[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 37 (Friday, February 25, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9217-9218]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3638]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 234

[Docket No. OST-2005-20331]


Reporting Directive Regarding Incidents Involving Animals During 
Air Transport

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Order.

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SUMMARY: The Department is publishing the following reporting directive 
regarding the reporting requirements that are contained in the OST 
final rule on ``Reports by Carriers on Incidents Involving Animals 
During Air Transport.''

DATES: This order shall become effective after an OMB control number 
for the information collection requirements contained in the rule on 
``Reports by Carriers on Incidents Involving Animals During Air 
Transport'' is assigned and announced in a separate document in the 
Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blane A. Workie, Supervisory Trial 
Attorney, Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Aviation 
Enforcement and Proceedings, Office of the General Counsel, 400 7th 
Street, SW., Room 10424, Washington DC 20590, 202-366-9342 (voice), 
202-366-7153 (fax), or [email protected] (e-mail).

U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary, Office of 
the General Counsel

[OST Docket 2005-20331]

    Issued by the Department of Transportation, on the 15th day of 
February 2005.

In the Matter of a Reporting Directive on Incidents Involving Animals 
During Air Transport Issued Pursuant to 14 CFR 234.13; Order

    The purpose of this order is to adopt a reporting directive to 
provide guidance to all U.S. air carriers that provide scheduled 
passenger air transportation regarding the new reporting requirements 
that are contained in the final rule on ``Reports by Carriers on 
Incidents Involving Animals During Air Transport'' and to answer 
questions that have been raised about the requirements in the rule.

Background

    On February 14, 2005, the Department of Transportation (Department) 
published a final rule on ``Reports by Carriers on Incidents Involving 
Animals During Air Transport.'' 70 FR 7392. The rule, which applies to 
domestic and international scheduled-service transportation performed 
by U.S. air carriers with any size aircraft, adds a new Sec.  234.13 to 
14 CFR part 234.\1\
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    \1\ The rule was originally published by the Department through 
its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on August 11, 2003 (68 FR 
47798).
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    Section 234.13 requires each reporting air carrier to submit a 
report on any incidents involving the loss, injury, or death of an 
animal \2\ during air transport \3\ to the Department's Aviation 
Consumer Protection Division (ACPD) within 15 days of the end of each 
month. Each report must include the following information:
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    \2\ Animal is defined in the rule as any warm or cold blooded 
animal which, at the time of transportation, is being kept as a pet 
in a family household in the United States.
    \3\ Under the rule, the air transport of an animal includes the 
entire period during which an animal is in the custody of an air 
carrier, from check-in or delivery of the animal prior to departure 
until the animal is returned to the owner or guardian of the animal 
at the final destination of the animal.
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    (1) Carrier and flight number;
    (2) Date and time of the incident;
    (3) Description of the animal, including name, if applicable;
    (4) Identification of the owner(s) and/or guardian of the animal;
    (5) Narrative description of the incident;
    (6) Narrative description of the cause of the incident;
    (7) Narrative description of any corrective action taken in 
response to the incident; and
    (8) Name, title, address, and telephone number of the individual 
filing the report on behalf of the air carrier.
    Section 234.13 also calls for the report to be submitted in the 
form and manner set forth in reporting directives issued by the Deputy 
General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Transportation. This 
reporting directive sets forth the form and manner in which carriers 
must submit the required data on loss, injury, or death of an animal 
during air transport. It is being issued as an order under the 
authority specified in 14 CFR 385.15(c).

Form and Manner of Reporting

    All submissions must be made via e-mail to 
[email protected] except for situations where the carrier can 
demonstrate that it would suffer undue hardship if it were not 
permitted to submit the data by regular postal mail and ACPD has 
approved an exception. When submitting the information by postal mail 
under an exception, carriers

[[Page 9218]]

must use the following address: Aviation Consumer Protection Division/
C-75, Room 4107, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20590.
    The report is to be submitted in Microsoft Word format. To protect 
identifiable personal information, reporting carriers must submit the 
required information in two separate documents. One document shall 
contain all of the required data elements, and the second shall be 
redacted and contain all of these elements with the exception of 
information regarding the identification of the owner(s) and/or 
guardian of the animal and the name, title, address, and telephone 
number of the individual filing the report on behalf of the air 
carrier.

