[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 102 (Tuesday, May 28, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24591-24592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-11060]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Docket No. FAA-2019-0154]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; 
Clearance of New Approval of Information Collection: Airspace 
Authorizations in Controlled Airspace Under 49 U.S.C. 44809(a)(5)

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA 
invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) approval for a new information collection. 
The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on the following collection of information was published on 
March 11, 2019 at Volume 84, pages 8778-79. The FAA received no 
comments during the 60-day comment period. The FAA proposes collecting 
information pursuant to new requirements under the U.S.C. that limited 
recreational operations of unmanned aircraft must now apply for 
airspace authorizations in controlled airspace. The FAA will use the 
collected information to make determinations whether to authorize or 
deny the requested operation of UAS in controlled airspace. The 
proposed information collection is necessary to issue such 
authorizations or denials consistent with the FAA's mandate to ensure 
safe and efficient use of national airspace.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by June 27, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on 
the proposed information collection to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. Comments should be 
addressed to the attention of the Desk Officer, Department of 
Transportation/FAA, and sent via electronic mail to 
[email protected], or faxed to (202) 395-6974, or mailed to 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, 
DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Casey Nair, FAA's UAS Low Altitude 
Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) Program Manager by 
email at: [email protected]; phone: (202) 267-0369

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for FAA's performance; (b) the 
accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA to enhance the 
quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (d) 
ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of 
the collected information. The agency will summarize and/or include 
your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information 
collection.
    OMB Control Number: This is a new collection.
    Title: Airspace Authorizations in Controlled Airspace under 49 
U.S.C. 44809(a)(5).
    Form Numbers: There are no FAA forms associated with this 
collection.
    Type of Review: New information collection.
    Background: The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting comments on the following collection of information 
was published on March 11, 2019 (84 FR 8778). There were no comments 
made during the comment period. Congress recently enacted the FAA 
Reauthorization Act of 2018 (the Act), which was signed into law by the 
President on October 5, 2018. Included within the Act is 49 U.S.C. 
44809(a), which established limited recreational operations of unmanned 
aircraft. Limited recreational operations are those operations 
otherwise excepted from FAA certification and operating authority by 
adhering to all of the limitations listed in 49 U.S.C. 44809(a)(1) thru 
(8). Among the listed limitations that must be met, 49 U.S.C. 
44809(a)(5) requires that these operations receive an authorization 
from the FAA prior to conducting any small UAS flight in Class B, Class 
C, Class D, or within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of 
Class E airspace designated for an airport. This is a new requirement. 
Previously, only persons operating under part 107 have been required to 
request these authorizations pursuant to OMB Control Number 2120-0768.
    In order to process airspace authorization requests, the FAA 
requires the operator's name, the operator's contact information, and 
information related to the date, place, and time of the requested small 
UAS operation. This information is necessary for the FAA to meet its 
statutory mandate of maintaining a safe and efficient national 
airspace. See 49 U.S.C. 40103, 44701, and 44807. Similar to the 
existing process for part 107 operations, the FAA proposes to use LAANC 
and a web portal to process airspace authorization requests for limited 
recreational operations.
    Respondents: Limited recreational operators of small unmanned 
aircraft seeking to conduct flights within Class B, Class C, Class D, 
or within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class E 
airspace designated for an airport. The FAA estimates that between 
2019-2021 that it will receive 1,019,964 requests for airspace 
authorizations or 339,988 per year. This number is a decrease from the 
1,165,387 or 388,462 annual that was estimated in the 60-Day Notice due 
to the change in forecast of UAS growth that was published in the FAA 
Aerospace Forecast for Fiscal Years 2019-2039.
    Frequency: The requested information will need to be provided each 
time a limited recreational operator respondent requests an airspace 
authorization to conduct a limited recreational operation of a small 
UAS in controlled airspace.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: 5 minutes per response for 
members of the public using LAANC and 30 minutes per response for 
members of the public using the web portal.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: Because the FAA has not previously 
collected airspace authorization requests from users under 49 U.S.C

[[Page 24592]]

Sec.  44809(a)(5), the FAA used historical data related to airspace 
authorization requests submitted by part 107 operators. Under part 107, 
the FAA has received .318 requests per UAS registered and 85.2% of 
those requests were made through LAANC and 14.8% of the requests were 
made through the web portal. Applying these ratios to 49 U.S.C. 44809 
respondents, the FAA estimates that the annual burden hours on 
respondents will be 49,299 hours (24,139 hours for 289,669 LAANC 
respondents and 25,160 hours for 50,319 web portal respondents) for 
airspace authorizations. To determine this calculation, the FAA 
estimates that a respondent will require 5 minutes (or .08 hours) to 
complete the authorization request form using LAANC and 30 minutes (or 
.5 hours) using the web portal. The estimated annual burden hours 
decreased from the 55,224 hours published in the 60-Day Notice to 
49,299 due to the change in forecast of UAS growth that was published 
in the FAA Aerospace Forecast for Fiscal Years 2019-2039.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 22, 2019.
Casey Nair,
UAS LAANC Program Manager.
[FR Doc. 2019-11060 Filed 5-24-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P