39388 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 128 / Tuesday, July 3, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

effective date of the regulations is July 

1, 2012. 

DATES: Effective Date: Under the 

authority of 12 U.S.C. 2252, the 

regulation amending 12 CFR part 614 

published on May 24, 2011 (76 FR 

29992) is effective July 1, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Paul K. Gibbs, Senior Accountant, 

Office of Regulatory Policy, Farm 

Credit Administration, McLean, 

Virginia 22102–5090, (703) 883–4498, 

TTY (703) 883–4434, or 

Wendy R. Laguarda, Assistant General 

Counsel, Office of General Counsel, 

Farm Credit Administration, McLean, 

Virginia 22102–5090, (703) 883–4020, 

TTY (703) 883–4020. 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 2252(a)(9) and (10) 

Dated: June 28, 2012. 

Dale L. Aultman, 

Secretary, Farm Credit Administration Board. 

[FR Doc. 2012–16318 Filed 7–2–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6705–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

14 CFR Part 1 

[Docket No. FAA–2012–0019; Amdt. No. 1– 

67] 

RIN 2120– AK03 

Removal of Category IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc 

Definitions; Confirmation of Effective 

Date and Response to Public 

Comments 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Direct final rule; confirmation of 

effective date and response to public 

comments. 

SUMMARY: This action confirms the 

effective date of the direct final rule 

published on February 16, 2012 (77 FR 

9163), and responds to the comments 

received on that direct final rule. In that 

document, the FAA proposed to remove 

the definitions of Category IIIa, IIIb, and 

IIIc operations because the definitions 

are outdated and no longer used for 

aircraft certification or operational 

authorization. 

DATES: The direct final rule becomes 

effective on June 12, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: For information on where to 

obtain copies of rulemaking documents 

and other information related to this 

action, see ‘‘How To Obtain Additional 

Information’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section of this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical questions concerning this 

action, contact Bryant Welch, Flight 

Technologies and Procedures Division, 

Flight Operations Branch, AFS–410, 

Federal Aviation Administration, 470 

L’Enfant Plaza, Suite 4102, Washington, 

DC 20024; telephone (202) 385–4539; 

email bryant.welch@faa.gov. 

For legal questions concerning this 

action, contact Nancy Sanchez, Office of 

the Chief Counsel, Regulations Division, 

AGC–200, Federal Aviation 

Administration, 800 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; 

telephone (202) 267–3073; email 

nancy.sanchez@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On February 7, 2012, the FAA issued 

Amendment No. 1–67, entitled 

‘‘Removal of Category IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc 

Definitions’’ (77 FR 9163). The direct 

final rule removes the definitions of 

Category IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc operations. 

The definitions are outdated because 

they are no longer used for aircraft 

certification or operational 

authorization. Removing the definitions 

will aid in international harmonization 

efforts, future landing minima 

reductions, and airspace system 

capacity improvements due to the 

implementation of performance based 

operations. The FAA requested that 

comments on that rule be received on or 

before March 19, 2012. 

By letter dated March 16, 2012, the 

International Civil Aviation 

Organization (ICAO) requested that the 

FAA consider postponing the effective 

date of the rule until the rule is 

reviewed through an international 

process. ICAO stated that due to the 

short time frame, it was not in the 

position to understand the full 

implications of removing the Category 

IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc definitions. ICAO 

further stated that additional time was 

necessary to adequately assess the 

impact of the Direct Final Rule and 

prepare comments. 

On April 13, 2012, the FAA reopened 

the comment period for the Direct Final 

Rule until May 14, 2012, and delayed 

the effective date from April 16, 2012 to 

June 12, 2012. A direct final rule takes 

effect on the specified date unless the 

FAA receives an adverse comment or 

notice of intent to file an adverse 

comment within the comment period. If 

adverse comments are received, the 

FAA will advise the public by 

publishing a document in the Federal 

Register before the effective date of the 

direct final rule. An adverse comment 

explains why a rule would be 

inappropriate or would be ineffective or 

unacceptable without a change, or may 

challenge the rule’s underlying premise 

or approach. The FAA received eight 

comments on this rule. The FAA does 

not consider these comments to be 

adverse and is therefore publishing this 

Confirmation of Effective Date and 

Response to Public Comments in 

response to those comments. 

