59226 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 187 / Thursday, September 26, 2013 / Rules and Regulations 

1 Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements 

Final Rule, 77 FR 330 (Jan. 4, 2012). 

2 Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest 

Requirements; Technical Correction, 78 FR 11090 

(Feb. 15, 2013). 

3 Id. 

4See, e.g., 14 CFR 121.503(b) (requiring a 16-hour 

rest period if a pilot has flown for more than eight 

hours in a 24-consecutive-hour period). 

5We note, however, that the regulations do not 

require that the rest period provided under § 117.25 

be kept separate from the rest period provided 

Issued in Kansas City, Missouri, on 

September 16, 2013. 

Pat Mullen, 

Acting Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–22979 Filed 9–25–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 117 

[Docket No. FAA–2013–0655] 

Clarification of Implementation of 

Regulations and Exemption Policy 

With Regard to Early Implementation 

and Transition 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Clarification and Exemption 

Policy. 

SUMMARY: The FAA has issued a final 

flight, duty, and rest rule that will go 

into effect on January 4, 2014. This 

document provides an interpretation 

clarifying that the new flight, duty, and 

rest rule will apply to a flight duty 

period that begins on or after January 4, 

2014. This document also clarifies FAA 

policy with regard to: exemption 

petitions asking for an early 

implementation date for the 

requirements of part 117; and 

exemption petitions asking for an early 

transition to the requirements of part 

117. 

DATES: Send exemption requests to the 

docket on or before October 15, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Send exemption requests 

identified by docket number FAA– 

2013–0655 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instructions for making your 

submission electronically. 

• Mail: Send the exemption petition 

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. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Take the 

exemption petition 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. 

• Fax: Fax the exemption petition to 

Docket Operations at 202–493–2251. 

Docket: Documents received may be 

read at http://www.regulations.gov at 

any time. Follow the online instructions 

for accessing the docket or go to the 

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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical questions, contact Dale E. 

Roberts, Air Transportation Division, 

Flight Standards Service, Federal 

Aviation Administration; email 

dale.e.roberts@faa.gov. For legal 

questions, contact Alex Zektser, Office 

of the Chief Counsel, Regulations 

Division, Federal Aviation 

Administration; email alex.zektser@

faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On January 4, 2012, the FAA 

published a final rule entitled, 

‘‘Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest 

Requirements.’’ 1 In that rule, the FAA 

created a new part, part 117, which 

generally contains new flight, duty, and 

rest regulations for part 121 passenger 

operations and certain part 91 

operations. Part 117 will go into effect 

on January 4, 2014.2

Recently, the FAA received questions 

about the exact time at which part 117 

will apply to a certificate holder’s 

operations on or after January 4, 2014. 

The FAA also received a petition, 

submitted by Airlines for America 

(A4A) and the Regional Airline 

Association (RAA), asking for an 

industry-wide exemption to permit 

certificate-holder implementation of 

part 117 prior to January 4. In addition, 

representatives from American Airlines 

and A4A have met with FAA officials 

and requested that FAA consider 

allowing airlines to switch to part 117 

in a phased approach over a multi-day 

period. 

This document responds to the 

concerns raised in the implementation 

questions, the A4A/RAA exemption 

petition, and the American Airlines/

A4A meeting. First, this document 

provides an interpretation clarifying at 

which point on or after January 4, 2014, 

a certificate holder must apply part 117 

to its operations. Second, this document 

makes several findings with regard to 

exemption petitions from individual 

certificate holders asking for permission 

to implement part 117 prior to January 

4. Third, this document clarifies FAA 

policy with regard to exemption 

petitions from individual certificate 

holders asking for a phased transition to 

the requirements of part 117. Fourth, 

this document provides some guidelines 

to individual certificate holders for 

submitting exemption petitions for early 

implementation and/or early transition 

to part 117. 

Discussion 

A. Applicability of Part 117 on January 

4, 2014 

As stated above, part 117 will become 

effective on January 4, 2014.3 The 

regulatory text of part 117 does not 

contain a grandfather clause that would 

exempt operations that commence prior 

to January 4. Thus, part 117 could be 

interpreted as immediately applying to 

all part 121 passenger operations taking 

place at midnight on January 4. 

