[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 66 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17389-17390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4973]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 71

[Docket No. FAA-2006-23715; Airspace Docket No. 06-AAL-08]


Proposed Modification of Offshore Airspace Area: Control 1487L; 
AK

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This action proposes to modify the Control 1487L offshore 
airspace area in the vicinity of the Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport, 
Sitka, AK; Merle K. Mudhole Smith Airport, Cordova, AK; and Middleton 
Island Airport, Middleton Island, AK, by lowering the affected airspace 
floors associated within Control 1487L. The FAA is proposing these 
actions to provide additional controlled airspace for the safety of 
aircraft executing instrument flight rules (IFR) operations at the 
Sitka Rocky Gutierrez, Merle K. Mudhole, and Middleton Island Airports.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 22, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on this proposal to the Docket Management 
System, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room Plaza 401, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. You must identify FAA Docket 
No. FAA-2005-23715 and Airspace Docket No. 06-AAL-08, at the beginning 
of your comments. You may also submit comments through the Internet at 
http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken McElroy, Airspace and Rules, 
Office of System Operations Airspace and AIM, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; 
telephone: (202) 267-8783.

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 both docket numbers (FAA Docket No. 
FAA-2006-23715 and Airspace Docket No. 06-AAL-08) and be submitted in 
triplicate to the Docket Management System (see ADDRESSES section for 
address and phone number). You may also submit comments through the 
Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.
    Commenters wishing the FAA to acknowledge receipt of their comments 
on this action must submit with those comments a self-addressed, 
stamped postcard on which the following statement is made: ``Comments 
to FAA Docket No. FAA-2006-23715 and Airspace Docket No. 06-AAL-08.'' 
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 action may be changed in light of 
comments received. All comments submitted will be available for 
examination in the public docket 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

    An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded through the 
Internet at http://dms.dot.gov. Recently published rulemaking documents 
can also be accessed through the FAA's Web page at http://www.faa.gov., 
or the Federal Register's Web page at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.
    You may review the public docket containing the proposal, any 
comments received, and any final disposition in person in the Dockets 
Office (see ADDRESSES section for address and phone number) between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. An 
informal docket may also be examined during normal business hours at 
the office of the Regional Air Traffic Division, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 222 West 7th Avenue 14, Anchorage, AK 99513.
    Persons interested in being placed on a mailing list for future 
NPRM's should contact the FAA's Office of Rulemaking, (202) 267-9677, 
for a copy of Advisory Circular No. 11-2A, Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking Distribution System, which describes the application 
procedure.

The Proposal

    The FAA is proposing an amendment to Title 14 Code of Federal 
Regulations (14 CFR) part 71 to modify the Control 1487L airspace area, 
AK, by lowering the floor from 5,500 feet mean sea level (MSL) to as 
low as 700 feet MSL in the vicinity of the Sitka Rocky Gutierrez 
Airport, Merle K. Mudhole Smith Airport and Middleton Island Airport. 
This action also proposes to provide offshore airspace in the vicinity 
of Merle K. Mudhole Smith Airport, AK, by lowering the offshore 
airspace floor from 5,500 feet MSL to 1,200 feet MSL. Additionally, 
this action would re-designate the existing class E airspace at 
Anchorage, AK, by extending Control 1487L airspace area westward to the 
12-mile shoreline limit within the 149.5-mile radius associated with 
Anchorage, AK Class E airspace, and clarify offshore airspace 
descriptions within already established domestic Class E airspace at 
Anchorage and Cordova. The FAA is proposing these actions to provide 
additional controlled airspace for the safety of aircraft executing IFR 
operations at the Sitka Rocky Gutierrez, Merle K. Mudhole Smith, and 
Middleton Island Airports, and to correctly designate the existing 
Class E airspace for Anchorage and Cordova, AK.
    The FAA has determined that this proposed regulation only involves 
an established body of technical regulations for which frequent and

[[Page 17390]]

routine amendments are necessary to keep them operationally current. 
Therefore, this proposed regulation: (1) Is not a ``significant 
regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866; (2) is not a 
``significant rule'' under Department of Transportation (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 proposed 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.

