65772 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 205 / Monday, October 24, 2011 / Notices 

the 12 projects with costs under $10 

million would have avoided the BCA 

requirement. Based on the data in FAA’s 

National Plan of Integrated Airport 

Systems, retaining the $5 million 

threshold is likely to create an 

unnecessary resource burden in coming 

years. In the next five years alone there 

are more than 150 projects with capacity 

codes and/or project descriptions that 

appear to be capacity-related. Of these, 

79 have total eligible project costs 

greater than $10 million which typically 

coincide with discretionary requests in 

excess of $5 million. This would likely 

result in project delays and 

corresponding increases in capital costs. 

By raising the threshold to $10 million, 

the number of projects that may require 

a BCA will increase at a significantly 

slower rate. The FAA believes this 

would preserve a prudent balance 

between analysis and expenditure of 

AIP funds, particularly since the 

planning process itself requires an 

assessment of the capacity benefits of 

such projects. 

e. Staff and Sponsor Resource 

Conservation 

ATA Comments: ATA stated, ‘‘FAA 

cites staff and sponsor resources as a 

motivating factor in raising the 

threshold, but once again offers no 

evidence to support the conclusion that 

doing so will conserve these resources. 

It would be helpful to know how many 

projects FAA expects will be newly 

exempt from the BCA requirement in 

coming years, based on past experience 

with grant requests. Furthermore, when 

the threshold was lowered from $10 

million to $5 million in 1997, it was 

done in conjunction with a shift of the 

responsibility for preparing a BCA from 

the FAA to the project sponsor. How 

much of the anticipated savings in staff 

resources will accrue to FAA, and how 

much to airport sponsors? ATA has a 

direct interest in this, since costs 

attributable to preparing BCAs are 

considered allowable airport planning 

costs, and, to the extent not covered by 

an AIP grant, may get passed back to 

airline tenants through inclusion in the 

rate base.’’ 

FAA Response: The FAA’s main 

justification in increasing the threshold 

from $5 million to $10 million is to keep 

pace with the impact of inflation on 

construction costs. Consistent with the 

original BCA policy, in increasing this 

threshold the FAA seeks to balance 

oversight of expensive, high risk 

projects with limited time and monetary 

resources. Based on the data presented 

above there is strong evidence to suggest 

that retaining the existing threshold 

would significantly increase the number 

of small capacity projects requiring 

formal BCA reviews. This would create 

additional project costs, lengthen the 

time required to implement a project, 

and create additional and duplicative 

levels of review by the FAA, airport 

staff, and airport users. Instead, the FAA 

will rely on existing master planning, 

metropolitan area planning, and 

statewide system planning to adequately 

address the capacity benefits of such 

projects. Anticipated savings will accrue 

to sponsors, airline tenants and the 

FAA, though the FAA is not currently 

able to directly quantify these savings. 

g. Full Justification of Projects 

ATA Comments: ATA stated ‘‘ATA 

recognizes that FAA’s constrained 

resources may make the prospect of 

fewer BCAs to prepare or review 

appealing, but we must point out that in 

an era of limited funding it is all the 

more important that projects be fully 

justified in terms of benefits relative to 

costs. While BCAs may not be the only 

means to do this, FAA should ensure 

that it will not lose sight of this 

principle before it raises the threshold.’’ 

FAA Response: The FAA agrees with 

the comment that all projects must be 

fully justified in terms of benefits to the 

traveling public, aviation system users, 

and neighboring communities. 

However, not all projects that compete 

for limited AIP discretionary funds are 

subject to the BCA requirement. Instead, 

the BCA process is one of many tools 

the FAA uses to determine the capacity 

benefits of potential projects. The FAA 

relies on existing master planning, 

metropolitan area planning, and 

statewide system planning processes to 

adequately analyze and address the 

capacity benefits of such projects. As 

circumstances warrant, the FAA also 

requests BCAs or other economic 

evaluations be done for projects under 

the threshold. 

Accordingly, after review of the 

public comments, the FAA has 

determined that the policy proposing to 

increase the BCA threshold from $5 

million to $10 million in AIP 

Discretionary funds should be adopted 

now. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 17, 

2011. 

