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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 234 (Thursday, December 5, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 96621-96622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27782]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 183

[Docket No. FAA-2024-2063]

FAA Requests Public Comment on Possible Delegation of Certain Air 
Operator Certification Tasks

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of 
Transportation.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FAA issues this document to assess interest in and invite 
public comment on the possible expansion of FAA's delegation program to 
include new certification tasks that might be accomplished by 
individual designees or Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) 
holders. The expanded tasks being considered are certification of all 
commuter and on-demand operator types, excluding 10 or more passenger 
operations. The effort may require the FAA to initiate rulemaking 
corresponding with additional certification tasks for individual 
designees and a revision to policy for additional ODA authorized 
functions.

DATES: Comments must be received by February 3, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by docket number FAA-2024-2063, 
using any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and 
follow the online instructions for sending your comments 
electronically.
    Electronic mail: Send comments to [email protected].
    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.
    All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov. All comments, including attachments and other 
supporting material, will become part of the public record and subject 
to public disclosure.
    Confidential Business Information (CBI): CBI is commercial or 
financial information that is customarily and treated as private by its 
owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 United States 
Code (U.S.C.) 552), CBI is exempt from public disclosure. If your 
comments in response to this Notice contain commercial or financial 
information that is customarily treated as private, that you actually 
treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive to this Notice, it 
is important that you clearly designate the submitted comments as CBI. 
Please mark each page of your submission containing CBI as ``PROPIN'' 
to indicate that it contains proprietary information. FAA will treat 
such marked submissions as confidential under FOIA and not place them 
in the public docket of this Notice. Submissions containing CBI should 
be sent to the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Scott Geddie, Policy and Oversight 
Integration Section, AVS-64, AVS ODA Office, Federal Aviation 
Administration, by telephone at 405-954-6897 or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Delegation in the FAA has been foundational to accomplishing the 
agency's safety work for nearly 100 years. Title 49 U.S.C. 44702(d) 
grants the FAA the authority to delegate to private persons a matter 
related to the examination, testing, and inspection necessary to issue 
certificates and issuance of the certificate. Regulations implementing 
those statutory requirements are contained in 14 CFR part 183, 
Representatives of the Administrator. The initial rule for 14 CFR part 
183 was published in 1962. Since that time, it has remained largely 
unchanged with few new designee types introduced. The last significant 
change occurred in 2009 with the introduction of the Organization 
Designation Authorization (ODA) when existing Designated Alteration 
Station (DAS), Delegation Option Authorization (DOA) and Special 
Federal Aviation Regulation 36 (SFAR 36) authorization programs were 
phased out. The FAA is now potentially seeking to broaden the scope of 
approved tasks performed under the delegation program to assist with 
FAA roles in part 135 operations certification activities.
    In the last four years, the FAA Flight Standards Service (FS) 
experienced a steady increase in applications for Air Carrier, Air 
Operator, and Air Agency certificates. This increase has outpaced FAA's 
capacity to timely process

[[Page 96622]]

applications and complete certifications.
    Growing concerns from industry stakeholders, increased 
congressional mandates to improve the certification process, and 
continual growth of the aviation industry over the next decade will 
continue to affect FAA resources available to conduct initial 
certifications. Comprehensive changes in the delegation program may be 
one way to increase operational performance to meet the increase in 
demand and lower the impact on FS resources.

Description of Request for Comments on Expansion

    To address this issue, the FAA is considering additions to and 
expansion of the current delegation program to include tasks associated 
with issuing operator certificates under 14 CFR part 135, excluding 10 
or more passenger operations.
    For individual designees, this effort would require the FAA to 
initiate rulemaking to amend part 183 and add these new certification 
tasks. Part 183, subpart C, Kinds of Designations: Privileges, does not 
allow an individual designee to perform functions related to 
operations. However, for organizations, current provisions in part 183, 
subpart D, Organization Designation Authorization, specifically 
Sec. Sec.  183.41, 183.59, and 183.65, already contain privileges 
related to operations and may provide an efficient method to expand the 
delegation program to part 135 certification tasks. Accordingly, the 
FAA could expand the ODA program without rulemaking through a revision 
to its policy and guidance to include the additional ODA authorized 
functions for operations.
    The information obtained from this Notice will assist the FAA in 
determining potential interest from qualified private persons with 
operations, training, and/or maintenance experience applicable to air 
carrier and/or air operator certification activities, and application 
activities involving FAA roles.
    The FAA wishes to hear from the public and any stakeholders that 
would consider participating in an FAA delegation program specific to 
Part 135 certification tasks. Through this Notice, the FAA seeks 
information regarding:
     Recommended certification tasks to be delegated (refer to 
FAA Order 8900.1, Volume 2, Chapter 4, Section 1 through 8), available 
at https://drs.faa.gov/browse/ORDER_8900.1/doctypeDetails,

    [cir] Phase 1--Preapplication
    [cir] Phase 2--Formal Application (Safety Assurance System [SAS] 
Business Process Modules 1 and 2)
    [cir] Phase 3--Design Assessment (SAS Business Process Modules 2, 
3, & 4)
    [cir] Phase 4--Performance Assessment (SAS Business Process Modules 
2, 3, & 4)
    [cir] Phase 5--Administrative Functions
    [cir] Single-Pilot, Single Pilot-in-Command, and Basic Part 135 
Operations
    [cir] Evaluate a Part 135 (Nine or Less) Certificate Holder/
Applicant's Maintenance Requirements

     Potential barriers to success,
     Steps the FAA should consider to optimize implementation 
success, and
     Commenters' business information including address, 
primary contact, FAA certificate(s) held, and experience with FAA 
operator certification tasks.
    The following is intended to be an illustrative but not 
comprehensive list of possible certification tasks per FAA Order 8900.1 
that are within the scope of this Notice.
     Review, evaluate, and accept certification application 
documents.
     Review, evaluate, and accept or approve operator manuals 
and written procedures, including operations and maintenance manuals.
     Review and evaluate personnel qualifications.
     Review and evaluate aircraft records.
     Evaluate applicant demonstration activities.
     Perform and evaluate aircraft configuration conformity.
     Review, evaluate, and approve aircraft inspection 
programs.
     Review, evaluate, and approve Minimum Equipment Lists 
(MEL).
     Issuance of operating certificates.

Comments Invited

    The FAA invites interested parties to provide comments on this 
notice and the specific information requested in the preceding 
paragraph. Send your comments to an address listed under the ADDRESSES 
section. The subject line should state ``Response to FAA's request for 
comment on possible delegation of 14 CFR part 135 certification tasks'' 
and should include ``Docket No. FAA-2024-2063'' at the beginning of the 
comments. The FAA will consider all comments received on or before the 
closing date and will consider comments filed late if it is possible to 
do so without incurring delay.

Scott A. Geddie,
Manager, AVS-64, Policy and Oversight Integration Section, AVS ODA 
Office.
[FR Doc. 2024-27782 Filed 12-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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