[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 12 (Thursday, January 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2713-2715]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00817]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee Mixed Phase and Ice 
Crystal Icing Envelope (Deep Convective Clouds) Requirements--Revision 
of Appendix D to 14 CFR Part 33--New Task

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of a new task assignment for the Aviation Rulemaking 
Advisory Committee (ARAC) and solicitation of membership applicants.

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SUMMARY: The FAA assigned the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee 
(ARAC) a new task to provide recommendations on ice crystal icing (ICI) 
requirements. Because more extensive ICI data is available today, the 
FAA needs to determine if current regulations accurately reflect the 
existing ICI environment. This notice informs the public of the new 
ARAC activity and solicits membership for the new Ice Crystal Icing 
Working Group (ICIWG).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan Strom, Federal Aviation 
Administration, Rulemaking and Policy Branch, AIR-6A1, Engine & 
Propeller Standards Branch, Aircraft Certification Service, 1200 
District Avenue, Burlington, MA 01803-9997, email [email protected], 
phone (781) 238-7143, facsimile (781) 238-7199.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

ARAC Acceptance of Task

    At the September 14, 2017, ARAC meeting, the FAA assigned and ARAC 
accepted this task. ARAC designated the task to the Transport Airplane 
and Engine (TAE) Subcommittee to establish the ICIWG. The working group 
will support the ARAC, through the TAE Subcommittee, and provide advice 
and recommendations on the assigned task. The TAE Subcommittee will 
send the recommendation report to the ARAC for review and acceptance. 
After ARAC accepts the recommendation report, it will send the 
recommendation report to the FAA.

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Background

    The FAA established the ARAC to provide information, advice, and 
recommendations on aviation related issues that could result in 
rulemaking to the FAA Administrator, through the Associate 
Administrator of Aviation Safety. This includes obtaining advice and 
recommendations on the FAA's commitments to harmonize Title 14 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) with the European Aviation Safety 
Agency (EASA).
    Amendment 33-34, published in the Federal Register (79 FR 65507, 
November 4, 2014), revised airplane and engine certification 
requirements in supercooled large drop, mixed phase, and ICI 
conditions. Appendix D to part 33--Mixed Phase and ICI Envelope (Deep 
Convective Clouds) was added to depict the ICI envelope derived from 
adiabatic lapse calculations based on a theoretical atmospheric model. 
The FAA adopted these requirements, in part, as a response to the 
National Transportation Safety Board safety recommendations A-96-54 and 
A-96-56. Since that time, the FAA in concert with other Federal 
agencies, civil airworthiness agencies, and industry sponsored three 
separate flight test campaigns to gather detailed ICI environmental 
test data. This flight test data has enabled a more accurate 
representation of ICI threat to aircraft turbojet, turbofan, and 
turboprop engines encountered in service. The objective of the ARAC 
task is to evaluate whether current engine or airplane air data probe 
responses to ICI warrant the use of an environmental envelope different 
from those existing in appendix D to part 33.

The Task

    The ICIWG will provide advice and recommendations to the ARAC 
through the TAE Subcommittee on appendix D to part 33, and 
harmonization of Sec.  33.68 Induction system icing requirements as 
follows:
    1. Evaluate recent ICI environment data obtained from both 
government and industry to determine whether flight testing data 
supports the existing appendix D envelope.
    2. Evaluate the results carried out in task 1 and recommend changes 
to the existing appendix D envelope, as applicable.
    3. Compare available service data on air data probes from both 
government and industry probes on appendix D, including any changes 
proposed in task 2. Determine whether engine or aircraft air data probe 
responses warrant the use of a different environmental envelope from 
those proposed in task 2, or to the existing appendix D envelope.
    4. Evaluate the results from task 3 and recommend ICI boundaries 
relevant to aircraft and engine air data probes. If the working group 
proposes a different envelope for aircraft and engine air data probes, 
recommend if these should be included in the existing appendix D, or 
create a new appendix to part 33.
    5. Identify non-harmonized FAA or EASA ICI regulations or guidance. 
If the working group finds significant differences that impact safety, 
propose changes to increase harmonization.
    6. Recommend changes to the advisory circular, AC 20-147A, 
Turbojet, Turboprop, Turboshaft, and Turbofan Engine Induction System 
Icing and Ice Ingestion, based on task 1 through 5 results.
    7. Assist the FAA in determining the initial qualitative and 
quantitative costs, and benefits that may result from the working 
group's recommendations.
    8. Develop a recommendations report containing the results of tasks 
1 through 6. The report should document both majority and dissenting 
positions on the findings, the rationale for each position, and reasons 
for disagreement.