Benito DeLeon, 

Director, Office of Airport Planning and 

Programming. 

[FR Doc. 2011–27364 Filed 10–21–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

[Summary Notice No. PE–2011–48] 

Petition for Exemption; Summary of 

Petition Received 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of petition for exemption 

received. 

SUMMARY: This notice contains a 

summary of a petition seeking relief 

from specified requirements of 14 CFR. 

The purpose of this notice is to improve 

the public’s awareness of, and 

participation in, this aspect of FAA’s 

regulatory activities. Neither publication 

of this notice nor the inclusion or 

omission of information in the summary 

is intended to affect the legal status of 

the petition or its final disposition. 

DATES: Comments on this petition must 

identify the petition docket number 

involved and must be received on or 

before November 14, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments 

identified by Docket Number FAA– 

2011–1029 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Government-wide rulemaking Web 

site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov 

and follow the instructions for sending 

your comments electronically. 

• Mail: Send comments to the Docket 

Management Facility; U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., West Building Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 

20590. 

• Fax: Fax comments to the Docket 

Management Facility at 202–493–2251. 

• Hand Delivery: Bring comments to 

the Docket Management Facility 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. 

Privacy: We will post all comments 

we receive, without change, to http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information you provide. 

Using the search function of our docket 

Web site, anyone can find and read the 

comments received into any of our 

dockets, including the name of the 

individual sending the comment (or 

signing the comment for an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477–78). 

Docket: To read background 

documents or comments received, go to 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 205 / Monday, October 24, 2011 / Notices 65773 

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

or to the Docket Management Facility 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: 

Frances Shaver, ARM–207, (202) 267– 

4059, FAA, Office of Rulemaking, 800 

Independence Ave., SW., Washington, 

DC 20591 or Walter Binkley, (405) 954– 

3284, FAA, Aircraft Registration Branch, 

PO Box 25504, Oklahoma City, OK 

73125. 

This notice is published pursuant to 

14 CFR 11.85. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 19, 

2011. 

Dennis R. Pratte, 

Acting Director, Office of Rulemaking. 

Petition for Exemption 

Docket No.: FAA–2011–1029. 

Petitioner: Maryland State Police 

Aviation Command. 

Section of 14 CFR Affected: § 47.15(b). 

Description of Relief Sought: 

Maryland State Police Aviation 

Command requests relief from 

§ 47.15(b). If granted, an exemption 

would allow Maryland State Police 

Aviation Command to use registration 

numbers ‘‘N1MSP’’ through ‘‘N11MSP’’ 

for its new AW139 medevac fleet. 

[FR Doc. 2011–27432 Filed 10–21–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

[Docket No. FAA–2010–0109] 

Petition for Waiver of the Terms of the 

Order Limiting Scheduled Operations 

at LaGuardia Airport; Procedures for 

the Reallocation of Slots at Ronald 

Reagan Washington National Airport 

and LaGuardia Airport 

AGENCY: Department of Transportation, 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

ACTION: Notice of procedures for the 

reallocation of slots at Ronald Reagan 

Washington National Airport and 

LaGuardia Airport. 

SUMMARY: Under this notice, the FAA 

announces the procedures for the 

reallocation of slots at Ronald Reagan 

Washington National Airport and 

LaGuardia Airport, which are being 

divested by Delta Air Lines, Inc. and US 

Airways, Inc. resulting from a grant of 

waiver to them. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

October 7, 2011, the Secretary of 

Transportation and the Administrator of 

the Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA) granted with conditions a joint 

waiver request by Delta Air Lines, Inc. 

(Delta) and US Airways, Inc. (US 

Airways) from the prohibition on 

purchasing operating authorizations 

(slots) at LaGuardia Airport (LGA). 76 

FR 63702 (Oct. 13, 2011) (the Waiver). 

The Waiver permitted Delta and US 

Airways 30 days to accept the terms of 

the Waiver. They accepted by joint letter 

on October 12, 2011. 

Among the conditions of the Waiver, 

the Secretary and the Administrator 

require Delta and US Airways 

collectively to dispose of 16 slots at 

Ronald Reagan Washington National 

Airport (DCA) and 32 slots at LGA. 

