50624 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 173 / Friday, September 10, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

14 CFR Part 1204 

[Document Number NASA–21–052; Docket 

Number–NASA–2021–0004] 

RIN 2700–AE53 

Use of NASA Airfield Facilities by 

Aircraft Not Operated for the Benefit of 

the Federal Government 

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: This direct final rule makes 

non-substantive changes to update the 

list of available airport facilities. 

DATES: This direct final rule is effective 

on November 9, 2021. Comments due on 

or before October 12, 2021. If adverse 

comments are received, NASA will 

publish a timely withdrawal of the rule 

in the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Comments must be 

identified with RINs 2700–AE53 and 

may be sent to NASA via the Federal ERulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Please note that NASA will post all 

comments on the internet with changes, 

including any personal information 

provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniela Cruzado, 202–358–1173. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Direct Final Rule and Significant 

Adverse Comments 

NASA has determined this 

rulemaking meets the criteria for a 

direct final rule because it makes nonsubstantive changes to provide updated 

available NASA airfield facilities. No 

opposition to the changes and no 

significant adverse comments are 

expected. However, if NASA receives 

significant adverse comments, it will 

withdraw this direct final rule by 

publishing a notification in the Federal 

Register. A significant adverse comment 

is one that explains: (1) Why the direct 

final rule is inappropriate, including 

challenges to the rule’s underlying 

premise or approach; or (2) why the 

direct final rule will be ineffective or 

unacceptable without a change. In 

determining whether a comment 

necessitates withdrawal of this direct 

final rule, NASA will consider whether 

it warrants a substantive response in a 

notice and comment process. 

Background 

Subpart 14 of part 1204, promulgated 

July 29, 1991 [56 FR 35812], establishes 

the responsibilities, conditions, and 

procedures for the use of NASA airfield 

facilities by aircrafts not operated for the 

benefit of the Federal Government. 

Sections 1204.1401, 1204.1403, 

1204.1404, and 1204.1405 will be 

amended to update the list of available 

NASA airfield facilities. 

Statutory Authority 

The National Aeronautics and Space 

Act (the Space Act), 51 U.S.C. 20113 (a), 

authorizes the Administrator of NASA 

to make, promulgate, issue, rescind, and 

amend rules and regulations governing 

the manner of its operations and the 

exercise of the powers vested in it by 

law. 

Regulatory Analysis 

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 13563, Improvement Regulation 

and Regulation Review 

Executive Orders (E.O.) 13563 and 

12866 direct agencies to assess all costs 

and benefits of available regulatory 

alternatives and, if regulation is 

necessary, to select regulatory 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety 

effects, distributive impacts, and 

equity). E.O. 13563 emphasizes the 

importance of quantifying both costs 

and benefits, of reducing costs, of 

harmonizing rules, and of promoting 

flexibility. This rule has been 

designated as ‘‘not significant’’ under 

section 3(f) of E.O. 12866. 

Review Under the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires an agency to 

prepare an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis to be published at the time the 

proposed rule is published. This 

requirement does not apply if the 

agency ‘‘certifies that the rule will not, 

if promulgated, have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities’’ (5 U.S.C. 603). 

This rule removes one section from title 

14 of the CFR and, therefore, does not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

Review Under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act 

This direct final rule does not contain 

any information collection requirements 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

Review Under E.O. 13132 

E.O. 13132, ‘‘Federalism,’’ 64 FR 

43255 (August 4, 1999), requires 

regulations to be reviewed for 

federalism effects on the institutional 

interest of states and local governments, 

and, if the effects are sufficiently 

substantial, preparation of the Federal 

assessment is required to assist senior 

policy makers. The amendments will 

not have any substantial direct effects 

on state and local governments within 

the meaning of the E.O.. Therefore, no 

federalism assessment is required. 

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 1204 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Airports, Authority 

delegations (Government agencies), 

Federal buildings and facilities, 

Government contracts, Government 

procurement, Intergovernmental 

relations, Security measures, Small 

businesses. 