Frequently Asked Questions

    Since the original publication of the rule, several questions have 
been raised concerning the reporting requirements, answers to which are 
provided below:
    1. Which carriers must file a report on incidents involving the 
loss, injury, or death of an animal during air transport, and what 
transportation is subject to the reporting requirement?
    Based on the statute requiring the reports, a reporting carrier is 
defined as any U.S. air carrier that provides scheduled passenger air 
transportation. This definition includes commuter carriers and air 
taxis that provide scheduled service, whether or not they are 
classified as a commuter carrier. Carriers that provide both scheduled 
and non-scheduled service are only to report incidents that occur on 
(or that are associated with) a scheduled passenger flight.
    2. Are carriers required to report incidents involving the loss, 
injury or death of an animal transported on an all-cargo flight?
    No. But the loss, injury, or death of a pet that is shipped as 
cargo carried on a passenger flight is subject to this reporting 
requirement.
    3. Does the requirement to submit a report on incidents involving 
the loss, injury, or death of an animal during air transport apply to 
foreign carriers?
    No, foreign air carriers are not covered by the animal reporting 
requirement. However, U.S. carriers that provide scheduled passenger 
air transportation must report all incidents involving loss, injury or 
death of an animal during air transport even if the flight is between 
two foreign points.
    4. If there is an incident involving the loss, injury or death of 
an animal on a code-share flight, which carrier is required to report 
it?
    The operating airline is required to report such incidents, since 
it provides services on that flight. An incident that occurs on a 
flight that carries the code of a foreign carrier but that is operated 
by a U.S. carrier is subject to this reporting requirement and is to be 
reported by the U.S. carrier. A flight that carries the code of a U.S. 
carrier but is operated by a foreign carrier is not subject to this 
rule. Therefore, incidents that occur on such a flight need not be 
reported.
    5. What should be reported as the loss, injury, or death of an 
animal during air transport?
    Any incident, even if it was determined that the carrier was not at 
fault, resulting in the loss, injury or death of any warm or cold 
blooded animal that is being kept as a pet in a family household in the 
United States and that occurred during the time that the animal was in 
the custody of the air carrier must be reported.
    6. If a carrier has not taken corrective action in response to an 
incident involving the loss, injury, or death of an animal, how should 
a carrier address this fact in its report to ACPD?
    The carrier must state in its report that no corrective action was 
taken. A carrier may if it wishes explain the reason that no corrective 
action was taken.
    7. If a carrier does not know the cause of the loss, injury or 
death of an animal or believes that there were a number of causes, how 
should the carrier respond to the requirement to provide a narrative 
description of the cause of the incident?
    If the reason for the loss, injury or death of an animal is not 
known, the carrier can state that the cause is not known. If there are 
a number of factors that contributed to the loss, injury or death of an 
animal, the carrier must list all of the factors.
    8. When must carriers begin submitting reports to ACPD?
    Carriers are not required to begin submitting reports to ACPD until 
the Department obtains an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control 
number for the reporting. OMB regulations implementing provisions of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 specify that no person is required 
to respond to an information collection unless it displays a valid OMB 
control number. Once the Department receives OMB approval of this 
information collection request (ICR), it will announce this approval in 
a Federal Register notice with a specific compliance date.
    9. Where and how will ACPD publish the reports?
    ACPD will process each report and publish the information without 
any identifiable personal information, in its electronic version of the 
Air Travel Consumer Report. This publication is issued monthly, usually 
within the first week of each month. There is usually a 40-day lag in 
processing data (e.g., a report issued in early November will contain 
data for September incidents). The publication can be found on-line at 
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov.
    10. Must carriers file a report in months when they do not 
experience a reportable loss, injury, or death of an animal?
    No. Negative reports should not be filed; carriers must file a 
report only for a month in which they had a reportable loss, injury, or 
death of an animal.
    Accordingly,
    1. We order all U.S. air carriers that provide scheduled passenger 
air transportation to submit a report on any incidents involving the 
loss, injury, or death of an animal during air transport to the 
Aviation Consumer Protection Division within 15 days of the end of each 
month in the form and manner set forth in this reporting directive;
    2. This order shall be published in the Federal Register; and
    3. This order shall become effective after an OMB control number 
for the information collection requirements contained in the rule on 
``Reports by Carriers on Incidents Involving Animals During Air 
Transport'' is assigned and announced in a separate document in the 
Federal Register.

    This action is taken under authority assigned in 14 CFR 
385.15(c) of the Department's regulations.


Rosalind A. Knapp,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05-3638 Filed 2-24-05; 8:45 am]
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