[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50204-50205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19271]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Docket No. FAA-2018-1051]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments; 
Clearance of a New Approval of Information Collection: Formal 
Complaints Collection

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 within 30 days after the date of publication of 
this notice about its intention to request the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval for an existing information collection. This 
collection involves the filing of a complaint with the FAA alleging a 
violation of any requirement, rule, regulation, or order issued under 
certain statutes within the jurisdiction of the FAA. The FAA will use 
the information collected to determine if the alleged violation 
warrants investigation or action. The Federal Register Notice with a 
60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection 
of information was published on August 4, 2020.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by October 7, 2021.

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: Cole R. Milliard by email at: 
[email protected]; phone 202-267-3452.

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 the FAA's performance; (b) 
the accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for the 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: 2120-0795.
    Title: Formal Complaints Collection.
    Form Numbers: N/A.
    Type of Review: New clearance of an existing information 
collection.
    Background: The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting comments on the following collection of information 
was published on August 4, 2020 (85 FR 47288). Prior to that, the FAA 
issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to revise 14 CFR part 13. 
The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on February 12, 2019 (84 
FR 3614). The NPRM proposed to update the procedural rules governing 
FAA investigations and enforcement actions. The proposed revisions 
include updates to statutory and regulatory references, updates to 
agency organizational structure, elimination of inconsistencies, 
clarification of ambiguity, increases in efficiency, and improved 
readability. Section 13.5, currently and as proposed in the NPRM, 
allows any person to file a formal complaint with the FAA Administrator 
regarding a person's violation of 49 U.S.C. subtitle VII, 49 U.S.C. 
chapter 51, or any rule, regulation, or order issued under those 
statutes. Thus, the overall burden associated with submission and 
processing of these complaints is not new. It is also optional, as 
there is no obligation for any individual to file a formal complaint.
    As revised in proposed 14 CFR 13.5(b), a formal complaint must: (1) 
Be submitted to the FAA in writing; (2) be identified as a complaint 
seeking an appropriate order or other enforcement action; (3) identify 
the subjects of the complaint; (4) state the specific statute, rule, 
regulation, or order that each subject allegedly violated; (5) contain 
a concise but complete statement of the facts relied upon to 
substantiate each allegation; (6) include the name, address, telephone 
number, and email of the person filing the complaint; and (7) be signed 
by the person filing the complaint or an authorized representative. 
After the FAA confirms that the complaint meets these requirements, it 
sends a copy of the complaint to the subjects of the complaint and 
gives them an opportunity to submit a written answer. If a complaint 
does not meet these requirements, it is considered a report of 
violation under proposed 14 CFR 13.2 (current 14 CFR 13.1).
    The FAA uses the information in the complaint and answer to 
determine if there are reasonable grounds for investigating the 
complaint. If the FAA determines there are reasonable grounds, the FAA 
proceeds with an investigation. If not, the FAA may dismiss the 
complaint and give the reason for dismissal in writing to both the 
person who filed the complaint and the subjects of the complaint.
    Respondents: Formal complaints are typically submitted by an 
individual or organization. Almost all formal complaints are evenly 
split between three basic categories (complainant listed first): 
Individual vs. individual, individual vs. organization, and 
organization vs. organization.
    Frequency: The FAA estimates this collection of information would 
result in about seven formal complaints per year based on FAA data.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: The estimated average burden 
on the public for each complaint and response under Sec.  13.5 is eight 
hours, broken down as follows: It would take an individual about four 
hours to write

[[Page 50205]]

