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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 186 (Thursday, September 25, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57431-57432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22507]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 91

[Docket No.: FAA-2014-0458; Amendment No. 91-333]
RIN 2120-AA66

Airports/Locations: Special Operating Restrictions

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: This action amends the Appendix listing airports/locations 
with special operating restrictions in FAA's general operating and 
flight rules. Specifically, this action adds an additional entry for 
Houston, TX (William P. Hobby Airport), and San Diego, CA (Marine Corps 
Air Station Miramar), to the Appendix, which lists the airports where 
aircraft operating within 30 nautical miles (NM) of the listed 
airports, from the surface upward to 10,000 feet mean sea level (MSL) 
must be equipped with an altitude encoding transponder. The FAA is 
taking this action to correctly identify applicable airports under the 
appropriate sections in the Appendix.

DATES: Effective Date: November 13, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colby Abbott, Airspace Policy and 
Regulations Group, AJV-113, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591; telephone (202) 267-
8783, email colby.abbott@faa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 91, appendix D, 
section 1, lists the airports where special operating restrictions 
apply. Specifically, this section lists the locations at which aircraft 
operating within 30 NM of the listed airports,

[[Page 57432]]

from the surface upward to 10,000 feet MSL, must be equipped with an 
altitude encoding transponder. The locations listed in the section are 
intended to be the Class B airspace area primary airports.
    On June 21, 1988, the FAA published the ATC Transponder with 
Automatic Altitude Reporting Capability Requirement final rule (the 
``Mode C rule'') (53 FR 23356). The rule established the requirement 
for a transponder with automatic altitude reporting capability for 
aircraft operating within certain airspace. Effective July 1, 1989, all 
aircraft were required to have a transponder with Mode C when operating 
within 30 miles of any designated Terminal Control Area (TCA) primary 
airport from the surface upward to 10,000 feet MSL (the Mode C 
``veil''). Exclusion provisions were established for aircraft which 
were not originally certificated with an engine-driven electrical 
system or which have not subsequently been certified with such a system 
installed, balloons, and gliders. This requirement was also to apply on 
the effective date of any future TCA primary airport designated by 
rulemaking actions associated with the establishment or modification of 
a TCA.
    On August 18, 1989, the FAA published the Revision of General 
Operating and Flight Rules final rule (54 FR 34284). That rule 
reorganized and realigned the general operating and flight rules to 
make them more understandable and easier to use. The Mode C veil 
requirements for aircraft operating in all airspace within 30 NM of any 
designated TCA primary airport from the surface upward to 10,000 feet 
MSL, as well as the exclusion provisions, were retained as established 
in 1988. The rule simply realigned the part 91 Mode C veil requirements 
previously contained in Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 
CFR) Sec.  91.24 to become 14 CFR 91.215.
    On December 17, 1991, the FAA published the Airspace 
Reclassification final rule (56 FR 65638). The rule reclassified TCA 
airspace to become Class B airspace, effective September 16, 1993. The 
FAA did not modify any Mode C veil requirements under the airspace 
reclassification final rule. The rule did amend the regulatory text in 
14 CFR 91.215(b)(2) by changing the text from applying to all all 
aircraft in all airspace within 30 nautical miles of a terminal control 
area primary airport from the surface upward to 10,000 feet MSL, to 
applying to all aircraft in all airspace within 30 nautical miles of an 
airport listed in appendix D, section 1 of the part from the surface 
upward to 10,000 feet MSL. The airports listed in appendix D, section 1 
were intended to be the Class B airspace (previously TCA airspace) 
primary airports consistent with the guidance published in the Revision 
of General Operating and Flight Rules final rule published in 1989, as 
noted above.
    On November 13, 1973, the FAA issued a final rule (38 FR 31286) 
which established the Houston TCA and listed the Houston 
Intercontinental Airport as the primary airport. In 1992, the FAA 
issued a final rule (57 FR 30818) and a final rule; correction (57 FR 
40095) which amended the Houston TCA and listed the Houston 
Intercontinental Airport (later renamed the George Bush 
Intercontinental Airport) and William P. Hobby Airport as primary 
airports, which they remain today, to the Houston Class B airspace 
area. Similarly, on March 20, 1980, the FAA published the final rule 
(45 FR 18336) that established the San Diego, CA, TCA and listed San 
Diego (Lindbergh Field), CA, and Miramar Naval Air Station (NAS), 
Miramar, CA, as primary airports. Miramar NAS was renamed Marine Corps 
Air Station (MCAS) Miramar effective October 1, 1997, but both airports 
have remained primary airports to the San Diego, CA, Class B airspace 
area.
    When the Airspace Reclassification final rule amended the 
regulatory text in 14 CFR 91.215(b)(2) by changing the text to applying 
to all aircraft in all airspace within 30 nautical miles of an airport 
listed in appendix D, section 1 of the part, the airports listed in 
appendix D, section 1 inadvertently overlooked including MCAS Miramar 
(formerly Miramar NAS) as one of the primary airports of the San Diego 
Class B airspace area when the list was established. Subsequently, when 
William P. Hobby Airport became a primary airport of the Houston Class 
B airspace area, the regulatory action to list the airport in appendix 
D, section 1 was also inadvertently overlooked.
    This action corrects those unintentional errors by adding MCAS 
Miramar and William P. Hobby Airport to the part 91, appendix D, 
section 1 list of locations for which the requirements of Sec. Sec.  
91.215(b)(2) and 91.225(d)(2) apply below 10,000 feet MSL within a 30 
NM radius of each location.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 91

    Air traffic control, Aircraft, Airmen, Airports, Aviation safety.

The Amendment

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Federal Aviation 
Administration amends Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations part 
91, as follows:

PART 91--GENERAL OPERATING AND FLIGHT RULES

0
1. The authority citation for part 91 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  49 U.S.C. 106(f), 106(g), 1155, 40103, 40113, 40120, 
44101, 44111, 44701, 44704, 44709, 44711, 44712, 44715, 44716, 
44717, 44722, 46306, 46315, 46316, 46504, 46506-46507, 47122, 47508, 
47528-47531, 47534, articles 12 and 29 of the Convention on 
International Civil Aviation (61 Stat. 1180), (126 Stat. 11).

0
2. Appendix D to Part 91, Section 1, is amended by adding entries for 
``Houston, TX'' and ``San Diego, CA'' in alphabetical order to read as 
follows:

Appendix D to Part 91--Airports/Locations: Special Operating 
Restrictions (Amended)

    Section 1. Locations at which the requirements of Sec.  
91.215(b)(2) and Sec.  91.225(d)(2) apply. The requirements of 
Sec. Sec.  91.215(b)(2) and 91.225(d)(2) apply below 10,000 feet MSL 
within a 30-nautical-mile radius of each location in the following 
list.
* * * * *
Houston, TX (William P. Hobby Airport)
* * * * *
San Diego, CA (Marine Corps Air Station Miramar)
* * * * *

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 4, 2014.
Mark W. Bury,
Assistant Chief Counsel for International Law, Legislation and 
Regulations.
[FR Doc. 2014-22507 Filed 9-24-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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