[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 1 (Monday, January 4, 1999)] [Notices] [Pages 201-202] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 98-34765] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee; Air Carrier Operations Issues--New Task AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of new task assignment for the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Notice is given of a new task assigned to and accepted by the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee. This notice informs the public of the activities of ARAC. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Quentin J. Smith, Federal Aviation Administration (AFS-200), 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; phone (202) 267-5819; fax (202) 267-5229. SUPPLEMENTARY INFOMATION: Background The FAA has established an Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee to provide advice and recommendations to the FAA Administrator, through the Associate Administrator for Regulation and Certification, on the full range of the FAA's rulemaking activities with respect to aviation- related issues. This includes obtaining advice and recommendations on the FAA's commitment to harmonize its regulations and practices with its trading partners in Europe and Canada. One area ARAC deals with is air carrier operations issues. These issues involve the operational requirements for air carriers, including crewmember requirements, airplane operating performance and limitations, and equipment requirements. The Tasks This notice is to inform the public that the FAA has asked ARAC to provide advice and recommendations on the following harmonization tasks: Tasks 1 through 3 have been previously published and are restated here for continuity; Task 4 is new and is hereby added by this notice. Task 4 also cites the required completion date for all tasks. Airplane Performance Operating Limitations 1. Review FAA and JAA airplane [[Page 202]] operational performance requirements (14 CFR parts 121 and 135/JAR-OPS) and develop a list of differences between the two sets of requirements. (Use should be made of preliminary work on the task carried out by industry). During this review, if differences are identified in the associated certification requirements, such differences should be reported to the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) and the Harmonization Management Team by the FAA and JAA contracts. 2. When the first step is completed, explore the feasibility of harmonization of each identified difference in the following order of priority: Performance Class A, Class B, and Class C. 3. Develop recommendations for common (harmonized) operational performance requirements for those items identified under item 2 above as being feasible for harmonization. If the working group determines FAA rulemaking is required, that determination must be forwarded to the FAA for consideration of rulemaking priority, resource allocation, and additional tasking to ARAC, as appropriate. 4. (The new task) Within one year of publication of this revised ARAC task in the Federal Register, recommend: a) whether the standards adopted by the FAA on February 18, 1997, in the final rule, ``Improved Standards for Determining Rejected Takeoff and Landing Performance,'' should be applied retroactively to airplanes currently in use or airplanes of existing approved designs that will be manufactured in the future; and b) whether to adopt a requirement for operators to take into account any distance needed to align the airplane on the runway in the direction of takeoff. The standards referenced in (a) revise the method for taking into account the time needed for the pilot to accomplish the procedures for a rejected takeoff; require that takeoff performance be determined for wet runways; and require that rejected takeoff and landing stopping distances be based on worn brakes, but apply only to airplanes whose type certification basis includes Amendment 25-92 (effective March 20, 1998) or equivalent. JAR-OPS 1 requires operators of Performance Class A airplanes to take wet runways and runway alignment distance into account regardless of the type certification basis of the airplane. Working Group Activity The Airplane Performance Harmonization Working Group is expected to comply with the procedures adopted by ARAC. As part of the procedures, the working group is expected to: 1. Recommend a work plan for completion of the tasks, including the rationale supporting such a plan, for consideration at the meeting of ARAC to consider air carrier operations issues held following publication of this notice. 2. Give a detailed conceptual presentation of the proposed recommendations, prior to proceeding with the work stated in item 3 below. 3. Draft an appropriate report. 4. Provide a status report at each meeting of ARAC held to consider air carrier operations issues. Participation in the Working Group The Airplane Performance Harmonization Working Group is composed of experts having an interest in the assigned tasks. A working group member need not be a representative of a member of the full committee. The working group has formed. However, an individual who has specific expertise in the subject matter and wishes to become a member of the working group should contact the person listed under the caption FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT expressing that desire, describing his or her interest in the tasks, and stating the expertise he or she would bring to the working group. The request will be reviewed by the assistant chair, the assistant executive director, and the working group chair, and the individual will be advised whether or not the request can be accommodated. To the extent possible, the composition of the working group will be balanced among the aviation interests selected to participate. The Secretary of Transportation has determined that the formation and use of ARAC are necessary and in the public interest in connection with the performance of duties imposed on the FAA by law. Meetings of ARAC will be open to the public. Meetings of the Airplane Performance Harmonization Working Group will not be open to the public, except to the extent that individuals with an interest and expertise are selected to participate. No public announcement of working group meetings will be made. Issued in Washington, DC, on December 23, 1998. Quentin J. Smith, Assistant Executive Director, Air Carrier Operations Issues Group, Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee. [FR Doc. 98-34765 Filed 12-31-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-13-M