[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 23, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52732-52733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21423]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. 2011-0435]
Office of Commercial Space Transportation Notice of Intent To
Publish Current and Future Launch, Site, and Reentry Licenses and
Permits and Their Orders Online
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is changing the way
the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) makes its permits,
licenses, and all accompanying orders (authorizations) available to the
public. The FAA intends to post all current and future authorizations
online on the AST Web site \1\ beginning on October 24, 2011. The FAA
will not publish license or permit applications or evaluations. The FAA
has determined that posting authorizations online will allow it to more
effectively and efficiently inform the public of its commercial space
transportation permit and license determinations.
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\1\ The AST website address is http://faa.gov/go/ast. The FAA
proposes to post launch, reentry and site licenses in the Commercial
Space Data--Active Licenses section at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/launch_data/current_licenses/. The FAA proposes to post permits in the Commercial Space
Data--Active Permits section at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/launch_data/current_permits/.
DATES: Please submit any comments on or before September 22, 2011.
Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical
to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given except as to
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comments received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by Docket No. 2011-0435 using 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 to Docket Operations, M-30; U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room
W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: Take 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.
Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
Privacy: The FAA will post all comments it receives, without
change, to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information the commenter provides. Using the search function of the
docket Web site, anyone can find and read the electronic form of all
comments received into any FAA dockets, including the name of the
individual sending the comment (or signing the comment for an
association, business, labor union, etc.). DOT's complete Privacy Act
Statement can be found in the Federal Register published on April 11,
2000 (65 FR 19477-19478), as well as at http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at
http://www.regulations.gov at any time. Follow the online instructions
for accessing the docket or 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: For technical questions concerning
this notice contact Charles P. Brinkman, Licensing Program Lead,
Commercial Space Transportation--Licensing and Evaluation Division,
Office of Commercial Space Transportation, Federal Aviation
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591;
telephone (202) 267-7715; e-mail: [email protected]. For legal
questions concerning this notice contact Laura Montgomery, Senior
Attorney for Commercial Space Transportation, AGC-200, Office of the
Chief Counsel, Regulations Division, Federal Aviation Administration,
800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202)
267-3150; e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Secretary of Transportation has the authority to issue
commercial space transportation permits and licenses for commercial
launch, reentry, and launch and reentry site operations. 51 U.S.C.
[[Page 52733]]
50901(b)(3). A license is required to launch a launch vehicle, reenter
a reentry vehicle, or operate a launch or reentry site within the
United States or by a U.S. citizen. 51 U.S.C. 50904(a)(1)-(4). The FAA
issues permits for the launch of reusable suborbital rockets pursuant
to the requirements of 51 U.S.C. 50906. Title 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2)
applies to final authorizations the FAA issues to an applicant, and the
FAA should therefore make authorizations ``available for public
inspection, and copying.'' 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2).
In compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act, as well as
recent guidance from the White House, the FAA is planning to post all
current and future authorizations online in order to increase agency
efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency. The FAA receives Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) requests for authorizations, and publishing
this information online would save the agency both the time and
resources used to process and respond to these FOIA requests. The
President's recent memorandum on regulatory compliance encourages
agencies to make readily accessible to the public information
concerning their regulatory compliance and enforcement activities.
Presidential Memoranda--Regulatory Compliance (January 18, 2011);
available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/18/presidential-memoranda-regulatory-compliance. Publishing authorizations
online furthers the FAA's goal of transparency, openness, and public
access by making it easier and faster for the public to obtain
information regarding AST licensing and permit activities.
Information contained in authorizations is typically not
confidential. Typical information provided in a launch license or
permit and any accompanying orders includes the specific types of
vehicles the authorization applies to, the launch location, and the
amount of liability and government property insurance the FAA requires
the authorized entity to maintain. Launch licenses also include the
term of the license, the authorized azimuths of the launch vehicle, and
any type of payload. In some cases, such as a Pegasus launch or a
launch under a permit, the launch license will define when flight
begins. Insurance information has historically been published on the
FAA website. Information including the launch area and the date and
time of the launch is provided in publicly available notices to airmen
and mariners.\2\
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\2\ Notices to airmen and mariners are publicly available on the
FAA Web site for two months after their effective date at: http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html.
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Information in a site license includes the site location, site
activities, type of launch vehicle authorized for the site, and the
term of the license.
Information provided in a reentry license includes the term of the
license, the term of insurance coverage, and the nominal reentry
locations. The insurance information is publicly available, now on the
FAA's Web site, and the nominal reentry area locations are publicly
available in notices to airmen and mariners.
Notices to airmen and mariners are publicly available documents,
but they do not provide the same information contained in a license. A
notice to airmen and mariners will contain coordinates for an area to
alert airmen and mariners of hazards during a specified time period for
safety reasons. For reentry, this area is calculated based on the
reentry vehicle's possible impact points. While launch locations are
generally well-known because launches occur from established launch
pads, reentry locations may be the result of an operator's own
calculations and decisions. Notices to airmen that restrict air traffic
during a reentry do not provide the nominal reentry points that the FAA
currently includes in the operator's license. Therefore, operators may
have concerns about reverse engineering using the reentry data provided
in licenses. While the FAA will continue to include nominal and
contingency reentry points in authorizations, operators will have the
opportunity to request that the information be redacted from online
publication if they consider it confidential. If an operator makes such
a request, the FAA will examine the operator's rationale and make a
determination regarding whether or not the information is confidential.
Most licenses and permits do not contain confidential information
or data. However, for those occasions where specific license terms or
conditions reflect circumstances unique to a particular operator, there
are protections available under the statute and regulations. Applicants
for a license can protect trade secrets or proprietary commercial or
financial data by requesting in writing that the information be treated
as confidential at the time it is submitted. 14 CFR 413.9(a).
Information or data the applicant wishes to protect must be clearly
marked with an identifying legend, or cover sheet containing an
identifying legend. 14 CFR 413.9(b).
The FOIA exempts from mandatory disclosure trade secrets and
privileged or confidential commercial or financial information. 5
U.S.C. 552(b)(4). Information that ``is designated as confidential by
the person or head of the executive agency providing the information''
or that qualifies for an exemption under FOIA can be disclosed by the
Secretary of Transportation, an officer or employee of the United
States Government, or a person making a contract with the Secretary
under section 50906(b) of this title ``if the Secretary decides that
the withholding of the information or data is contrary to the public or
national interest.'' 51 U.S.C. 50916; 14 CFR 413.9(d).
In some cases, licenses contain specific terms and conditions
tailored for a particular licensee. Even so, terms and conditions
typically do not contain confidential information, and the FAA will
publish these terms and conditions online. The terms may have a useful
effect that others may want to be aware of. In the event that the terms
and conditions contain confidential information, the licensee can
follow the procedures to protect confidential information described
above. The FAA will be providing the public with potentially useful
information by making this information more readily available through
online publication.
Before implementing this new policy, the FAA requests comment from
the public, and is providing a period of 30 days for comment.
Issued in Washington, DC, on August 5, 2011.
George C. Nield,
Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2011-21423 Filed 8-22-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P