Schedule

    The recommendation report should be submitted to the FAA for review 
and acceptance no later than 24 months from the first ICIWG meeting. 
The ICIWG will remain in existence for 30 months from the first ICIWG 
meeting.

Working Group Activity

    The ICIWG must comply with the procedures adopted by the ARAC as 
follows:
    1. Conduct a review and analysis of the assigned tasks and any 
other related materials or documents.
    2. Draft and submit a work plan for completion of the task, 
including the rationale supporting such a plan for consideration by the 
TAE Subcommittee.
    3. Provide a status report at each TAE Subcommittee meeting.
    4. Draft and submit the recommendation report based on the review 
and analysis of the assigned tasks.
    5. Present the recommendation report at the TAE Subcommittee 
meeting.

Roles and Responsibilities

    The ICIWG will be comprised of technical experts having an interest 
in the assigned task. A working group member need not be a member 
representative of the ARAC or the TAE Subcommittee. The FAA would like 
a wide range of members to ensure all aspects of the tasks are 
considered in development of the recommendations. The provisions of the 
August 13, 2014, Office of Management and Budget guidance, ``Revised 
Guidance on Appointment of Lobbyists to Federal Advisory Committees, 
Boards, and Commissions'' (79 FR 47482), continues the ban on 
registered lobbyists participating on Agency Boards and Commissions if 
participating in their ``individual capacity.'' The revised guidance 
now allows registered lobbyists to participate on Agency Boards and 
Commissions in a ``representative capacity'' for the ``express purpose 
of providing a committee with the views of a nongovernmental entity, a 
recognizable group of persons or nongovernmental entities (an industry, 
sector, labor unions, or environmental groups, etc.) or state or local 
government.'' (For further information see Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 (LDA) as amended, 2 U.S.C 1603, 1604, and 1605.)
    If you wish to become a member of the ICIWG, write the person 
listed under the caption FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT expressing 
that desire. Describe your interest in the task and state the expertise 
you would bring to the working group. The FAA must receive all requests 
by February 20, 2018 The ARAC, through the TAE Subcommittee, and the 
FAA will review the requests and advise you whether or not your request 
is approved.
    The members of the ICIWG must actively participate in the working 
group, attend all meetings, and provide written comments when 
requested. The members must devote the resources necessary to support 
the working group in meeting any assigned deadlines. Members must keep 
management and those they may represent advised of working group 
activities and decisions to ensure the proposed technical solutions do 
not conflict with the position of those represented. Once the working 
group has begun deliberations, members will not be added or substituted 
without the approval of the ARAC Chair, the TAE Subcommittee Chair, the 
Working Group Chair, and the FAA, including the Designated Federal 
Officer.
    The Secretary of Transportation determined the formation and use of 
the ARAC is necessary and in the public interest in connection with the 
performance of duties imposed on the FAA by law.

Confidential Information

    All final work products submitted to ARAC are public documents. 
Therefore,

[[Page 2715]]

it should not contain any non-public proprietary, privileged, business, 
commercial, and other sensitive information (collectively, Confidential 
Information) that the working group members would not want to be 
publicly available. With respect to working groups, there may be 
instances where members will share Commercial Information within the 
working group for purposes of completing an assigned tasked. Members 
must not disclose to any third party, or use for any purposes other 
than the assigned task, any and all Confidential Information disclosed 
to one party by the other party, without the prior written consent of 
the party whose Confidential Information is being disclosed. All 
parties must treat the Confidential Information of the disclosing party 
as it would treat its own Confidential Information, but in no event 
shall it use less than a reasonable degree of care. If any Confidential 
Information is shared with the FAA representative on a working group, 
it must be properly marked in accordance with the Office of Rulemaking 
Committee Manual, ARM-001-15.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 11, 2018.
Lirio Liu,
Designated Federal Officer, Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee.
[FR Doc. 2018-00817 Filed 1-17-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-13-P