Accordingly, under the authority of 

the National Aeronautics and Space Act, 

as amended, 51 U.S.C. 20113, NASA 

amends 14 CFR part 1204 as follows: 

PART 1204—ADMINISTRATIVE 

AUTHORITY AND POLICY 

Subpart 14—Use of NASA Airfield 

Facilities by Aircraft Not Operated for 

the Benefit of the Federal Government 

■ 1. This authority citation for part 

1204, subpart 14, continues to read as 

follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2473(c)(1). 

■ 2. Amend § 1204.1401 by: 

■ a. Removing and reserving paragraphs 

(a)(1), (3), and (4); 

■ b. Redesignating paragraphs (b) 

through (g) as paragraph (c) through (h); 

and 

■ c. Adding new paragraph (b). 

The addition reads as follows: 

§ 1204.1401 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

(b) NASA owned but non-NASA 

operated airfield facility. Those 

aeronautical facilities owned by NASA 

but not operated by NASA that consist 

of the following: 

(1) Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF). The 

aeronautical facility which is a part of 

the John F. Kennedy Space Center 

(KSC), Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 

and is located at 80°41′ west longitude 

and 28°37′ north latitude. 

(2) Moffett Federal Airfield (MFA). 

The aeronautical facility which is part 

of the Ames Research Center, Moffett 

Field, California, and is located at 

122°03′ west longitude and 37°25′ north 

latitude. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Amend § 1204.1403 by: 

■ a. Removing and reserving paragraphs 

(a), (c), and (d); and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 173 / Friday, September 10, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 50625 

■ b. Revising paragraphs (e) and (f). 

The revisions read as follows: 

§ 1204.1403 Available airport facilities. 

* * * * * 

(e) NASA owned but non-NASA 

operated airfields. (1) Shuttle Landing 

Facility (SLF) may be made available on 

an individual emergency basis to a user 

with prior permission from the airfield 

operator. 

(2) Moffett Federal Airfield (MFA) 

may be made available on an individual 

emergency basis to a user with prior 

permission from the airfield operator. 

(3) No facilities or services other than 

those described in this section are 

available except on an individual prior 

permission or emergency basis to any 

user. 

(f) Status of facilities. Changes to the 

status of the KSC, WFF, and MFA 

facilities will be published in 

appropriate current FAA or Department 

of Defense (DOD) aeronautical 

publications. 

§ 1204.1404 [Amended] 

■ 4. Amend § 1204.1404 by removing 

and reserving paragraphs (a)(1) and (3). 

■ 5. Amend § 1204.1405 by revising 

paragraph (c) to read as follows: 

§ 1204.1405 Approving authority. 

* * * * * 

(c) Moffett Federal Airfield. Chief, 

Airfield Management Office, Ames 

Research Center, NASA. 

Nanette Smith, 

Team Lead, NASA Directives and 

Regulations. 

[FR Doc. 2021–19508 Filed 9–9–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7510–13–P 

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY 

18 CFR Part 1304 

RIN 3316–AA24 

Floating Cabins 

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley 

Authority (TVA) is publishing a final 

rule to amend its regulations that govern 

floating cabins located on the Tennessee 

River System. The unrestrained mooring 

of floating cabins on the Tennessee 

River System, if left unaddressed, would 

pose unacceptable risks to navigation, 

safety, the environment, and public 

lands. These amendments provide 

health, safety, and environmental 

standards as well as establish permitting 

standards with regard to rebuilding, 

modifying, or combining floating cabins. 

DATES: This final rule is effective 

October 12, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David B. Harrell, 865–632–1327, Email: 

dbharrell@tva.gov or fc@tva.gov, Mail 

address: Tennessee Valley Authority, 

400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11A– 

K, Knoxville, TN 37902. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Legal Authority 

This final rule is promulgated under 

the authority of the TVA Act, as 

amended, 16 U.S.C. 831–831ee, Title V 

of the Independent Offices 

Appropriations Act of 1955, 31 U.S.C. 

