60426 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 189 / Thursday, September 29, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

101.95—Sunset provisions for 

licensees in the 18.30–19.30 GHz band. 

101.97—Future licensing in the 

18.30–19.30 GHz band. 

Subpart C—Technical Standards 

Brief Description: Subpart C sets forth 

technical standards for applications and 

licenses in the Fixed Microwave 

Services. 

Need: The revised rules establish 

revised technical standards for the 24 

GHz Service, Multiple Address Systems, 

and Operational Fixed Stations. 

Legal Basis: 47 U.S.C. 154 and 303. 

Section Number and Title: 

101.101—Frequency availability. 

101.103—Frequency coordination 

procedures. 

101.105—Interference protection 

criteria. 

101.109—Bandwidth. 

101.111—Emission limitations. 

101.113—Transmitter power 

limitations. 

101.115—Directional antennas. 

101.135—Shared use of radio stations 

and the offering of private carrier 

service. 

101.139—Authorization of 

transmitters. 

101.141—Microwave modulation. 

101.143—Minimum path length 

requirements. 

101.145—Interference to 

geostationary–satellites. 

101.147—Frequency assignments. 

Subpart E—Miscellaneous Common 

Carrier Provisions 

Brief Description: Subpart E sets forth 

miscellaneous provisions applicable to 

Common Carrier microwave stations. 

Need: The revised rules apply 

requirements relating to discontinuance 

of service and equal employment 

opportunities to common carrier 

operation in the 24 GHz service. 

Legal Basis: 47 U.S.C. 154 and 303. 

Section Number and Title: 

101.305—Discontinuance, reduction 

or impairment of service. 

101.311—Equal employment 

opportunities. 

Subpart G—24 GHz Service and Digital 

Electronic Message Service 

Brief Description: Subpart G sets forth 

rules for the 24 GHz Service and the 

Digital Electronic Message Service and 

provides the provisions implementing 

Section 309(j) of the Communications 

Act of 1934, as amended, authorizing 

the Commission to employ competitive 

bidding procedures to resolve mutually 

exclusive applications for initial 

licenses. 

Need: The revised rules establish 

revised technical and service rules for 

the 24 GHz Service and implement the 

Commission’s competitive bidding 

authority under 47 U.S.C. 309(j). 

Legal Basis: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 

154(j), 155, 157, 225, 303(r) and 309. 

Section Number and Title: 

101.501—Eligibility. 

101.503—Digital Electronic Message 

Service Nodal Stations. 

101.509—Interference protection 

criteria. 

101.511—Permissible services. 

101.521—Spectrum utilization. 

101.523—Service areas. 

101.525—24 GHz system operations. 

101.526—License term. 

101.527—Construction requirements 

for 24 GHz operations. 

101.529—Renewal expectancy criteria 

for 24 GHz licenses. 

101.531—[Reserved] 

101.533—Regulatory status. 

101.535—Geographic partitioning and 

spectrum aggregation/disaggregation. 

101.537—24 GHz band subject to 

competitive bidding. 

101.538—Designated entities. 

Subpart J—Local Television 

Transmission Service 

Brief Description: Subpart J sets forth 

rules for the Local Television 

Transmission Service. 

Need: The revised rules revise the 

frequency assignments available for the 

Local Television Transmission Service 

and revise the requirements applicable 

to operation of such facilities at 

temporary fixed locations. 

Legal Basis: 47 U.S.C. 154 and 303. 

Section Number and Title: 

101.803—Frequencies. 

101.815—Stations at temporary fixed 

locations. 

Subpart O—Multiple Address Systems 

Brief Description: Subpart O sets forth 

the general provisions, system license 

requirements, and system requirements 

for Multiple Address Systems as well as 

the provisions implementing Section 

309(j) of the Communications Act of 

1934, as amended, authorizing the 

Commission to employ competitive 

bidding procedures to resolve mutually 

exclusive applications for certain initial 

licenses. 

Need: The Subpart O rules establish 

service and technical rules applicable to 

Multiple Address Systems and 

implement the Commission’s 

competitive bidding authority under 47 

U.S.C. 309(j). 

Legal Basis: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303 and 

309. 

Section Number and Title: 

101.1301—Scope. 

101.1303—Eligibility. 

101.1305—Private internal service. 

101.1307—Permissible 

communications. 

101.1309—Regulatory status. 

101.1311—Initial EA license 

authorization. 

101.1313—License term. 

101.1315—Service areas. 

101.1317—Competitive bidding 

procedures for mutually exclusive MAS 

EA applications. 

101.1319—Competitive bidding 

provisions. 

101.1321—License transfers. 

