air Traffic Division, Alaskan Region.
[FR Doc. 99-9776 Filed 4-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P