30144 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 27, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

1The next review of the denied boarding 

compensation amounts will occur after the CPI–U 

for July 2016 is released. 

2 14 CFR 250.5(a)(2) provides that the maximum 

amount of DBC is $650 for passengers who are 

denied boarding involuntarily on a domestic flight 

by a carrier who offers alternate transportation that 

is planned to arrive at the passenger’s first stopover 

or final destination more than one hour but less 

than two hours after the planned arrival time of the 

passenger’s original flight. 14 CFR 250.5(a)(3) 

provides that the maximum amount of DBC is 

$1,300 for passengers who are denied boarding 

involuntarily on a domestic flight by a carrier who 

offers alternate transportation that is planned to 

arrive at the passenger’s first stopover or final 

destination more than two hours after the planned 

arrival time of the passenger’s original flight. 

(m) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOCs) 

The Manager, Engine Certification Office, 

FAA, may approve AMOCs for this AD. Use 

the procedures found in 14 CFR 39.19 to 

make your request. You may email your 

request to: ANE-AD-AMOC@faa.gov. 

(n) Related Information 

(1) For more information about this AD, 

contact Martin Adler, Aerospace Engineer, 

Engine Certification Office, FAA, Engine & 

Propeller Directorate, 12 New England 

Executive Park, Burlington, MA 01803; 

phone: 781–238–7157; fax: 781–238–7199; 

email: martin.adler@faa.gov. 

(2) IAE NMSB No. V2500–ENG–72–0638, 

dated April 11, 2013; IAE NMSB No. V2500– 

ENG–72–0637, dated May 2, 2013; IAE 

NMSB No. V2500–ENG–72–0625, dated 

October 8, 2014; IAE EM Task 72–41–11– 

200–001; and IAE EM Task 72–41–11–110– 

001, which are not incorporated by reference 

in this AD, can be obtained from IAE, using 

the contact information in paragraph (o)(3) of 

this AD. IAE NMSB No. V2500–ENG–72– 

0638, dated April 11, 2013 provides guidance 

on performing the USI. IAE NMSB No. 

V2500–ENG–72–0637 and IAE EM Task 72– 

41–11–200–001 provide guidance on 

performing the FPI. Guidance on performing 

the ECI can be found in IAE NMSB No. 

V2500–ENG–72–0625. IAE Engine Manual 

Task 72–41–11–110–001 provides guidance 

on cleaning the HPC stage 3 to 8 drum. 

(o) Material Incorporated by Reference 

(1) The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 

(IBR) of the service information listed in this 

paragraph under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR 

part 51. 

(2) You must use this service information 

as applicable to do the actions required by 

this AD, unless the AD specifies otherwise. 

(i) International Aero Engines Alert NonModification Service Bulletin No. V2500– 

ENG–72–A0615, Revision 6, dated September 

4, 2014. 

(ii) Reserved. 

(3) For IAE service information identified 

in this AD, contact International Aero 

Engines AG, 400 Main Street, East Hartford, 

CT 06118; phone: 860–368–3700; fax: 860– 

368–4600; email: iaeinfo@iaev2500.com; 

Internet: https://www.iaeworld.com. 

(4) You may view this service information 

at the FAA, Engine & Propeller Directorate, 

12 New England Executive Park, Burlington, 

MA. For information on the availability of 

this material at the FAA, call 781–238–7125. 

(5) You may view this service information 

at the National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA). For information on 

the availability of this material at NARA, call 

202–741–6030, or go to: http://

www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibrlocations.html. 

Issued in Burlington, Massachusetts, on 

April 30, 2015. 

Colleen M. D’Alessandro, 

Assistant Directorate Manager, Engine & 

Propeller Directorate, Aircraft Certification 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–12068 Filed 5–26–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

14 CFR Parts 250, 254 and 383 

[Docket DOT–OST–2015–0104] 

RIN 2105–AE39 

Revisions to Denied Boarding 

Compensation, Domestic Baggage 

Liability Limits, and Civil Penalty 

Amounts 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with existing 

regulations, this final rule raises the 

maximum denied boarding 

compensation (DBC) amounts that have 

been in effect since August 2011, raising 

the maximum DBC amounts from the 

current figures of $650/$1,300 to $675/ 

$1,350. Also, in accordance with 

existing regulations, this final rule raises 

the minimum liability limit air carriers 

may impose for mishandled baggage in 

domestic air transportation, adjusting 

the minimum limit of liability from the 

current amount of $3,400 to $3,500. To 

account for inflation, this rule also 

raises the maximum civil penalties that 

can be assessed as a result of DOT 

aviation enforcement actions for 

violations of certain economic 

provisions of Title 49 of the U.S. Code 

from $2,500 to $2,750. 