ICAO Considerations

    As part of this proposal relates to navigable airspace outside the 
United States, this notice is submitted in accordance with the 
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) International 
Standards and Recommended Practices.
    The application of International Standards and Recommended 
Practices by the FAA, Office of System Operations Airspace and AIM, 
Airspace & Rules, in areas outside the United States domestic airspace, 
is governed by the Convention on International Civil Aviation. 
Specifically, the FAA is governed by Article 12 and Annex 11, which 
pertain to the establishment of necessary air navigational facilities 
and services to promote the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of 
civil air traffic. The purpose of Article 12 and Annex 11 is to ensure 
that civil aircraft operations on international air routes are 
performed under uniform conditions.
    The International Standards and Recommended Practices in Annex 11 
apply to airspace under the jurisdiction of a contracting state, 
derived from ICAO. Annex 11 provisions apply when air traffic services 
are provided and a contracting state accepts the responsibility of 
providing air traffic services over high seas or in airspace of 
undetermined sovereignty. A contracting state accepting this 
responsibility may apply the International Standards and Recommended 
Practices that are consistent with standards and practices utilized in 
its domestic jurisdiction.
    In accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, state-owned 
aircraft are exempt from the Standards and Recommended Practices of 
Annex 11. The United States is a contracting state to the Convention. 
Article 3(d) of the Convention provides that participating state 
aircraft will be operated in international airspace with due regard for 
the safety of civil aircraft. Since this action involves, in part, the 
designation of navigable airspace outside the United States, the 
Administrator is consulting with the Secretary of State and the 
Secretary of Defense in accordance with the provisions of Executive 
Order 10854.

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:

PART 71--DESIGNATION OF CLASS A, B, C, D AND E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIR 
TRAFFIC SERVICE ROUTES; AND REPORTING POINTS

    1. The authority citation for 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 the Federal 
Aviation Administration Order 7400.9N, Airspace Designations and 
Reporting Points, dated September 1, 2005, and effective September 15, 
2005, is amended as follows:

Paragraph 6007 Offshore Airspace Areas.

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Control 1487L [Amended]

    That airspace extending upward from 8,000 feet MSL within 149.5 
miles of the Anchorage VOR/DME clockwise from the 090[deg]((T)/
065[deg](M) radial to the 185[deg](T)/160[deg](M) radial of the 
Anchorage VOR/DME; and that airspace extending upward from 5,500 
feet MSL within the area bounded by a line beginning at lat. 
58[deg]19'58'' N., long. 148[deg]55'07'' W.; to lat. 59[deg]08'34'' 
N., long. 147[deg]16'06'' W.; thence counterclockwise via the arc of 
a 149.5-mile radius centered on the Anchorage VOR/DME to the 
intersection of the 149.5-mile radius arc and a point 12 miles from 
and parallel to the U.S. coastline; thence southeast 12 miles from 
and parallel to the U.S. coastline to a point 12 miles offshore on 
the Vancouver FIR boundary; to lat. 54[deg]32'57'' N., long. 
133[deg]11'29'' W.; to lat. 54[deg]00'00'' N., long. 136[deg]00'00'' 
W.; to lat. 52[deg]43'00'' N., long. 135[deg]00'00'' W.; to lat. 
56[deg]45'42'' N., long. 151[deg]45'00'' W.; to the point of 
beginning; and that airspace extending upward from 1,200 feet MSL 
within the area bounded by a line beginning at lat. 59[deg]33'25'' 
N., long. 141[deg]03'22'' W.; thence southeast 12 miles from and 
parallel to the U.S. coastline to lat. 58[deg]56'18'' N., long. 
138[deg]45'19'' W.; to lat. 58[deg]40'00'' N., long. 139[deg]30'00'' 
W.; to lat. 59[deg]00'00'' N., long.141[deg]10'00'' W.; to the point 
of beginning, and that airspace within 85 miles of the Biorka Island 
VORTAC, and that airspace within 42 miles of the Middleton Island 
VOR/DME, and that airspace within 30 miles of the Glacier River NDB; 
and that airspace extending upward from 700 feet MSL within 14 miles 
of the Biorka Island VORTAC and within 4 miles west and 8 miles east 
of the Biorka Island VORTAC 209[deg](T)/181[deg](M) radial extending 
to 16 miles southwest of the VORTAC. The portion within Canada is 
excluded.
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    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 30, 2006.
Edith V. Parish,
Manager, Airspace and Rules.
 [FR Doc. E6-4973 Filed 4-5-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P