13628 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 14, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

are allowed to continue, the FAA

foresees that the underlying delays and

failures to plan and implement real

compliance may easily result in an

unacceptable level of actual compliance

and a large number of waiver

applications based on arguments of

financial hardship, and airplane and

hushkit unavailability as participating

operators are forced into complete

compliance at the last minute.

Accordingly, the FAA is formally

notifying operators of its policy that an

individual Stage 3 airplane may be

counted only in the fleet of one operator

for purposes of compliance with the

Stage 3 transition rules, regardless of the

number of operators participating in the

use of the airplane. This single counting

does not affect the actual use of

airplanes under interchange agreements;

they may simply only be counted in the

fleet of one of the participating

operators for noise compliance

purposes.

Policy Statement

For the purpose of compliance with

§§ 91.865 or 91.867, the FAA will not

count an individual Stage 3 airplane in

the fleet of more than one operator.

This policy statement does not effect

any operator’s compliance with the

December 31, 1994, compliance date.

Thus, if an operator used shared

airplanes to achieve compliance in

1994, that compliance is considered

valid until December 31, 1996.

After the effective date of this policy,

however, an operator may not use any

type of airplane sharing agreement,

regardless of the date of the agreement,

to increase the number of Stage 2

airplanes it operates. As an example, a

new entrant’s fleet consists of three

Stage 2 airplanes, and two Stage 3

airplanes that are also on the operations

specifications of another operator. For

purposes of the December 31, 1994,

compliance date, that new entrant will

be considered in compliance. However,

that new entrant operator may not use

the presence of the two shared Stage 3

airplanes to support the addition of

three more Stage 2 airplanes to its fleet

after the date of this policy statement,

even though, with the addition, it would

‘‘remain’’ in compliance with § 91.867

by maintaining a fleet that is 25% Stage

3 airplanes. The FAA will not allow the

presence of ‘‘shared’’ Stage 3 airplanes

act as support for additional Stage 3

airplanes after the effective date of this

policy.

The above example presumes that the

new entrant attempting to add Stage 2

airplanes is not the operator that is

claiming the Stage 3 airplane as its own.

If the FAA finds a Stage 3 airplane that

is reported in the fleet of more than one

operator, the FAA will not count it in

the fleet of any of the reporting

operators for noise compliance purposes

until the airplane is declared by one of

the operators as belonging in its fleet

alone. The FAA will not mitigate

disputes between operators involved in

any airplane sharing agreement. The

FAA presumes that the operators

involved in a shared airplane agreement

will reach their own agreement on

which operator gets to count the

airplane for compliance purposes.

While the FAA anticipates that in most

cases the reporting operator will be the

owner of lessor under an interchange

agreement, any agreement between the

sharing operators that results in one

operator counting the airplanes is

acceptable to the FAA.

Most importantly, for purposes of the

December 31, 1996, interim compliance

deadline, no shared airplanes will be

allowed to count in the fleet of more

than one operator, regardless of the date

of the sharing agreement, and regardless

of whether the shared arrangement was

found valid for compliance with the

1994 compliance date. Thus, operators

that achieved compliance with the 1994

compliance date by means of shared

Stage 3 airplanes are under notice that

the continuation of the same

arrangement or any new arrangement

will not support compliance in with the

December 31, 1996, requirement.

The FAA is formally publishing this

policy at this time to give all affected

operators the maximum amount of time

to achieve compliance with the

December 31, 1996 compliance date

without the use of shared Stage 3

airplanes. As stated previously, the FAA

has only very recently become aware of

these arrangements and their use for

compliance as the required reports for

1994 have been filed and analyzed, and

it is only recently that the FAA has

determined the serious negative

consequences of allowing such practices

to continue. However, the FAA

determined that, in the interest of

fairness and the lack of a formal written

policy before this date, such agreements

that were used to comply with the 1994

compliance date would not be

disallowed retroactively. This policy

statement is intended to prevent the

further use of such agreements for noise

compliance manipulation and preclude

the proliferation of such agreements as

the perceived ‘‘benefit’’ is realized.

Shared Stage 2 Airplanes

The FAA is also aware that there are

existing sharing agreements for Stage 2

airplanes that result in Stage 2 airplanes

being listed on the operations

specifications of more than one

operator. To further the goals of the

ANCA and its implementing

regulations, the FAA will continue to

count a Stage 2 airplane as part of the

fleet of each of the operators sharing it.

This is the method used in the

compliance calculations for the 1994

compliance date, and will not affect the

actual use of any such shared Stage 2

airplane by the participating operators.

Further, if a shared Stage 2 airplane

was used to establish base level in the

fleet of more than one operator by

means of its presence on the operations

specifications of the sharing operators

during the appropriate period, the

establishment of such base level is not

affected. If the shared Stage 2 airplane

is eliminated from one or all of the fleets

of the operators participating in the

sharing agreement, that removal may

count for compliance purposes for all of

the operators that remove it from their

operations specifications.

In the event that any operator

participating in the sharing of a Stage 2

airplane restricts its operations

specifications to preclude the operation

of that airplane into the contiguous

United States. To achieve compliance,

all other participating operators are also

precluded from operating that airplane

in the contiguous United States.

These policies concerning Stage 2 and

Stage 3 airplanes apply to all operators

of aircraft affected by the Stage 3

transition regulations, regardless of

whether the operators are U.S. or nonU.S., and regardless of the level of

formality of the agreement under which

the subject airplanes are shared.

Comments concerning the effect of

this policy on individual operators and

their compliance with the Stage 3

transition regulations should be

submitted to the docket established for

this policy statement; the FAA will

consider all comments received and

refine the policy if warranted. Operators

that have individual questions

concerning the effect of this policy on

their operations and compliance may

submit written inquiries to the

individual listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT paragraph above.

Issued in Washington, DC on March 9,

1995.

Paul R. Dykeman,

Acting Director of Environment and Energy.

[FR Doc. 95–6224 Filed 3–13–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M