[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 78 (Tuesday, April 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19793-19794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9935]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Docket No. FAA-2001-8994]


Proposed Advisory Circular (AC) No. 21.101-1 Change 1, Advisory 
Material for the Establishment of the Certification Basis of Changed 
Aeronautical Products

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of and request for 
comments on Draft Advisory Circular (AC) 21.101-1 Change 1,dated April 
3, 2002, Advisory Material for the Establishment of the Certification 
Basis of Changed Aeronautical Products. This AC provides guidance for 
establishing the certification basis for changes made to aeronautical 
products. The FAA has issued a final rule, Type Certification 
Procedures for Changed Products, that amends the procedural regulations 
for the certification of changes made to type certification of 
aeronautical products. These amendments affect changes accomplished 
through either an amended type certificate or a supplemental type 
certificate. This proposal AC provides guidance for determining 
compliance with those amended procedural regulations for the 
certification of all aircraft, aircraft engines, and propellers.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 5, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Address your comments to the Docket Management System. U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Room Plaza 401, 400 Seventh St., SW., 
Washington, DC 20590-0001. You must identify the docket number at the 
beginning of your comments, and you should submit two copies of your 
comments.
    You may also submit comments through the Internet to http://dms/
dot.gov. You may review the public docket containing comments to these 
proposed AC in person in the Dockets Office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The Dockets Office is 
on the plaza level at the Department of Transportation building at the 
address above. Also, you may review public dockets on the Internet at 
http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randall Petersen, Certification 
Procedures Branch, AIR-110, Aircraft Engineering Division, Aircraft 
Certification Service, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 
Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone number: (202) 
267-9583, fax (202) 278-5340.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

    The FAA invites you to participate in this action by submitting 
written data, views, or arguments. In your comments, identify AC 21-
101-1 Change 1, Advisory Material for the Establishment of the 
Certification Basis of Changed Aeronautical Products, and the 
regulatory docket number specified previously. Submit them in duplicate 
to the DOT Rules Docket address specified above.
    The FAA will consider all comments received on or before the 
closing date for comments before issuing the final AC. The docket is 
available for public inspection before and after the comments closing 
date.

Availability of Rulemaking Documents

    You can get an electronic copy of this document from the Internet 
by taking the following steps:
    (1) Go to the search function of the Department of Transportation's 
electronic Docket Management System (DMS) web page (http://dms.dot.gov/search).
    (2) On the search page, type in the last four digits of the docket 
number shown at the beginning of this document. Click on ``search.''
    (3) On the next page, which contains the docket summary 
information, click on the item you want to see.
    You can also get an electronic copy using the Internet through the 
FAA's web page at http://www.faa.gov/avr/arm/nprm/htm or the Federal 
Register's web page at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces/140.html.

Background

Final Rule

    On June 7, 2000, the Type Certification Procedures for Changed 
Products final rule (65 FR 36244, June 7, 2000) became effective. The 
FAA established a mandatory compliance date of December 10, 2001, for 
transport category airplanes and restricted category airplanes that 
have been certificated using transport category standards; and a date 
of December 9,

[[Page 19794]]

2002, for all other category aircraft, engines, and propellers. The 
rule requires, among other things, that an applicant for a change to a 
type certificate must show the changed product complies with the 
certification requirements in effect on the date of application. (14 
CFR 21.101(a)). The rule also states the applicant may show the changed 
product complies with an earlier amendment of a regulation if the 
Administrator determines the change is ``not-significant.'' (14 CFR 
21.101(b)(1)). Specifically, determining the appropriate certification 
basis for each design change requires an assessment against the 
automatic criteria of ``significant'' as stated in the rule, coupled 
with the Administrator's discretionary right to consider the extent of 
the changes and related revisions to the regulations. (14 CFR 
21.101(b)(1)(i) and (ii)).
    On August 8, 2001, the FAA also published AC 21.101-1, providing 
guidance for the applicant to comply with the amended regulations for 
the certification of changes to transport category airplanes and 
restricted category airplanes that have been certified using transport 
category regulations.
    During the fifteen months since publishing the rule, FAA, Transport 
Canada Civil Aviation, European Joint Aviation Authorities, and 
industry developed guidance material in the form of an advisory 
circular, a draft FAA Notice, and related training materials. The 
aviation industry has questioned the ability to standardize 
administrative procedures, raising a concern that implementation of the 
rule may not be uniform among the aviation manufacturing communities, 
both domestic and international. Based on this concern, FAA wants to 
ensure the implementation procedures for the rule provide for an equal 
and balanced application for all manufacturers, both domestic and 
international, and do not place an undue burden on FAA Aircraft 
Certification Offices and other civil aviation authorities. 
Accordingly, the FAA published a delay of all the compliance dates in 
the rule (66 FR 56989, November 14, 2001) to June 10, 2003.

Advisory Circular (AC)

    To ensure a uniform application of this rule as it pertains to 
FAA's determination of ``significant'' and ``not-significant'' design 
changes, FAA has worked closely with the Joint Aviation Authorities and 
Transport Canada Civil Aviation to develop AC 21.101-1 Change 1. This 
advisory circular addresses the standardization concerns that 
precipitated the delay in implementing the rule until June 10, 2003, 
for all categories of aircraft, engines, and propellers.
    AC 21.101-1 Change 1, will provide guidance for the applicant to 
comply with the amended regulations for the certification of changes to 
all aeronautical products. This AC will supercede Advisory Circular 
21.101-1, dated August 8, 2001.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 12, 2002.
David W. Hempe,
Manager, Aircraft Engineering Division.
[FR Doc. 02-9935 Filed 4-18-02; 2:31 pm]
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