[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 73 (Monday, April 16, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22630-22631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9176]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[OST Docket No. 2012-0057]


Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation has submitted to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance utilizing 
emergency review procedures in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA) information collection requests regarding submission 
of tarmac delay plans to DOT and posting of these plans on airlines' 
and airports' Web sites. DOT requests that OMB authorize these new 
collections of information on or before April 20, 2012, for 90 days 
after the date of approval by OMB.

DATES:  OMB approval has been requested by April 20, 2012. Comments are 
due April 23, 2012. Interested persons are invited to submit comments 
regarding this proposal.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments about this request to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the 
Department of Transportation, Office of Management and Budget, 
Washington, DC 20503, Telephone: 202-395-6929/Fax: 202-395-6881 (these 
are not toll free numbers), email: [email protected]. You 
may also submit comments [identified by Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0057] 
through one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W-12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Ave., 20590-0001 (between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST, Monday 
through Friday, except on Federal holidays).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blane A. Workie, Office of the General 
Counsel, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, 202-366-9342 (Voice), 
202-366-7152 (Fax), [email protected] (Email). Arrangements to 
receive this notice in an alternative format may be made by contacting 
the above-named individual.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA Modernization and Reform Act, which 
was signed into law on February 14, 2012, requires U.S. carriers that 
operate scheduled passenger service or public charter service using any 
aircraft with a design capacity of 30 or more seats, and operators of 
large hub, medium hub, small hub, or non-hub U.S. airports to submit 
contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays to the Secretary of 
Transportation for review and approval no later than May 14, 2012. The 
Act also requires each covered carrier and airport to ensure public 
access to its plan after DOT approval by posting the plan on its Web 
site. The Department notes that these information collection 
requirements are specifically required by statute and are not being 
imposed as an exercise of the Department's discretion. The Department 
seeks OMB approval for the submission and posting of these plans under 
the PRA emergency clearance process because use of the normal clearance 
procedures is reasonably likely to cause the May 14 statutory deadline 
for submission of plans to be missed. The Department has established a 
Web address for the filing of contingency plans to enable covered U.S. 
airlines and airports to easily submit their required plans through the 
World Wide Web. Once OMB approves this information collection, the 
Department intends to issue a notice that provides information on how 
covered U.S. carriers and airports can submit the required plans to the 
Department through the World Wide Web.
    A Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection 
of information, and the public is generally not required to respond to 
an information collection, unless it is approved by the OMB under the 
PRA and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, 
notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall generally 
be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection of 
information if the collection of information does not display a valid 
OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
    This notice addresses two new information collection requirements 
concerning tarmac delays as a result of the FAA Modernization and 
Reform Act. For each of these information collections, the title, a 
description of the respondents, and an estimate of the annual 
recordkeeping and periodic reporting burden are set forth below:
    1. Requirement to submit tarmac delay plan to DOT for review and 
approval.

[[Page 22631]]

    Title: Filing of Tarmac Delay Plan to DOT.
    Respondents: Each large, medium, small and non-hub airport in the 
U.S.; U.S. carriers that operate scheduled passenger service or public 
charter service using any aircraft with a design capacity of 30 or more 
seats.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 368 U.S. airports and 61 U.S. 
airlines.
    Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 736 hours for U.S. airports 
(Average of 2 hours per U.S. airport to prepare and submit plan through 
electronic submission system since airport associations have prepared 
templates for use by U.S. airports); 30.5 hours for U.S. carriers 
(Average of 30 minutes per U.S. carrier to prepare and submit plan 
through electronic submission system since U.S. carriers already have 
such plans in place).
    Frequency: Every 5 years for covered U.S. airports; every 3 years 
for covered U.S. carriers.
    2. Requirement to ensure public access to tarmac delay plan after 
DOT approval.
    Title: Posting of Tarmac Delay Plan on Web sites.
    Respondents: Each large, medium, small and non-hub airport in the 
U.S.; U.S. carriers that operate scheduled passenger service or public 
charter service using any aircraft with a design capacity of 30 or more 
seats.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 368 U.S. airports and 61 U.S. 
airlines.
    Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 107 hours and 15 minutes 
(Average of 15 minutes per respondent to post plan on Web site).
    Frequency: Every 5 years for covered U.S. airports; every 3 years 
for covered U.S. airlines.
    We invite comments on (a) whether the collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; we note that these information collection requirements are 
specifically required by statute; (b) the accuracy of the Department's 
estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways 
to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. As noted above, 
the Department intends to provide a portal for electronic submission of 
the required information. All comments will also become a matter of 
public record.

    Issued this 12th day of April 2012, at Washington, DC.
Samuel Podberesky,
Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings.
[FR Doc. 2012-9176 Filed 4-13-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P