However, such an interpretation 

would take a narrow view regarding 

how part 121 passenger operations are 

to transition to the new part 117 

requirements. This is because § 117.25 

requires that a flightcrew member be 

provided with a 10-hour rest period that 

includes an 8-hour sleep opportunity 

immediately prior to beginning a flight 

duty period (FDP) under part 117. If part 

117 was to become immediately 

applicable on midnight January 4, 

flightcrew members conducting part 121 

passenger operations at that time would 

be confronted with the requirements of 

§ 117.25 in the middle of their duty day. 

To avoid this scenario, the FAA 

clarifies the implementation of part 117 

as follows. A flightcrew member who 

begins a duty day under part 121 prior 

to January 4, 2014 is allowed to 

complete that duty day on January 4 

under the flight, duty, and rest rules in 

effect at the time that the duty day 

commenced. However, once the duty 

day ends and the flightcrew member is 

released to begin a rest period, that 

flightcrew member is then subject to the 

provisions of part 117. 

We note that there are some 

provisions in the flight, duty, and rest 

regulations of part 121 that, in certain 

situations, require an extended rest 

period after a duty day ends.4

Accordingly, we emphasize that the rest 

period received by a flightcrew member 

switching from part 121 flight, duty, and 

rest rules to part 117 must comply with 

both § 117.25 and the pertinent flight, 

duty, and rest rules of part 121.5

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES

Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 187 / Thursday, September 26, 2013 / Rules and Regulations 59227 

under Subparts Q, R, and S of part 121. A single 

rest period would be sufficient if it satisfies all of 

the pertinent flight, duty, and rest requirements. For 

example, a 16-hour rest period with an 8-hour sleep 

opportunity would satisfy both § 117.25(e) and 

§ 121.503(b). 

6See 14 CFR 11.81(d) and (e). 

7See 14 CFR 11.85. 

8 § 11.87(c). 

B. FAA Findings With Regard to 

Exemption Petitions Asking for Early 

Implementation 

The A4A and RAA exemption 

petition asks the FAA to provide an 

exemption to A4A and RAA members 

and all similarly situated air carriers 

that would allow those carriers to 

implement part 117 early (between 

December 9, 2013 and January 4, 2014). 

In lieu of granting A4A and RAA’s 

exemption petition, the FAA makes the 

following findings with regard to 

individual certificate holder exemption 

petitions asking for an early 

implementation of part 117. 

In order to grant an exemption, the 

FAA must find that granting the 

exemption: (1) would not have an 

adverse effect on safety; and (2) would 

be in the public interest.6 As discussed 

below, we find that granting an 

individual certificate holder’s 

exemption petition asking for early 

implementation of part 117 would not 

have an adverse effect on safety and 

would be in the public interest. We also 

find that these individual certificate 

holder exemption petitions do not need 

to be published in the Federal Register. 

1. No Adverse Effect on Safety 

We note that, as A4A and RAA’s 

petition points out, the regulatory 

standards in part 117 contain the latest 

fatigue-related safety standard 

promulgated by the FAA. Because 

granting an exemption petition asking 

for early implementation of part 117 

would result in a certificate holder 

voluntarily switching sooner to this 

latest safety standard, we find that early 

implementation of part 117 in a 

certificate holder’s operations would not 

adversely affect safety. 

2. Public Interest 

With regard to public interest, A4A 

and RAA’s petition points out that 

allowing carriers to implement part 117 

on different days will reduce the system 

vulnerability caused by an entire 

industry switching crew planning 

software and algorithms on the same 

day. The petition also states that 

switching to part 117 prior to January 4 

will allow carriers to make the switch 

prior to the heaviest holiday travel days. 

We agree with these points and 

accordingly find that granting an 

individual exemption for early 

implementation of part 117 would be in 

the public interest. 

