2120-0042 2008

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

OMB 2120-0042

Aircraft Registration

including assignment and cancellation

of U.S identification marks

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Include identification of any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection.

This information collection supports the Department of Transportation’s strategic goals on safety and security. Maintaining proper registration of aircraft is fundamental to ensure compliance with operations/airworthiness safety requirements in order to promote the public health and safety by working toward the elimination of transportation-related deaths, injuries, and property damage. Proper registration of aircraft is necessary to advance the nations vital security interest in support of national strategies by ensuring that the national transportation system is secure.

The registration system provides identification of all civil aircraft in the United States. The registration record also provides evidence of ownership which may be used in court if there is a controversy over ownership. The form of registration certificate and the basic rules concerning aircraft identification marks are prescribed by Annex 7 to the Convention of International Civil Aviation, which the United States has signed, and which has the force of law. Public Law 103-272 states that all aircraft must be registered before they may be flown. It sets forth registration eligibility requirements and provides for application for registration as well as suspension and/or revocation of registration.

Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 47 prescribes procedures that implement Public Law 103-272.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used and the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection of information was not conducted.

The information collected is used by the FAA to register an aircraft or hold an aircraft in trust. The information requested is required to register and prove ownership.

The information is collected on the following forms:

AC Form 8050-1, Aircraft Registration Application

AC Form 8050-2, Aircraft Bill of Sale

AC Form 8050-4, Certificate of Repossession of Encumbered Aircraft

AC Form 8050-98, Aircraft Security Agreement

AC Form 8050-117, Flight Hours for Corporations Not U. S. Citizens

3. Describe any consideration of the use of improved information technology to reduce burden and any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

The FAA Aircraft Registry presently uses a compact disk as the official file record. This applies to maintenance of the records, and does not affect the collection of information, which must come from each individual aircraft owner. At present, less than 10% of the information is being collected electronically.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.

There is only one registry; therefore, there is no duplication of records or recordkeeping.

5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe the methods used to minimize burden.

We have tried to reduce the burden on all respondents to a minimum. However, the procedures and information needed to register aircraft are the same for all respondents.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection were conducted less frequently.

Collection occurs only when an aircraft changes ownership.

7. Explain any circumstances that require collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)(I)(viii).

The collection of information is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)(i)-(Viii), except that records concerning aircraft registration which are maintained for the life of each aircraft.

8. Describe effort to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any) and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

A notice was published in the Federal Register soliciting public comment on May 15, 2008, on page 28184. No comments were received.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

No payment or consideration is given.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

We do not assure confidentiality.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

No information of a sensitive nature is requested nor required to register an aircraft.

12. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the respondents. Also, provide description of the method used to estimate cost.

Respondents:

a. Section 47.5 provides that any person wishing to register an aircraft must submit an application.

b. Section 47.7© sets forth submission requirements, in addition to the application, for applicants holding an aircraft in trust.

c. Section 47.8 describes documents, in addition to the application, to be submitted by applicants when an aircraft is held by voting trust.

d. Section 47.9(a)(1) requires submission of a certified copy of the certificate of incorporation when the applicant is a corporation which is not a U. S. citizen.

e. Section 47.9(e) and 47.9(f) require foreign owned corporations to keep a record of their total flight hours for 3 years, and report these hours to the Registry in 6-month increments, giving the total number of hours flown and the total number of hours flown with the United States. AC Form 8050-117, Flight hours for Corporations Not U. S. Citizens, is computer-generated and sent to these particular Aircraft Owners every 6 months to assist them in the report. Its use is optional, but submission of the flight time is required.

f. Section 47.11 describes documents which are acceptable for recording as evidence of ownership. They may be bills of sale, conditional sales contracts, affidavits of ownership, or forms. They must be drafted in accordance with local statutory requirements. The following forms are furnished to the public as a convenience for their use, if desired, in fulfilling the requirements of part 47.ll:

AC Form 8050-2, Aircraft Bill of Sale

AC Form 8050-4, Certificate of Repossession of Encumbered Aircraft

g. Section 47.15(a)(1) provides that, for aircraft not previously registered anywhere, the applicant must submit a request in writing for a U. S. identification number.

h. Section 47.15(a)(2) provides for placing the United States identification number assigned to the aircraft on the application.

i. Section 47.15(a)(3) provides that, for aircraft last previously registered in a foreign country, the applicant must apply in writing for a U. S. identification number.

j. Section 47.15© provides for issuance to a manufacturer, upon written request, enough United States identification numbers to supply his estimated production for 18 months.

k. Section 47.15(d) provides for issuance of a special number to an aircraft owner in response to his written request.

l. Section 47.15(h) provides for renewal of reservation of a special number, upon written request.

m. Section 47.16(b) provides for issuance of temporary registration numbers to the holder of a Dealer’s Aircraft Registration Certification, upon written request.

n. Section 47.16(d) requires the holder of a temporary registration number to record its assignment to an aircraft when the number is used on a flight outside the United States, and to keep the records for a least 1 year after removal of the temporary number.

o. Sections 47.31, 47.33, and 47.35 set forth procedures for submission of AC Form 8050-1, Aircraft Registration Application.

p. Section 47.37 provides for submission of an aircraft registration application and bill of sale by applicants for registration of aircraft not previously registered in the United States. It also requires submission of evidence that the aircraft is no longer registered in a foreign country, if it has been previously registered in a foreign country. This evidence is prepared by registry of the country where the aircraft was registered and comes directly to the FAA Aircraft Registry.

q. Sections 47.41 and 47.43 provide for return of AC Form 8050-3, Certificate of Aircraft Registration, to the FAA Aircraft Registry when the registration becomes invalid.

r. Section 47.47 provides for submission of a request for cancellation of registration to the FAA Aircraft Registry from the registered owner when an aircraft is to be exported, providing the name of the country of import. Space is provided on the reverse side of the certificate for this notification.

s. Subpart C of Part 47 provides for the issuance of Dealer’s Aircraft Registration Certificate. This reporting burden is covered in OMB 2120-0024.

t. Section 47.49 provides for issuance of a duplicate Certificate of Registration upon request and payment of fees, when the certificate has been lost or stolen. This requires no information other than that necessary to describe the requested service and identify the person or persons making the request as the registered owner(s) of the aircraft.

We estimate the annual total cost to the respondents to be $61,930. This is based on an estimated title search clerk salary of $22 per hour x 2,815 x .75 hours per processing service.

The following is an estimate of the number of responses received for each of the reporting and recordkeeping requirements set forth in FAR Section 47, based on workload figures for FY-2007.

Summary of Reporting/Recordkeeping Burden

Section No.	No. of Responses	Avg. No. Hrs Per Response	Total Hrs
Reporting
FAR 47.7(c)	2369	.5 hr.	1185.00 hrs
FAR 47.8	69	.5 hr.	35.00 hrs
FAR 47.9(a)(1)	106	.5 hr.	53.00 hrs
FAR 47.11	73,892	.5 hr.	36,946.00 hrs
FAR 47.15(a)(1), (a)(2) and
FAR 47.15(a)(3)	4528	.75 hr.	3396.00 hrs
FAR 47.15(c)	6134	.75 hr.	4601.00 hrs
FAR 47.15(d)	2093	.75 hr.	1570.00 hrs
FAR 47.15(h)	7820	.75 hr.	5865.00 hrs
FAR 47.16	3630	.5 hr.	1815.00 hrs
FAR 47.31, FAR 47.33, &
FAR 47.35	70,156	.5 hr.	35,078.00 hrs
FAR 47.33(c)	5444	.5 hr.	2722.00 hrs
FAR 47.37	2271	.5 hr.	1135.00 hrs
FAR 47.41 &
FAR 47.43	16,464	.5 hr.	8232.00 hrs
FAR 47.47	3225	.5 hr.	1613.00 hrs
FAR 47.49	2815	.5 hr.	1407.00 hrs
SUBTOTALS	201,016		105,653.00 hrs
Recordkeeping
FAR 47.9(e)and (f)	1535	1.0 hr	1535.00 hrs
SUBTOTALS	1535		1535.00 hrs
TOTALS	202,551		107,188.00 hrs

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information.

There are no additional costs not already included in question 12.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal Government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost which should include quantification of hours.

Operational expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been accrued without this collection of information. Agencies also may aggregate cost estimates from items 12, 13, and 14 in a single table.

The total cost, direct and indirect for processing the documents submitted in support of registration number, assignment, registration of aircraft, and other requirements of FAR Part 47 as set forth in Item 1 above, with the volumes listed in Item 12 above, is $2,726,267.97. These costs are explained in detail below:

a. Issuance of AC Form 8050-3, Certificate of Aircraft Registration, includes processing AC Forms 8050-1, 8050-2, 8050-4, and other evidence of ownership, such as those documents included in FAR’s 47.7©, 47.8, 47.9(a)(I), 47.11, 47.25,47.31, 47.33, 47.41 and 47.43. The cost to issue one certificate is $31.58. Cost is $31.58 x 63,770 (number of certificates issued in FY-2007) =$2,013,856.60.

b. Issuance of registration marks, both routinely and as special number, to individuals and/or manufacturers. This includes the requests covered in FAR’s 47.15©, 47.15 (d), 47.15(h) and 47.16. Cost of assigning a routine N-number is $13.05 x 4,528=$59,090.40 (number of N-numbers routinely assigned in FY-2007, either to individuals or to manufacturers) =$59,090.40

c. Cost of assigning a special number is $14.75 x 8,227 (number of special number assignments in FY-2007)= $121,348.25

d. The cost to issue preapproved flyaway authority to operate aircraft will be $13.20 Cost - $13.20 x 1,275(2% of 63,770 certificates issued in FY-2007) = $16,830.00.

e. The cost to process the Certificate of True Copy $25.52 x 1137 (number of certified true copies in FY-2007) = $29,016.24, and the cost to process compact disk copies of official file record $11.36 x 42,793 (number of copies issued in FY-2007) = $486,128.48 Total $515,144.72

Summary of cost: a. $2,013,856.60

b. $ 59,090.40

c. $ 121,348.25

d. $ 16,830.00

e. $ 515,144.72

Total $ 2,726,269.97

15. Explain the reason for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB Form 83-I.

The differences shown in the total annualized cost is based on an estimate and therefore is subject to change with actual receipts from year to year. There has been an increase in the number of aircraft registered, leading to an increase in our annual hourly burden estimate.

16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation, and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of this collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

No publication is planned for this information.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

The information is not sensitive in nature and therefore can be displayed.

All FAA forms AC8050-1, AC8050-2, AC8050-4, , AC8050-98 and AC8050-117 are recurring, non-changing forms that are printed and stocked for continuous use. When the supply gets low, the forms are automatically reprinted and stocked so there will be no interruption in services. It would not be cost effective to destroy unused, dated stock.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in item 19, “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.” for OMB Form 83-I.

There appear to be no exceptions.