a formal complaint acceptable under Sec.  13.5. Most of this time would 
be the research required to determine which laws the subject of the 
complaint allegedly violated. The second largest amount of time would 
be devoted to writing the ``concise but complete'' statement of facts 
substantiating the complaint. After the FAA reviews the complaint and 
confirms it meets the requirements, each subject of the complaint would 
have an opportunity to submit a written answer. The FAA estimates it 
would take the subject of the complaint about four hours to write an 
answer to the complaint.
    The estimated average burden on the FAA for each complaint is eight 
hours, broken down as follows: A complaint would take the FAA no more 
than four hours to review to confirm it meets the requirements as laid 
out in 14 CFR 13.5(b). The FAA would take an additional hour to send 
the complaint to the subjects of that complaint. The FAA would then 
take another estimated three hours to determine if an investigation 
would be necessary.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: \1\ The FAA estimates the total 
annual combined (public + FAA) annual burden and cost of the 
information requirements to be about 112 hours and $7,138.
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    \1\ For this notice and the Federal Register notice with the 60-
day comment period, the FAA used updated figures in its estimate 
from those used in the NPRM.
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    For the public, the estimated total annual hourly burden would be 
56 hours, and the estimated total annual cost burden would be about 
$2,036. This burden to the public is calculated as follows: Based on 
the number of formal complaints the FAA received during the three years 
preceding preparation of the NPRM, the FAA estimates there would be 
seven complaints filed per year by seven complainants. Each complaint 
would take no more than four hours to complete. The annual hourly 
burden would be 28 hours for the public to submit formal complaints (7 
complaints x 4 hours = 28 hours). After the FAA reviews the complaint 
and confirms it meets the requirements, each subject of the complaint 
would have an opportunity to submit a written answer. The FAA estimates 
this would take the subject four hours. The annual hourly burden to the 
public would be another 28 hours for the subject of the complaint to 
provide a written answer (7 written answers x 4 hours = 28 hours).\2\ 
The total annual hourly burden to the public would be 56 hours. Since a 
complainant and a subject of a complaint could be employed in any 
occupation, the FAA selected a mean hourly wage rate for all 
occupations in the United States. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 
estimates the mean hourly wage rate of all occupations was $24.98 in 
May 2018.\3\ The FAA estimates the total burdened hourly wage rate is 
$36.36 when including full employee benefits.\4\ The total annual cost 
burden to the public would be about $2,036 ($36.36 x 56 hours). In 
addition to labor hours, the complainants would incur copying and 
mailing costs for seven annual complaints estimated at $102.90; or 
$52.15 for complainants [($.50 for a 5-page complaint, including 
attachments, at $.10 per page \5\ + $6.95 first-class certified mail 
with return receipt \6\) x 7] and $50.75 for subjects of complaints 
[($.30 for a 3-page response, including attachments, at $.10 per page + 
$6.95 first-class certified mail with return receipt) x 7].
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    \2\ This assumes each formal complaint would meet the 
requirements as laid out in 14 CFR 13.5(b), so the FAA could send a 
copy of the complaint to the subject of each complaint to give them 
an opportunity to submit a written answer.
    \3\ Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2018 National 
Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, see Occupational Code 
#00-0000, All Occupations (https://www.bls.gov/oes/2018/may/oes_nat.htm).
    \4\ Derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer 
Costs for Employee Compensation-September 2019 (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ecec_09172019.pdf, September 17, 2019 
release), which indicates that wages and salaries were 68.6% of 
total employee compensation (salary and benefits) providing a fringe 
benefit factor of about 1.4577 (=1 / 0.686). The FAA uses this 
factor to estimate the total ``burdened'' employee compensation 
(salary and benefits) hourly wage rate of $36.36 (=$24.98 x 1.4557).
    \5\ https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/gpoexpress-pdf-files/gpo_express_pricelist.pdf.
    \6\ https://www.usps.com/ship/insurance-extra-services.htm.
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    For the FAA, the estimated total annual hourly burden would be 56 
hours, and the estimated total annual cost burden would be about 
$4,846. This burden to the FAA is calculated as follows: The complaint 
would take the FAA no more than four hours to review to confirm it 
meets the requirements as laid out in 14 CFR 13.5(b), which results in 
an annual time burden of 28 hours (7 complaints x 4 hours = 28 hours). 
The FAA would take an additional hour to send the complaint to the 
subjects of that complaint, which would add seven hours (7 complaints x 
1 hour = 7 hours). The FAA would then take another estimated three 
hours to determine if an investigation would be necessary, adding 21 
hours (7 complaints x 3 hours = 21 hours) to the FAA annual burden. 
This results in a total annual burden of 56 hours (28 hours + 7 hours + 
21 hours = 56 hours) for the FAA. The FAA assumes an FAA hourly wage 
rate of $63.51.\7\ The FAA estimates the total burdened FAA hourly wage 
rate to be $86.54 when including full civilian employee benefits.\8\ 
The total annual cost burden to the FAA to review and process the 
complaint would be $4,846 ($86.54 x 56 = $4,846). In addition to labor 
hours, the FAA would incur copying and mailing costs for seven annual 
complaints estimated at $152.95; or $52.85 for mailing complaints to 
subjects [($.60 for a 5-page complaint with a 1-page cover letter at 
$.10 per page + $6.95 first-class certified mail with return receipt) x 
7] and $100.10 for mailing the agency's determination to both 
complainants and subjects of complaints [2 x ($.20 for a 2-page 
determination letter at $.10 per page + $6.95 first-class certified 
mail with return receipt) x 7].
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    \7\ The FAA assumes that 75% of the work would be performed by 
an FAA attorney at a grade level 14 step five hourly wage of $60.83 
and 25% by an FAA attorney at a grade level 15 step five hourly wage 
of $71.56 (wages based on U.S. Office of Personnel Management 
General Schedule Salary Data).
    \8\ The FAA uses a civilian fringe benefit cost factor of 36.25% 
(or 1.3625) to estimate the total ``burdened'' FAA employee 
compensation (salary and benefits) hourly wage rate of $86.54 
(=$63.51 x 1.3625). The civilian fringe benefit cost factor is based 
on guidance from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/memoranda/2008/m08-13.pdf).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 1, 2021.
Cynthia A Dominik,
Assistant Chief Counsel for Enforcement Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-19271 Filed 9-3-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P