3. Public Comment on Individual 

Exemption Petitions 

The FAA generally publishes a 

summary of an exemption petition in 

the Federal Register and invites public 

comment on the petition.7 However, in 

certain circumstances, the FAA does not 

seek public comment on a petition for 

an exemption. One of those 

circumstances is present when delaying 

action on the petition would result in an 

adverse effect.8

In this case, the individual petitions 

for exemption would deal with a final 

rule that will go into effect on January 

4, and those petitions will seek to 

implement the rule prior to January 4. 

Because this implementation is close 

and because there are multiple 

significant tasks that must be done in 

order to prepare for the implementation, 

we find that delaying action on an 

individual petition requesting an 

exemption to implement part 117 early 

would result in an adverse effect. Thus, 

individual exemption petitions asking 

for early implementation of part 117 do 

not need to be published for notice and 

comment in the Federal Register. 

C. FAA Policy With Regard to 

Exemption Requests Asking for Early 

Transition 

We note that under both the 

clarification and early-implementation 

exemption discussed above, a certificate 

holder would have to essentially switch 

all of its affected operations to part 117 

in about a 24-hour period. If an 

individual certificate holder chooses to 

obtain an early-implementation 

exemption, that certificate holder will 

still have to switch its operations in the 

manner discussed in Section A above; 

the date of the switch will simply be 

different. 

However, as American Airlines and 

A4A pointed out, some certificate 

holders plan their schedules in multiday blocks, and switching their affected 

operations in 24-hour period could be 

burdensome. To address this concern, 

the FAA will consider individual 

certificate-holder petitions asking for an 

exemption to conduct a phased early 

transition to part 117. 

Part 117 early-transition exemptions 

will work as follows. A certificate 

holder will establish an early-transition 

date. During the time between the 

transition and implementation dates, 

the certificate holder will be permitted 

to switch individual flightcrew 

members to operate under part 117 

without having to switch all of its 

operations and flightcrew members into 

part 117. Under this exemption, once a 

flightcrew member has been switched to 

part 117, that flightcrew member would 

not be permitted to switch back to the 

part 121 flight, duty, and rest rules 

during the transition period. 

The FAA believes that this approach 

may benefit some certificate holders, as 

it would permit them to conduct a 

phased switch of their operations to part 

117 over the course of a longer period 

of time instead of switching all affected 

operations in a single day. As such, the 

FAA finds, for the reasons stated in the 

previous section, that granting 

individual exemption petitions asking 

for an early transition period would: (1) 

Not adversely affect safety; (2) be in the 

public interest; and (3) not need to be 

published for notice and comment in 

the Federal Register because delaying 

action on the petition would result in an 

adverse effect. 

D. Guidelines for Submission of 

Exemption Petitions 

We note that the FAA is currently 

undergoing an internal transition to 

administering and overseeing part 117. 

As such, an exemption petition asking 

to implement or transition to part 117 

earlier than December 1, 2013, will be 

denied, as the FAA may not have 

completed its internal transition prior to 

December 1. 

Exemption petitions asking for early 

transition and/or early implementation 

of part 117 should be submitted to 

Docket No. FAA–2013–0655. The FAA 

will respond to all individual certificate 

holder exemption petitions asking for 

early implementation and/or early 

transition to part 117 prior to the date 

that the carrier wishes to begin using the 

exemption if the exemption request is 

received in Docket No. FAA–2013–0655 

on or before October 15, 2013. The FAA 

will consider exemption petitions filed 

after October 15, but due to workload, 

a carrier submitting an exemption 

petition after October 15, 2013, may not 

get an FAA response to its petition 

within the desired timeframe. In 

addition, we ask that an exemption 

petition: (1) specify whether the petition 

is seeking early implementation of part 

117, an early transition to part 117, or 

both; and (2) specify the dates for early 

implementation and/or early transition 

to part 117. 

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59228 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 187 / Thursday, September 26, 2013 / Rules and Regulations 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 

19, 2013. 

Mark W. Bury, 

Acting Assistant Chief Counsel for 

International Law, Legislation and 

Regulations. 

