Document ID: FAA-2011-0527-0001
Agency: faa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Amendment of Class C Airspace: Palm Beach International Airport, FL
Posted Date: 2011-06-21T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 119 (Tuesday, June 21, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36014-36017]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15407]

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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 71

[Docket No Docket No. FAA-2011-0527; Airspace Docket No. 11-AWA-2]
RIN 2120-AA66

Proposed Amendment of Class C Airspace; Palm Beach International 
Airport, FL

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

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

[[Page 36015]]

SUMMARY: This action proposes to modify the Palm Beach International 
Airport Class C airspace area by raising the floor of Class C airspace 
above Palm Beach County Park Airport (LNA) from 1,200 feet MSL to 1,600 
feet MSL. The FAA is proposing this action to enhance safety and enable 
more efficient operations at LNA.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 22, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on this proposal to the U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001; 
telephone: (202) 366-9826. You must identify FAA Docket No. FAA-2011-
0527 and Airspace Docket No. 11-AWA-2, at the beginning of your 
comments. You may also submit comments through the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Gallant, Airspace, Regulations 
and ATC Procedures Group, Office of Airspace Services, Federal Aviation 
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591; 
telephone: (202) 267-8783.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited

    Interested parties are invited to participate in this proposed 
rulemaking by submitting such written data, views, or arguments as they 
may desire. Comments that provide the factual basis supporting the 
views and suggestions presented are particularly helpful in developing 
reasoned regulatory decisions on the proposal. Comments are 
specifically invited on the overall regulatory, aeronautical, economic, 
environmental, and energy-related aspects of the proposal.
    Communications should identify both docket numbers (FAA Docket No. 
FAA-2011-0527 and Airspace Docket No. 11-AWA-2) and be submitted in 
triplicate to the Docket Management Facility (see ADDRESSES section for 
address and phone number). You may also submit comments through the 
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Commenters wishing the FAA to acknowledge receipt of their comments 
on this action must submit with those comments a self-addressed, 
stamped postcard on which the following statement is made: ``Comments 
to Docket Nos. FAA-2011-0527 and Airspace Docket No. 11-AWA-2.'' The 
postcard will be date/time stamped and returned to the commenter.
    All communications received on or before the specified closing date 
for comments will be considered before taking action on the proposed 
rule. The proposal contained in this action may be changed in light of 
comments received. All comments submitted will be available for 
examination in the public docket both before and after the closing date 
for comments. A report summarizing each substantive public contact with 
FAA personnel concerned with this rulemaking will be filed in the 
docket.

Availability of NPRMs

    An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded through the 
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov. Recently published rulemaking 
documents can also be accessed through the FAA's web page at http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/recently_published/
    You may review the public docket containing the proposal, any 
comments received and any final disposition in person in the Dockets 
Office (see ADDRESSES section for address and phone number) between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. An 
informal docket may also be examined during normal business hours at 
the office of the Eastern Service Center, Federal Aviation 
Administration, Room 210, 1701 Columbia Ave., College Park, GA 30337.
    Persons interested in being placed on a mailing list for future 
NPRMs should contact the FAA's Office of Rulemaking, (202) 267-9677, 
for a copy of Advisory Circular No. 11-2A, Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking Distribution System, which describes the application 
procedure.