101.1323—Spectrum aggregation, 

disaggregation, and partitioning. 

101.1325—Construction 

requirements. 

101.1327—Renewal expectancy for 

EA licensees. 

101.1329—EA Station license, 

location, modifications. 

101.1331—Treatment of incumbents. 

101.1333—Interference protection 

criteria. 

[FR Doc. 2011–24973 Filed 9–28–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

49 CFR Part 27 

RIN 2105–AD91 

[Docket No. DOT–OST–2011–0182] 

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of 

Disability in Programs or Activities 

Receiving Federal Financial 

Assistance (U.S. Airports) 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: The Department is proposing 

to amend its rules implementing section 

504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 

which requires accessibility in airport 

terminal facilities that receive Federal 

financial assistance. The proposed rule 

includes new provisions related to 

service animal relief areas and 

captioning of televisions and audiovisual displays that are similar to new 

requirements applicable to U.S. and 

foreign air carriers under the 

Department’s Air Carrier Access 

(ACAA) regulations, 14 CFR part 382. 

The NPRM also proposes to reorganize 

the provision in 49 CFR 27.72 

concerning mechanical lifts for 

enplaning and deplaning passengers 

with mobility impairments, and to 

amend this provision so airports are 

required to work not only with U.S. 

carriers but also foreign air carriers to 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
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1The Transportation Security Administration 

(TSA) worked with the Department to develop 

guidelines identifying key security concerns and 

concepts that should be factored into the planning 

and design of airport facilities, including service 

animal relief areas. See ‘‘Recommended Security 

Guidelines for Airport Planning, Design and 

Construction,’’ revised May 2011, available 

at http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/ 

airport_security_design_guidelines.pdf. 

ensure lifts are available where level 

entry loading bridges are not available. 

This proposed rule would apply to 

airport facilities located in the U.S. with 

10,000 or more annual enplanements 

and that receive Federal financial 

assistance. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments regarding this 

proposal. Comments must be received 

on or before November 28, 2011. Latefiled comments will be considered to 

the extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: You may file comments 

identified by docket number DOT–OST– 

2011–0182 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

Instructions: You must include the 

agency name and docket number DOT– 

OST–2011–0182 or the Regulatory 

Identification Number (RIN) for the 

rulemaking at the beginning of your 

comment. All comments received will 

be posted without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of all comments 

received in any of our 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.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477–78), or you may visit http:// 

DocketsInfo.dot.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov or to the street 

address listed above. Follow the online 

instructions for accessing the docket. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maegan L. Johnson, Trial Attorney, 

Office of the Assistant General Counsel 

for Aviation Enforcement and 

Proceedings, Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Room W96–464, 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366–9342. 

You may also contact Blane A. Workie, 

Deputy Assistant General Counsel, 

Office of the Assistant General Counsel 

for Aviation Enforcement and 

Proceedings, Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Room W96–464, 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366–9342. 

Arrangements to receive this notice in 

an alternative format may be made by 

contacting the above named individuals. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 1, 1996, the U.S. 

Department of Transportation amended 

its regulation implementing section 504 

of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to 

create a new section 49 CFR 27.72, 

concerning regulatory requirements for 

U.S. airports to ensure the availability of 

lifts to provide level-entry boarding for 

passengers with disabilities flying on 

small commuter aircraft. See 61 FR 

56409. This requirement paralleled the 

lift provisions applicable to U.S. carriers 

in the ACAA rule, 14 CFR part 382. On 

May 13, 2008, the Department of 

Transportation published a final rule 

that amended part 382 by making it 

applicable to foreign air carriers. See 73 

FR 27614. In addition to making the rule 

applicable to foreign carriers, the 

amended part 382 includes provisions 

that require U.S. and foreign air carriers, 

in cooperation with airport operators, to 

provide animal relief areas for service 

animals that accompany passengers 

departing, connecting, or arriving at 

U.S. airports. See 14 CFR 382.51(a)(5). 

Part 382 also requires U.S. and foreign 

air carriers to enable captioning on all 

televisions and other audio-visual 

displays that are capable of displaying 

captioning and that are located in any 

portion of the airport terminal to which 

any passengers have access. See 14 CFR 

382.51(a)(6). As a result of the 2008 

amendment to part 382, the 

requirements in part 27 do not mirror 

the requirements applicable to airlines 

set forth in part 382. In order to 

harmonize part 27 with the amended 

part 382, the Department proposes to 

amend part 27 to add such parallel 

provisions. 

The proposed rule would also update 

outdated terminology and references 

that currently exist in 49 CFR part 27. 