John S. Duncan, 

Director, Flight Standards Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–23516 Filed 9–24–13; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

26 CFR Part 53 

[TD 9629] 

RIN 1545–BL58 

Requirement of a Section 4959 Excise 

Tax Return and Time for Filing the 

Return; Correction 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Final and temporary 

regulations; correction 

SUMMARY: This document contains 

corrections to final and temporary 

regulations (TD 9629) that were 

published in the Federal Register on 

Thursday, August 15, 2013 (78 FR 

49681). The regulations provide 

guidance to charitable hospital 

organizations regarding the requirement 

of a return to accompany payment of the 

excise tax, enacted as part of the Patient 

Protection and Affordable Care Act of 

2010, for failure to meet the community 

health needs assessment (CHNA) 

requirements for any taxable year. 

DATES: This correction is effective on 

September 26, 2013 and applicable 

beginning August 15, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy F. Giuliano, at (202) 622–6070 (not 

a toll free number). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The final and temporary regulations 

(TD 9629) that are the subject of this 

correction relate to the reporting of the 

excise tax under section 4959 of the 

Internal Revenue Code. 

Need for Correction 

As published, the final and temporary 

regulations (TD 9629) contain errors that 

may prove to be misleading and are in 

need of clarification. 

Correction of Publication 

Accordingly, the final and temporary 

regulations (TD 9629), that are the 

subject of FR Doc. 2013–19931, are 

corrected as follows: 

■ 1. In the heading, the subagency 

should read ‘‘Internal Revenue Service’’. 

■ 2. On page 49682, column 1, in the 

preamble, under the paragraph heading 

‘‘Background’’, line 7 from the top of the 

page, the language ‘‘Excise Taxes under 

Chapters 41 and 42’’ is corrected to read 

‘‘Excise Taxes Under Chapters 41 and 

42’’. 

■ 3. On page 49682, column 1, in the 

preamble, under the paragraph heading 

‘‘Background’’, line 16 from the top of 

the page, the language ‘‘Federal Register 

(REG–130233–11; 78’’ is corrected to 

read ‘‘Federal Register (REG–106499– 

12; 78’’. 

Martin V. Franks, 

Chief, Publications and Regulations Branch, 

Legal Processing Division, Associate Chief 

Counsel, (Procedure and Administration). 

[FR Doc. 2013–23411 Filed 9–25–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Fiscal Service 

31 CFR Part 356 

[Docket No. Fiscal–BPD–2013–0001] 

Sale and Issue of Marketable BookEntry Treasury Bills, Notes, and 

Bonds; Corrections 

AGENCY: Fiscal Service, Treasury. 

ACTION: Correcting amendments. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Treasury published a document in the 

Federal Register on July 31, 2013 (78 FR 

46426), revising the Uniform Offering 

Circular to accommodate the public 

offering of floating rate notes. This 

document corrects the final regulations 

by revising an error in some equations 

and by restating a variable. 

DATES: Effective September 26, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lori 

Santamorena, Executive Director, or 

Chuck Andreatta, Associate Director, 

Government Securities Regulations 

Staff, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, 

Department of the Treasury, (202) 504– 

3632. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is the 

third set of corrections. The first set of 

corrections was published in the 

Federal Register on August 19, 2013 (78 

FR 50335). The second set of corrections 

was published in the Federal Register 

on August 27, 2013 (78 FR 52857). This 

document augments those corrections. 

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 356 

Bonds, Federal Reserve System, 

Government Securities, Securities. 

Accordingly, 31 CFR part 356 is 

corrected by making the following 

correcting amendments: 

PART 356—SALE AND ISSUE OF 

MARKETABLE BOOK-ENTRY 

TREASURY BILLS, NOTES, AND 

BONDS (DEPARTMENT OF THE 

TREASURY CIRCULAR, PUBLIC DEBT 

SERIES NO. 1–93) 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 356 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 3102, 

et seq.; 12 U.S.C. 391. 

■ 2. In Appendix B to Part 356: 

■ a. In Section IV, subsection C, in the 

Formula, remove the first equation 

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