[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 10, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51556-51557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25371]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 382

49 CFR Part 27

[OST Docket No. OST-99-6159]
RIN 2105-AC81


Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel; 
Correction of Effective Date Under Congressional Review Act (CRA)

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

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SUMMARY: On May 3, 2001, the Department of Transportation (DOT or 
Department) published a final rule amending its rules implementing the 
Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 (ACAA) and section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require airports and air carriers to 
provide boarding assistance to individuals with disabilities by using 
ramps, mechanical lifts, or other suitable devices where level-entry 
boarding by loading bridge or mobile lounge is not available on any 
aircraft with a seating capacity of 31 or more passengers. This 
document corrects the effective date of the final rule published on May 
3, 2001, to be consistent with the Congressional Review Act (CRA), 
enacted as part of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 
Act of 1966, 5 U.S.C. 801, 808. It does not change the implementation 
dates in the rule. Carriers and airports must still sign a written 
agreement no later than March 4, 2002 allocating responsibility for 
meeting the boarding assistance requirements, and the agreement must 
still provide that all actions necessary to ensure accessible boarding 
for passengers with disabilities are completed no later than December 
2, 2002.

DATES: The effective date for the final rule that published on 
Thursday, May 3, 2001 at 66 FR 22107 is corrected from June 4, 2001 to 
November 9, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blane A. Workie, Office of the General 
Counsel, Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW., Room 4116, 
Washington, DC 20590, 202-366-9342 (voice), (202) 366-0511 (TTY), 202-
366-7152 (fax), or [email protected] (email). Arrangements to 
receive the rule in an alternative format may be made by contacting the 
above named individual.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

[[Page 51557]]

Background Information

    The CRA, as added by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides that before a rule may take 
effect, the agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule report that 
includes a copy of the rule to each House of the Congress and to the 
Comptroller General of the United States. The effective date of the 
final rule on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air 
Travel published at 66 FR 22107, is corrected from June 4, 2001 to 
November 9, 2001 in order to comply with the CRA.
    The implementation dates in the rule remain the same. While the 
Department acknowledges that it should have sent a copy of the final 
rule to Congress and the Comptroller General prior to the effective 
date of the final rule, the Department does not believe that it is 
necessary or advisable to revise the implementaiton dates in the rule. 
The public has not been unduly affected by this error, and revising the 
implementation dates on a rule that was published in May would cause 
confusion. Individuals who can demonstrate that the Department not 
submitting the rule to Congress and the Comptroller General unduly 
burdened them should provide comments to the Department.

Administrative Procedure Act

    The Administrative Procedure Act provides that an agency may 
dispense with prior notice and opportunity for comment when the agency 
for good cause finds that such procedures are impracticable, 
unnecessary or contrary to the public interest, 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B). 
The Office of the Secretary (OST) has determined that prior notice and 
comment are unnecessary, because OST is merely correcting the effective 
date of the promulgated rule to be consistent with the congressional 
review requirements of the CRA as a matter of law and has no discretion 
in this matter. Thus, notice and public procedure are unnecessary. The 
agency finds that this constitutes good cause under 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(3)(B).

    Issued this 2nd day of October, 2001, at Washington, DC.
Kirk K. Van Tine,
General Counsel, Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 01-25371 Filed 10-9-01; 8:45 am]
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