2120-0042 2014_revised

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, provides for application for registration as well as suspension and/or revocation of registration, and recordation of conveyances, leases, and security instruments.

Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) Part 47 and Part 49 prescribe 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 is collected and used by the FAA Aircraft Registry Branch to: 1) maintain documentation of aircraft chain-of-ownership and evidence of ownership; 2) register aircraft and; 3) record conveyances affecting title to and/or interest in aircraft. Bi-annual reporting of U.S. Flight Hours is also collected from Corporations Not U.S. Citizens to monitor compliance with 14 CFR 47.9.

Evidence of ownership information is collected utilizing the: 1) AC Form 8050-2, Aircraft Bill of Sale; 2) AC Form 8050-88, Affidavit of Ownership for Amateur-Built and Other Non-Type Certificated Aircraft; 3) AC Form 8050-88A, Affidavit of Ownership for Light-Sport Aircraft and; 4) AC Form 8050-4, Certificate of Repossession of Encumbered Aircraft. These forms, though their use is not required, are available to use as evidence of ownership to accompany the AC Form 8050-1, Aircraft Registration Application, which must be used for the initial registration when ownership of an aircraft transfers from one entity to another. The AC Form 8050-98, Aircraft Security Agreement may be used by secured parties to record, with the Aircraft Registration Branch, financial encumbrances attached to the aircraft .

The AC Form 8050-117, Flight Hours for Corporations Not U. S. Citizens, is used as bi-annual notification to and then is returned to report data from Corporations Not U.S. Citizens for compliance with 14 CFR 49.7 that requires that at least 60% of the aircraft’s flight hours be in U.S. airspace.

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

The official file for the FAA Aircraft Registry is an electronic based record system. 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 Aircraft Registry; therefore, there is no duplication of records or record-keeping.

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 required to register aircraft and record security interests are the same for all respondents.

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

As identified in FAR Part 47 and 49, collection occurs when: an aircraft changes ownership; registered owner’s address changes; or a security interest is received. Collection of flight hours data for each aircraft owned by corporations that are not U.S. citizens occurs every 6 months.

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 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 record-keeping, 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 September 3, 2014, vol. 79, no. 170, page 52404. 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 as all information collected is public information.

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(c) 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 three (3) years, and report these hours to the Registry in six-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 six (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 47.11:

AC Form 8050-2, Aircraft Bill of Sale

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

AC Form 8050-88, Affidavit of Ownership for Amateur-Built and Other Non-Type

Certificated Aircraft

AC Form 8050-88A, Affidavit of Ownership for Light-Sport 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(c) 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 one1(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.

u. Part 49 provides for recording of certain conveyances affecting title to, or any interest in, aircraft registered under Part 47.

Based on workload projections for FY 2015 using actual data from the 1^st ten months, the following is an estimate of the annual number of responses received for each of the reporting and record-keeping requirements set forth in FAR Section 47.

Form/Document Group	Responses	Avg Time in Hrs	Total Hrs
Evidence of Ownership Documents	93,792	0.50	46,896
Application for Registration	79,957	0.50	39,979
Security Agreement	31,475	0.75	23,606
Flight Hours Report	1,346	0.50	673
			111,154	$2,778,848

We estimate the annual total cost to the respondents to be $2,778,848. This is based on an estimated title search clerk salary of $25 per hour x 111,154 hours of record keeping and time for completing necessary forms for compliance with regulations.

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

Evidence of Ownership may be mailed alone as evidenced by the larger quantity indicated by the table entry in question. The Application for Registration must always be accompanied by an Evidence of Ownership document. Security Agreements would accompany a Bill of Sale (Evidence of Ownership) and typically significantly increases weight/cost. The Flight Hours Report is mailed alone and not filed with the other documents. The table below reflects Respondents’ mailing costs based on the counts noted in question 12.

Packet Type	Responses	Cost	Total
Ownership, Application & Security Agreement	23,606	$1.64	$38,713.84
Ownership & Application	16,373	$0.47	7,695.31
Ownership Alone	6,917	$0.47	3,250.99
Flight Hours Report	1,346	$0.47	632.62
		Total	$ 50,292.76

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, computer, maintenance, and support staff and any other expense that would not have been accrued without this collection of information are not included in any cost estimates for this collection. Agencies also may aggregate cost estimates from items 12, 13, and 14 in a single table.

Based on workload projections for FY 2015 using actual data from the 1^st ten months, the chart below shows a breakout of processing time in hours for both employee ($27 per hour) and contractor ($20.50 per hour), and related mailing costs (@ $.47) for distribution of some of the forms in this collection. Applicants may acquire the AC Form 8050-1, Application for Aircraft Registration from a local Flight Standards District Office, a local airport or some aircraft/airman facility, but the Aircraft Registration Branch has no way of obtaining information regarding that choice made by the applicant.

Form/Document Group		Evidence of Ownership Documents	Application for Registration	Security Agreement	Flight Hours Report
Counts	Mailed Out	0	79,957	0	1,721
	Incoming	93,792	79,957	31,475	1,346
Time in Hours	FTE	46,896	39,979	15,737	860
	Contractor	31,264	26,652	10,492	14
Cost In $	FTE	$1,266,192	$1,079,422	$424,910	$23,231
	Contractor	$640,912	$546,374	$215,078	$294
	Mail	$0	$37,580	$0	$809	Total
	Total	$1,907,104	$1,663,376	$639,988	$24,334	$4,234,801

15. Explain the reason for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB Form 83-1.

The FAA is adding AC Forms 8050-88, Affidavit of Ownership for Amateur-Built and Other Non-Type Certificated Aircraft, and 8050-88A, Light-Sport Aircraft Manufacturer’s Affidavit, to information collection 2120-0042 and has removed them from information collection 2120-0690. The burden related to AC forms 8050-88 and 8050-88A were previously incorporated into the total burden for information collection 2120-0042.

No other program changes are reported. However, an error for item 14a existed in the Supporting Statement document submitted last renewal cycle. The cost calculation for the item was erroneously increased by a factor of 10. Also, the Civil Aviation Registry’s Registry Modernization System (RMS) now allows for data related to document processing to be reported at a much greater level of detail, thus providing for more accurate numbers and calculations pertaining to this data collection group.

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 costs due to the implementation of the Registry Modernization System. This system is imaging based and requires all incoming documents to be prepped, scanned, indexed and quality controlled before being reviewed for acceptance by Legal Instruments Examiners. Furthermore, the function of reserving and assigning of U.S. registration numbers is now performed by Legal Instruments Examiners.

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.

A prominently displayed expiration date on many of the Aircraft Registration Branch forms could have the unintended effect of appearing to affect the validity of the document once it has been added to an aircraft record. The documents in the aircraft records represent an entity’s interest in an aircraft, either the ownership interest or security interest. These records are used daily to provide title searches to aircraft purchasers, lenders, etc., and are often used in court proceedings and by law enforcement. The inclusion of a prominently displayed expiration date on a form that could be introduced as evidence in a court of law could bring into question the validity of the recordation of a document within an aircraft record. It could also bring into question the legal status of a document.

The requirements for a form to be approved by OMB are content driven. The inclusion of the expiration date is not related to the content but is administrative. The addition of this administrative element could have the unintended consequence of damaging the utility of the aircraft record thereby undermining the very purpose for which the information is collected and provided to users.

The Aircraft Registration Branch has only one form that is “stocked.” Most of the remaining forms are “courtesy” forms. For instance, any paper which contains the appropriate wording can be accepted as a bill of sale.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in item 19, “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.” for OMB Form 83-1.

There appear to be no exceptions.