FR 96-25187

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 2, 1996)] [Proposed Rules] [Page 51395] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 96-25187]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 440

[Docket No. 28635; Notice 96-8A] RIN 2120-AF98

Financial Responsibility Requirements for Licensed Launch Activities

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM); reopen comment period.

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SUMMARY: This document announces that the comment period for the NPRM on financial responsibility requirements for licensed launch activities is reopened. The initial comment period closed September 23, 1996. In response to industry requests that more time be provided for comment development, the comment period is reopened October 2, 1996 through December 2, 1996.

DATES: The comment period is being reopened from October 2, 1996 through December 2, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this NPRM should be mailed in triplicate to the Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Chief Counsel, Attention: Rules Docket (AGC-200), 800 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20591. Comments may also be sent electronically to the Rules Docket by using the following Internet address: [email protected]. All comments must be marked Docket No. 28635. Comments may be examined Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. in Room 915G.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Esta M. Rosenberg, Attorney-Advisor, Regulations Division, Office of the Chief Counsel, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, (202) 366-9305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice No. 96-8 was published on July 25, 1996 [61 FR 38992]. This Notice, as published, provided a 60 day comment period which closed September 23, 1996.

Background

The Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation currently prescribes financial responsibility requirements for licensees authorized to conduct commercial space launch activities on a case-by-base basis, after analyzing the risks associated with licensed activities. The proposed rulemaking would codify the Associate Administrator's approach to implementing these requirements in rules of general applicability. Specifically, the proposed regulations would establish how certain risks are allocated and addressed among the various launch participants through financial responsibility requirements, including statutorily based reciprocal waivers of claims. The proposed regulations would also address eligibility for payment by the United States Government of certain third party claims. The Notice requested comments on appropriate means of implementing this obligation. The FAA is undertaking this rulemaking initiative to implement financial responsibility requirements under the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, as amended, codified at 49 U.S.C. Subtitle IX, ch. 701, Commercial Space Launch Activities. On September 19, 1996, Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), as well as several other major U.S. commercial space launch industry participants, (i.e., Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas, and Rockwell International Corporations) requested that the comment period be extended 60 days beyond September 23, 1996, to allow interested parties to respond adequately to the complex issues in the Notice. OSC states that in light of the detail needed to respond accurately and in a costly fashion, an extension is needed.

Reopen Comment Period

The comment period closed on September 23, 1996, which prevented an extension. In order to allow industry additional time for a more thorough review of applicable issues and drafting of responsive comments, the FAA finds that it is in the public interest to reopen the comment period. Accordingly, the comment period is being reopened from October 2, 1996 through December 2, 1996.

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 27, 1996. Patti Grace Smith, Acting Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. [FR Doc. 96-25187 Filed 10-1-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-13-M