Discussion of Comments 

The FAA received eight comments on 

this rule. Six of those comments were 

received during the original comment 

period, and two comments were 

received after the comment period 

reopened. ICAO, Boeing, and five 

individuals commented on this rule. 

On March 16, 2012, ICAO requested 

that the FAA delay the effective date of 

the rule so that it may conduct further 

review of this rulemaking. By letter 

dated May 14, 2012, ICAO submitted a 

follow up comment, stating that it has 

been clarified that ‘‘removal of the 

Category IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc definitions 

from 14 CFR part 1 will not impact 

relevant operational documents such as 

advisory circulars.’’ Additionally, ICAO 

further stated that ‘‘this initiative would 

have no impact on the recognition of 

any CAT III a, b, or c operational 

approval for international operators or 

United States-issued operational 

approvals which conform to Annex 6— 

Operation of Aircraft. On this basis, the 

International Civil Aviation 

Organization has no objection to the 

change * * *’’ 

Two individual commenters 

expressed support for this rulemaking. 

Boeing and three individual 

commenters expressed concern about 

various aspects of this rulemaking. 

Boeing submitted a comment during the 

original comment period. It stated that 

‘‘[w]ithout additional guidance, the 

removal of these categories’ definitions 

will create confusion and 

inconsistencies in the establishment of 

operational authorizations, and leave 

subject to individual interpretation the 

low weather minima capabilities of the 

combined ground, space, and airborne 

systems.’’ Boeing also noted that this 

rulemaking will require corresponding 

changes to other FAA regulations, 

orders and advisory circulars and will 

have substantial international 

ramifications. Additionally, Boeing 

suggested that ‘‘the public be given the 

opportunity to review the proposed 

changes in their entirety and comment 

via the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NPRM) process.’’ Boeing did not 

submit an additional comment during 

the reopened comment period. 

Several individual commenters 

expressed similar concerns. One 

commenter stated that ‘‘[a] unilateral 

change of these standards by the United 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 128 / Tuesday, July 3, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 39389 

States will negate the current global 

harmony of these landing definitions, 

and compel international flight crews to 

train and operate differently in the 

United States versus the rest of the 

world.’’ This commenter further stated 

that ‘‘* * * these changes should not be 

allowed to become effective until ICAO 

has changed the internationally 

recognized standard definitions, and all 

member states have concurred * * *’’ 

Two anonymous commenters submitted 

nearly identical comments and stated 

that ‘‘[t]he proposed definition 

relaxation will result in blending the Cat 

III operational and system performance 

distinctions, and appears to ignore the 

potential reduction in safety’’ These 

individuals also commented that 

‘‘* * * fail-passive systems and flight 

crews trained to the fail-passive 

minimums and procedures will be 

permitted to fly to fail-operational 

minimums.’’ 

In response to Boeing’s comment, the 

FAA notes that the removal of the 

Category IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc definitions 

will not affect current FAA category III 

aircraft certifications or operator 

authorizations and will not require 

changes to other FAA regulations. 

Category III standards used in the 

United States will be completely 

unaffected by the removal of the 

Category IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc definitions. 

The Category III operational concepts 

represented by the Category IIIa, IIIb, 

and IIIc definitions are used to develop 

the certification and authorization 

criteria and these criteria are then 

applied directly to individual aircraft 

certifications and operator 

authorizations. Thus, the certification of 

Category III aircraft systems under 

Advisory Circular (AC) 120–28D no 

longer directly refers to the Category 

IIIa, b, and c definitions contained in 14 

CFR 1.1, but uses the airworthiness 

criteria in the AC and the certification 

statements refer to those criteria as well. 

Likewise, Operations Specification 

(OpSpec) C060, the operational 

authorization for Category III operators, 

no longer specifically uses the Category 

IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc definitions, but rather 

ties authorized weather minima to the 

certification level of aircraft, as 

specified in the AC. 