DATES: This rule is effective on August 

25, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Clereece Kroha, Senior Attorney, Office 

of the General Counsel, Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 

SE., Washington, DC 20590; 202–366– 

9041, clereece.kroha@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Revision of Maximum Denied 

Boarding Compensation Amounts 

In its rule ‘‘Enhancing Airline 

Passenger Protections’’ (76 FR 23110, 

Apr. 25, 2011), the Department raised 

the limits on denied boarding 

compensation (DBC) due to passengers 

from the previous amounts of $400/$800 

to the current amounts of $650/$1,300. 

The rule also requires that these 

maximum DBC amounts be adjusted to 

reflect changes in the Consumer Price 

Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI–U). 

Under 14 CFR 250.5(e), the review of 

denied boarding compensation was to 

take place every 2 years, with the first 

such review occurring in July 2012, to 

coincide with our review of the baggage 

liability amount. Section 250.5(e) 

prescribes the use of a specific formula 

to calculate the revised maximum DBC 

amounts when making these periodic 

adjustments. The formula is below. 

Current DBC limit in section 250.5(a)(2) 

multiplied by (a/b) rounded to the 

nearest $25 

where: 

a = July CPI–U of year of current adjustment 

b = the CPI–U figure in August 2011 when 

the inflation adjustment provision was 

added to Part 250 

Section 250.5(e) specifies that the DBC 

limit in section 250.5(a)(3) shall be 

twice the revised limit for section 

250.5(a)(2). 

We reviewed the compensation 

amounts in 2012 and found that 

according to the formula set out in 

section 250.5(e), no change in the DBC 

amounts was called for. However, the 

2014–2015 review indicated that an 

inflation adjustment is required. 

Applying the formula to consumer price 

index changes occurring between 

August 2011 (the basis month required 

by the formula) and July 2014,1 the 

appropriate inflation adjustment is $650 

× 238.250/226.545 [$650 × 1.0517], 

which yields $683.60. (The base amount 

of $650 in the formula was the 

maximum denied boarding 

compensation in section 250.5(a)(2) 2 at 

the time that this biennial indexing 

provision was added to the rule, 

238.250 was the CPI–U for July 2014, 

and 226.545 was the CPI–U for August 

2011.) Section 250.5(e) requires us to 

round the adjustment to the nearest $25, 

or to $675 in this case. Section 

250.5(a)(3) provides that for passengers 

who are not rerouted to reach their 

destination within two hours the 

maximum DBC amount is twice the 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES

Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 27, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 30145 

3 14 CFR 250.5(b)(2) addresses DBC on outbound 

international flights. The provision is identical to 

section 250.5(a)(2) [see footnote 2] except that the 

threshold for alternate transportation at which the 

DBC limit doubles from $650 to $1,300 is four hours 

rather than two hours. 

4Similar to the DBC adjustment, the next review 

of the domestic baggage liability limit will occur 

after the CPI–U for July 2016 is released. 

amount provided by section 250.5(a)(2); 

therefore, under the formula adjustment, 

this amount is twice $675, or $1,350. 

In this final rule, we are also 

correcting an editorial error in section 

250.5(e). When issuing the 2011 final 

rule prescribing the formula for inflation 

adjustment for DBC limits, we 

inadvertently referred only to section 

250.5(a) for involuntary denied boarding 

on domestic flights and omitted section 

250.5(b) 3 for involuntary denied 

boarding on international flights 

outbound from U.S. airports. We intend 

to apply the periodic inflation 

adjustment to both sections because the 

inflation adjustment is applicable to 

‘‘DBC limits’’ without distinguishing 

domestic and international flights as 

noted by the Department in the 

preamble to the 2011 final rule. We are 

correcting this error by adding another 

paragraph to this rule, section 

250.5(e)(3), to provide that the DBC 

inflation adjustment also applies to 

section 250.5(b) regarding passengers 

involuntarily denied boarding on an 

international flight outbound from a 

U.S. airport. 

