[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 157 (Monday, August 16, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49865-49866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-20155]


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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 157 / Monday, August 16, 2010 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 49865]]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Parts 25 and 33

[Docket No. FAA-2010-0636; Notice No. 10-10]
RIN 2120-AJ34


Extension of Comment Period; Airplane and Engine Certification 
Requirements in Supercooled Large Drop, Mixed Phase, and Ice Crystal 
Icing Conditions

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM); extension of comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: This action extends the comment period for an NPRM that was 
published on June 29, 2010. In that document, the FAA proposed to amend 
the airworthiness standards applicable to certain transport category 
airplanes certified for flight in icing conditions and the icing 
airworthiness standards applicable to certain aircraft engines. The 
proposed regulations would improve safety by addressing supercooled 
large drop icing conditions for transport category airplanes most 
affected by these icing conditions, mixed phase and ice crystal 
conditions for all transport category airplanes, and supercooled large 
drop, mixed phase, and ice crystal icing conditions for all turbine 
engines. Bombardier Aerospace, an airframe manufacturer, and Turbomeca 
Groupe SAFRAN, an engine manufacturer, have requested an extension of 
the comment period from 60 days to 120 days to allow time to adequately 
analyze the NPRM and prepare comments.

DATES: The comment period for the NPRM published on June 29, 2010 (75 
FR 37311) was scheduled to close on August 30, 2010, and is extended 
until September 29, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments identified by Docket Number FAA-2010-
0636 using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions for sending your 
comments electronically.
     Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.
     Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
     Hand Delivery: Bring comments to Docket Operations in Room 
W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, 
SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.
    For more information on the rulemaking process, see the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    Privacy: We will post all comments we receive, without change, to 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information you 
provide. Using the search function of our docket Web site, anyone can 
find and read the comments received into any of our dockets, including 
the name of the individual sending the comment (or signing the comment 
for an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
    Docket: To read background documents or comments received, go to 
http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to Docket Operations in Room 
W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor 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: Robert Hettman, FAA, Propulsion/
Mechanical Systems Branch, ANM-112, Transport Airplane Directorate, 
Aircraft Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, WA 
98057-3356; telephone (425) 227-2683; facsimile (425) 227-1320; e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

    The FAA invites interested persons to participate in this 
rulemaking by submitting written comments, data, or views. We also 
invite comments relating to the economic, environmental, energy, or 
federalism impacts that might result from adopting the proposals in 
this document. The most helpful comments reference a specific portion 
of the proposal, explain the reason for any recommended change, and 
include supporting data. To ensure the docket does not contain 
duplicate comments, please send only one copy of written comments, or 
if you are filing comments electronically, please submit your comments 
only one time.
    We will file in the docket all comments we receive, as well as a 
report summarizing each substantive public contact with FAA personnel 
concerning this proposed rulemaking. Before acting on this proposal, we 
will consider all comments we receive on or before the closing date for 
comments. We will consider comments filed after the comment period has 
closed if it is possible to do so without incurring expense or delay. 
We may change this proposal in light of the comments we receive.

Availability of Rulemaking Documents

    You can get an electronic copy using the Internet by:
    (1) Searching the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov;
    (2) Visiting the Office of Rulemaking's Web page at http://www.faa.gov/avr/arm/index.cfm; or
    (3) Accessing the Government Printing Office's Web page at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.
    You can also get a copy by sending a request to the Federal 
Aviation Administration, Office of Rulemaking, ARM-1, 800 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591, or by calling (202) 267-9680. Make 
sure to identify the docket number, notice number, or amendment number 
of this rulemaking.

Proprietary or Confidential Business Information

    Do not file in the docket information that you consider to be 
proprietary or confidential business information. Send or deliver this 
information directly to the person identified in the FOR FURTHER

[[Page 49866]]

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. You must mark the 
information that you consider proprietary or confidential. If you send 
the information on a disk or CD-ROM, mark the outside of the disk or 
CD-ROM and also identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the 
specific information that is proprietary or confidential.
    Under 14 CFR 11.35(b), when we are aware of proprietary information 
filed with a comment, we do not place it in the docket. We hold it in a 
separate file to which the public does not have access, and place a 
note in the docket that we have received it. If we receive a request to 
examine or copy this information, we treat it as any other request 
under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). We process such a 
request under the DOT procedures found in 49 CFR part 7.

Background

    On June 29, 2010, the FAA issued Notice No. 10-10, entitled 
``Airplane and Engine Certification Requirements in Supercooled Large 
Drop, Mixed Phase, and Ice Crystal Icing Conditions'' (75 FR 37311, 
Docket No. FAA-2010-0636). Comments to that document were to be 
received on or before August 30, 2010.
    By letter dated July 9, 2010, Bombardier Aerospace (Bombardier) 
advised that the comment period for NPRMs has typically been 90 days 
for proposed rule changes of far lesser significance and complexity. 
Given the potential impact of the rule, and the magnitude of the effort 
required to review it, Bombardier stated that the comment period should 
be 120 days instead of 60 days. By letter dated July 26, 2010, 
Turbomeca Groupe SAFRAN (Turbomeca) also requested an extension to the 
comment period from 60 days to 120 days, citing the same reasons as 
Bombardier.
    While the FAA concurs with Bombardier and Turbomeca's assessments 
of the NPRM's significance and complexity, we do not support extending 
the comment period for an additional 60 days. The NPRM went through the 
Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) process, which gave the 
aviation industry the opportunity to become familiar with the content 
of the NPRM. The ARAC working group that provided recommendations for 
the NPRM was comprised of members from the FAA, the European Aviation 
Safety Agency, and the aviation industry, including Bombardier. Because 
of the significant industry involvement in the rulemaking process for 
this NPRM, a 120-day comment period is not justified and would 
adversely impact the final rulemaking process. However, the FAA does 
support a 90-day comment period by adding an additional 30 days to the 
current comment period. A 90-day comment period is consistent with 
other recent rulemaking activities associated with aircraft icing.
    Absent unusual circumstances, the FAA does not anticipate any 
further extension of the comment period for this rulemaking.

Extension of Comment Period

    In accordance with Sec.  11.47(c) of Title 14, Code of Federal 
Regulations, the FAA has reviewed Bombardier and Turbomeca's petitions 
for extension of the comment period to Notice No. 10-10. Bombardier and 
Turbomeca have shown a substantive interest in the proposed rule and 
good cause for the extension. The FAA has determined that an extension 
of the comment period is consistent with the public interest, and that 
good cause exists for taking this action.
    Accordingly, the comment period for Notice No. 10-10 is extended 
until September 29, 2010.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 11, 2010.
Pamela Hamilton-Powell,
Director, Office of Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2010-20155 Filed 8-13-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P