[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 4, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53779-53780]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21615]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 171 / Tuesday, September 4, 2012 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 53779]]
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
14 CFR Part 235
[Docket No. DOT-OST-2010-0211]
RIN 2105-AE07
Reports by Air Carriers on Incidents Involving Animals During Air
Transport
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), Department of Transportation
(DOT).
ACTION: Extension of comment period on proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: This action extends the comment period of an NPRM on the
reporting of incidents involving animals during air transport that was
published in the Federal Register on June 29, 2012. See 77 FR 38747.
The Department of Transportation is extending the period for interested
persons to submit comments on this rulemaking from August 28, 2012, to
September 27, 2012. This extension is a result of a request to extend
the comment period for the proposal.
DATES: Comments must be received by September 27, 2012. Comments
received after this date will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by the docket number DOT-
OST-2010-0211 by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Room W12-140, Washington, DC
20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number
DOT-OST-2010-0211 or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for the
rulemaking at the beginning of your comment. All comments will be
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all
comments received in any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment if submitted on behalf
of an association, a business, a labor union, etc.). You may review
DOT's complete Privacy Act statement in the Federal Register published
on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78), or you may visit http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to the street
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the
docket.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vinh Q. Nguyen, Trial Attorney, Office
of the Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and
Proceedings, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave.
SE., Washington, DC 20590, 202-366-9342 (phone), 202-366-7152 (fax),
[email protected]. You may also contact Blane A. Workie, Deputy
Assistant General Counsel, Office of the Assistant General Counsel for
Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590, 202-
366-9342 (phone), 202-366-7152 (fax), [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 29, 2012, the Department published a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concerning the requirement for air
carriers to report to the Department incidents involving the loss,
injury, or death of an animal during air transport. The NPRM proposed
to: (1) Expand the reporting requirement to U.S. carriers that operate
scheduled service with at least one aircraft with a design capacity of
more than 60 seats; (2) expand the definition of ``animal'' to include
all cats and dogs transported by the carriers, regardless of whether
the cat or dog is transported as a pet by its owner or as part of a
commercial shipment (e.g., shipped by a breeder); and (3) require all
covered carriers to provide in their December reports for each year the
total number of animals that were lost, injured, or died during air
transport for the calendar year. We also sought comment on requiring
carriers to report the total number of animals transported in the
calendar year in the December reports. Comments on the matters proposed
were to be received 60 days after publication of the NPRM, or by August
28, 2012.
Request for Comment Period Extension
We received a joint request for an extension of time in the comment
period for this rulemaking from Airlines for America (A4A), the
Regional Airline Association (RAA), the Air Carrier Association of
America, Inc. (ACAA), and their respective members (the petitioners).
According to the request, the extension of time is needed so interested
parties have sufficient time to review and comment on the preliminary
regulatory analysis (PRA). The petitioners state that as of July 20,
2012, the docket associated with this rulemaking did not yet include
the Department's PRA, which provides the cost and benefit analysis
underpinning the proposal. The petitioners state that comment
development cannot progress until the PRA is available. The PRA was
posted in the docket on July 24, 2012.
Under the circumstances, we concur with the request for an
extension of the comment period. We have decided to grant an extension
of 30 days, or until September 27, 2012, for the public to comment on
the NPRM. In doing so, we have balanced the stated need for additional
time for comments with the need to proceed expeditiously with this
important rulemaking. We take note of the fact that with the additional
30 days we are granting here, interested parties will have more than
two months to comment on the PRA, which we believe is adequate time for
analysis and coordination regarding the proposals. Accordingly, the
Department finds that good cause exists to extend the time for comments
on the proposed rule from August 28, 2012, to September 27, 2012. We do
not anticipate any further extension of the comment period for this
rulemaking. Comments received after September 27, 2012, will be
considered to the extent practicable.
Request for Clarification
In addition to requesting that the comment period be extended, the
petitioners posed a number of questions
[[Page 53780]]
to the Department concerning the proposed requirement that carriers
report the total number of animals transported during a calendar year
with that year's December reports, the cost to carriers of amending the
definition of ``animal'' for reporting purposes, and the number of
carriers affected by the reporting requirement.
Issues Concerning the Proposed Requirement That Carriers Report the
Total Number of Animals Transported in the Calendar Year in the
December Reports
The petitioners state that there are conflicting statements between
the NPRM summary and the NPRM Regulatory Analyses and Notices (RAN)
section with respect to the proposed requirement that carriers report
the total number of animals transported in the calendar year in the
December reports. They state that while the RAN section indicates that
carriers would be required to report only during the months where the
carriers experience a reportable animal incident, the preamble asks
whether carriers should be required to file reports in months when no
incident takes place. The petitioners seek clarification on this issue
and request that the RAN section of the preamble be clarified if the
proposal is that carrier be required to file negative reports.
As stated in the RAN section, in addition to proposing that covered
carriers report the total number of animals transported in the calendar
year in their December reports, the Department proposed that covered
carriers only submit a report during the months when the carriers have
a reportable animal incident. However, we also sought comment on
whether to require carriers to file reports even if the carriers did
not have any incidents involving the loss, injury, or death of an
animal during a particular month. This is not inconsistent. The NPRM is
not proposing that carriers file a negative report but is soliciting
comment on this point so we can determine whether the final rule should
include a general requirement that covered carriers must submit reports
each month even if the carriers do not have any reportable incidents
during a particular month or perhaps a requirement that carriers must
file a December report regardless of whether any incidents occurred in
that month to cover the total number of animals transported that year.
Issues Concerning the Cost to Covered Carriers of Amending the
Definition of Animal
The petitioners state that for the 15 carriers that are currently
required to report incidents involving the loss, injury, or death of an
animal during air transport, the RAN is incorrect in stating that there
would be no additional costs associated with amending the definition of
``animal'' for reporting purposes to include all cats and dogs
transported by the carrier regardless of whether the cat or dog is
transported as a pet by its owner or as part of a commercial shipment.
They state that the 15 carriers already subject to the reporting
requirement would likely incur additional costs, and the Department
should correct the RAN.
The statement in the RAN that there would be no additional costs to
the 15 carriers that already collect information on incidents involving
loss, injury, or death of an animal refers to costs associated with
actually filing monthly reports. The Department acknowledges that there
would be costs associated with collecting more information to report,
i.e., not only on incidents involving pets but also incidents involving
dogs and cats that are shipped commercially. In the NPRM, the
Department states that it believes the cost of the proposed expanded
definition of an animal covered by the reporting rule would impact
airlines but the cost would still be minimal. We encourage comments and
data about expected costs resulting from the expansion of the
definition of ``animal.''
Issues Concerning the Scope of the Reporting Requirement
The petitioners state that although the RAN states that the scope
of the carriers covered by the animal incident reporting requirements
would expand under the NPRM proposal from 15 to 36 carriers, the NPRM
does not list the carriers so there is no way to verify if the list is
accurate. They point out that presumably the PRA lists the potentially
impacted carriers and that informed comment cannot progress until the
PRA and that information is available.
The PRA does in fact list the carriers that would be affected by
the NPRM and, as noted above, the PRA was posted in the docket on July
24, 2012. The public is invited to comment on the accuracy of that
list.
Issued this 28th day of August, 2012, in Washington, DC under
authority delegated in 14 CFR part 1.
Robert S. Rivkin,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2012-21615 Filed 8-31-12; 8:45 am]
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