Those divested slots will be reallocated 

in one slot bundle for DCA and two slot 

bundles (of 16 slots each) for LGA to 

eligible new entrant and limited 

incumbent carriers. The following 

discussion describes the procedures and 

timelines for that reallocation. 

Registration for the Slot Reallocation 

The Waiver establishes that new 

entrant and limited incumbent carriers 

with less than five percent of the total 

slot holdings at DCA or LGA, and which 

do not code share to or from DCA or 

LGA with any carrier that has five 

percent or more of the total slot 

holdings, may participate in the 

reallocation at the respective airport. 

Eligible participating carriers also may 

not be subsidiaries, either partially or 

wholly owned, of a company whose 

combined slot holdings are equal to or 

greater than five percent of the total slot 

holdings at DCA or LGA respectively, 

with the exception of Frontier Airlines 

as noted in the Waiver. 

Because the identities of slot bidders 

are undisclosed during the bidding 

period, the FAA is requiring registration 

by eligible carriers to participate in the 

reallocation process. Eligible carriers 

may register by e-mail to 7-awaslotadmin@faa.gov between October 19 

and October 28, 2011. Please include 

‘‘DCA/LGA Slot Reallocation’’ in the 

email subject line. An eligible carrier 

must register as an individual carrier 

and may not submit a joint bid with 

another carrier. The registering carrier 

must indicate whether it intends to bid 

on slot bundles at DCA or LGA or both 

airports. The registering carrier must 

state whether there is common 

ownership or control of, by, or with any 

other carrier at the respective airport. 

Finally, the registering carrier must 

certify that it will disclose no purchase 

offer information to any person other 

than its agent. 

The FAA will confirm eligibility and 

respond by email with a bidder 

identification number for each slot 

bundle no later than November 10, 

2011. 

Slot Bundles 

The Waiver requires the divested slots 

to be reallocated in bundles. For DCA 

slots, there is one bundle of 16 slots 

(DCA Bundle). For LGA slots, there are 

two bundles of 16 slots each (LGA 

Bundle A and LGA Bundle B). The 

contents of the slot bundles are 

included in an appendix to this 

document. 

Bidding on Slot Bundles 

The Waiver permits a bidding period 

of seven business days. Accordingly, the 

bidding period will open at 9 a.m., 

Eastern time, on November 14, 2011, 

and it will close at 5 p.m., Eastern time, 

on November 22, 2011. Registered 

bidders may submit cash-only bids at 

any time during that bidding period and 

may submit multiple bids during the 

bidding period. The FAA will construe 

the latest received bid as that bidder’s 

final bid. 

Registered bidders may submit bids 

via email to 7-awa-slotadmin@faa.gov. 

Please include ‘‘DCA/LGA Slot 

Reallocation’’ in the e-mail subject line. 

The FAA requests the following format 

for required bid information in the body 

of the email: 

Bidder Identification Number, Slot 

Bundle, Preference Ranking, Bid Price 

The preference ranking applies only 

to the LGA slot bundles, and the FAA 

will use it only if one bidder submits 

the highest bid for both bundles. This 

preference ranking should be either a 

‘‘1’’ (first priority) or a ‘‘2’’ (second 

priority). 

The FAA will reject any bid that does 

not contain all required bid information. 

The FAA also will reject any bid 

received after 5 p.m., Eastern time, on 

November 22, 2011. The FAA will use 

its email system time stamp as the 

submission time of the bid. Bids are 

effective upon receipt, and the FAA will 

not permit the withdrawal of any bid. 

The FAA will post a running tally of 

bids for each slot bundle at http:// 

www.faa.gov/about/office_org/ 

headquarters_offices/agc/ReAllocation. 

That tally will include the required bid 

information and time stamp of the bid. 

The FAA will post bids at 

approximately 9 a.m., 12 p.m., and 4 

p.m., Eastern time, on each business day 

of the bidding period (for bids received 

by 8 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 p.m., Eastern 

time, respectively). On November 22, 

the FAA will post bids each hour from 


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