II. Revision of Minimum Domestic 

Baggage Liability Limit 

Part 254 of the Department’s rules (14 

CFR part 254) establishes minimum 

baggage liability limits that air carriers 

may apply to domestic air service. 

Section 254.6 of this domestic baggage 

liability limit rule requires the 

Department to review every two years 

the minimum limit of liability 

prescribed in Part 254 in light of 

changes in the CPI–U and to revise the 

limit of liability to reflect changes in 

that index as of July of each review year. 

Section 254.6 prescribes the use of a 

specific formula to calculate the revised 

minimum liability amount when 

making these periodic adjustments. The 

formula is below. 

$2500 × (a/b) rounded to the nearest 

$100 

where: 

a = July CPI–U of year of current adjustment 

b = the CPI–U figure in December 1999 when 

the inflation adjustment provision was 

added to Part 254. 

The application of the formula during 

the 2012 review of the minimum 

domestic baggage liability limit raised 

the amount from $3,300 to the current 

amount of $3,400. The 2014–2015 

review indicates that another inflation 

adjustment is required. Applying the 

formula using the consumer price index 

changes occurring between December 

1999 (the basis month required by the 

formula) and July 2014,4 the appropriate 

inflation adjustment is $2,500 × 

238.250/168.30 [$2,500 × 1.4156], which 

yields $3,539.07. (The base amount of 

$2,500 in the formula was the minimum 

liability limit in Part 254 at the time that 

this biennial indexing provision was 

added to the rule, 238.250 was the CPI– 

U for July 2014, and 168.30 was the 

CPI–U for December 1999.). Section 

254.6 requires us to round the 

adjustment to the nearest $100, or to 

$3,500 in this case. 

III. Revision of Maximum Civil 

Penalties 

The maximum civil penalty amounts 

for violations of aviation economic and 

consumer rules and statutes 

administered by the Department appear 

in 14 CFR part 383. The Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 

1990 (Pub. L. 101–410) provides a 

detailed formula on how Federal 

monetary civil penalties should be 

adjusted for inflation. The Debt 

Collection Improvement Act of 1996 

(Pub. L. 104–134, sec. 31001) requires 

each agency to adjust monetary civil 

penalties within its jurisdiction at least 

once every four years. It also limits the 

initial adjustment to a civil penalty 

pursuant to the 1996 Act to no more 

than 10 percent of such penalty. The 

adjustment is based on changes to the 

CPI–U from June of the year when these 

civil penalties were last adjusted to June 

of the year prior to the current 

adjustment. 

Notwithstanding the formula 

provided by the 1990 Act, the civil 

penalty amounts in Part 383 were set by 

Vision 100—Century of Aviation 

Reauthorization Act (Pub. L. 108–176; 

117 Stat. 2490, December 12, 2003). 

Subsequently, these civil penalty 

amounts were reviewed by the 

Department in 2008. In a final rule 

issued on November 21, 2008, the 

Department adjusted three of the five 

civil penalties under Part 383: Raising 

the general civil penalty from $25,000 to 

$27,500; raising the general civil penalty 

for small businesses or individuals from 

$10,000 to $11,000; and raising the civil 

penalty for violations of section 41719 

and rules and orders issued under that 

section from $5,000 to $5,500. 

According to the formula provided by 

the 1990 Act, the comparison between 

the CPI–U index for June 2008 and June 

2014 results in an inflation factor of 

1.089. This current review determines 

that none of the three civil penalties that 

were raised in 2008 are due for another 

increase. 

The current review also determines 

that only one of the two civil penalties 

that were set by Vision-100 in 2003, and 

were not raised in 2008, is due for an 

increase. The comparison between the 

CPI–U index for June 2003 (the year 

when these two civil penalties were last 

set by Vision-100) and June 2014 results 

in an inflation factor of 1.297. As such, 

the current $2,500 maximum civil 

penalty amount is raised to $2,750 for 

violations of section 41712 or consumer 

protection rules or orders by small 

businesses and individuals ($2,500 

multiplied by the inflation factor of 

1.297 which results in a raw increase of 

$742.50, rounded to the nearest $1,000 

then capped by the 10 percent increase 

limitation for the initial adjustment 

under the 1990 Act.) 

