September22, 2014 Original delivered by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested

U.S. DepartmentofTransportation Docket Operations West Building Ground Floor Room W12-140 1200 NewJerseyAvenue, SE Washington, DC 20590-0001 Receipt No: 7012 3460 0002 98582397

RE: Petition for Rulemaking on 14 CFR section 145.221 Direct Final Rule to Correct Error

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)1 part 11,2 the undersigned respectfully petition for an amendment to 14 CFR part 145 in the form of a direct final rule.
Proposed Action and Purpose3
Specifically, the signatories petition the agency to include the word "serious" in § 145.221; the word was erroneously removed during a recent rulemaking.4

The undersigned organizations represent a large cross-section of the civil aviation repair station industry. Our members will be directly and significantly impacted by the erroneously amended language.
Proposed LanguageforAmended Rule5
Restore§ 145.221 to: (a) A certificated repair station must report to the FAA within 96 hours after it discovers any serious failure, malfunction, or defectofan article. The report must be in aformat acceptableto the FAA.

1All regulatory references are to 14 CFR unless otherwise indicated. 2 See§§ 11.61(a), 11.63(a)(2), and 11.71. 3 See§ 11.71(a){2). 4 79 FR 46971, (August 12, 2014). 5 See§ 11.71(a)(3). .. _: '·--

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RE: Petition for Rulemaking on 14 CFR section 145.221 Direct Final Rule to Correct Error

Information, Arguments, Facts and Circumstances6

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) erred in removing the word "serious" from 

### § 145.221. The agency apparently removed the word based upon an incomplete history of the rulemaking activities surrounding the section. The FAA's statement that "[t]he word 'serious' was removed through notice and comment rulemaking in the 2001 final rule7

...[and]

...was inadvertently inserted by a separate final rule" is incorrect.8 Rather, the word "serious" was deliberately and correctly reinserted as a direct consequence of public comments in the Dec. 30, 2003 final rule.9 Specifically, the preamble to the 2003 amendmentspecifically notes:
Also, FAA agrees with the repair station industry concerning the word 'serious'. It was not the agency's intent to require repair stations to report 'any' failure, malfunction, or defect. When FAA combined 

### §§ 145.63 and 145.79 to create 

### § 145.221, FAA standardized language in that section to match language in parts 121, 125, and 135, which do not include theword 'serious.' In doing so, FAA removed the word 'serious' to describe the type offailures, malfunctions, and defects repair stations must report. Again, it was not FAA's intent to require repair stations to report all failures, malfunctions, and defects. Repair stations are required to report only serious failures, malfunctions, and defects. Therefore, FAA is reinserting the word 'serious' before the word 'failure' in § 145.211(a).10 (Emphasis added.)

It is therefore clear that the addition of the word "serious" was a deliberate act emanating from appropriate public comment, and therefore "serious" should not have been removed in the final rule issued Aug. 12, 2014, which becomes effective Nov. 10, 2014. 11
Furthermore, the burden of reporting "any failure, malfunction or defect" is as costly today as when the original removal of the word was contemplated. Articles come to repair stations because ofthose stated conditions; without the word "serious" all items received forworkwould have to be reported underthe rule. The costto the agency and

6 See§ 11.71(a)(5)-(6). 766 FR 41088, (August6, 2001). 8 65 FR 56192, (September 15, 2000). 9 68 FR 75380, (December30, 2003). 1068 FR 75381. (December30, 2003) 11 79 FR 46971, (August 12, 2014).September22, 2014 U.S. DepartmentofTransportation Docket Operations Page 3 of4

RE: Petition for Rulemaking on 14 CFR section 145.221 Direct Final Rule to Correct Error

the industry is incalculable. More importantly, it would not yield information to help the industry and the agency determine pre-cursors to safety events; rather, itwould merely inundate the agency's database.
Whythe Proposed Action is in the Public lnterest12

It is in the public interest for the agency to honor its previous rulemaking activity by correcting the record on its recent final rule. To do otherwise creates confusion and misunderstanding regarding the laws and directives governing the rulemaking process. The Administrative Procedures Act (APA)13 mandates agencies review public comment and if appropriate make changes to notices of proposed rulemaking to accommodate the input. The FAAdid so appropriately in 2003 and inadvertently misrepresented those activities in 2014.

Due to the urgency of ensuring a proper rulemaking and to avoid unnecessary cost or confusion to the agency and industry, it is imperative that the FAA reinsert the word "serious" through a direct final rulemaking underthe APA's good cause exception. The agency certainly can find that notice and comment procedures are "impracticable, unnecessary, [and] contrary to the public interest."14 In this instance, it is in the public interest to implement a correction that was fully vetted during a previous comment period relating to the exactsame section and issue.

We strongly urge FAA to accept our petition and issue a direct final rule correcting 

### § 145.221.

Thankyou foryourtime and consideration on this important matter. Sincerely,

Sarah Macleod Executive Director Aeronautical Repair Station Association 121 North Henry Street Alexandria, VA22314-2905 (703) 739-9543 Sarah.Macleod@arsa.org

12 See§ 11.71(a)(4). 135 U.S.C. 553. 14 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B). Ali Bahrami Vice President, Civil Aviation Aerospace IndustriesAssociation 1000Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1700 Arlington, VA22209-3928 (703) 358-1080 Ali.Bahrami@aia-aerospace.orgI "

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RE: Petition for Rulemaking on 14 CFR section 145.221 Direct Final Rule to Correct Error

Ric Peri Vice President Government& IndustryAffairs Aircraft ElectronicsAssociation 601 Pennsylvania Ave Suite 900, South Bldg. Washington, DC 20004-3647 (202) 589-1144 ricp@aea.net
Yvette Rose Sr. Vice President CargoAirlineAssociation 1620 L St, NW Suite 610 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 293-1030 yrose@cargoair.org

George Paul DirectorofTechnical Services NationalAir CarrierAssociation 1000Wilson Boulevard Suite 1700 Arlington, VA22209-3928 (703) 358-8063 gpaul@naca.cc Robert 

### L. Ireland Managing Director, Engineering 

### & Maintenance AirlinesforAmerica 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20004-1738 (202) 626-4228 Rlreland@airlines.org
Walter Desrosier Vice President, Engineering 

### & Maintenance GeneralAviation Manufacturers Association 1400 K Street NW, Suite 801 Washington, DC 20005-2402 (202) 393-1500 wdesrosier@gama.aero

John McGraw Directorof RegulatoryAffairs NationalAirTransportation Association 4226 King Street Alexandria, VA22302-1507 (703) 757-2049 jmcgraw@nata.aero

cc: Peggy Gilligan, AssociateAdministratorforAviation Safety, peggy.gilligan@faa.gov
Steve Douglas, Manager, Aircraft Maintenance Division, steven.w.douglas@faa.gov