2023-22635. U.S. Agents for Service on Individuals With Foreign Addresses Who Hold or Apply for Certain Certificates, Ratings, or Authorizations; Reopening of Comment Period

AGENCY:

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION:

Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM); reopening of comment period.

SUMMARY:

This action extends the comment period for the NPRM published on June 12, 2023, titled “U.S. Agents for Service on Individuals with Foreign Addresses Who Hold or Apply for Certain Certificates, Ratings, or Authorizations.” The FAA is extending the comment period to allow commenters to review the Privacy Impact Assessment conducted by the Department of Transportation.

DATES:

The comment period for the NPRM published on June 12, 2023, at 88 FR 38001, and closed on August 11, 2023, is reopened until October 30, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Send comments identified by docket number FAA–2023–1194 using any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for sending your comments electronically.

• Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M–30; U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12–140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590–0001.

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Take comments to Docket Operations in Room W12–140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

• Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at (202) 493–2251.

Privacy: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at www.dot.gov/​privacy.

Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at www.regulations.gov at any time. Follow the online instructions for accessing the docket or go to the Docket Operations in Room W12–140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jessica Kabaz-Gomez, Office of the Chief Counsel, Enforcement Division, AGC–300, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; (202) 267–7395; email [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Comments Invited

The FAA invites interested persons to participate in this rulemaking by submitting written comments, data, or views relating to the Privacy Impact Assessment associated with this rulemaking. The most helpful comments reference a specific portion of the proposal, explain the reason for any recommended change, and include supporting data. To ensure the docket does not contain duplicate comments, commenters should submit only one time if comments are filed electronically or commenters should send only one copy of written comments if comments are filed in writing.

The FAA will file in the docket all comments it receives, as well as a report summarizing each substantive public contact with FAA personnel concerning this proposed rulemaking. Before acting on this proposal, the FAA will consider all comments it receives on or before the closing date for comments. The FAA will consider comments filed after the comment period has closed if it is possible to do so without incurring expense or delay. The FAA may change this proposal in light of the comments it receives.

B. Confidential Business Information

Confidential Business Information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public disclosure. If your comments responsive to this NPRM contain commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive to this NPRM, it is important that you clearly designate the submitted comments as CBI. Please mark each page of your submission containing CBI as “PROPIN.” The FAA will treat such marked submissions as confidential under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public docket of this NPRM. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to the person listed under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT heading at the beginning of the preamble. Any commentary that the FAA receives which is not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket for this rulemaking.

C. Availability of Rulemaking Documents

An electronic copy of rulemaking documents may be obtained from the internet by—

1. Searching the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov;

2. Visiting the FAA's Regulations and Policies web page at www.faa.gov/​regulations_​policies/​; or

3. Accessing the Government Printing Office's web page at www.GovInfo.com.

Copies may also be obtained by sending a request to the Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Rulemaking, ARM–1, 800 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591, or by calling (202) 267–9680. Commenters must identify the docket or notice number of this rulemaking.

All documents the FAA considered in developing this proposed rule, including economic analyses and technical reports, may be accessed from the internet through the Federal eRulemaking Portal referenced in item (1) above.

Background

On June 12, 2023, the FAA published an NPRM titled “U.S. Agents for Service on Individuals with Foreign Addresses Who Hold or Apply for Certain Certificates, Ratings, or Authorizations,” in the Federal Register (88 FR 38001; Notice No. 23–07). Commenters were instructed to provide comments on or before August 11, 2023 ( i.e., 60 days from the date of publication of the NPRM).

Since publication, the FAA has received one request to extend the comment period to provide time to review the associated Privacy Impact Assessment that was not available at the time of publication. The Privacy Impact Assessment was completed on August 23, 2023, and is publicly available on the website of the Department of Transportation ^[1] and is available on the docket for this rulemaking.

Reopening of Comment Period

The FAA partially grants the petitioners' requests for an extension of the comment period to comment on the Privacy Impact Assessment. Under the circumstances, the FAA finds that an additional fifteen (15) days will provide sufficient opportunity for the public to comment. Therefore, the comment period for Notice No. 23–07 is reopened until October 30, 2023.

The FAA will not grant any additional requests to further extend the comment period for this rulemaking.

Issued under authority provided by 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 44701(a), and 44703 in Washington, DC.

Brandon Roberts,

Executive Director, Office of Rulemaking, Federal Aviation Administration.

Footnotes

1.   https://www.transportation.gov/​individuals/​privacy/​us-agents-service-individuals-foreign-addresses-who-hold-or-apply.