IV. Regulatory Analyses and Notices 

The Administrative Procedure Act 

(APA) (5 U.S.C. 553) contains a ‘‘good 

cause’’ exemption which allows 

agencies to dispense with notice and 

comment if those procedures are 

impracticable, unnecessary or contrary 

to the public interest. We have 

determined that under 5 U.S.C. 553 

(b)(3)(B) good cause exists for 

dispensing with a notice of proposed 

rulemaking and public comment for the 

inflation adjustments herein as the 

application of this rule does not involve 

any agency discretion. Those 

adjustments are simply a ministerial 

inflation update based on the terms and 

formulas set by 14 CFR 250.5, as most 

recently amended in 76 FR 23110 (April 

25, 2011), and by 14 CFR 254.6, as most 

recently amended in 73 FR 70591 

(November 21, 2008). Those formulas 

were subject to notice and comment in 

the rulemaking proceedings during 

which they were added to these baggage 

liability and oversales rules. Similarly, 

the clarification of the applicability of 

the inflation adjustment provision in 

section 250.5(e) to international 

transportation simply corrects an 

incomplete internal citation in the rule 

text where the Department’s intent as 

expressed in the preamble to the 2011 

rule was clear. The adjustment to a 

certain civil penalty is also a ministerial 

action required by the Federal Civil 

Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 

1990 as amended by the Debt Collection 

Improvement Act of 1996, and it is 

based on a statutory formula. 

Accordingly, we find that prior notice 

and comment are unnecessary, and we 

are issuing these revisions to Parts 250, 

254, and 383 as a final rule. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES

30146 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 27, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

This final rule will become effective 

with respect to transportation taking 

place on August 25, 2015. This means 

that any compensation due to 

passengers in instances of involuntary 

denied boarding, or any compensation 

due to domestic passengers because of 

loss, delay or damage to baggage, with 

respect to transportation taking place on 

or after the effective date (as opposed to 

tickets sold on or after the effective date) 

will be covered by this final rule. All 

notices to passengers required by the 

rules (Part 250 and Part 254) as they 

pertain to the new maximum DBC 

amounts and domestic baggage liability 

limit must be updated by the effective 

date of this final rule. The increased 

maximum civil penalty amount will 

become applicable to all violations that 

occur on or after the effective date of 

this final rule. 

V. Executive Order 12866 

This final rule has been evaluated in 

accordance with existing policies and 

procedures and is considered not 

significant under both Executive Order 

12866 and DOT’s Regulatory Policies 

and Procedures; therefore, the rule has 

not been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Denied Boarding Compensation 

The revision of 14 CFR part 250 

provides for an inflation adjustment to 

the maximum DBC amounts that air 

carriers and foreign air carriers are 

required by 14 CFR 250.8 to tender to 

passengers who are involuntarily denied 

boarding. The provisions are required 

by current regulatory language, and 

require no exercise of discretion or 

interpretation. 

This rule will pose minor additional 

costs to airlines only in those instances 

in which carriers oversold a flight, there 

was not a sufficient number of 

passengers who volunteered to give up 

their seats, and the carriers failed to 

arrange alternative transportation for 

passengers denied boarding that is 

scheduled to transport them to the next 

destination within a certain number of 

hours. The maximum potential impact 

in those instances is $25–$50 per 

affected passenger, depending on the 

delay in getting the passenger to the 

next destination and whether the flight 

is a domestic flight or outbound 

international flight. Reports filed each 

quarter with the Department by U.S. 

airlines that each account for at least 

one percent of total domestic scheduledservice passenger revenues show that, in 

2013, approximately 0.0092 percent 

(.000092) of passengers transported on 

their scheduled domestic and outbound 

international flights were involuntarily 

denied boarding. The total number of 

domestic and international outbound 

scheduled passenger enplanements for 

those carriers in 2013 was 620.5 million. 

This means that approximately 57,000 

passengers experienced involuntarily 

denied boarding last year on domestic 

or international outbound scheduled 

flights operated by these U.S. carriers 

(.000092 multiplied by 620.5 million). 

As the Department does not have a rule 

requiring foreign air carriers to report 

the number of passengers on their U.S.- 

outbound international flights who were 

involuntarily denied boarding, we do 

not have statistics on that number. 

