DEPARTi\-IENT OF TRA.~SPORTATION 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 

14 CFR Parts 234, 244, 250,253, 259, and 399 

Docket No. DOT-OST-20 10-0 140 

RIN No. 2105-AD92 

Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Clarification to Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

491O-9X 

SUJ\Il\'IARY: The Department of Transportation is clarifying its notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Federal Register on June 8, 2010, which, among 

other issues, solicits comments on options to provide greater access to air travel for 

persons with peanut allergies. 

DATES: Comments should be filed by August 9,2010. Late-filed comments will be 

considered to the extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: You may file comments identified by the docket number DOT-OST2010-0140 by any of the following methods: 

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Federal Rulemaking 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 Ave. SE, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 

20590-0001. 
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o Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 

Jersey Ave. SE, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except 

Federal Holidays. 

o Fax: (202) 493-2251. 

Jllstnlctions: You must include the agency name and docket number DOT-OST-2010-

0140 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://Docketslnfo.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: Daeleen Chesley, Senior Trial 

Attorney, Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Aviation Enforcement and 

Proceedings, Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., 

Washington, D.C. 20590, (202) 366-6792, daeleen.chesley@dot.gov. 

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You may also contact Blane Workie, Deputy Assistant General Counsel at the same 

address, (202) 366-9342, blane. workie@dot.gov. Arrangements to receive this notice in 

an alternative format may be made by contacting the above named individuals. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Pilot Project on Open Government and the Rulemaking Process: Pursuant to the 

notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published June 8, 2010, persons who desire may 

provide input on this rulemaking using the social networking pilot project, Regulation 

Room, established by DOT in partnership with the Cornell eRulemaking Initiative 

(CeRI). You may visit the Regulation Room website, www.regulationroom.org, to learn 

about the NPRM and that process. For questions about this project, please contact Brett 

Jortland in the DOT Office of General Counsel at 202.421.9216 or 

iJrett. jortland@dot.gov. 

Clarification of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

On June 8, 2010, the Department published an NPRM on Enhancing Airline Passenger 

Protections (75 Fed. Reg. 32318), which, among other things, solicits comment, without 

proposing any specific rule text, on three options that would provide greater access to air 

travel for persons with peanut allergies. The NPRM also sought comment on whether it 

would be preferable to maintain the current practice of not prescribing carrier practices 

concerning the serving of peanuts. (75 Fed. Reg. 32318,32332) 

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We wish to clarify that, as alluded to in the NPRM, we recognize that Section 346 of the 

Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2000, Public 

Law 106-69-Oct. 9, 1999 states: 

Hereafter, none of the funds made available under this Act or any other Act, may 

be used to implement, carry out, or enforce any regulation issued under section 

41705 of title 49,United States Code, including any regulation contained in 

part382 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, or any other provision of law 

(including any Act of Congress, regulation, or Executive order or any official 

guidance or correspondence thereto), that requires or encourages an air carrier (as 

that term is defined in section 40102 of title 49,United States Code) to, on 

intrastate or interstate air transportation (as those terms are defined in section 

40102 of title 49, United States CodeHl) provide a peanut-free buffer zone or 

any other related peanut-restricted area; or (2) restrict the distribution of peanuts, 

until 90 days after submission to the Congress and the Secretary of a peerreviewed scientific study that determines that there are severe reactions by 

passengers to peanuts as a result of contact with very small airborne peanut 

particles of the kind that passengers might encounter in an aircraft. 

We will comply with this requirement. 

ISSUED THI~A Y OF--A--=--:.---->.._, 2010, 

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