Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 167 / Tuesday, August 28, 2012 / Notices 52107 

Commission, 1721 North Front Street, 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17102–2391, 

or submitted electronically through 

http://www.srbc.net/pubinfo/ 

publicparticipation.htm. Any such 

comments mailed or electronically 

submitted must be received by the 

Commission on or before September 4, 

2012, to be considered. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

business meeting will include actions 

on the following items: (1) Ratification/ 

approval of agreements; (2) partial 

waiver of application fees for 

withdrawn applications; (3) conditional 

transfer extension request of Talon 

Holdings, LLC related to the Hawk 

Valley Gold Course, Lancaster County, 

Pa.; (4) issuance of corrective docket to 

Nature’s Way Purewater Systems, Inc. 

(Covington Springs Borehole), Dupont 

Borough, Luzerne County, Pa.; and (5) 

Regulatory Program projects. Projects 

listed for Commission action are those 

that were the subject of a public hearing 

conducted by the Commission on 

August 23, 2012, and identified in the 

notice for such hearing, which was 

published in 77 FR 44703, July 30, 2012. 

Authority: Pub. L. 91–575, 84 Stat. 1509 et 

seq., 18 CFR parts 806, 807, and 808. 

Dated: August 17, 2012. 

Thomas W. Beauduy, 

Deputy Executive Director. 

[FR Doc. 2012–21125 Filed 8–27–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7040–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Air Traffic Data in the Possession of 

Government Contractors 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The recently enacted Pilot’s 

Bill of Rights (PBR) provides, among 

other things, that ‘‘air traffic data’’ 

should be made accessible to, or 

obtainable by, an airman in Federal 

Aviation Administration (FAA) 

investigations when such data are in the 

FAA’s possession and the data will 

facilitate the individual’s ability to 

participate in a proceeding related to an 

FAA investigation. Some ‘‘air traffic 

data’’ are in the possession of 

government contractors providing 

operational services to the FAA. This 

notice specifies how and where an 

airman may request the FAA’s 

assistance in seeking ‘‘air traffic data’’ 

from government contractors. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background 

On August 3, 2012, the Pilot’s Bill of 

Rights, Public Law 112–153, was 

enacted. The PBR requires that the FAA 

notify an individual who is the subject 

of an investigation relating to the 

approval, denial, suspension, 

modification, or revocation of an airman 

certificate of certain information 

regarding the investigation. Among 

other things, the PBR requires the FAA 

to inform the individual that he or she 

‘‘is entitled to access or otherwise obtain 

air traffic data.’’ The FAA may delay in 

providing such notification if it is 

determined that such notification ‘‘may 

threaten the integrity of an 

investigation.’’ 

The PBR defines ‘‘air traffic data’’ in 

the possession of the FAA to include (i) 

relevant air traffic communication tapes; 

(ii) radar information; (iii) air traffic 

controller statements; (iv) flight data; (v) 

investigative reports; and (vi) any other 

air traffic or flight data in the FAA’s 

possession that would facilitate the 

individual’s ability to productively 

participate in a proceeding related to the 

investigation. The PBR recognizes that 

some air traffic data are in the 

possession of government contractors, 

not the FAA. The PBR provides that an 

individual—who is the subject of an 

FAA investigation related to the 

approval, denial, suspension, 

modification, or revocation of an airman 

certificate—is entitled to obtain air 

traffic data that are ‘‘government 

contractor air traffic data’’ that would 

assist the individual in participating in 

a proceeding related to such an 

investigation. The PBR provides that 

such an individual can request that the 

FAA obtain air traffic data from a 

government contractor providing 

operational services to the FAA, 

including control towers and flight 

service stations. Under the law, when 

the FAA requests such data from a 

government contractor and when the 

contractor provides the data to the FAA, 

the FAA is required to transmit the data 

obtained from the contractor to the 

individual described above. 

B. Centralized FAA Point-of-Contact for 

Requests for Air Traffic Data From 

Government Contractors 

Shortly, the FAA’s Internet Web page 

(www.faa.gov) will have a ‘‘Pilot’s Bill of 

Rights’’ hyperlink. An individual who is 

the subject of an investigation related to 

the approval, denial, suspension, 

modification, or revocation of an airman 

certificate may ‘‘click’’ on that hyperlink 

on the FAA Web page to find out what 

information the FAA needs to process a 

request for air traffic data in the 

possession of government contractors 

providing operational services to the 

FAA. The FAA Web site will also 

provide the individual with an FAA 

email address—AirmenDataRequest@

faa.gov—where the airman can send his 

or her request for contractor air traffic 

data. 

Because of the costs associated with 

storing air traffic data, much of it is 

destroyed or otherwise disposed of 

within a few days or weeks after it is 

generated. For an individual’s request to 

be meaningful, it must be expeditiously 

received by the FAA at a centralized 

location by FAA personnel who are 

trained to process such requests, and 

then it must be submitted to the 

government contractors before those 

contractors destroy or otherwise dispose 

of air traffic data in the normal course 

of business. FAA personnel who are 

knowledgeable about government 

contractors that provide operational 

services to the FAA (including control 

towers and flight service stations) will 

check for submissions made to 

AirmanDataRequest@faa.gov, and those 

FAA personnel will expeditiously 

forward such requests to the appropriate 

government contractor. 

C. What Should Be Contained in the 

Request for Government Contractor Air 

Traffic Data 

The PBR requires that when an 

individual who is the subject of an FAA 

investigation relating to an airman 

certificate requests air traffic data that 

are in the possession of a government 

contractor that provides operational 

services to the FAA (including control 

towers and flight service stations), the 

individual must: (1) Describe the facility 

at which such information is located; 

and (2) identify the date on which the 

information was generated. 

Because government contractors may 

have a tremendous amount of air traffic 

data, it is important for the individual 

to provide as much detail as possible 

regarding the air traffic data being 

sought. Such things about the aircraft 

operation as the local time of day, the 

heading of the aircraft, and its altitude 

will increase the chances that the 

appropriate data can be located, 

retrieved, preserved, and transmitted in 

accordance with the requirements of the 

Pilot’s Bill of Rights. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 22, 

2012. 

Peter J. Lynch, 

Assistant Chief Counsel for Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. 2012–21145 Filed 8–27–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES