[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