[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 164 (Friday, August 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58433-58434]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18319]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Docket No. FAA-2022-1711]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; 
Clearance of Renewed Approval of Information Collection: Carbon 
Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) 
Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) Program

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 renewed information 
collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period 
soliciting comments on the following collection of information was 
published on January 25, 2023. FAA received two comments to this 
notice. The collection involves a request that airplane operators 
subject to the applicability of Annex 16, Volume IV of the Convention 
on Civil Aviation (hereinafter the ``Chicago Convention'') submit 
electronically an Emissions Monitoring Plan (EMP), an annual Emissions 
Report (ER), and an optional annual ER CORSIA Eligible Fuels Annex 
(CEFA) to the FAA. The information to be collected is necessary because 
FAA will use the information to fulfill the United States' 
responsibilities under the Chicago Convention.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by September 25, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Partowazam by email at: 
[email protected]; phone: 202-267-3563.

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.
    OMB Control Number: 2120-0790.
    Title: CORSIA Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) 
Program.
    Form Numbers: 1. Emissions Monitoring Plan (EMP) Template; 2. 
Emissions Report (ER) Template; 3. ER CORSIA Eligible Fuels Annex 
(CEFA).
    Type of Review: Clearance of a renewal of an information 
collection.
    Background: The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting comments on the following collection of information 
was published on January 25, 2023 (88 FR 4878). FAA received two 
comments in response to this notice.
    The CORSIA MRV Program is a voluntary program for certain U.S. air 
carriers and commercial operators (collectively referred hereinafter as 
``operators'') to submit certain airplane CO2 emissions data 
to the FAA to enable the United States to establish uniformity with 
ICAO Standards And Recommended Practices (SARPs) for CORSIA, which were 
adopted in June 2018, as Annex 16, Volume IV to the Chicago Convention. 
The United States supported the decision to adopt the CORSIA SARPs 
based on the understanding that CORSIA is the exclusive market-based 
measure applying to international aviation, and that CORSIA will ensure 
fair and reciprocal commercial competition by avoiding a patchwork of 
country- or regionally-based regulatory measures that are 
inconsistently applied, bureaucratically costly, and economically 
damaging. Furthermore, continued U.S. support for CORSIA assumes a high 
level of participation by other countries, particularly by countries 
with significant aviation activity, as well as a final CORSIA package 
that is acceptable to, and implementable by, the United States.
    Under CORSIA, all ICAO Member States whose airplane operators 
undertake international flights were required to develop an MRV system 
for CO2 emissions from those international flights starting 
January 1, 2019. The FAA's CORSIA MRV Program is intended to be the 
United States' MRV system for monitoring, reporting, and verification 
of U.S. airplane operator CO2 emissions from international 
flights. Operators that are subject to the applicability of CORSIA will 
submit their EMPs, ERs, and optional ER CEFAs electronically.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ CORSIA applies to airplane operators that produce annual 
CO2 emissions greater than 10,000 tonnes (i.e., 10,000 
metric tons) from international flights, excluding emissions from 
excluded flights. The following activities are excluded CORSIA:
    --Domestic flights;
    --Humanitarian, medical, and firefighting operations, including 
flight(s) preceding or following a humanitarian, medical, or 
firefighting flight provided such flight(s) were conducted with the 
same airplane, were required to accomplish the related humanitarian, 
medical, or firefighting activities or to reposition thereafter the 
airplane for its next activity;
    --Operations using an airplane with a maximum certificated take-
off mass equal to or less than 5,700 kg;
    --Operations on behalf of the military.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Each document use Microsoft Excel-based templates and can be 
transmitted via email. EMPs that are submitted by operators will be 
used as a collaborative tool between the operator and FAA to document a 
given operator's chosen fuel use monitoring procedures. FAA will retain 
a copy of the EMP and will share with ICAO a list of operators that 
submit EMPs. FAA will not submit any specific EMPs from U.S. operators 
to ICAO. Large operators, i.e., those emitting 500,000 metric tons or 
more of CO2 per

[[Page 58434]]

year, will gather data through a ``fuel use monitoring method.'' Small 
operators, i.e., those emitting less than 500,000 metric tons of 
CO2 per year, can use a simplified monitoring method. Annual 
ERs that are submitted to FAA by operators and verifiers will be used 
to document each operators' international emissions. FAA will use the 
ERs, and optional ER CEFAs, to calculate aggregated emissions data for 
all U.S. operators. FAA will submit the aggregated emissions data to 
ICAO to demonstrate U.S. implementation of CORSIA.
    Respondents: Respondents will be airplane operators subject to the 
applicability of Annex 16, Volume IV of the Chicago Convention. FAA 
expects between 42 and 50 operators to submit an EMP and ER. Some 
additional operators could submit an EMP and ER over time based on 
their international aviation activities.
    Frequency: An EMP is a one-time submission. An ER and optional ER 
CEFA is an annual submission.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response:

--For an EMP (one-time submission), FAA expects that filling and 
submitting an EMP could on average take approximately 28.6 hours.
--For an ER (annual submission), FAA expects that the reporting burden 
could be approximately 68 hours per operator using a Fuel Use 
Monitoring Method, inclusive of approximately 8 hours per operator that 
chooses to voluntarily submit an optional ER CEFA. FAA expects the 
reporting burden could be approximately 21.5 hours per operator for 
operators using a simplified Monitoring Method, inclusive of 
approximately 4 hours per operator that chooses to voluntarily submit 
an optional ER CEFA.

    Estimated Total Annual Burden: Based on the above, FAA expects that 
the annual submission of an EMP and ER, including optional ER CEFA, 
could take approximately 37.5 to 115.5 hours for each of the 42-50 
operators.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 21, 2023.
Julie Marks,
Executive Director (Acting), Office of Environment and Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-18319 Filed 8-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P