The Proposal

    The FAA is proposing an amendment to Title 14, Code of Federal 
Regulations (14 CFR) part 71 to modify the Palm Beach International 
Airport Class C airspace area by raising the floor of Class C airspace 
to 1,600 feet MSL within an area overlying, and to the south of, the 
Palm Beach County Park Airport (see attached chart). Currently, the 
floor of Class C airspace in the vicinity of LNA is at 1,200 feet MSL. 
Raising the Class C floor as proposed would enhance safety by providing 
additional clearance between rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft 
entering the traffic pattern at LNA. This would allow fixed-wing 
aircraft entering the traffic pattern to safely overfly the existing 
helicopter patterns and also would allow LNA helicopter training 
activities to take place at higher altitudes. The boundaries would be 
depicted as subareas A, B, and C for clarity.
    In addition, a minor correction is made to the geographic 
coordinates of LNA to reflect the current information in the FAA's 
aeronautical database.
    Class C airspace areas are published in paragraph 4,000 of FAA 
Order 7400.9U, dated August 18, 2010 and effective September 15, 2010, 
which is incorporated by reference in 14 CFR 71.1. The Class C airspace 
area modification proposed in this document would be published 
subsequently in the Order.
    The FAA has determined that this proposed regulation only involves 
an established body of technical regulations for which frequent and 
routine amendments are necessary to keep them operationally current. 
Therefore, this proposed regulation: (1) Is not a ``significant 
regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866; (2) is not a 
``significant rule'' under Department of Transportation (DOT) 
Regulatory Policies and Procedures (44 FR 11034; February 26, 1979); 
and (3) does not warrant preparation of a regulatory evaluation as the 
anticipated impact is so minimal. Since this is a routine matter that 
will only affect air traffic procedures and air navigation, it is 
certified that this proposed rule, when promulgated, will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
under the criteria of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
    The FAA's authority to issue rules regarding aviation safety is 
found in Title 49 of the United States Code. Subtitle I, Section 106 
describes the authority of the FAA Administrator. Subtitle VII, 
Aviation Programs, describes in more detail the scope of the agency's 
authority.
    This rulemaking is promulgated under the authority described in 
Subtitle VII, Part A, Subpart I, Section 40103. Under that section, the 
FAA is charged with prescribing regulations to assign the use of the 
airspace necessary to ensure the safety of aircraft and the efficient 
use of airspace. This regulation is within the scope of that authority 
as it modifies terminal airspace as required to preserve the safe and 
efficient flow of air traffic.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71

    Airspace, Incorporation by reference, Navigation (air).

The Proposed Amendment

    In consideration of the foregoing, the Federal Aviation 
Administration proposes to amend 14 CFR part 71 as follows:

[[Page 36016]]

PART 71--DESIGNATION OF CLASS A, B, C, D, AND E AIRSPACE AREAS; AIR 
TRAFFIC SERVICE ROUTES; AND REPORTING POINTS

    1. The authority citation for part 71 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40103, 40113, 40120; E.O. 10854, 
24 FR 9565, 3 CFR, 1959-1963 Comp., p. 389.

Sec.  71.1  [Amended]

    2. The incorporation by reference in 14 CFR 71.1 of the Federal 
Aviation Administration Order 7400.9U, Airspace Designations and 
Reporting Points, dated August 18, 2010, and effective September 15, 
2010, is amended as follows:

Paragraph 4000--Subpart C--Class C Airspace

* * * * *

ASO FL C Palm Beach International Airport, FL [Amended]

Palm Beach International Airport, FL
    (Lat. 26[deg]40'59'' N., long. 80[deg]05'44'' W.)
Palm Beach County Park Airport
    (Lat. 26[deg]35'35'' N., long. 80[deg]05'06'' W.)

Boundaries

    Area A. That airspace extending upward from the surface to and 
including 4,000 feet MSL within a 5-mile radius of Palm Beach 
International Airport, excluding that airspace within a 2-mile 
radius of the Palm Beach County Park Airport.
    Area B. That airspace extending upward from 1,600 feet MSL to 
and including 4,000 feet MSL within an area bounded on the north by 
a line direct from the intersection of the Florida Turnpike (Highway 
91) and Lantana Road to the intersection of a 5-mile radius of the 
Palm Beach International Airport and a 2-mile radius west of the 
Palm Beach County Park Airport and a 2-mile radius north of the Palm 
Beach County Park Airport, on the east by a line direct from the 
intersection of a 5-mile radius of the Palm Beach International 
Airport and a 2-mile radius east of the Palm Beach County Park 
Airport to the intersection of a 10-mile radius of the Palm Beach 
International Airport and US 1, on the south by a 10-mile radius of 
the Palm Beach International Airport, and on the west by the Florida 
Turnpike.
    Area C. That airspace extending upward from 1,200 feet MSL to 
and including 4,000 feet MSL within a 10-mile radius of the Palm 
Beach International Airport, excluding area B.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 13, 2011.
Gary A. Norek,
Acting Manager, Airspace, Regulations and ATC Procedures Group.
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P

[[Page 36017]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP21JN11.025

[FR Doc. 2011-15407 Filed 6-20-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-C