[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 216 (Wednesday, November 7, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56257-56258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27990]



[[Page 56257]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 71

[Airspace Docket No. 01-AAL-1]


Proposed Revocation of Class E Airspace; Umiat, AK

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This action proposed to revoke Class E airspace at Umiat, AK. 
The Umiat airport no longer meets the requirements for Class E airspace 
to protect Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at Umiat, AK. 
Adoption of this proposal would result in the removal of controlled 
airspace at Umiat, AK.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 24, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on the proposal in triplicate to:
    Manager, Operations Branch, AAL-530, Docket No. 01-AAL-1, 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 van Haastert, AAL-535, Federal 
Aviation Administration, 222 West 7th Avenue, Box 14, Anchorage, AK 
99513-7587; telephone number (907) 271-5863; fax: (907) 271-2850; 
email: [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. 01-
AAL-1.'' 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 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking's (NPRM's)

    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 bulletin board 
service (telephone: 202-512-1661).
    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/aces140.html.
    Any person may obtain a copy of this 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 contact the 
individual(s) identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section.

The Proposal

    The FAA proposes to amend 14 CFR part 71 by revoking Class E 
airspace at Umiat, AK. The intended effect of this proposal is the 
removal of the Class E controlled airspace for IFR operations at Umiat, 
AK.
    The Umiat airport does not have a standard instrument approach 
procedure, it is unattended, and does not meet the requirements to be 
used as an IFR alternate. The Colored Federal Airway Amber 4 (A-4) was 
realigned and Colored Federal Airway Amber 6 (A-6) was revoked on 
December 3, 1998 [63 FR 53279 5 Oct 1998 Airspace Docket 98-AAL-6] in 
conjunction with the removal of the Umiat Nondirectional Radio Beacon 
(NDB). The Umiat NDB was decommissioned in October 1999 resulting in 
the loss of the instrument approach procedure. With the subsequent 
cancellation of the A-Paid weather observer contract, there are now no 
aviation weather sources at Umiat, AK. Thus, the Umiat airport does not 
qualify for Class E airspace.
    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 
7400.9J, Airspace Designations and Reporting Points, dated September 1, 
2001, and effective September 16, 2001, which is incorporated by 
reference in 14 CFR 71.1. The Class E airspace designations 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.

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 proposes to amend 14 CFR part 71 as follows:

[[Page 56258]]

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 7400.9J, Airspace Designations and 
Reporting Points, dated September 1, 2001, and effective September 16, 
2001, 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  Umiat, AK [Revoked]

* * * * *

    Issued in Anchorage, AK, on October 30, 2001.
Stephen P. Creamer,
Assistant Manager, Air Traffic Division, Alaskan Region.
[FR Doc. 01-27990 Filed 11-6-01; 8:45 am]
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