[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 17, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34073-34075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-15105]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 71
[Docket No. FAA-2019-0538; Airspace Docket No. 19-AEA-4]
RIN 2120-AA66
Proposed Amendment of VOR Federal Airway V-37 Due to the Planned
Decommissioning of Aylmer, Canada, VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR)
Navigation Aid
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).
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SUMMARY: This action proposes to amend VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR)
Federal airway V-37 in the northeast United States to reflect changes
being made in Canadian airspace. The modification is necessary due to
the planned decommissioning of the Aylmer, Canada, VOR navigation aid
(NAVAID), which provides navigation guidance for portions of V-37. The
Aylmer VOR is being decommissioned as part of NAV CANADA's NAVAID
Modernization Program.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 3, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Send comments on this proposal to the U.S. Department of
Transportation, Docket Operations, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590; telephone:
1(800) 647-5527, or (202) 366-9826. You must identify FAA Docket No.
FAA-2019-0538; Airspace Docket No. 19-AEA-4 at the beginning of your
comments. You may also submit comments through the internet at http://www.regulations.gov.
FAA Order 7400.11C, Airspace Designations and Reporting Points, and
subsequent amendments can be viewed online at http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/. For further information, you can contact the
Airspace Policy Group, Federal Aviation Administration, 800
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; telephone: (202) 267-
8783. The Order is also available for inspection at the National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the
availability of FAA Order 7400.11C at NARA, call (202) 741-6030, or go
to https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html.
FAA Order 7400.11, Airspace Designations and Reporting Points, is
published yearly and effective on September 15.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colby Abbott, Airspace Policy Group,
Office of Airspace Services, Federal Aviation Administration, 800
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; telephone: (202) 267-
8783.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority for This Rulemaking
The FAA's authority to issue rules regarding aviation safety is
found in Title 49 of the United States Code. Subtitle I, Section 106
describes the authority of the FAA Administrator. Subtitle VII,
Aviation Programs, describes in more detail the scope of the agency's
authority. This rulemaking is promulgated under the authority described
in Subtitle VII, Part A, Subpart I, Section 40103. Under that
[[Page 34074]]
section, the FAA is charged with prescribing regulations to assign the
use of the airspace necessary to ensure the safety of aircraft and the
efficient use of airspace. This regulation is within the scope of that
authority as it would modify the National Airspace System as necessary
to preserve the safe and efficient flow of air traffic.
Comments Invited
Interested parties are invited to participate in this proposed
rulemaking by submitting such written data, views, or arguments as they
may desire. Comments that provide the factual basis supporting the
views and suggestions presented are particularly helpful in developing
reasoned regulatory decisions on the proposal. Comments are
specifically invited on the overall regulatory, aeronautical, economic,
environmental, and energy-related aspects of the proposal.
Communications should identify both docket numbers (FAA Docket No.
FAA-2019-0538; Airspace Docket No. 19-AEA-4) and be submitted in
triplicate to the Docket Management Facility (see ADDRESSES section for
address and phone number). You may also submit comments through the
internet at http://www.regulations.gov.
Commenters wishing the FAA to acknowledge receipt of their comments
on this action must submit with those comments a self-addressed,
stamped postcard on which the following statement is made: ``Comments
to FAA Docket No. FAA-2019-0538; Airspace Docket No. 19-AEA-4.'' The
postcard will be date/time stamped and returned to the commenter.
All communications received on or before the specified comment
closing date will be considered before taking action on the proposed
rule. The proposal contained in this action may be changed in light of
comments received. All comments submitted will be available for
examination in the public docket both before and after the comment
closing date. A report summarizing each substantive public contact with
FAA personnel concerned with this rulemaking will be filed in the
docket.
Availability of NPRMs
An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded through the
internet at http://www.regulations.gov. Recently published rulemaking
documents can also be accessed through the FAA's web page at http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/airspace_amendments/.
You may review the public docket containing the proposal, any
comments received and any final disposition in person in the Dockets
Office (see ADDRESSES section for address and phone number) between
9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal
holidays. An informal docket may also be examined during normal
business hours at the office of the Operations Support Group, Central
Service Center, Federal Aviation Administration, 10101 Hillwood Blvd.,
Fort Worth, TX 76177.
Availability and Summary of Documents for Incorporation by Reference
This document proposes to amend FAA Order 7400.11C, Airspace
Designations and Reporting Points, dated August 13, 2018, and effective
September 15, 2018. FAA Order 7400.11C is publicly available as listed
in the ADDRESSES section of this document. FAA Order 7400.11C lists
Class A, B, C, D, and E airspace areas, air traffic service routes, and
reporting points.
Background
NAV CANADA, which operates Canada's civil air navigation service,
is continuing to implement various changes to Canada's instrument
flight rules (IFR) navigation infrastructure as part of their NAVAID
Modernization Program to enhance the efficiency of operations by taking
advantage of performance based navigation and modern avionic
capabilities. The changes being implemented by NAV CANADA occasionally
affect parts of U.S. VOR Federal airways that extend into Canadian
airspace. As a result, changes are required to the V-37 description to
mirror changes that have been made previously and that are planned to
be made on the Canadian side of the border.
