[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28772-28774]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-14168]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Docket No. FAA-2006-25755]


Operating Limitations At Laguardia Airport

ACTION: Notice of order to show cause and request for information.

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SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing an order to show cause, which solicits the 
views of interested persons on the FAA's tentative determination to 
extend through October 30, 2010, the December 13, 2006, order limiting 
the number of scheduled and unscheduled operations at LaGuardia Airport 
during peak operating hours. The text of the order to show cause is set 
forth in this notice.

DATES: Any written information that responds to the FAA's order to show 
cause must be submitted by July 1, 2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written information, identified by docket 
number FAA-2006-25755, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for sending your 
comments electronically.
     Mail: Send comments by mail to Docket Operations, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, M-30, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Persons wishing to receive 
confirmation of receipt of their written submission

[[Page 28773]]

should include a self-addressed stamped postcard.
     Hand Delivery: Deliver comments to Docket Operations in 
Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the West Building at 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Facsimile: Fax comments to the docket operations personnel 
at 202-493-2251.
    Privacy: We will post all comments that we receive, without change, 
at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information that 
you provide. Using the search function of the docket Web site, anyone 
can find and read the electronic form of all comments in any of our 
dockets, including the name of the individual sending the comment or 
signing the comment on behalf of an association, business, labor union, 
or other entity or organization. You may review the DOT's complete 
Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register at 65 FR 19477-78 (April 
11, 2000), or you may find it at http://docketsinfo.dot.gov.
    Reviewing the docket: To read background documents or comments 
received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time and follow the 
online instructions for accessing the docket; or go to Docket 
Operations in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the West Building at 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James W. Tegtmeier, Associate Chief 
Counsel for the Air Traffic Organization; telephone--(202) 267-8323; e-
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Order To Show Cause

