[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 11, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61232-61233]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21354]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Parts 11 and 13

[Docket No.: FAA-2018-1051; Amdt. No.: 13-40A]
RIN 2120-AK85


Update to Investigative and Enforcement Procedures and General 
Rulemaking Procedures; Technical Amendments

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendments.

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SUMMARY: The FAA is making technical amendments to the Update to 
Investigative and Enforcement Procedures final rule, which was 
published on October 1, 2021. The final rule document inadvertently 
removed a delegation of authority from the Administrator for 
certificate actions. Also, the FAA is adding the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) control number for an information collection in the 
final rule.

DATES: Effective October 11, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cole R. Milliard, Office of the Chief 
Counsel, AGC-300, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence 
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-3452; email 
[email protected], or Jessica E. Kabaz-Gomez, Office of the Chief 
Counsel, AGC-300, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence 
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-7395; email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access and Filing

    A copy of the Update to Investigative and Enforcement Procedures 
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) (84 FR 3614, February 12, 2019), 
comments received, and final rule may be viewed online at https://www.regulations.gov using the docket number listed above. A copy of 
these technical amendments will be placed in the same docket. 
Electronic retrieval help and guidelines are available on the website. 
It is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. An electronic 
copy of this document may also be downloaded from the Office of the 
Federal Register's website at https://www.federalregister.gov and the 
Government Publishing Office's website at https://www.govinfo.gov. A 
copy may also be found at the FAA's Regulations and Policies website at 
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies.
    Copies may also be obtained by sending a request to the Federal 
Aviation Administration, Office of Rulemaking, ARM-1, 800 Independence 
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591, or by calling (202) 267-9677. 
Commenters must identify the docket or notice number of this 
rulemaking.
    All documents the FAA considered in developing these technical 
amendments, including economic analyses and technical reports, may be 
accessed in the electronic docket for this rulemaking.

Good Cause for 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.'' Section 553(d)(3) of the APA 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 action makes technical amendments that will not impose any 
additional substantive restrictions or requirements on any persons 
affected by the regulations. Therefore, the FAA finds that notice and 
public comment under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) is unnecessary and that good 
cause exists under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) for making this rule effective in 
less than 30 days.

Background

    On October 1, 2021, the Update to Investigative and Enforcement 
Procedures final rule (RIN 2120-AL00) was published in the Federal 
Register at 86 FR 54514. After the rule was published, the FAA 
discovered that a delegation of the Administrator's authority under 49 
U.S.C. 44709 and 5121 previously codified in 14 CFR 13.19(b) was 
inadvertently deleted. On March 17, 2022, the Administrator issued a 
Delegation of Authority that authorized the Chief Counsel, the Deputy 
Chief Counsel, and the Assistant Chief Counsel for Enforcement to 
exercise his authority under 49 U.S.C. 44709 and 5121 to issue orders, 
including emergency orders, and also ratified all orders issued under 
these statutes between publication of the final rule and March 17, 
2022.
    This technical amendment restores the delegation of the 
Administrator's authority under 49 U.S.C. 44709(b)(1)(A), (b)(2), and 
5121 to part 13 by inserting it in Sec. Sec.  13.19(a)(2) and 13.70. 
This places part of the prior delegation that pertained to the 
Administrator's authority to take certain certificate actions, as 
currently codified in 49 U.S.C. 44709(b)(1)(A) and (b)(2), in Sec.  
13.19 because this section pertains to certificate actions. The other 
part of the prior delegation that addressed the Administrator's 
authority under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, as 
currently codified in 49 U.S.C. 5121, is being placed in Sec.  13.70 of 
subpart E because it pertains to hazardous material actions. It is 
necessary to restore this delegation to the text of these regulations 
because it was inadvertently deleted, and to ensure consistency 
throughout part 13, which contains other codified delegations of the 
Administrator's authority.
    This same final rule included an information collection subject to 
the Paperwork Reduction Act: formal complaints, codified at 14 CFR 
13.5. Since the publication of the final rule, OMB has approved the 
formal complaint information collection. The FAA is therefore adding 
the formal complaint control number to the list of OMB control numbers 
for FAA information collections at 14 CFR 11.201.

[[Page 61233]]

List of Subjects

14 CFR Part 11

    Administrative practice and procedure, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

14 CFR Part 13

    Administrative practice and procedure, Air transportation, Aviation 
safety, Hazardous materials transportation, Investigations, Law 
enforcement, Penalties.

The Amendments

    Accordingly, the FAA amends 14 CFR parts 11 and 13 as set forth 
below:

PART 11--GENERAL RULEMAKING PROCEDURES

0
1. The authority citation for part 11 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g), 40101, 40103, 40105, 40109, 
40113, 44110, 44502, 44701-44702, 44711, 46102, and 51 U.S.C. 50901-
50923.


0
2. Amend the table in paragraph (b) of Sec.  11.201 by adding an entry 
for ``13.5'' before the entry ``Part 14'' to read as follows:


Sec.  11.201  Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control numbers 
assigned under the Paperwork Reduction Act.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *

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                                                            Current OMB
     14 CFR part or section identified and described      control number
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13.5....................................................       2120-0795
 
                                * * * * *
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PART 13--INVESTIGATIVE AND ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES

0
3. The authority citation for part 13 is revised to read as follows:

    Authority: 18 U.S.C. 6002; 28 U.S.C. 2461 (note); 49 U.S.C. 
106(g), 5121-5124, 5127, 40113-40114, 44103-44106, 44701-44704, 
44709-44710, 44713, 44725, 44742, 44802 (note), 46101-46111, 46301, 
46302 (for a violation of 49 U.S.C. 46504), 46304-46316, 46318, 
46501-46502, 46504-46507, 47106, 47107, 47111, 47122, 47306, 47531-
47532; 49 CFR 1.83.


0
4. Revise paragraph (a) of Sec.  13.19 to read as follows:


Sec.  13.19  Certificate actions appealable to the National 
Transportation Safety Board.

    (a) This section applies to certificate actions by the 
Administrator that are appealable to the National Transportation Safety 
Board.
    (1) Under 49 U.S.C. 44709(b) the Administrator may issue an order 
amending, modifying, suspending, or revoking all or part of any type 
certificate, production certificate, airworthiness certificate, airman 
certificate, air carrier operating certificate, air navigation facility 
certificate, or air agency certificate if as a result of a 
reinspection, reexamination, or other investigation, the Administrator 
determines that the public interest and safety in air commerce requires 
it, if a certificate holder has violated an aircraft noise or sonic 
boom standard or regulation prescribed under 49 U.S.C. 44715(a), or if 
the holder of the certificate is convicted of violating 16 U.S.C. 742j-
1(a).
    (2) The authority of the Administrator to issue orders under 49 
U.S.C. 44709(b)(1)(A) and (b)(2) is delegated to the Chief Counsel, 
each Deputy Chief Counsel, and the Assistant Chief Counsel for 
Enforcement.
* * * * *

0
5. Add Sec.  13.70 to subpart E to read as follows:


Sec.  13.70  Delegation of authority.

    The authority of the Administrator under 49 U.S.C. 5121(a) and (d) 
is delegated to the Chief Counsel, each Deputy Chief Counsel, and the 
Assistant Chief Counsel for Enforcement.

    Issued in Washington, DC, under the authority provided by 49 
U.S.C. 106(f), 40101 note and 44807.
Brandon Roberts,
Executive Director, Office of Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2022-21354 Filed 10-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P