51804 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 162 / Wednesday, August 21, 2013 / Notices 

1 77 FR 27,269 (May 9, 2012). 

2 76 FR 78,328 (Dec. 16, 2011). 

3Public Law 112–55, § 119A, 125 Stat. 552, 649. 

4 76 FR 78,328. 5 77 FR 27,269–71. 

display of the exhibit objects at the 

National Gallery of Art, Washington, 

DC, from on or about September 29, 

2013, until on or about January 5, 2014, 

the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New 

York, New York, from on or about 

January 27, 2014, until on or about May 

4, 2014, and at possible additional 

exhibitions or venues yet to be 

determined, is in the national interest. 

I have ordered that Public Notice of 

these Determinations be published in 

the Federal Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information, including a list of 

the exhibit objects, contact Paul W. 

Manning, Attorney-Adviser, Office of 

the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of 

State (telephone: 202–632–6469). The 

mailing address is U.S. Department of 

State, SA–5, L/PD, Fifth Floor (Suite 

5H03), Washington, DC 20522–0505. 

Dated: August 14, 2013. 

Lee Satterfield, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Professional 

and Cultural Exchanges, Bureau of 

Educational and Cultural Affairs, Department 

of State. 

[FR Doc. 2013–20412 Filed 8–20–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

[Docket No. FAA–2011–0183] 

Access to Aircraft Situation Display to 

Industry (ASDI) and National Airspace 

System Status Information (NASSI) 

Data 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final Notice of the Process for 

Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed Via 

ASDI. 

SUMMARY: In a proposal published on 

May 9, 2012, the FAA tentatively 

identified a process through which 

aircraft owners and operators could ask 

the FAA to limit the agency’s 

dissemination of their aircraft data via 

the FAA’s ASDI program.1 The FAA 

noted that its final decision on the 

policy will replace the interim policy to 

which the FAA has adhered since 

publishing it on December 16, 2011.2

After considering each of the comments 

submitted to the public docket in 

response to the proposal, the FAA is 

issuing this final policy with respect to 

the dissemination of aircraft data via 

ASDI. 

If you wish to review the background 

documents or the comments received in 

this matter, you may go to http://

www.regulations.gov at any time and 

follow the online instructions for 

accessing the electronic docket. You 

may also go to the U.S. Department of 

Transportation’s Docket Operations in 

Room W12–140 on the ground floor of 

the West Building at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 

9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

DATES: The procedures described in this 

document will take effect on September 

20, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You 

may direct any questions about adding 

aircraft to and removing aircraft from 

the ASDI block list to Mr. Damon 

Thomas by telephone at (202) 267–5300 

or by electronic mail at ASDIBlock@

faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On November 18, 2011, the President 

signed into law H.R. 2112, the 

‘‘Consolidated and Further Continuing 

Appropriations Act, 2012,’’ which 

provided the U.S. Department of 

Transportation’s appropriation for the 

balance of fiscal year 2012. Section 

119A of that statute provided that: 

[n]otwithstanding any other provision of 

law, none of the funds made available under 

this Act or any prior Act may be used to 

implement or to continue to implement any 

limitation on the ability of any owner or 

operator of a private aircraft to obtain, upon 

a request to the Administrator of the [FAA], 

a blocking of that owner’s or operator’s 

aircraft registration number from any display 

of the [FAA’s ASDI and NASSI] data that is 

made available to the public, except data 

made available to a Government agency, for 

the noncommercial flights of that owner or 

operator.3

In light of this appropriation 

language, the FAA withdrew a prior 

policy that it published on June 3, 2011, 

which required owners or operators to 

submit a Certified Security Concern in 

order to have their aircraft blocked from 

the public’s view on displays of ASDI 

and NASSI information. In connection 

with its withdrawal of the June 3 policy, 

the FAA published interim procedures 

by which the owners and operators of 

aircraft could request that the FAA 

block information about the operations 

of their aircraft from release to the 

public via the FAA’s ASDI data feed.4

At that time, the FAA noted that it 

would propose more detailed 

procedures for the ASDI blocking 

program and solicit public comment on 

the proposal. The FAA published the 

FAA’s proposed procedures on May 9, 

2012.5 The FAA now summarizes and 

evaluates the written comments 

submitted to the public docket in this 

matter and sets forth the FAA’s final 

decision on its policy related to the 

blocking of aircraft flight data from the 

ASDI data feed. In a separate action, the 

FAA will amend its memoranda of 

agreement with the subscribers who 

receive the information to clarify the 

subscriber responsibilities, consistent 

with the procedures described here. 

