[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 111 (Friday, June 7, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29018-29019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-14396]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary

14 CFR Part 399

[Docket No. OST-96-1429]
RIN 2105-AC55


Policies Relating to Rulemaking Proceedings

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of the Secretary (OST) is amending an outdated 
policy statement of the Civil Aeronautics Board on rulemaking 
proceedings to remove obsolete provisions and to cross-reference the 
Department of Transportation's rulemaking procedures in another part. 
This action is in response to the President's Regulatory Reinvention 
Initiative.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective June 7, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gwyneth Radloff, Office of the 
Assistant General Counsel for Regulation and Enforcement, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590-0001, Telephone: (202) 366-9305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In his Regulatory Reinvention Initiative 
Memorandum of March 4, 1995, President Clinton directed Federal 
agencies to conduct a page-by-page review of all of their regulations 
and to ``eliminate or revise those that are outdated or otherwise in 
need of reform.'' In response to that directive, the Department has 
reviewed its aviation economic regulations contained in 14 CFR Chapter 
II.
    This rule is one of several that address reinvention of these 
regulations. It eliminates obsolete language on rulemaking petitions 
that changed with the sunset of the Civil Aeronautics Board and the 
transfer of its remaining functions to the Department of Transportation 
and replaces it with a cross-reference to the Department's procedural 
rules. This rule also replaces the reference to the Board in the 
section 399.73 definition of small business.
    This rule is being issued as a final rule because it concerns 
agency practice and procedure and, therefore, is exempt from prior 
notice and comment requirements under section 553 (b) (3) (A) of the 
Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The Department has determined that 
notice and an opportunity for public comment are impracticable, 
unnecessary, and contrary to the public interest. These changes are 
ministerial, removing obsolete and redundant material or making minor 
technical and terminology changes. These changes will not have 
substantive impact, and the Department does not anticipate receiving 
meaningful comments on them. Comment is therefore unnecessary, and it 
would be contrary to the public interest to delay unnecessarily this 
effort to eliminate or revise outdated rules. For these reasons, the 
Department has determined that there is good cause under section 553 
(d) (3) of the APA to make this rule effective immediately upon 
publication.

Regulatory Process Matters

    This final rule is not considered a significant regulatory action 
under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, and therefore it was not 
reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget. This rule is not 
considered significant under the Department's regulatory policies and 
procedures. The changes are being made solely for the purposes of 
eliminating obsolete requirements and correcting out-of-date 
references.
    The Department also has determined that the economic impact of this 
rule is so minimal that further economic analysis is unnecessary. This 
rule does not impose unfunded mandates or requirements that will have 
any impact on the quality of the human environment.

Executive Order 12612

    The Department has analyzed this rule under the principles and 
criteria contained in Executive Order 12612 (``Federalism'') and has 
determined that

[[Page 29019]]

the rule does not have sufficient federalism implications to warrant 
the preparation of a Federalism Assessment.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Department has evaluated the effects of this rule on small 
entities. I certify this rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities, because we are merely 
removing obsolete provisions and are cross-referencing the Department's 
rulemaking procedures in another part. The substantive procedural 
requirements are not changed.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule contains no reporting or recordkeeping requirements.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 399

    Administrative practice and procedure, Air carriers.

    For the reasons set forth above, 14 CFR part 399 is amended as 
follows.

PART 399--POLICIES RELATING TO RULEMAKING PROCEEDINGS

    1. The authority citation for part 399 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq., 49 U.S.C. 40101 et seq.

    2. Section 399, Subpart F is amended by revising Secs. 399.70 and 
399.73, and removing Secs. 399.71, and 399.72, to read as follows:

Subpart F--Policies Relating to Rulemaking Proceedings


Sec. 399.70  Cross-references to the Office of the Secretary's 
Rulemaking Procedures.

    The rules and policies relating to the disposition of rulemaking 
petitions by the Department of Transportation Office of the Secretary 
are located in its rulemaking procedures contained in 49 CFR Part 5. 
The criteria for identifying significant rules and determining whether 
a regulatory analysis will be performed are set forth in the 
Department's Regulatory Policies and Procedures, 44 FR 11034, February 
26, 1979, and Executive Order 12866.


Secs. 399.71 and 399.72  [Removed]


Sec. 399.73  Definition of small business for Regulatory Flexibility 
Act

    For the purposes of the Department's implementation of chapter 6 of 
title 5, United States Code (Regulatory Flexibility Act), a direct air 
carrier or foreign air carrier is a small business if it provides air 
transportation only with small aircraft as defined in Sec. 298.3 of 
this chapter (up to 60 seats/18,000 pound payload capacity).

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on May 31, 1996, under the authority 
of 49 CFR part 1.
Charles A. Hunnicutt,
Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 96-14396 Filed 6-6-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 49107-62-P