The proposed rule would change the 

word ‘‘handicapped,’’ and similar 

variations of that word that appear 

throughout part 27, to ‘‘people first’’ 

language (e.g., ‘‘individuals with 

disabilities’’) consistent with practice 

under the Americans with Disabilities 

Act. Additionally, the proposed rule 

would delete the obsolete reference to 

the Uniform Federal Accessibility 

Standards in 49 CFR 27.3(b) and change 

the language ‘‘appendix A to part 37 of 

this title’’ to ‘‘appendices B and D of 36 

CFR part 1191, as modified by appendix 

A to part 37 of this title.’’ 

Service Animal Relief Areas 

The 2008 amendment to part 382 

requires U.S. and foreign air carriers to 

work with airport operators to provide 

service animal relief areas at U.S. 

airports. Part 27 does not include a 

provision that mirrors this requirement. 

As such, the Department proposes to 

amend part 27 by inserting a provision 

that would require airport operators to 

work with carriers to establish relief 

areas for service animals that 

accompany passengers with disabilities 

departing, connecting, or arriving at 

U.S. airports. 

Part 382 does not provide specific 

directives regarding the design, number, 

or location of service animal relief areas 

an airport should have; it simply 

requires carriers to provide service 

animal relief areas in cooperation with 

the airports and in consultation with 

service animal training organizations 

concerning the design of service animal 

relief areas. However, in a Frequently 

Asked Questions document issued by 

the Department’s Aviation Enforcement 

Office on May 13, 2009, examples of 

factors airlines and airports should 

consider in designating and 

constructing areas for service animal 

relief at U.S. airports are provided.1

Factors to consider in establishing relief 

areas include the size and surface 

material of the area, maintenance, and 

distance to relief area which could vary 

based on the size and configuration of 

the airport. The Department seeks 

comment about whether it should adopt 

requirements regarding the design of 

service animal relief areas and what, if 

any, provisions the rule should include 

concerning the dimensions, materials 

used, and maintenance for relief areas. 

We are tentatively proposing a 

minimum of one service animal relief 

area for each terminal in an airport. The 

Department is aware that requiring only 

one service animal relief area for each 

terminal in an airport may result in 

individuals with disabilities missing 

flights when trying to reach service 

animal relief areas located outside the 

sterile area of an airport, especially in 


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2The sterile area is the area between the TSA 

passenger screening checkpoint and the aircraft 

boarding gates. See 49 CFR 1540.5. 

3High-contrast captioning is defined in 14 CFR 

382.3 as ‘‘captioning that is at least as easy to read 

as white letters on a consistent black background.’’ 

As explained in the preamble to part 382, defining 

‘‘high-contrast captioning’’ in such a way not only 

ensures that captioning will be effective but also 

allows carriers to use existing or future technologies 

to achieve captioning that are as effective as white 

on black or more so. 

larger airports. For this reason, and 

despite our tentative recommendation of 

one relief area for each terminal in an 

airport, the Department seeks comment 

on what would be an appropriate 

number of service animal relief areas in 

an airport. In addition to seeking public 

comment on how many service animal 

relief areas should be required at an 

airport or a terminal, the Department 

would like to know how that number 

should be determined. For example, 

should the number be determined by 

the size or configuration of the airport 

(e.g., the number, location and design of 

terminals and concourses) and/or the 

amount of time it would take for an 

individual with a disability to reach a 

service animal relief area from any gate 

within the airport? Or should DOT 

establish a performance requirement 

that a passenger arriving at any gate 

with his or her service animal be able 

to reach a relief area in 10, 20 or some 

other number of minutes? 

The Department also seeks comment 

on the placement of service animal 

relief areas, particularly whether service 

animal relief areas should be located 

inside or outside the sterile 2 area of an 

airport. It could be important to have 

relief areas both inside and outside the 

sterile area of an airport to ensure that 

individuals with service animals have 

access to such areas when traveling. For 

example, an individual traveling with a 

service animal could arrive at Gate C3 

and have an hour to make a connection 

to a flight at Gate G17. If the individual 

must leave the sterile area to find a 

service animal relief area, travel to and 

from that area, and then go back through 

security screening, the individual could 

have difficulty in making the connecting 

flight. At the same time, we understand 

that some airports have expressed 

security and logistical concerns about 

the placement of service animal relief 

areas inside the sterile area of an airport. 