II. Summary and Analysis of the 

Comments 

The FAA received eight written 

comments on the FAA’s proposed 

procedures. Out of the eight 

commenters, two are generically 

opposed to blocking aircraft information 

from the ASDI and NASSI data, and 

three are generically in favor of the 

ASDI aircraft blocking program. The 

three remaining commenters question 

certain aspects of the program and the 

FAA’s proposal. 

The FAA cannot accommodate the 

two commenters who oppose the 

blocking of aircraft information from the 

FAA’s ASDI and NASSI data feed. The 

appropriations provision quoted above 

clearly precluded the use of 

appropriated funds to implement or to 

carry out any limitation on blocking 

from any display of the FAA’s public 

data feed, on owner or operator request, 

the aircraft registration number of an 

aircraft conducting a noncommercial 

flight. In the absence of appropriated 

funds, the FAA cannot implement a 

policy or program that would limit 

owner or operator ability to block the 

specified aircraft from the FAA’s data 

feed. 

With respect to the commenters who 

raised questions with respect to the 

FAA program, an anonymous 

commenter questions the need and 

effectiveness of the option to request the 

blocking of aircraft data at the ASDI 

subscriber level. This commenter 

suggests that the convenience of 

allowing an intermediate level of 

blocking at the ASDI subscriber level 

could be counterbalanced by the 

potential harm from the inadvertent 

release of ASDI and NASSI data at that 

level. 

In the FAA’s notice inviting these 

comments, the FAA explained the 

rationale for the ASDI program’s two 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 162 / Wednesday, August 21, 2013 / Notices 51805 

6 Id., at 27,270. 

7 76 FR 78,328. 

8 77 FR 27,269–70. 

9 Id., at 27,269. 

10 Id. 

11 Id., at 27,269–70. 12 Id. 

levels of aircraft blocking.6 In summary, 

given the technology and the processes 

in place when the FAA established the 

ASDI program in 1997, some aircraft 

owners who desired to track their own 

blocked aircraft needed to contract with 

an ASDI subscriber to get that 

information, because there was no way 

for them to see the data if it were 

blocked at the FAA level. The option of 

requesting aircraft blocking at the ASDI 

subscriber level remains necessary for 

this purpose today, and the FAA will 

retain it. However, the commenter is 

correct to the extent that the FAA 

systems that convey aircraft data in the 

United States are changing rapidly. As 

a result, the FAA expects to update its 

data sharing policy as it continues to 

develop and deploy future systems that 

handle aircraft operational data. 

The National Business Aviation 

Association (NBAA) inquires about the 

manner in which the FAA expects to 

protect blocked aircraft data from 

subscribers’ intentional or inadvertent 

release. The FAA’s agreement with 

subscribers requires each subscriber to 

demonstrate to the FAA’s satisfaction 

the subscriber’s ability to block 

selectively the display of any data 

related to any identified aircraft. In 

addition, the agreement has historically 

required ASDI data subscribers to honor 

the privacy and security interests of 

airspace system users under the legacy 

ASDI blocking program. In the notice 

announcing the FAA’s interim policy, 

the FAA specified that it construes the 

current agreement to obligate ASDI 

subscribers to filter any aircraft data at 

the FAA’s direction.7 The potential 

remedy for a subscriber’s failure to 

honor the privacy and security interests 

of system users has been the FAA’s 

immediate termination of the agreement 

with that subscriber. This remedy has 

proven adequate. If any member of the 

public identifies an aircraft that should 

be blocked, yet continues to appear in 

the information that an ASDI subscriber 

releases, he or she can report the matter 

to FAA’s ASDI program staff by the 

means identified in the ‘‘For Further 

Information Contact’’ section of this 

document. 

NBAA also asks the FAA to identify 

clearly a process for removing aircraft 

from the ASDI block list. The FAA’s 

May 2012 proposal states that the FAA 

was proposing that it would use the 

same process for adding as well as 

removing aircraft from the ASDI block 

list.8 For example, in detailing the 

proposed substance of owner/operator 

requests, the FAA noted that the 

completeness of the information 

submitted could influence the FAA’s 

ability to ‘‘add or delete aircraft from the 

ASDI block list . . . .’’ 9 In addition, the 

information that the FAA proposed for 

submission included ‘‘[t]he registration 

number(s) of the aircraft to be blocked 

or unblocked . . . .’’ 10 The FAA does not 

perceive that using an identical process 

to block and to unblock aircraft will be 

confusing or problematic for requestors, 

and the FAA will adopt that approach. 

