[Federal Register: August 24, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 164)]
[Notices]
[Page 50113-50114]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24au06-93]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Printing and Distribution Changes for Airworthiness Directives
and Special Airworthiness Information Bulletins
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of policy change.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the FAA's planned policy changes in the
printing and distribution of airworthiness directives (AD) and special
airworthiness information bulletins (SAIB). This planned change in
policy is part of our transition to full electronic distribution of ADs
and SAIBs.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 8, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the planned policy changes
electronically by logging onto the following Web site: http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs/.
You may mail a hard copy of your
comments to: Federal Aviation Administration, Aircraft Engineering
Division, Delegation and Airworthiness Programs Branch, AIR-140, MMAC,
P.O. Box 26460, Oklahoma City, OK 73125. Attn: Mary Ellen Anderson. Or
deliver comments to: Federal Aviation Administration, Room 815, 800
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Ellen Anderson, Federal Aviation
Administration, Aircraft Certification Service, Aircraft Engineering
Division, Delegation and Airworthiness Programs Branch, AIR-140, 6500
S. MacArthur Blvd., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73125; phone: (405) 954-
7071; fax: (405) 954-2209.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
Interested persons are invited to comment on the planned policy
changes by submitting written data, views, or arguments to the above
address. Comments received may be examined, both before and after the
closing date, at the Federal Aviation Administration, Room 815, 800
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591, weekends except Federal
holidays, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Director, Aircraft
Certification Service, will consider all comments received on or before
the closing date.
Background
ADs are legally enforceable rules that apply to products (aircraft,
aircraft engines, propellers, and appliances). ADs are issued when we
find that an unsafe condition exists in a product, and the unsafe
condition is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same
design type design. All final rule ADs are offered to the public by:
(1) Publishing in the Federal Register at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/advanced.html; (2) accessing the FAA's Web site at: http://www.faa.gov/
/
operators of the affected product.
Emergency ADs (EAD) are issued when an unsafe condition exists that
requires immediate corrective action. These types of ADs are mailed or
faxed to all registered owners and operators of the affected product.
After we mail or fax the EAD, it is published as a final
[[Page 50114]]
rule in the Federal Register and this version is also mailed to owners
and operators of the product, resulting in an owner or operator
receiving the same information twice.
Special Airworthiness Information Bulletins (SAIB) provide
recommended actions that owners and operators may use to improve the
safety of their products. Because the information contained in SAIBs is
not mandatory, they are not published in the Federal Register; instead
we have mailed them to owners and operators as a public service.
Since the advent of the internet and the Federal Government's
initiative to make more information available to the public
electronically, it is the intent of this notice to inform the public of
our policy initiative to make documents available to the public on the
internet and eliminate what is now evident to be an unnecessary
printing and mailing expense.
Policy
We will begin implementation of the following changes in the
dissemination of all final rule ADs, EADs, and SAIBs effective
immediately:
(a) We will no longer mail AD corrections (corrections that don't
receive a new amendment number and AD number) to affected owners and
operators. ADs requiring corrections will continue to be published in
their entirety in the Federal Register and on our website. ADs
resubmitted because of a required ``correction'' will be so identified
on our AD web page.
(b) We will only mail ADs applicable to a certain engine model to
the owners and operators who have registered their engine, not to the
registered aircraft owners and operators referenced in the AD.
(c) We will only mail the regulatory text, or ``body'', of ADs to
registered owners and operators. We will no longer include the preamble
information along with the text of the AD. Note that the complete text
of ADs can be viewed by logging onto the Federal Register or FAA Web
site. We will include both internet addresses in every mailed AD.
(d) We will continue to mail or fax EADs to affected owners and
operators. However, the final rule version of an EAD will no longer be
mailed to owners and operators since this is a duplicate mailing.
(e) We will no longer mail SAIBs to individual owners, operators,
or repair stations. Instead, we have a new e-mail subscription service
available on our SAIB Web page. As such, we are advising those
interested to sign up for the SAIB free e-mail service and check our
Web site at http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/alerts regularly for new SAIB
postings.
Susan J.M. Cabler,
Assistant Manager, Aircraft Engineering Division, Aircraft
Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 06-7114 Filed 8-23-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M