2018-20494. Request OMB Clearance for Agency Request for Reinstatement of a Previously Approved Information Collection: Foreign Air Carrier Application for Statement of Authorization

AGENCY:

Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the Secretary (OST).

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary invite the general public, industry and other governmental parties to comment on the Foreign Air Carrier Application for Statement of Authorization. The pre-existing information collection request previously approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expired on May 31, 2017.

DATES:

Written comments should be submitted by December 3, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Darren Jaffe, [phone], Office of International Aviation, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W86-441, Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit a comment to Docket No. DOT-OST-2013-0074 through one of the following methods:

Website: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the FDMS electronic docket site.

Fax: [phone].

Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.

Hand Delivery: Room W12-140 on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Wednesday and Federal Holidays.

Instructions: All comments must include the agency name and FDMS Docket No. DOT-OST-2013-0074. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov,, including any personal information provided. You should know that anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.) You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on February 3, 2006 (71 FR 5780), or you may visit http://www.regulations.gov.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to Room W12-140 on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Wednesday and Federal holidays.

If you wish to receive confirmation of receipt of your written comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard with the following statement: “Comments on Docket No. DOT-OST-2013-0074.” The Docket Clerk will date stamp the postcard prior to returning it to you via the U.S. mail. Please note that due to delays in the delivery of U.S. mail to Federal offices in Washington, DC, we recommend that persons consider an alternative method (internet, fax, or professional delivery service) to submit comments to the docket and to ensure their timely receipt at U.S. DOT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Control No. 2106-0035.

Title: Foreign Air Carrier Application for Statement of Authorization.

Form No.: Form OST 4540.

Type of Review: Reinstatement of a Previously Approved Information Collection.

Respondents: Foreign Air Carriers.

Number of Respondents: Approximately 100.

Estimated Time per Response: 2.25 hours per application.

Total Annual Burden: 1,000 hours.

Abstract: Applicants use Form OST 4540 to request statements of authorization to conduct numerous types of operations authorized under Title 14, CFR part 212. The form requires basic information regarding the carrier(s) conducting the operation, the party filing the form, the operations being conducted, the number of third- and fourth-freedom flights conducted in the last twelve-month period, and certification of reciprocity from the carrier's homeland government. DOT analysts will use the information collected to determine if applications for fifth-freedom operations meet the public interest requirements necessary to authorize such applications.

Burden Statement: We estimate that the industry-wide total hour burden for this collection to be approximately 1,000 hours or approximately 2.25 hours per application. Conservatively, we estimate the compilation of background information will require 1.75 hours, and the completion and submission of OST Form 4540 will require thirty (30) minutes. Reporting the number of third- and fourth-freedom operations conducted by an applicant carrier will require collection of flight data, and detailed analysis to determine which flights conducted by the carrier are third- and fourth-freedom. Applicants should be able to use data collected for the Department's T-100 program to provide this information (under this program, carriers are required periodically to compile and report certain traffic data to the Department, as more fully described in the Docket referenced in footnote 1 below). The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) provide carriers with a computer program that allows them to compile and monitor, among other things, flight origin and destination data, to be used in making the carriers' T-100 submissions.^[1] We estimated that carriers will require 1.25 hours per application ^[2] to compile and analyze the data necessary to disclose the number of third- and fourth-freedom flights conducted within the twelve-month period preceding the filing of an application.

Foreign carriers will also have to provide evidence that their homeland government will afford reciprocity to U.S. carriers seeking authority for the similar fifth-, sixth- and seventh-freedom operations. Carriers may cite certifications submitted by carriers from the same homeland if that homeland issued such certification within the preceding six-month period. Approximately 100 carriers from roughly 30 distinct homelands use OST Form 4540 to apply for statements of authorization annually. We estimate that one foreign carrier from any given homeland will expend roughly 4 hours every six-months to obtain certification from its homeland governments.^[3] We have apportioned 30 minutes to each application to account for the time required to obtain certifications from homeland governments.

We have no empirical data to indicate how much time is required for a person to complete OST Form 4540; however, anecdotal evidence reveals that respondents spend thirty (30) minutes or less completing the form and brief justification. In some cases, respondents spend a limited amount of time, less than ten (10) minutes, reviewing the form before sending it via facsimile or email to the Department. In the interest of providing a conservative estimate so as to not understate the burden hours, we estimate the hour burden for completing OST Form 4540 as thirty (30) minutes.

Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the Office of the Secretary's performance; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for the Office of the Secretary to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of public record.

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 14, 2018.

Brian J. Hedberg,

Director, Office of the International Aviation.

Footnotes

1.  The rule-making associated with the T-100 program can be found on the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at http://www.regulations.gov,, in Docket DOT-OST-1998-4043. Information regarding burden hours is on file in the Office of Aviation Analysis (X-50).

2.  The Office of Aviation Analysis (X-50) estimated that small-carriers would require 1 burden hour per report, and large carriers would require 3 burden hours per report to analyze and report T-100 program data. Considering that the data required in this information collection can be derived from data already collected, we have taken an average of the estimated time required, and conservatively shortened the time by 45 minutes because no new data entry will be required.

3.  Calculation: (4 burden hours per application) × (30 foreign homelands) × (2 requests per year) = 240 annual burden hours. Apportioning 240 annual burden hours equally among an average of 430 applications annually = approximately 30 burden minutes per application.