NBAA additionally suggests that the 

FAA should permit associations to 

consolidate and forward aircraft 

blocking and unblocking requests to the 

FAA. In the FAA’s May 2012 proposal, 

the FAA tentatively determined that 

requests to block aircraft must come to 

the FAA from aircraft owners, aircraft 

operators, or their legally authorized 

agent and not from associations acting 

on their behalf. The FAA will adhere to 

this requirement. In proposing a 

minimum legal relationship between an 

ASDI block requestor and the aircraft 

owner or operator, the FAA determined 

that the requestor, if he or she is not the 

actual owner or operator, should have a 

fiduciary duty to adhere to the owner’s 

or operator’s express wishes. This is 

intended to ensure that the requestor 

has a legal duty to carry out promptly 

the owner’s or operator’s request, and 

the FAA expects this to result in a very 

close correlation between owner/

operator preference and the composition 

of the ASDI block list. The FAA 

continues to believe that the threshold 

identified in the proposal is appropriate 

and will promote the ASDI block list’s 

ongoing accuracy. 

NBAA further notes that the FAA’s 

proposal does not specify a type of 

documentation that the FAA needs in 

order to process a request related to 

aircraft blocking. The FAA did not 

prescribe a specific form for blocking 

and unblocking aircraft principally 

because the FAA intends this process to 

be as simple as possible; the FAA does 

not want to suggest that a particular 

form is necessary to effect the requesting 

owner’s or operator’s wishes. The FAA 

proposed the minimum amount of 

information that the FAA expects the 

program will need to process the 

request.11 Elaborating slightly on the 

FAA’s proposal, the FAA will be best 

equipped to process the request 

promptly if the request includes: 

• The name of the requestor; 

• the registration number(s) of the 

aircraft to be blocked or unblocked; 

• a certification that the requestor is 

the owner or operator of the specified 

aircraft or is a legally authorized 

representative of the aircraft owner or 

operator; 

• a telephone number or electronic 

mail address to which the FAA can 

direct any questions about the request; 

and 

• for a request to block one or more 

aircraft, a statement indicating the 

requestor’s desired level of ASDI 

blocking—either at the FAA source or at 

the ASDI subscriber level. 

The request must be in writing and 

delivered either to the designated 

electronic mail address or to the 

designated regular mailing address for 

the ASDI blocking program. 

An anonymous commenter asks the 

FAA to clarify the uses that ASDI 

subscribers can make of the ASDI data 

feed. The commenter states that the 

FAA should permit ASDI subscribers to 

pass along to ‘‘aviation community’’ 

users ASDI and NASSI near real time 

data that is further filtered only to 

protect basic privacy considerations. 

The commenter does not consider the 

aviation community user to correspond 

to the general public, instead defining 

the aviation community to include, for 

example, corporate aircraft operators 

and fixed base operators and perhaps 

also including all businesses and 

commercial entities providing air 

transportation related services. The 

commenter also asks that the FAA place 

no restriction on subscribers’ 

retransmission of historical flight data, 

including the past operations of aircraft 

on the ASDI block list. 

The permissible uses of ASDI and 

NASSI data that are subject to 

subscriber-level blocking is technically 

a concern that is separate from the 

present discussion. The notice 

underlying this matter was limited to 

the procedures by which aircraft owners 

and operators can request that the FAA 

block their aircraft from the ASDI data 

feed.12 By contrast, the responsibilities 

of ASDI subscribers with respect to 

handling ASDI and NASSI data that is 

designated as blocked at the subscriber 

level are contained in the FAA’s 

contractual memorandum of agreement 

with ASDI subscribers. In an effort that 

parallels the current procedural policy 

discussion, the FAA is reviewing its 

memoranda of agreement to ensure that 

they comport with the FAA’s current 

overall data sharing policy. The FAA 

will communicate separately with ASDI 

subscribers in connection with that 

effort. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

51806 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 162 / Wednesday, August 21, 2013 / Notices 

Nevertheless, the FAA notes potential 

pitfalls that could accompany the 

recommendations of the anonymous 

commenter. For example, the 

commenter’s definition of an aviation 

community user could include the flight 

department of a company that is 

interested in the aircraft movements of 

a competitor’s aircraft. This could 

presumably thwart a reason that the 

competing airspace user sought ASDI 

blocking in the first place. In addition, 

the FAA has not previously agreed that 

ASDI subscribers can display the 

historical movements of blocked 

aircraft. Aside from the absence of a 

clear line as to when such data becomes 

historical, the FAA did not propose to 

permit ASDI subscribers to retransmit 

the historical movements of blocked 

aircraft, and the commenter’s suggestion 

therefore falls outside the scope of the 

proposal. 

III. Conclusions 

With respect to the procedures for 

aircraft owner and operator requests to 

block and unblock aircraft from 

inclusion in the FAA’s ASDI data feed, 

the FAA concludes as follows: 

1. Requestors. The FAA will honor 

each written request of an aircraft owner 

and operator, submitted in accordance 

with paragraphs 2 and 3 to block or 

unblock their aircraft’s appearance in 

the FAA’s public ASDI data feed. 

