Proposed Rule2023-15853
Draft Policy Statement Regarding Classification of Type Design Changes That Would Materially Alter Safety Critical Information as Major Type Design Changes
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 26, 2023
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration
Abstract
A draft policy statement would state that proposed type design changes that would materially alter safety critical information have the potential to affect airworthiness, and therefore do not qualify as minor design changes.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 142 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48142-48143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15853]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Parts 21 and 25
[Docket No. FAA-2023-1383]
Draft Policy Statement Regarding Classification of Type Design
Changes That Would Materially Alter Safety Critical Information as
Major Type Design Changes
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notification of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: A draft policy statement would state that proposed type design
changes that would materially alter safety critical information have
the potential to affect airworthiness, and therefore do not qualify as
minor design changes.
DATES: Comments on the draft policy statement must be received on or
before August 25, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send comments with the subject line, ``Classification of
Type Design Changes That Would Materially Alter Safety Critical
Information as Major Type Design Changes'' identified by docket number
FAA-2023-1383, using the following method:
<bullet> Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and follow the online instructions for sending your
comments electronically.
<bullet> Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30, U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room
W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
[[Page 48143]]
<bullet> Hand Delivery of Courier: Take comments to Docket
Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m., and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
<bullet> Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
Privacy: In addition to the final policy statement, the FAA will
post all comments it receives, without change, to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">https://www.regulations.gov/</a>, including any personal information the commenter
provides. DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement can be found in the
Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-19478), as
well as at <a href="https://DocketsInfo.dot.gov">https://DocketsInfo.dot.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue McCormick, Product Policy
Management: Systems Standards Section, AIR-63A, Organization and
Systems Policy Branch, Policy and Standards Division, Aircraft
Certification Service, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8cfff9ffede2a2e1efefe3fee1e5efe7cceaededa2ebe3fa"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f2818781939cdc9f91919d809f9b9199b2949393dc959d84">[email protected]</span></a>, or by phone
at (206) 231-3242.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Discussion
Section 105(a) of the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and
Accountability Act, Public Law 116-260 (the Act), defines five
categories of ``safety critical information'' and instructs the FAA to
take a variety of actions related to the submittal of such information
by applicants for, or holders of, type certificates for transport
category airplanes. These five categories of information all relate to
the airplane's airworthiness characteristics. A proposed design change
that would have an appreciable effect on an airworthiness
characteristic of a product must be evaluated as a major, rather than
minor, change. 14 CFR 21.93, 21.95, and 21.97. Therefore, the FAA plans
to issue a policy statement stating that a proposed design change to a
transport category airplane that would materially alter safety critical
information would have an appreciable affect on the airplane's
airworthiness, and therefore would not qualify as a minor change. A
draft of the policy statement may be examined in the docket and at
<a href="https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs">https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs</a>.
Comments Invited
The FAA invites the public to submit comments on the draft policy
statement, as specified in the ADDRESSES section of this notification.
Commenters should include the subject line, ``Classification of Type
Design Changes That Would Materially Alter Safety Critical Information
as Major Type Design Changes'' and the docket number on all comments
submitted to the FAA. The most helpful comments will reference a
specific recommendation, explain the reason for any recommended change,
and include supporting information. The FAA will consider all comments
received on or before the closing date, before issuing the final policy
statement. The FAA will also consider late-filed comments if it is
possible to do so without incurring expense or delay.
Issued in Washington, DC.
Brian Cable,
Manager, Organization and Systems Policy Branch, Policy and Standards
Division, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-15853 Filed 7-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 26, 2023.
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