2020-28225. Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; Clearance of Renewed Approval of Information Collection: Noise Certification Standards for Subsonic Jet Airplanes and Subsonic Transport Category Large Airplanes

AGENCY:

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on October 21, 2020.

DATES:

Written comments should be submitted by January 21, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on the proposed information collection to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. Comments should be addressed to the attention of the Desk Officer, Department of Transportation/FAA, and sent via electronic mail to [e-mail], or faxed to [phone], or mailed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sandy Liu by email at: [e-mail]; phone: [phone]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The collection involves the noise certification regulations of 14 CFR part 36 for aircraft. This includes information collection requirements for the noise certification of subsonic aircraft—jet airplanes and subsonic transport category large airplanes, small propeller driven airplanes and rotorcraft. The information collected are the results of noise certification tests that demonstrate compliance with 14 CFR part 36. The original information collection was implemented to show compliance in accordance with the Aircraft Noise Abatement Act of 1968; that statute is now part of the overall codification of the FAA's regulatory authority over aircraft noise in 49 U.S.C. 44715. The noise compliance report is used by the FAA in making a finding that the airplane is in noise compliance with the regulations. These compliance reports are required only once when an applicant wants to certificate an aircraft type. Without this data collection, the FAA would be unable to make the required noise certification compliance finding.

OMB Control Number: 2120-0659.

Title: Noise Certification Standards for Subsonic Jet Airplanes and Subsonic Transport Category Large Airplanes.

Form Numbers: None.

Type of Review: Renewal of an information collection.

Background: The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on October 21, 2020 (85 FR 67089). The aircraft noise information collected are the results of noise certification tests that demonstrate compliance with 14 CFR part 36. The original information collection was implemented to show compliance in accordance with the Aircraft Noise Abatement Act of 1968; that statute is now part of the overall codification of the FAA's regulatory authority over aircraft noise in 49 U.S.C. 44715. For the recent NPRM, the FAA proposes to revise this PRA collection to include noise test data collections of supersonic aircraft, for an increased estimate of 16 total noise certification projects per year. Each applicant's collected information is incorporated into a noise compliance report that is provided to and approved by the FAA. The noise compliance report is used by the FAA in making a finding that the airplane is in noise compliance with the regulations. These compliance reports are required only once when an applicant wants to certificate an aircraft type. Without this data collection, the FAA would be unable to make the required noise certification compliance finding.

Respondents: Aircraft manufacturer/applicant seeking type certification;

Frequency: Estimated 14 total applicants per year;

Estimated Average Burden per Response: Estimated 200 hours per applicant for the compliance report; and

Estimated Total Annual Burden: $25,000 per applicant or cumulative total $350,000 per year for 14 applicants.

Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, including (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for FAA's performance; (b) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (d) 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.

Issued in Washington, DC, on December 17, 2020.

Sandy Liu,

Engineer, Office of Environment and Energy, Noise Division (AEE-100).