Aircraft owners and operators may 

submit their request on their own 

behalf, or they may do so through a 

legally authorized agent, including an 

attorney or an aircraft management 

company with a fiduciary duty to carry 

out the owner’s or operator’s express 

wishes with respect to the aircraft. 

2. Substance of Requests. To assist the 

FAA in processing aircraft owner or 

operator requests promptly, all requests 

related to an aircraft’s ASDI blocking or 

unblocking must include the following 

information: 

• The name of the requestor; 

• the registration number(s) of the 

aircraft to be blocked or unblocked; 

• a certification that the requestor is 

the owner or operator of the specified 

aircraft or is a legally authorized 

representative of the aircraft owner or 

operator; 

• a telephone number or electronic 

mail address to which the FAA can 

direct any questions about the request; 

and 

• for a request to block one or more 

aircraft, a statement indicating the 

requestor’s desired level of ASDI 

blocking—either at the FAA source or at 

the ASDI subscriber level. 

3. Addresses. The FAA’s primary 

electronic mailbox for all aircraft 

blocking and unblocking requests and 

for related inquiries directed to the 

ASDI blocking program is ASDIBlock@

faa.gov. The FAA also will accept 

aircraft block and unblock requests 

submitted by regular mail at: FAA ASDI 

Blocking Request; ATO System 

Operation Services, AJR–0; Wilbur 

Wright Building, Room 3E1500; 600 

Independence Avenue SW; Washington, 

DC 20597. 

4. FAA Monthly Implementation. The 

FAA implements the ASDI block list 

updates on the first Thursday of each 

month. As a result, requests that the 

FAA receives on or before the 15th of 

the preceding month are likely to be 

processed in time to take effect in the 

month after the FAA receives them. 

However, it is possible that the volume 

of requests in a given month, a 

requestor’s timeliness, or issues with the 

completeness and accuracy of the 

information that the FAA receives could 

preclude the FAA from processing some 

requests in time for them to take effect 

in the month following their 

submission. In that event, the FAA will 

process all requests in the order in 

which the FAA receives them, to the 

extent that it is possible. 

5. FAA Treatment of Aircraft That Are 

Currently Blocked. Any aircraft that is 

currently on the ASDI block list, either 

by virtue of a certified security concern 

submitted after June 3, 2011, or a 

request submitted under the FAA’s 

interim ASDI block policy, will remain 

indefinitely on the ASDI block list when 

the policies in this document take effect. 

It is not necessary for the owners or 

operators of these aircraft to resubmit 

their requests, unless they wish to 

change the blocking status of their 

aircraft or amend the level at which 

their aircraft is blocked. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 14, 

2013. 

J. David Grizzle, 

Chief Operating Officer, ATO. 

[FR Doc. 2013–20375 Filed 8–20–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Requests for Comments; 

Clearance of Renewed Approval of 

Information Collection: Certification 

and Operations 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA 

invites public comments about our 

intention to request the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval to renew an information 

collection. 14 CFR part 125 prescribes 

requirements for issuing operating 

certificates and for appropriate 

operating rules. In addition to the 

statutory basis, the collection of this 

information is necessary to issue, 

reissue, or amend applicant’s operating 

certificates and operations 

specifications. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

submitted by October 21, 2013. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kathy DePaepe at (405) 954–9362, or by 

email at: Kathy.DePaepe@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Control Number: 2120–0085. 

Title: Certification and Operations. 

Form Numbers: There are no FAA 

forms associated with this collection. 

Type of Review: Renewal of an 

information collection. 

Background: 14 CFR part 125 

prescribes requirements for leased 

aircraft, aviation service firms, and air 

travel. A letter of application and 

related documents which set forth an 

applicant’s ability to conduct operations 

in compliance with the provisions of 14 

CFR part 125 are submitted to the 

appropriate Flight Standards District 

Office (FSDO). Inspectors in FAA 

FSDO’s review the submitted 

information to determine certificate 

eligibility. 

Respondents: Approximately 163 

certificated operators. 

Frequency: Information is collected 

on occasion. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Response: 1.33 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

61,388 hours. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the FAA 

at the following address: Ms. Kathy 

DePaepe, Room 126B, Federal Aviation 

Administration, AES–200, 6500 S 

MacArthur Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 

73169. 

Public Comments Invited: You are 

asked to comment on any aspect of this 

information collection, including (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for FAA’s 

performance; (b) the accuracy of the 

estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA to 

enhance the quality, utility and clarity 

of the information collection; and (d) 

ways that the burden could be 

minimized without reducing the quality 

of the collected information. The agency 

will summarize and/or include your 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES