[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 26 (Monday, February 9, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6899-6900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02579]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 91

[Docket No. FAA-2007-29305; Amdt. No. 91-334]
RIN 2120-AI92


Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out 
Performance Requirements To Support Air Traffic Control (ATC) Service; 
Technical Amendment

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: The FAA is correcting a final rule published on May 28, 2010. 
In that rule, the FAA amended its regulations by adding equipage 
requirements and performance standards for Automatic Dependent 
Surveillance--Broadcast (ADS-B) Out avionics on aircraft operating in 
Classes A, B, and C airspace, as well as other specified classes of 
airspace within the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). This document 
corrects errors in regulatory provisions addressing ADS-B Out equipment 
and use.

DATES: Effective February 9, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical questions concerning 
this action, contact Robert F. Nichols, Jr., Surveillance Services 
Group Manager, AJM-23, Air Traffic Organization, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 600 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; 
telephone (202) 267-0629; email [email protected].
    For legal questions concerning this action, contact Lorelei Peter, 
Office of the Chief Counsel, AGC-200, Federal Aviation Administration, 
800

[[Page 6900]]

Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone 202-267-3073; 
email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Good Cause for Immediate Adoption Without Prior Notice

    Section 553(b)(3)(B) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 
U.S.C. 551 et seq.) authorizes agencies to dispense with notice and 
comment procedures for rules when the agency for ``good cause'' finds 
that those procedures are ``impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to 
the public interest.'' Under this section, an agency, upon finding good 
cause, may issue a final rule without seeking comment prior to the 
rulemaking.
    Section 553(d)(3) of the Administrative Procedure Act requires that 
agencies publish a rule not less than 30 days before its effective 
date, except as otherwise provided by the agency for good cause found 
and published with the rule.
    This document is correcting an error that is in 14 CFR 91.225, ADS-
B Out equipment and use. This correction will not impose any additional 
restrictions on the persons affected by these regulations. Furthermore, 
any additional delay in making the regulations correct would be 
contrary to the public interest. Accordingly, the FAA finds that (i) 
public comment on these standards prior to promulgation is unnecessary, 
and (ii) good cause exists to make this rule effective in less than 30 
days.

Background

    On May 28, 2010, the FAA published a final rule entitled, 
``Automatic Dependent Surveillance--Broadcast Out Performance 
Requirements To Support Air Traffic Control Service'' (75 FR 30160).
    In that final rule, the FAA established Sec.  91.225, which 
provides the ADS-B equipment requirements necessary to operate in 
certain classes of airspace effective January 1, 2020. Under paragraph 
(a)(1) of that section and in order to operate an aircraft in Class A 
airspace, an aircraft must have installed equipment that ``meets the 
requirements of TSO-C166b.'' Under paragraph (b)(1) of that section, in 
order to operate an aircraft below 18,000 feet MSL and in identified 
airspace described subsequently in Sec.  91.225, an aircraft must be 
equipped with equipment that ``meets the requirements of TSO-C166b; or 
TSO-C154c . . .''. In reviewing these paragraphs, the FAA notes that 
the regulatory text implies that the equipment must meet all the 
requirements of the referenced TSOs. As the ADS-B Out rule is a 
performance-based rule, it was not the FAA's intent to arguably limit 
operators to only install equipment marked with a TSO in accordance 
with 14 CFR part 21, subpart O. The FAA's intent was to permit 
equipment that meets the performance requirements set forth in the 
referenced TSOs. Evidence of that intent is found in the Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for this rule. In the NPRM, the FAA proposed 
in Sec.  91.225(a)(1) and (c)(1) that the equipment installed ``Meets 
the performance requirements in TSO-C-166a'' (72 FR 56947, 56971). The 
inadvertent removal of the word ``performance'' in the paragraphs 
implementing these provisions in the final rule was in error and 
resulted in confusion as to whether the regulation permits other than 
equipment marked with a TSO, provided that equipment met the specified 
performance requirements.

Technical Amendment

    In order to address any confusion and clarify the equipage 
requirements permitted under this rule, the FAA is amending Sec.  
91.225 to insert text specifying the necessary performance 
requirements.
    Because the changes in this technical amendment result in no 
substantive change, we find good cause exists under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) 
to make the amendment effective in less than 30 days.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR part 91

    Air traffic control, Aircraft, Airports, Aviation safety.

The Amendment

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Federal Aviation 
Administration amends chapter I of title 14, Code of Federal 
Regulations as follows:

PART 91--GENERAL OPERATING AND FLIGHT RULES

0
1. The authority citation for part 91 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g), 1155, 40101, 40103, 40105, 
40113, 40120, 44101, 44111, 44701, 44704, 44709, 44711, 44712, 
44715, 44716, 44717, 44722, 46306, 46315, 46316, 46504, 46506-46507, 
47122, 47508, 47528-47531, 47534, articles 12 and 29 of the 
Convention on International Civil Aviation (61 Stat. 1180), (126 
Stat. 11).


0
2. In Sec.  91.225, revise paragraphs (a) and (b) to read as follows:


Sec.  91.225  Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out 
equipment and use.

    (a) After January 1, 2020, and unless otherwise authorized by ATC, 
no person may operate an aircraft in Class A airspace unless the 
aircraft has equipment installed that--
    (1) Meets the performance requirements in TSO-C166b, Extended 
Squitter Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and Traffic 
Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B) Equipment Operating on the Radio 
Frequency of 1090 Megahertz (MHz); and
    (2) Meets the requirements of Sec.  91.227.
    (b) After January 1, 2020, and unless otherwise authorized by ATC, 
no person may operate an aircraft below 18,000 feet MSL and in airspace 
described in paragraph (d) of this section unless the aircraft has 
equipment installed that--
    (1) Meets the performance requirements in--
    (i) TSO-C166b; or
    (ii) TSO-C154c, Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) Automatic 
Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Equipment Operating on the 
Frequency of 978 MHz;
    (2) Meets the requirements of Sec.  91.227.
* * * * *

    Issued under authority of 49 U.S.C. 106(f) and in Washington, 
DC, on February 4, 2015.
Lirio Liu,
Director, Office of Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2015-02579 Filed 2-6-15; 8:45 am]
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