The Department also recognizes that the 

Transportation Security Administration 

(TSA) in May 2011 revised its 

guidelines ‘‘Recommended Security 

Guidelines for Airport Planning, Design 

and Construction,’’ to make clear that 

airports may provide Service Animal 

Relief Areas in sterile areas of the 

airport, or may provide escorted access 

to non-designated outdoor areas for the 

purpose of service animal relief. The 

Department also recognizes that 

coordination with the TSA via each 

airport’s site-specific Airport Security 

Program would need to occur if service 

animal relief areas are to be placed 

inside the sterile area. Consequently, the 

Department seeks comment on where 

airport service animal relief areas 

should be located to ensure that the 

time and distance to access the service 

animal relief areas do not create barriers 

for passengers with disabilities. 

Finally, the Department has been 

made aware that some individuals with 

disabilities, especially, but not only, 

individuals who are blind or visually 

impaired, are experiencing difficulty in 

locating service animal relief areas at 

certain airports. Under part 382, 

passengers who request that a carrier 

provide them with assistance to an 

animal relief area should be advised by 

the carrier of the location of the animal 

relief area. Additionally, if requested, it 

would be the responsibility of the 

carrier to accompany a passenger 

traveling with a service animal to and 

from the animal relief area. 

Nevertheless, we seek comment on 

whether the rule should include a 

provision requiring airports to specify 

the location of service animal relief 

areas on airport Web sites, maps and/or 

diagrams of the airport, including 

whether the relief area is located inside 

or outside a sterile area. We also seek 

comment on whether airports should be 

required to provide signage to assist 

individuals with disabilities in locating 

service animal relief areas. 

To the extent that the Department 

issues a final rule with requirements for 

airports to establish service animal relief 

areas that are more detailed than the 

requirements for U.S. and foreign 

airports that exist in part 382, the 

Department believes that it is beneficial 

to have the same requirements apply to 

U.S. and Foreign airlines. As such, we 

are soliciting comment on whether any 

requirement that applies to U.S. airports 

should also be applied to U.S. and 

foreign carriers. For example, if the 

Department creates a requirement that 

airports must establish service animal 

relief areas inside the sterile area of an 

airport, should such a requirement 

apply to U.S. and foreign air carriers in 

part 382? 

We propose that any final rule that we 

adopt regarding establishing service 

animal relief areas take effect 120 days 

after its publication in the Federal 

Register. We believe this would allow 

sufficient time for airports to comply 

with this requirement, particularly since 

U.S. and foreign airlines are already 

working with airports to establish and 

maintain service animal relief areas. We 

invite comments on whether 120 days is 

the appropriate interval. 

Information for Passengers 

As a result of the 2008 amendment of 

part 382, U.S. and foreign air carriers are 

required to enable captioning 3 on 

televisions and other audio-visual 

displays under their control in terminals 

to which passengers have access. 

Currently part 27 does not have a 

corresponding requirement for U.S. 

airports. The Department proposes to 

amend part 27 by inserting a provision 

that would require airport operators at 

U.S. airports to enable high-contrast 

captioning on certain televisions and 

audio-visual displays in U.S. airports. 

Most televisions currently in use at 

U.S. airports have captioning 

capabilities because all televisions with 

screens 13′′ or larger in size, made or 

sold in the U.S. since July 1, 1993, are 

required by Federal law to have 

captioning capabilities. Because of this, 

DOT believes that requiring airports to 

enable the captioning feature should not 

be costly or otherwise onerous. We 

believe compliance with this section is 

a matter of providing the training 

necessary to turn on the captioning 

feature of a television or other audiovisual display. Such training does not 

appear to require a lengthy amount of 

time or in-depth instruction. Given the 

straightforward nature of the 

implementation involved, the 

Department believes that the proposed 

thirty-day implementation period is 

adequate. DOT seeks comment on any 

reasons that a longer time frame may be 

necessary. 

Part 27 also does not contain a 

requirement for airports to provide the 

same information to deaf or hard of 

hearing individuals in airports that they 

provide to other members of the public. 

It is important that persons with a 

hearing loss or who are deaf do not miss 

important information available to 

others at an airport through the public 

address system. The Department seeks 

comment on whether it should require 

U.S. airports to display messages and 

pages broadcast over public address 

systems on video monitors. We also 

seek comment on whether we should 

amend 14 CFR part 382 to apply such 

a requirement to U.S. and foreign air 

carriers with respect to terminal 

facilities that a carrier owns, leases or 

controls. Is visual display of information 

announced over the public address 


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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 189 / Thursday, September 29, 2011 / Proposed Rules 60429 

system the best means to disseminate 

airport-related announcements to 

passengers with hearing impairments? 

Should the Department establish a 

performance standard for providing 

information to individuals with hearing 

impairments rather than require airports 

to use a particular medium (e.g., video 

monitors, wireless pagers, erasable 

boards)? Also, we ask interested persons 

to comment on whether the Department 

should simply require that airports 

provide the text of the announcements 

made over the public address system 

promptly or should instead require that 

there be simultaneous visual 

transmission of the information. We also 

seek comment on whether all 

announcements made through the 

public address system should be 

displayed in a manner that is accessible 

to deaf and hard-of-hearing travelers, or 

only those announcements that are 

essential, e.g., that pertain to 

emergencies (fire, bomb threat etc.), 

flight information (gate assignments, 

delays or cancellations), or individuals 

being paged. Finally, the Department 

seeks comment on how much time 

airports would need to establish a 

system for displaying announcements 

and pages broadcast over public address 

system as well as the cost for 

establishing such a system. 

Boarding Lifts for Aircraft 

Approximately 10 years ago, 49 CFR 

27.72 was amended to mirror a 

provision in part 382 that required U.S. 

air carriers to enter into agreements with 

airport operators to ensure that lifts are 

available for enplaning and deplaning 

passengers with disabilities. As noted 

above, part 382 was extended to foreign 

air carriers in 2008. Currently 49 CFR 

27.72 does not require U.S. airports to 

work with foreign carriers to ensure that 

lifts are available; the language in 49 

CFR 27.72 covers only arrangements 

with U.S. carriers. The proposed rule 

would impose on U.S. airports the same 

requirements with respect to foreign 

carriers that 49 CFR 27.72 currently 

imposes on them with respect to U.S. 

carriers. The proposed rule would 

require airport operators to negotiate in 

good faith with foreign air carriers to 

provide, operate and maintain lifts for 

boarding and deplaning where levelentry loading bridges are not available. 

Under this proposal, the airport 

operators would be required to sign, no 

later than 90 days after publication of 

the final rule in the Federal Register, a 

written agreement with each foreign air 

carrier serving that airport that allocates 

responsibility for providing, operating 

and maintaining the lifts. We are 

proposing that the agreement provide 

that all actions necessary to ensure 

accessible boarding and deplaning for 

passengers with disabilities be 

completed no later than 120 days after 

the final rule’s publication in the 

Federal Register. 

Also, the proposed rule would 

restructure the current lift requirements 

found in 49 CFR 27.72. When the rule 

was first written, 49 CFR 27.72 applied 

to aircraft with a seating capacity of 19 

through 30 passengers. This provision 

was amended in May 3, 2001, to also 

apply to aircraft with a seating capacity 

of 31 or more passengers. Because of the 

implementation timelines specified in 

the 2001 amendment, 49 CFR 27.72 

includes two separate provisions 

outlining boarding assistance 

requirements for individuals with 

disabilities, section 27.72(c) and section 

27.72(d). As an editorial matter the 

proposed rule would eliminate this 

distinction and make the rule applicable 

to lifts for boarding any aircraft with a 

seating capacity of 19 or more 

passengers that are not boarded via a 

level-entry loading bridge. 

Regulatory Analyses and Notices 

A. Executive Orders 13563 and 12866 

and DOT Regulatory Policies and 

Procedures 

Executive Orders 13563 and 12866 

direct agencies to assess all costs and 

benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, of 

reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, 

and of promoting flexibility. This action 

has been determined to be significant 

under Executive Order 12866 and the 

Department of Transportation 

Regulatory Policies and Procedures 

because of its considerable interest to 

the disability community and the 

aviation industry. However DOT does 

not believe at this time that this action 

meets the criteria under the Executive 

Order for an economically significant 

rule. 

This action is the result of several 

important regulatory changes made to 

14 CFR part 382, the rule implementing 

the ACAA. The extension to U.S. 

airports of the current lift provision in 

49 CFR part 27, which requires airports 

to work not only with U.S. but also with 

foreign air carriers to ensure the 

availability of lifts, will be of interest to 

the aviation industry and the public. 

The Department has attempted to 

propose this extension in as equitable a 

manner as possible by applying to U.S. 

airports the same regulatory provisions 

that apply to U.S. and foreign air 

carriers. As noted above, the provisions 

of the proposed rule apply only to U.S. 

airports with 10,000 or more annual 

enplanements and that receive Federal 

financial assistance. 

The rule is not expected to require the 

purchase of additional lifts, since the 

approximately 216 affected U.S. airports 

(i.e., those that are served by foreign flag 

carriers and that have 10,000 or more 

enplanements) will already have lifts 

available by agreement between the 

airports and U.S. carriers as a result of 

the existing version of part 27. These 

airports may have already agreed with 

foreign carriers, such as certain 

Canadian, Mexican, or Caribbean 

carriers that use smaller aircraft that 

board from the tarmac, to provide this 

service; most other foreign carriers use 

larger aircraft that normally board via 

loading bridges. The effect of the rule 

would then be only to mandate what 

has already been done voluntarily. 

Existing agreements between carriers 

and airports, however, may need to be 

adjusted to broaden the availability of 

the lifts. Nonetheless, the Department 

seeks comment on whether the rule 

would require U.S. airports to purchase 

additional lifts, and if so how many, and 

what the cost of a typical lift is. 

A particularly important element of 

the proposed rule is the addition of a 

new provision that requires U.S. airport 

operators, in cooperation with U.S. and 

foreign air carriers, to provide service 

animal relief areas. The proposed rule 

contemplates a minimum of one relief 

area for each terminal within an airport; 

however, the Department is aware that 

requiring only one service animal relief 

area for each terminal in an airport may 

be inadequate as it may result in 

individuals with disabilities missing 

flights when trying to reach service 

animal relief areas located outside the 

sterile area of an airport, especially in 

larger airports. Nonetheless, given the 

widely divergent plans of airports, we 

are only able to make a plausible 

assumption about the number of 

terminals that exist in a given airport 

based on the size of the airport. Using 

information provided by the FAA, 

which categorizes the size of the 368 

airports within the United States, we 

postulate that the 29 large-hub airports 

contain approximately 7 terminals, the 

36 medium-hub airports contain 

approximately 5 terminals, the 72 smallhub airports contain approximately 3 

terminals, and the 231 non-hub airports 

contain approximately 1 terminal. As 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
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such, we estimate that 830 terminals 

will exist in the 368 airports in the 

United States. We estimate that the 

initial cost for such an area would be 

approximately $5,000 per terminal, with 

low- and high-cost alternatives ranging 

from $1,000 to $10,000. We postulate a 

likely annual maintenance cost of 

$1,000 per terminal with a range from 

$500 to $2,000. The Department seeks 

comments on these estimates. 

Also, the Department believes that 

most airport video monitors have 

captioning capability, and turning on 

the captioning is likely to have minimal 

costs. 

B. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism) 

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

has been analyzed in accordance with 

the principles and criteria contained in 

Executive Order 13132 (‘‘Federalism’’). 

This notice does not propose any 

regulation that has substantial direct 

effects on the States, the relationship 

between the national government and 

the States, or the distribution of power 

and responsibilities among the various 

levels of government. It does not 

propose any regulation that imposes 

substantial direct compliance costs on 

States and local governments. Therefore, 

the consultation and funding 

requirements of Executive Order 13132 

do not apply. 

C. Executive Order 13084 

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

has been analyzed in accordance with 

the principles and criteria contained in 

Executive Order 13084 (‘‘Consultation 

and Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments’’). The funding and 

consultation requirements of Executive 

Order 13084 do not apply because this 

notice does not significantly or uniquely 

affect the communities of the Indian 

Tribal governments and does not 

impose substantial direct compliance 

costs. 

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., as amended by 

the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) of 

1996), whenever an agency is required 

to publish a notice of rulemaking for 

any proposed or final rule, it must 

prepare and make available for public 

comment a regulatory flexibility 

analysis that describes the effect of the 

rule on small entities (i.e., small 

businesses, small organizations, and 

small governmental jurisdictions). No 

regulatory flexibility analysis is required 

if the head of an agency certifies that the 

rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. The SBREFA 

amended the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

to require Federal agencies to provide a 

statement of the factual basis for 

certifying that a rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The Department certifies that this 

rule, if adopted, would not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

The Small Business Administration 

(SBA) size standards define privately 

owned airports as small businesses if 

their annual revenues do not exceed $7 

million. Publicly owned airports are 

categorized as small entities if they are 

owned by jurisdictions with fewer than 

50,000 inhabitants. This rule applies to 

airports with 10,000 or more annual 

enplanements, which are primary 

airports that have more commercialservice traffic and account for 96% of 

U.S. enplanements per annum. Out of 

the 368 airports with more than 10,000 

enplanements that are potentially 

affected by the proposed rule, we 

estimate that approximately 50 to 55 are 

defined as small entities. 

The Department believes that the 

economic impact will not be significant 

to these 55 airports because the overall 

annual costs associated with the rule are 

not great. The only provision of this rule 

that we believe may impose measurable 

costs on airports is the requirement that 

at least one service animal relief area be 

made available at each U.S. airport 

terminal. The estimated total costs for 

constructing and maintaining relief 

areas at these airports, assuming that 

each of these 55 airport would only 

need one relief area, would range from 

a low of about $600 to a high of about 

$3,000, with an expected value of about 

$1,500. On the basis of this 

examination, the Department certifies 

that this rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. A copy of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis will be 

placed in docket. 

E. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule adopts new and 

revised information collection 

requirements subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA). The Department 

will publish a separate notice in the 

Federal Register inviting OMB, the 

general public, and other Federal 

agencies to comment on the new and 

revised information collection 

requirements contained in this 

document. As prescribed by the PRA, 

the requirements will not go into effect 

until OMB has approved them and the 

Department has published a notice 

announcing the effective date of the 

information collection requirements. 

F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

The Department has determined that 

the requirements of Title II of the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

do not apply to this notice. 

Issued this 21st day of September 2011 in 

Washington, DC. 

Ray LaHood, 

Secretary of Transportation. 

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 27 

Airports, Civil rights, Individuals 

with disabilities, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, the Department of 

Transportation proposes to amend 49 

CFR part 27 as follows: 

1. The authority citation for part 27 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation 

Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794); sec. 

16 (a) and (d) of the Federal Transit Act of 

1964, as amended (49 U.S.C. 5310 (a) and (f); 

sec. 165 (b) of the Federal-Aid Highway Act 

of 1973, as amended (23 U.S.C. 142 nt.). 

2. In § 27.3, amend paragraph (b) to 

read as follows: 

(b) Design, construction, or alteration of 

buildings or other fixed facilities by public 

entities subject to part 37 of this title shall 

be in conformance with appendices B and D 

of 36 CFR part 1191, as modified by 

appendix A to part 37 of this title. All other 

entities subject to section 504 shall design, 

construct, or alter buildings, or other fixed 

facilities, in conformance with appendices B 

and D of 36 CFR part 1191, as modified by 

appendix A to part 37 of this title. 

3. In § 27.71, add paragraph (h) and (i) 

to read as follows: 

(h) Service animal relief areas. Each airport 

with 10,000 or more annual enplanements 

shall consult with service animal training 

organization(s) and cooperate with airlines 

that own, lease, or control terminal facilities 

at that airport to provide at least one animal 

relief area in each airport terminal for service 

animals that accompany passengers 

departing, connecting, or arriving at the 

airport. To the extent that airports have 

established animal relief areas prior to the 

effective date of this subsection and have not 

consulted with service animal training 

organization(s), airports shall consult with 

service animal training organization(s) 

regarding the sufficiency of all existing 

animal relief areas. 

(i) High-contrast captioning (captioning 

that is at least as easy to read as white letters 

on a consistent background) on television 

and audio-visual displays. This subsection 

applies to airports with 10,000 or more 

annual enplanements. 

(1) Airport operators must enable highcontrast captioning at all times on all 

televisions and other audio-visual displays 

that are capable of displaying captions and 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 189 / Thursday, September 29, 2011 / Proposed Rules 60431 

that are located in any gate area, ticketing 

area, first-class or other passenger lounge 

provided by a U.S. or foreign carrier, or any 

common area of the terminal, excluding 

shops and/or restaurants, to which any 

passengers have access. 

(2) With respect to any televisions or other 

audio-visual displays located in any gate 

area, ticketing area, first-class or other 

passenger lounge provided by a U.S. or 

foreign carrier, or any common area of the 

terminal, excluding shops and/or restaurants, 

to which any passengers have access, that 

provide passengers with safety briefings, 

information, or entertainment that do not 

have high-contrast captioning capability, an 

airport operator must replace these devices 

with equipment that does have such 

capability whenever such equipment is 

replaced in the normal course of operations 

and/or whenever areas of the terminal in 

which such equipment is located undergo 

substantial renovation or expansion. 

(3) If an airport acquires new televisions or 

other audio-visual displays for passenger 

safety briefings, information, or 

entertainment on or after [insert effective 

date of the final rule], such equipment must 

have high-contrast captioning capability. 

4. Amend § 27.72 to read as follows: 

§ 27.72 Boarding assistance for aircraft. 

(a) This section applies to airports 

with 10,000 or more annual 

enplanements. 

(b) Airports shall, in cooperation with 

carriers serving the airports, provide 

boarding assistance to individuals with 

disabilities using mechanical lifts, 

ramps, or other devices that do not 

require employees to lift or carry 

passengers up stairs. This section 

applies to all aircraft with a passenger 

capacity of 19 or more passenger seats, 

except as provided in paragraph (e) of 

this section. Paragraph (c) of this section 

applies to U.S. carriers and paragraph 

(d) of this section applies to foreign 

carriers. 