In response to the individual 

comments, the FAA notes that AC 120– 

28D uses the ICAO Category IIIa, IIIb, 

and IIIc definitions in its development 

of Category III operational concepts. 

Category IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc definitions 

will continue to be used unless changed 

in the normal ICAO process. In its 

second comment, ICAO stated that this 

rulemaking would have no impact on 

the recognition of any CAT III a, b, or 

c operational approval for international 

operators or United States-issued 

operational approvals which conform to 

Annex 6—Operation of Aircraft and 

therefore has no objection to the change. 

Thus, operational authorizations for all 

operators and aircraft certification 

through AC 120–28D and OpSpec C060 

rely only upon the ICAO Category IIIa, 

IIIb, and IIIc definitions and will be 

completely unaffected by removing the 

definitions of Category IIIa, IIIb, and IIIc 

in the CFR. Additionally, the use of Fail 

Passive or Fail Operational Category III 

minima is not bound by the Category III 

definition. Category III minima are 

controlled completely by the 

operational authorization, OpSpec 

C060, under criteria contained in AC 

120–28D. Since, as explained above, the 

AC criteria will be unaffected by 

removal of the sub-definitions, CAT III 

minima authorized through the OpSpec 

will be unchanged. 

Conclusion 

After consideration of the comments 

submitted in response to the direct final 

rule, the FAA has determined that no 

further rulemaking action is necessary. 

Therefore, Amendment 1–67 remains in 

effect. 

How To Obtain Additional Information 

A. Rulemaking Documents 

An electronic copy of a rulemaking 

document my be obtained by using the 

Internet— 

1. Search the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal (http://www.regulations.gov); 

2. Visit the FAA’s Regulations and 

Policies Web page at http:// 

www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/ or 

3. Access the Government Printing 

Office’s Web page at http:// 

www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html. 

Copies may also be obtained by 

sending a request (identified by notice, 

amendment, or docket number of this 

rulemaking) to the Federal Aviation 

Administration, Office of Rulemaking, 

ARM–1, 800 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC 20591, or by 

calling (202) 267–9680. 

B. Comments Submitted to the Docket 

Comments received may be viewed by 

going to http://www.regulations.gov and 

following the online instructions to 

search the docket number for this 

action. Anyone is able to search the 

electronic form of all comments 

received into any of the FAA’s dockets 

by the name of the individual 

submitting the comment (or signing the 

comment, if submitted on behalf of an 

association, business, labor union, etc.). 

C. Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act 

The Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) of 

1996 requires FAA to comply with 

small entity requests for information or 

advice about compliance with statutes 

and regulations within its jurisdiction. 

A small entity with questions regarding 

this document, may contact its local 

FAA official, or the person listed under 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

heading at the beginning of the 

preamble. To find out more about 

SBREFA on the Internet, visit http:// 

www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/ 

rulemaking/sbre_act/. 

Issued in Washington, DC on June 11, 

2012. 

John M. Allen, 

Director, Flight Standards Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–16280 Filed 7–2–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 67 

[Docket No. FAA–2012–0056; Amdt. No. 

67–21] 

RIN 2120–AK00 

Removal of the Part 67 Requirement 

for Individuals Granted the Special 

Issuance of a Medical Certificate to 

Carry Their Letter of Authorization 

While Exercising Pilot Privileges; 

Confirmation of Effective Date 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Direct final rule; confirmation of 

effective date. 

SUMMARY: This action confirms the 

effective date of the direct final rule 

published on March 22, 2012. The rule 

removes a regulatory provision under 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

medical certification standards that 

requires individuals granted the Special 

Issuance of a Medical Certificate 

(Authorization) to have their letter of 

Authorization in their physical 

possession or readily accessible on the 

aircraft while exercising pilot privileges. 

DATES: The direct final rule becomes 

effective on July 20, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: For information on where to 

obtain copies of rulemaking documents 

and other information related to this 

action, see ‘‘How To Obtain Additional 

Information’’ in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section of this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical questions concerning this 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES