[Federal Register: April 28, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 80)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 19148]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 193

[Docket No. FAA-2009-0245]


Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program; National Wildlife
Aircraft Hazard Database

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of determination not to proceed with proposed order
designating information as protected from disclosure.

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SUMMARY: The FAA proposed that bird strike information voluntarily
reported to the Agency and entered into the FAA's National Wildlife
Aircraft Hazard Database be designated by an FAA order as protected
from public disclosure in accordance with the provisions of 14 CFR part
193. After further review and consideration, the FAA has determined not
to proceed with an order designating the wildlife database as protected
under part 193.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Weller, Airport Safety and
Operations Division, AAS-300, Federal Aviation Administration, 800
Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20591, telephone (202) 267-3778.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of This Notice

    You can get an electronic copy of this notice using the Internet
by:
    (1) Searching the Department of Transportation's electronic Docket
Management System (DMS) Web page (http://dms.dot.gov/search);
    (2) Visiting the FAA's Regulations and Policies Web page at http://
www.faa.gov/regulations-policies/; or
    (3) Accessing the Government Printing Office's Web page at http://
www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.

Background

    Under 49 U.S.C. 40123, certain voluntarily provided safety and
security information is protected from disclosure to encourage persons
to provide the information to the FAA. The FAA must issue an order to
make certain findings before the information is protected from
disclosure. The FAA's rules implementing that section are in 14 CFR
part 193. If the Administrator issues an order designating information
as protected under 49 U.S.C. 40123, that information will not be
disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) or other
laws except as provided in 49 U.S.C. 40123 and 14 CFR part 193.
    On March 19, 2009, the FAA published a proposed order that, if
adopted, would have designated certain information in the FAA's
wildlife database as information protected under part 193. This
proposed order was issued under 14 CFR 193.111, which sets out the
notice procedure for designating information as protected. The FAA
invited interested persons to participate in this proposal by
submitting written comments, data, or views. We also invited comments
relating to the economic, environmental, energy, or federalism impacts
that might result from adopting the proposals in this document. The
comment period concluded on April 20, 2009. The FAA received 47
comments, the majority of which were not in favor of protecting the
database.
    After further review and consideration, the FAA has determined not
to proceed with an order designating information in the National
Wildlife Aircraft Strike database as protected under part 193 at this
time. The FAA will modify the public Wildlife Aircraft Strike Web site
to make the database available to all users consistent with the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) and Agency policy.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 22, 2009.
Catherine M. Lang,
Acting Associate Administrator for Airports.
[FR Doc. E9-9638 Filed 4-24-09; 8:45 am]