(c) Each airport operator shall 

negotiate in good faith with each U.S. 

carrier serving the airport concerning 

the acquisition and use of boarding 

assistance devices to ensure the 

provision of mechanical lifts, ramps, or 

other devices for boarding and 

deplaning where level-entry loading 

bridges are not available. The airport 

operator must have a written, signed 

agreement with each U.S. carrier 

allocating responsibility for meeting the 

boarding and deplaning assistance 

requirements of this subpart between or 

among the parties. The agreement shall 

be made available, on request, to 

representatives of the Department of 

Transportation. 

(1) All airport operators and U.S. 

carriers involved are jointly and 

severally responsible for the timely and 

complete implementation of the 

agreement. 

(2) The agreement shall ensure that all 

lifts and other accessibility equipment 

are maintained in proper working 

condition. 

(d) Each airport operator shall 

negotiate in good faith with each foreign 

carrier serving the airport concerning 

the acquisition and use of boarding 

assistance devices to ensure the 

provision of mechanical lifts, ramps, or 

other devices for boarding and 

deplaning where level-entry loading 

bridges are not available. The airport 

operator shall, by no later than 

December 28, 2011, sign a written 

agreement with the foreign carrier 

allocating responsibility for meeting the 

boarding and deplaning assistance 

requirements of this subpart between or 

among the parties. The agreement shall 

be made available, on request, to 

representatives of the Department of 

Transportation. (1) The agreement shall provide that 

all actions necessary to ensure 

accessible boarding and deplaning for 

passengers with disabilities are 

completed as soon as practicable, but no 

later than [insert 120 days after date of 

publication in Federal Register of the 

final rule]. 

(2) All airport operators and foreign 

carriers involved are jointly and 

severally responsible for the timely and 

complete implementation of the 

agreement. (3) The agreement shall ensure that all 

lifts and other accessibility equipment 

are maintained in proper working 

condition. 

(e) Boarding assistance agreements 

required in paragraphs (c) and (d) are 

not required to apply to the following 

situations: 

(1) Access to float planes; 

(2) Access to the following 19-seat 

capacity aircraft models: The Fairchild 

Metro, the Jetstream 31 and 32, the 

Beech 1900 (C and D models), and the 

Embraer EMB–120; 

(3) Access to any other aircraft model 

determined by the Department of 

Transportation to be unsuitable for 

boarding and deplaning assistance by 

lift, ramp, or other suitable device. The 

Department will make such a 

determination if it concludes that— 

(i) No existing boarding and 

deplaning assistance device on the 

market will accommodate the aircraft 

without significant risk of serious 

damage to the aircraft or injury to 

passengers or employees, or (ii) Internal barriers are present in the 

aircraft that would preclude passengers 

who use a boarding or aisle chair from 

reaching a non-exit row seat. (f) When level-entry boarding and 

deplaning assistance is not required to 

be provided under paragraph (e) of this 

section, or cannot be provided as 

required by paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) 

of this section (e.g., because of 

mechanical problems with a lift), 

boarding assistance shall be provided by 

any available means to which the 

passenger consents. However, handcarrying (i.e., directly picking up the 

passenger’s body in the arms of one or 

more carrier personnel to effect a level 

change the passenger needs to enter or 

leave the aircraft) must never be used, 

even if the passenger consents, unless 

this is the only way of evacuating the 

individual in the event of an emergency. (g) In the event that airport personnel 

are involved in providing boarding 

assistance, the airport shall ensure that 

they are trained to proficiency in the use 

of the boarding assistance equipment 

used at the airport and appropriate 

boarding assistance procedures that 

safeguard the safety and dignity of 

passengers. 5. In 49 CFR part 27 the word 

‘‘nonhandicapped’’ is revised to read 

‘‘nondisabled’’ wherever it occurs. The 

term ‘‘handicapped person’’’ is revised 

to read ‘‘individual with a disability’’’ 

wherever it occurs. The term 

‘‘handicapped persons’’ is revised to 

read ‘‘individuals with a disability’’ 

wherever it occurs. The term ‘‘qualified 

handicapped person’’ is revised to read 

‘‘qualified individual with a disability’’ 

wherever it occurs. The term ‘‘qualified 

handicapped persons’’ is revised to read 

‘‘qualified individuals with a 

disability.’’ Wherever the word 

‘‘handicapped’’ is used without being 

followed by the words ‘‘person’’ or 

‘‘persons,’’ it is revised to read 

‘‘disabled’’ wherever it occurs. 

[FR Doc. 2011–24849 Filed 9–28–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[Docket No. FWS–R5–ES–2011–0067; 

92210–0–0008–B2] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a 

Petition To List the American Eel as 

Threatened 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of petition finding and 

initiation of status review. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 

90-day finding on a petition to list the 

American eel (Anguilla rostrata) as 

threatened under the Endangered 


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