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has tentatively 
determined that it will extend through October 30, 2010, the FAA's 
December 13, 2006, order limiting scheduled and unscheduled operations 
at LaGuardia Airport, as subsequently amended (December 2006 order).\1\ 
This order to show cause invites air carriers and other interested 
persons to submit comments in Docket FAA-2006-25755 on this proposal to 
extend the duration of the December 2006 order.\2\
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    \1\ Operating Limitations at New York LaGuardia Airport, 71 FR 
77,854 (Dec. 27, 2006); 72 FR 63,224 (Nov. 8, 2007) (transfer, 
minimum usage, and withdrawal amendments); 72 FR 48,428 (Aug. 19, 
2008) (reducing the reservations available for unscheduled 
operations); 74 FR 845 (Jan. 8, 2009) (extending the expiration date 
of the December 2006 order until October 24, 2009); 74 FR 2,646 
(Jan. 15, 2009) (reducing the peak-hour cap on scheduled operations 
to 71).
    \2\ The FAA separately solicited comments on proposals to extend 
the January 15, 2008, order limiting scheduled operations at John F. 
Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and the May 15, 2008, order 
limiting scheduled operations at Newark Liberty International 
Airport (Newark). The public may file or review documents related to 
these proposals in Dockets FAA-2007-29320 (JFK) and FAA-2008-0221 
(Newark).
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    As a result of the limited capacity of LaGuardia's two-runway 
configuration, the airport cannot accommodate the number of scheduled 
and unscheduled flights that operators would like to conduct there 
without causing significant congestion-related delays. LaGuardia was 
one of the original U.S. airports at which the FAA capped the number of 
peak-hour operations under the High Density Rule.\3\ The High Density 
Rule limited the number of scheduled operations at the airport to 62 
per hour.
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    \3\ 33 FR 17,896, 17,898 (Dec. 3, 1968); 34 FR 2,603 (Feb. 26, 
1969).
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    In a statute enacted in April 2000, Congress began to phase out the 
High Density Rule at LaGuardia and other airports.\4\ Before fully 
extinguishing the High Density Rule at LaGuardia on January 1, 2007, 
the statute directed the Secretary of Transportation immediately to 
grant a number of exemptions from the High Density Rule for specific 
types of scheduled operations.\5\ Demand for exemptions to operate 
scheduled service at LaGuardia soared. By November 2000, the 
debilitating delays that resulted from the surging demand required the 
FAA to roll back and limit the number of operations at LaGuardia.\6\ 
The FAA limited the peak-hour scheduled operations at a total of 75 
hourly departures and arrivals.
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    \4\ 49 U.S.C. 41715(a)(2).
    \5\ 49 U.S.C. 41716.
    \6\ 65 FR 69,126, 69,127-28 (Nov. 15, 2000).
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    In the ensuing years, the FAA examined and proposed various 
alternatives to the High Density Rule in an effort to control 
congestion at LaGuardia.\7\ When it became apparent that the FAA would 
not have a replacement rule in place before the High Density Rule 
expired at LaGuardia, and recognizing that LaGuardia is prone to 
overscheduling, the FAA issued the December 2006 order to limit the 
number of scheduled and unscheduled operations at the airport until the 
FAA could issue a final rule. During much of the time that the December 
2006 order has remained in effect, the airport has continued to 
experience significant congestion-related delays. As a result, the FAA 
reduced the peak-hour limit on unscheduled operations from six to 
three.\8\ More recently, the FAA reduced the peak-hour limit on 
scheduled operations from 75 to 71.\9\
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    \7\ 71 FR 51,360 (Aug. 29, 2006) (Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking); 73 FR 20,846 (April 17, 2008) (Supplemental Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking).
    \8\ 72 FR at 48,428.
    \9\ 74 FR at 2,646.
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    The FAA established the order's October 2009 expiration date to 
permit time for a recently issued final rule to take effect to control 
congestion at LaGuardia.\10\ However, the rule was stayed by the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit prior to the 
rule's effective date, and the FAA is currently soliciting comments on 
a proposal to rescind the final rule.\11\ As a result of the FAA's 
reconsideration of the rule, the court is holding in abeyance the 
briefing schedule in the rule's associated litigation.
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    \10\ 74 FR at 845.
    \11\ 74 FR 22,717 (May 14, 2009).
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    In light of the events that have transpired since the December 2006 
order took effect, it is now unlikely that the FAA will have an 
effective final rule on the order's current expiration date. In the 
absence of the FAA's extension of the order, the FAA anticipates a 
return of the congestion-related delays that required the FAA to limit 
the number of operations at the airport. The hourly capacity at 
LaGuardia has not increased since the order took effect. Because the 
demand for operations at New York-area airports remains high, the FAA 
has determined that an extension of the December 2006 order appears to 
be appropriate while the FAA identifies the appropriate long-term 
solution to congestion at LaGuardia.
    Order to Show Cause:
    To prevent a recurrence of overscheduling at LaGuardia during the 
interim between the expiration of the December 2006 order on October 
24, 2009, and the effective date of a replacement rule, the FAA 
tentatively intends to extend the December 2006 order. The order will 
continue to apply to both scheduled and unscheduled operations at the 
airport. Maintaining the existing order for an additional, finite 
period constitutes a reasonable approach to preventing unacceptable 
congestion and delays at LaGuardia until a long-term measure is 
implemented. The December 2006 order, as extended, would expire on 
October 30, 2010.
    Accordingly, the FAA directs all interested persons to show cause 
why the FAA should not make final its tentative findings and tentative 
decision to extend the December 2006 order through October 30, 2010, by 
filing their

[[Page 28774]]

written views in Docket FAA-2006-25755. The FAA does not intend this 
request for the views of interested persons to address any issues 
related to the existing final rule or any future congestion management 
rule. Therefore, any submission to the current docket should be limited 
to the proposed extension of the December 2006 order.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 11, 2009.
Rebecca MacPherson,
Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations.
[FR Doc. E9-14168 Filed 6-16-09; 8:45 am]
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