2013-15133. Proposed Amendment of Class D Airspace; Santa Monica, CA

AGENCY:

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION:

Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM).

SUMMARY:

This SNPRM would further modify the Class D airspace area at Santa Monica Municipal Airport, Santa Monica, CA. In a NPRM published in the Federal Register of October, 27, 2011, the FAA proposed to create additional Class D airspace at Santa Monica Municipal Airport. The FAA has reassessed the proposal and finds that further enlargement of the airspace area is necessary for the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations in the Santa Monica, CA, area. The geographic coordinates of the airport also would be adjusted.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before August 9, 2013.

ADDRESSES:

Send comments on this proposal to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590; telephone [phone]. You must identify FAA Docket No. FAA-2011-0611; Airspace Docket No. 11-AWP-11, at the beginning of your comments. You may also submit comments through the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard Roberts, Federal Aviation Administration, Operations Support Group, Western Service Center, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98057; telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

History

On October 27, 2011, the FAA published a NPRM to modify Class D airspace, at Santa Monica Municipal Airport, Santa Monica, CA (76 FR 66662). The comment period closed December 12, 2011. No comments were received. Subsequent to publication, the Los Angeles Visual Flight Rules (VFR) Airspace Task Force identified airspace in the areas adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport as highly congested with participating and non-participating VFR aircraft. This action would increase the level of safety for aircraft in the Santa Monica, CA, airspace area. The FAA seeks comments on this SNPRM.

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 2011-0611 and Airspace Docket No. 11-AWP-11) and be submitted in triplicate to the Docket Management System (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 FAA Docket No. FAA-2011-0611 and Airspace Docket No. 11-AWP-11”. 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 NPRM's

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/​airports_​airtraffic/​air_​traffic/​publications/​airspace_​amendments/​.

You may review the public docket containing the proposal, any comments received, and any final disposition in person in the Dockets Office (see the ADDRESSES section for the address and phone number) between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. An informal docket may also be examined during normal business hours at the Northwest Mountain Regional Office of the Federal Aviation Administration, Air Traffic Organization, Western Service Center, Operations Support Group, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98057.

Persons interested in being placed on a mailing list for future NPRM's should contact the FAA's Office of Rulemaking, [phone], for a copy of Advisory Circular No. 11-2A, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Distribution System, which describes the application procedure.

The Supplemental Proposal

The FAA is proposing an amendment to Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) Part 71 by further modifying the size of the Class D airspace area at Santa Monica Municipal Airport, Santa Monica, CA, to accommodate IFR aircraft departing and arriving at the airport. The airspace would be increased from a 2.7-mile radius to a 4-mile radius of the airport, leaving the extension to the northeast the same as the NPRM. The geographic coordinates of the airport would also be updated to coincide with the FAA's aeronautical database. Expanding the current Santa Monica Municipal Airport Class D airspace would reduce those areas that pose a high collision risk to low level commercial, general aviation, military and helicopter operations.

Class D airspace designations are published in paragraph 5000, of FAA Order 7400.9W, dated August 8, 2012, and effective September 15, 2012, which is incorporated by reference in 14 CFR 71.1. The Class D airspace designation listed in this document will be published subsequently in this 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 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, would 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 U.S. Code. Subtitle 1, Section 106, describes the authority for 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 would modify controlled airspace at Santa Monica Municipal Airport, Santa Monica, CA.

This proposal will be subject to an environmental analysis in accordance with FAA Order 1050.1E, “Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures” prior to any FAA final regulatory action.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 71

• Airspace
• Incorporation by reference
• Navigation (air)

The Proposed Amendment

Accordingly, pursuant to the authority delegated to me, the Federal Aviation Administration proposes to amend 14 CFR part 71 as follows:

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 14 CFR 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.

§ 71.1

[Amended]

2. The incorporation by reference in 14 CFR 71.1 of the Federal Aviation Administration Order 7400.9W, Airspace Designations and Reporting Points, dated August 8, 2012, and effective September 15, 2012 is amended as follows:

Paragraph 5000 Class D airspace.

* * * * *

AWP CA D Santa Monica, CA [Modified]

Santa Monica Municipal Airport, CA

(Lat. 34°00′57″ N., long. 118°27′05″ W.)

That airspace extending upward from the surface to and including 2,700 feet MSL within a 4-mile radius of the Santa Monica Municipal Airport and within 1.5 miles each side of the 047° bearing of the Santa Monica Airport extending from the 4-mile radius to 4.6 miles northeast of the airport, excluding that airspace within the Los Angeles, CA, Class D airspace area. This Class D airspace area is effective during the specific dates and times established in advance by a Notice to Airmen. The effective date and time will thereafter be continuously published in the Airport/Facility Directory.

Issued in Seattle, Washington, on June 17, 2013.

Clark Desing,

Manager, Operations Support Group, Western Service Center.