9701, and OMB Circular No. A–25. 

Under Section 26a of the TVA Act, no 

obstructions affecting navigation, flood 

control, or public lands or reservations 

shall be constructed, operated, or 

maintained across, along, or in the 

Tennessee River System without TVA’s 

approval. Nonnavigable structures, such 

as floating cabins, are obstructions that 

require TVA’s approval. In addition, 

Section 9b of the TVA Act provides that 

TVA may require floating cabins to be 

maintained by the owner to reasonable 

health, safety, and environmental 

standards. Section 9b also authorizes 

TVA to levy fees on floating cabin 

owners as necessary and reasonable to 

ensure compliance. 

Background 

TVA is a multi-purpose federal 

agency that has been charged by 

Congress with promoting the wise use 

and conservation of the resources of the 

Tennessee Valley region, including the 

Tennessee River System. In carrying out 

this mission, TVA operates a system of 

dams and reservoirs on the Tennessee 

River and its tributaries for the purposes 

of navigation, flood control, and power 

production. Consistent with its mission, 

TVA also uses the system to improve 

water quality and water supply and to 

provide a wide range of public benefits, 

including recreation and natural 

resource stewardship. 

To promote the unified development 

and regulation of the Tennessee River 

System, Congress directed TVA to 

approve obstructions across, along, or in 

the river system under Section 26a of 

the TVA Act. ‘‘Obstruction’’ is a broad 

term that includes, by way of example, 

boat docks, piers, boathouses, buoys, 

floats, boat launching ramps, fills, water 

intakes, devices for discharging 

effluents, bridges, aerial cables, culverts, 

pipelines, fish attractors, shoreline 

stabilization projects, channel 

excavations, and floating cabins. TVA 

also owns, as agent for the United 

States, much of the shoreland and 

inundated land along and under its 

reservoir system. 

Since 1971, pursuant to Section 26a, 

TVA has prohibited the mooring on the 

Tennessee River System of new floating 

cabins (formerly nonnavigable 

houseboats) that are designed and used 

primarily for human habitation or 

occupation and not for transportation on 

the water. In particular, TVA amended 

its regulations in 1971 to prohibit the 

mooring or anchoring of new 

nonnavigable houseboats except those 

in existence before November 21, 1971. 

Criteria were established then to 

identify when a houseboat was 

considered ‘‘navigable’’ and the 

conditions under which existing 

nonnavigable houseboats would be 

allowed to remain. These criteria were 

characteristics that TVA determined 

were indicative of real watercraft; i.e., 

boats or vessels that are designed and 

used primarily to traverse water. In 

1978, TVA reiterated the prohibited 

mooring of nonnavigable houseboats on 

the Tennessee River System except for 

those in existence on or before February 

15, 1978. 

Despite over 40 years of Section 26a 

regulations related to floating cabins, 

the number of floating cabins on the 

Tennessee River System continued to 

increase. In determining what action to 

take with respect to floating cabins, 

TVA prepared an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) in accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act. 

This EIS assessed the environmental 

and socioeconomic impacts of different 

policies to address the proliferation of 

floating cabins on the Tennessee River 

System. TVA released a draft of this EIS 

for public comment in June 2015 and 

held four public meetings and a webinar 

to provide information about its 

analyses and to facilitate public 

involvement. Public reaction to this 

situation varied widely. 

Many members of the general public 

urged TVA to require the removal of all 

floating cabins since TVA’s reservoirs 

are public resources and owners of 

floating cabins are occupying public 

areas. Owners of floating cabins 

generally supported additional 

reasonable regulation of their structures 

but argued against policies requiring 

their removal because of the 

investments they have made in the 

structures. Other commenters had 

concerns about discharges of blackwater 

(sewage) and graywater (showers, sinks, 

etc.) from floating cabins and shock and 

electrocution risks associated with the 

electrical connections to floating cabins. 

Commenting agencies consistently 

supported better regulation of floating 

cabins. The final EIS and associated 


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