In 2014, NAV CANADA published their Aeronautical Information
Regulation And Control (AIRAC) Canada update, AIRAC Issue 34, effective
November 13, 2014, which revoked the V-37 airway segment from the JARVS
fix to the Toronto, ON, Canada, VOR/DME within Canadian airspace. Then,
in 2015, NAV CANADA published the Canada Aeronautical Charts
Supplement, Volume 19/Number 5, effective August 20, 2015, which
reflected the FOWEL and JARVS fixes on V-37 being composed using
radials from the Aylmer VOR. Unfortunately, the FAA overlooked
accomplishing Part 71 rulemaking actions to incorporate these two
amendment activities at the time.
Today, NAV CANADA is planning the decommissioning of the Aylmer,
Canada, VOR in March 2020 as one of the VORs identified in their NAVAID
Modernization Program. With the planned decommissioning of the Aylmer
VOR, the ground-based NAVAID coverage in the area is insufficient to
continue to define the JARVS and FOWEL fixes along V-37 within Canada
using intersecting VOR radials. Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control
Center, Buffalo Terminal Radar Approach Control, and NAV CANADA have
agreed that usage of the V-37 airway segment north of the Erie, PA,
VOR/Tactical Air Navigation (VORTAC) NAVAID for cross border air
traffic is minimal and that there is adequate radar coverage over the
area to provide air traffic control (ATC) services. As such, the
proposed modification to V-37 would result in the airway terminating at
the Erie VORTAC and not crossing into Canada. To overcome the loss of
the airway segments extending beyond the Erie VORTAC into Canada, NAV
CANADA plans to convert the JARVS and FOWEL fixes to waypoints. IFR
traffic could file point to point through the affected area using the
waypoints that will be established, or receive ATC radar vectors
through the area. Visual flight rules pilots who elect to navigate via
the airways through the affected area could also take advantage of the
waypoints or ATC services listed previously.
The Proposal
The FAA is proposing an amendment to Title 14 Code of Federal
Regulations (14 CFR) part 71 to modify VOR Federal airway V-37. The
planned decommissioning of the Aylmer, Canada, VOR has made this action
necessary. The proposed change is outlined below.
V-37: V-37 currently extends between the Craig, FL, VORTAC and the
Toronto, ON, Canada, VOR/DME, excluding the airspace within Canada. The
FAA proposes to remove the airway segments between the Erie, PA, VORTAC
and the Toronto, ON, Canada, VOR/DME, and the language excluding the
airspace within Canada. The unaffected portions of the existing airway
would remain as charted.
All radials in the route description below are unchanged and stated
in True degrees.
VOR Federal airways are published in paragraph 6010(a) of FAA Order
7400.11C dated August 13, 2018, and effective September 15, 2018, which
is incorporated by reference in 14 CFR 71.1. The VOR Federal airways
listed in this document would be subsequently published in the Order.
[[Page 34075]]
Regulatory Notices and Analyses
The FAA has determined that this proposed regulation only involves
an established body of technical regulations for which frequent and
routine amendments are necessary to keep them operationally current.
It, therefore: (1) Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under
Executive Order 12866; (2) is not a ``significant rule'' under
Department of Transportation (DOT) Regulatory Policies and Procedures
(44 FR 11034; February 26, 1979); and (3) does not warrant preparation
of a regulatory evaluation as the anticipated impact is so minimal.
Since this is a routine matter that will only affect air traffic
procedures and air navigation, it is certified that this proposed rule,
when promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities under the criteria of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act.
Environmental Review
This proposal will be subject to an environmental analysis in
accordance with FAA Order 1050.1F, ``Environmental Impacts: Policies
and Procedures'' prior to any FAA final regulatory action.
List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71
Airspace, Incorporation by reference, Navigation (air).
The Proposed Amendment
In consideration of the foregoing, the Federal Aviation
Administration proposes to amend 14 CFR part 71 as follows:
PART 71--DESIGNATION OF CLASS A, B, C, D, AND E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIR
TRAFFIC SERVICE ROUTES; AND REPORTING POINTS
0
1. The authority citation for part 71 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g); 40103, 40113, 40120; E.O.
10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959-1963 Comp., p. 389.
Sec. 71.1 [Amended]
0
2. The incorporation by reference in 14 CFR 71.1 of FAA Order 7400.11C,
Airspace Designations and Reporting Points, dated August 13, 2018, and
effective September 15, 2018, is amended as follows:
Paragraph 6010(a) Domestic VOR Federal Airways.
* * * * *
V-37 [Amended]
From Craig, FL; Brunswick, GA; INT Brunswick 014[deg] and
Savannah, GA, 177[deg] radials; Savannah; Allendale, SC; Columbia,
SC; Charlotte, NC; Pulaski, VA; Elkins, WV; Clarksburg, WV; INT
Clarksburg 359[deg] and Ellwood City, PA, 185[deg] radials; Ellwood
City; to Erie, PA.
* * * * *
Issued in Washington, DC, on July 8, 2019.
Rodger A. Dean Jr.,
Manager, Airspace Policy Group.
[FR Doc. 2019-15105 Filed 7-16-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P