However, the total 2013 annual 

enplanements for international 

outbound flights operated by foreign 

carriers is 41.7 million. Using the same 

rate of involuntarily denied boarding for 

U.S. carriers (0.0092 percent), the 

estimated number of passengers who 

were involuntarily denied boarding 

from foreign carrier-operated outbound 

international flights for 2013 is 

approximately 3,800. Therefore, we 

expect that the increase in the 

maximum DBC amounts will cost the 

affected carriers (both U.S. and foreign 

air carriers) no more than $3.04 million 

a year based on 60,800 total affected 

passengers (57,000 plus 3,800) 

multiplied by the maximum increase of 

$50 per passenger. The actual cost will 

be significantly less than that, since 

many passengers who are involuntarily 

denied boarding qualify for less than the 

maximum amount of DBC and their 

compensation will not be affected by 

this increase in the limits. There would 

be a benefit to passengers for the same 

amount. 

Domestic Baggage Liability 

The revision of 14 CFR 254.4 provides 

for an inflation adjustment to the 

amount of the minimum limit on 

baggage liability that air carriers may 

assert in cases of mishandled baggage, 

as required by section 254.6. The 

provisions are also required by current 

regulatory language, without 

interpretation. 

This rule will pose minor additional 

costs to airlines only in those instances 

in which carriers lose, damage or delay 

baggage and where the amount of the 

passenger’s claim in those instances 

exceeds the prior minimum liability 

limit of $3,400. The maximum potential 

impact in those instances is $100 on 

each such claim. Reports filed each 

month with the Department by U.S. 

airlines that each account for at least 

one percent of total domestic scheduledservice passenger revenues show that, in 

2013, approximately 0.3 percent (.003) 

of domestic passengers of these carriers 

experienced a mishandled bag. The total 

number of domestic scheduled 

passenger enplanements for these 

carriers in 2013 was 590.8 million. This 

means that approximately 1.77 million 

domestic scheduled passengers 

experienced a mishandled bag last year 

(.003 multiplied by 590.8). However, the 

vast majority of the instances of 

mishandled baggage do not result in a 

claim in an amount that is affected by 

the liability limit in this rule. Based on 

the information provided to us in 2013 

by several carriers, we believe a little 

more than one half percent (0.0058) of 

the domestic passengers who experience 

a mishandled bag would benefit from an 

increase in the minimum limit on 

baggage liability, i.e., about 10,266 

passengers per year. Therefore, we 

expect that there would be a cost to the 

airline industry of a little over $1 

million each year—the number of 

domestic passengers who have a 

baggage claim that exceeds the prior 

minimum liability limit of $3,400 

(10,266 passengers) multiplied by the 

maximum potential impact in those 

instances ($100). There would also be a 

benefit to passengers for the same 

amount. Since the rule is limited to 

domestic transportation, it does not 

affect foreign air carriers. 

Civil Penalties 

The increase of the maximum civil 

penalty will impact entities and 

individuals that are found to be in 

violation of section 41712 and consumer 

protection rules and orders. There is no 

direct cost to any regulated entity or 

individual unless the entity or 

individual is found to have committed 

a violation. 

VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 

(5 U.S.C. 601–612) requires an 

assessment of the impact of proposed 

and final rules on small entities unless 

the agency certifies that the proposed 

regulation will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. An air carrier 

or a foreign air carrier is a small 

business if it provides air transportation 

only with small aircraft (i.e., aircraft 

with up to 60 seats/18,000 pound 

payload capacity). See 14 CFR 399.73. 

The revisions of the DBC and baggage 

liability amounts principally affect 

flight segments operated with large 

aircraft. As a result, many operations of 

small entities, such as air taxis and 

many commuter air carriers, are not 

covered by the rule. Moreover, any 

additional costs for small entities 

associated with the rule would be 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES

Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 101 / Wednesday, May 27, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 30147 

minimal and, in the case of baggage 

liability, may be covered by insurance. 

The revision of the civil penalty 

amount will raise potential penalties for 

individuals and small businesses with 

regard to violations of section 41712 or 

consumer protection rules and orders. 

Because the maximum civil penalty 

amount is only increased by $250 from 

the current amount, the aggregate 

economic impact of this rulemaking on 

small entities should be minimal and 

would only be borne by those entities 

found in violation of the regulations. 

