Colored Federal airways,

[Federal Register: September 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 171)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 53860-53861]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr03se04-27]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 71

[Docket No. FAA-2004-18734; Airspace Docket No. 03-AAL-03]

RIN 2120-AA66

Proposed Revision of Colored Federal Airway; AK

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

SUMMARY: This action proposes to revise Colored Federal Airway Green 16 (G-16), in Alaska. This action would add to the instrument flight rules (IFR) airway and route structure in Alaska by extending G-16 from Put River, AK, to Barter Island, AK. The FAA is taking this action to enhance safety and management of aircraft operations in Alaska.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 18, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on this proposal to the Docket Management System, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room Plaza 401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. You must identify FAA Docket No. FAA-2004-18734 and Airspace Docket No. 03-AAL-03, at the beginning of your comments. You may also submit comments on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken McElroy, Airspace and Rules, Office of System Operations and Safety, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone: (202) 267-8783.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

Interested parties are invited to participate in this proposed rulemaking by submitting such written data, views, or arguments as they may desire. Comments that provide the factual basis supporting the views and suggestions presented are particularly helpful in developing reasoned regulatory decisions on the proposal. Comments are specifically invited on the overall regulatory, aeronautical, economic, environmental, and energy-related aspects of the proposal.

Communications should identify both docket numbers (FAA Docket No. FAA-2004-18734 and Airspace Docket No. 03-AAL-03) and be submitted in triplicate to the Docket Management System (see ADDRESSES section for address and phone number). You may also submit comments through the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.

Commenters wishing the FAA to acknowledge receipt of their comments on this notice must submit with those comments a self-addressed, stamped postcard on which the following statement is made: ``Comments to Docket No. FAA-2004-18734 and Airspace Docket No. 03-AAL-03.'' The postcard will be date/time stamped and returned to the commenter.

All communications received on or before the specified closing date for comments will be considered before taking action on the proposed rule. The proposal contained in this action may be changed in light of comments received. All comments submitted will be available for examination in the public docket both before and after the closing date for comments. A report summarizing each substantive public contact with FAA personnel concerned with this rulemaking will be filed in the docket.

Availability of NPRM's

An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded through the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov. Recently published rulemaking documents

can also be accessed through the FAA's Web

[[Page 53861]]

page at http://www.faa.gov, or the Federal Register's Web page at

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.

You may review the public docket containing the proposal, any comments received, and any final disposition in person in the Dockets Office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. An informal docket may also be examined during normal business hours at the office of the Regional Air Traffic Division, Federal Aviation Administration, 222 West 7th Avenue, 14, Anchorage, AK 99533.

Persons interested in being placed on a mailing list for future NPRM's should contact the FAA's Office of Rulemaking, (202) 267-9677, to request a copy of Advisory Circular No. 11-2A, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Distribution System, which describes the application procedure.

History

Presently there is an uncharted non-regulatory part 95 route that uses the same routing as the proposed colored Federal airway. The uncharted non-regulatory route is used daily by commercial and general aviation aircraft. However, the air traffic control (ATC) management of aircraft operations is limited on this route. The FAA is proposing to convert this uncharted non-regulatory route to a colored Federal airway. This action would add to the IFR airway and route structure in Alaska. The route conversion would provide an airway structure to support existing commercial services in Alaska.

The Proposal

The FAA is proposing an amendment to Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 71 (part 71) to extend G-16 from the Put River, NDB, to the Barter Island, NDB in Alaska. This action would add to the IFR airway and route structure in Alaska. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of aircraft operations in Alaska.

Adoption of this Federal airway would: (1) Provide pilots with minimum en route altitudes and minimum obstruction clearance altitudes information; (2) establish controlled airspace thus eliminating some of the commercial IFR operations in uncontrolled airspace; and (3) improve the management of air traffic operations and thereby enhance safety.

The FAA has determined that this proposed regulation only involves an established body of technical regulations for which frequent and routine amendments are necessary to keep them operationally current. Therefore, this proposed regulation: (1) Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866; (2) is not a ``significant rule'' under DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures (44 FR 11034; February 26, 1979); and (3) does not warrant preparation of a regulatory evaluation as the anticipated impact is so minimal. Since this is a routine matter that will only affect air traffic procedures and air navigation, it is certified that this proposed rule, when promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the criteria of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71

Airspace, Incorporation by reference, Navigation (air).

The Proposed Amendment

In consideration of the foregoing, the Federal Aviation Administration proposes to amend 14 CFR part 71 as follows:

PART 71--DESIGNATION OF CLASS A, CLASS B, CLASS C, CLASS D, AND CLASS E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIR TRAFFIC SERVICE ROUTES; AND REPORTING POINTS

1. The authority citation for part 71 continues to read as follows:

   Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40103, 40113, 40120; E.O. 10854, 24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959-1963 Comp., p.389.

   Sec. 71.1 [Amended]

2. The incorporation by reference in 14 CFR 71.1 of the FAA Order 7400.9L, Airspace Designations and Reporting Points, dated September 2, 2003, and effective September 16, 2003, is amended as follows:

   Paragraph 6009(a)--Green Federal Airways

   * * * * *

   G-16 [Revised]

   From Point Lay, AK, NDB; Wainwright Village, AK, NDB; Browerville, AK, NDB; Nuiqsut Village, AK, NDB; Put River, AK, NDB; to Barter Island, AK, NDB. * * * * *

   Issued in Washington, DC, on August 27, 2004. Reginald C. Matthews, Manager, Airspace and Rules Division.

   [FR Doc. 04-20175 Filed 9-2-04; 8:45 am]

   BILLING CODE 4910-13-P