Accordingly, I hereby certify that this 

action will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

VII. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This final rule imposes no new 

reporting or record keeping 

requirements necessitating clearance by 

OMB. 

List of Subjects 

14 CFR Part 250 

Air carriers, Consumer protection, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

14 CFR Part 254 

Air carriers, Administrative practice 

and procedure, Consumer protection, 

Transportation. 

14 CFR Part 383 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Penalties. 

Accordingly, the Department of 

Transportation amends 14 CFR parts 

250, 254, and 383 as follows: 

PART 250—OVERSALES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 250 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 329 and chapters 

41102, 41301, 41708, and 41712. 

■ 2. Section 250.5 is amended by: 

■ a. Removing ‘‘$650’’ wherever it 

appears and adding ‘‘$675’’ in its place. 

■ b. Removing ‘‘$1,300’’ wherever it 

appears and adding ‘‘$1,350’’ in its 

place. 

■ c. Adding a new paragraph (e)(3) to 

read as follows: 

§ 250.5 Amount of denied boarding 

compensation for passengers denied 

boarding involuntarily. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(3) The Denied Boarding 

Compensation limit in paragraph (b)(2) 

shall be the same as the revised limit for 

paragraph (a)(2) of this section, and the 

Denied Boarding Compensation limit in 

paragraph (b)(3) shall be twice the 

revised limit for paragraph (a)(2) of this 

section. 

* * * * * 

§ 250.9 [Amended] 

■ 3. Section 250.9 is amended by 

removing ‘‘$650’’ wherever it appears 

and adding ‘‘$675’’ in its place and by 

removing ‘‘$1,300’’ wherever it appears 

and adding ‘‘$1,350’’ in its place. 

PART 254—DOMESTIC BAGGAGE 

LIABILITY 

■ 4. The authority citation for part 254 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 40113, 41501, 41504, 

41510, 41702 and 41707. 

§ 254.4 [Amended] 

■ 5. Section 254.4 is amended by 

removing ‘‘$3,400’’ and adding ‘‘$3,500’’ 

in its place. 

§ 254.5 [Amended] 

■ 6. Section 254.5(b) is amended by 

removing ‘‘$3,400’’ and adding ‘‘$3,500’’ 

in its place. 

PART 383—CIVIL PENALTIES 

■ 8. The authority citation for part 383 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sec. 503, Pub. L. 108–176, 117 

Stat. 2490; Pub. L. 101–410, 104 Stat. 890; 

Pub. L. 104–134 § 31001. 

§ 383.2 [Amended] 

■ 9. Section 383.2(b)(3) is amended by 

removing ‘‘$2,500’’ and adding ‘‘$2,750’’ 

in its place. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 18, 

2015 pursuant to authority delegated in 49 

CFR 1.27(c) and (n). 

Kathryn B. Thomson, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2015–12789 Filed 5–26–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Parts 401, 413 and 414 

[Docket No.: FAA–2015–1745; Amdt. No(s). 

413–11 and 414–3] 

RIN 2120–AK58 

Electronic Applications for Licenses, 

Permits, and Safety Approvals 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Direct final rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: Currently, an application for 

a license or experimental permit, or for 

a safety approval must be submitted to 

the FAA in paper form. This rule will 

make the application process more 

flexible and efficient by providing 

applicants with an option to submit 

these applications to the FAA 

electronically (either via email or on an 

electronic storage device) rather than 

submitting a paper application. 

DATES: Effective July 27, 2015. 

Submit comments on or before June 

26, 2015. If we receive an adverse 

comment or notice of intent to file an 

adverse comment, we will advise the 

public by publishing a document in the 

Federal Register before the effective 

date of the final rule. This document 

may withdraw the direct final rule in 

whole or in part. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments 

identified by docket number FAA– 

2015–1745 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

• 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. 

• Hand Delivery or 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. 

• Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Operations at 202–493–2251. 

Privacy: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 

553(c), DOT solicits comments from the 

public to better inform its rulemaking 

process. DOT posts these comments, 

without edit, including any personal 

information the commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

www.dot.gov/privacy. 

Docket: Background documents or 

comments received may be read at 

http://www.regulations.gov at any time. 

Follow the online instructions for 

accessing the docket or 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 concerning this 

action, contact Shirley McBride, Office 

of Commercial Space Transportation, 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES