2120-XXXX Fuel Efficiency 20230705_clean

Supporting Statement A

[Airplane Fuel Efficiency Certification]

OMB 2120-XXXX

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

Description:

This collection of information is necessary for the FAA to confirm compliance with fuel efficiency requirements for certification of certain airplanes. These certification requirements are proposed as new part 38 to 14 CFR, and are intended to implement the emissions standards adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), allowing manufacturers to certificate their aircraft for fuel efficiency in the United States. The establishment of these standards by the EPA and their implementation by the FAA are required under the Clean Air Act. Further, these standards were initially established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with the participation of the United States; and, as a signatory to the Chicago Convention, the United States is adopting these standards that are consistent with those established internationally.

The proposed appendix to new part 38 would require the submission of certain fuel efficiency certification test data that would be submitted to the FAA as part of the applicant’s certification test report. The regulation also requires a manufacturer to include one or more values in the flight manual of a certificated airplane.

Authority:

The FAA’s authority to issue rules on aviation safety is found in Title 49 of the United States Code. Subtitle I, Section 106 describes the authority of the FAA Administrator.

The authority to implement procedures that demonstrate compliance with aviation emission standards adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is granted to the Secretary of Transportation in Section 7572 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7572). Further, 49 CFR 1.83(c) delegates to the FAA Administrator the authority to “Carry out the functions vested in the Secretary by part B of title II of the CAA.” This rulemaking proposes airplane certification regulations that would implement the standards adopted by the EPA in 40 CFR part 1030 to control certain greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

The information collected from airplane manufacturers (applicants) is part of the certification data submitted to the FAA to demonstrate compliance with the fuel efficiency requirements established under the CAA. The FAA does not retain any of the information collected after the demonstration of compliance for the certification of an airplane is complete. While in the agency’s possession, FAA Aircraft Certification Offices (ACOs) retain control over the information and safeguard it from improper access, modification, and destruction, consistent with FAA standards for confidentiality, privacy, and electronic information. The FAA does not disseminate the information to the public, and returns the sensitive information to the applicant after technical review of the data to confirm compliance with the established standards.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The collections occurs as part of the FAA airplane certification process. Manufacturers typically work with a designated FAA certification office to provide the necessary information, expected to be provided electronically. Upon completion of the certification process of an airplane, the information will not be retained by the FAA. Proposed rule § 38.23 requires manufacturers to record the calculated fuel efficiency metric value in the existing flight manual of compliant airplanes. The manual is currently required to be given to each purchaser of the airplane.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.

The FAA is the only agency that certificates airplanes in the United States, and the proposed rule is the first such regulation implementing airplane fuel efficiency standards. There will be no duplication.

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

The reporting requirements do not involve small businesses.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

Without the collection of fuel efficiency performance data obtained during airplane certification testing, the FAA would be unable to make a determination of compliance. The FAA would be unable to issue a type certificate for the airplane pursuant to 49 USC 44702 and the airplane could not be validly produced by a manufacturer.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner:

• requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

• requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

• requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document; requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records, for more than three years;

• in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;

• requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

• requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.

The FAA’s airplane certification is a robust, well-established process. This new collection includes only fuel efficiency data that is reported along with the information that manufacturers already provide during the overall airplane certification process. There are no special circumstances or inconsistencies that would result from the addition of this data to established certification processes.

8. Provide information on the PRA Federal Register Notice that solicited public comments on the information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments received in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response to those comments. Describe the efforts 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.

To-be-added. Public comments were first solicited as part of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for new 14 CFR part 38.

9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

There are no circumstances that involve payments or gifts to respondents.

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

Data confidentiality is provided as part of the FAA airplane certification process and protected in accordance with the appropriate laws.

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.

There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information.

The FAA used confidential business information provided by affected entities to estimate the number of certifications likely to occur over the three year period following promulgation of the rule. Table 1 shows the calculation of total burden hours and costs. Table 2 provides a summary of the annual burden.

Table 1. Calculation of Total Burden Hours and Costs
Statistic	Reporting	Recordkeeping
Manual Information
Respondents	NA	3
Responses per Respondent	NA	6
Total Responses	NA	18
Hours per Response	NA	8
Total Hours	NA	144
Total Costs1	NA	$13,300
Submittal of Certification Data
Respondents	3	NA
Responses per Respondent	6	NA
Total Responses	18	NA
Hours per Response	2	NA
Total Hours	36	NA
Total Costs1	$3,300	NA
Note: Detail may not add to total due to independent rounding. 1. Calculated as number of hours multiplied by an average wage including benefits of $92.53. Average wage based on the mean for aerospace engineers in scheduled air transportation ($61.10) divided by the percent of total employer costs of employee compensation represented by wages (66%) to account for benefits (34%). Wages and benefits information available at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172011.htm and https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t04.htm#ect_table4.f.1.

Table 2. Summary of Annual Burden
Category	Reporting	Recordkeeping		Disclosure
Number of respondents	3	3	0
Number of responses per respondent	2	2	0
Time per response (hours)	2	8	0
Total # of responses	6	6	0
Total burden (hours)	12	48	0

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

Other than the average hours burden to comply with the information collection activities, the respondents will have no additional capital, start-up, or maintenance cost associated with this collection of information.

14. Provide estimates of annualized costs to the Federal government.

The FAA developed estimates of changes in internal resource needs associated with review of the respondents’ submissions (reporting requirements). The FAA estimated incremental impacts in terms of hours per activity and the labor category associated with the labor hour (Table 3).

Table 3. Annual FAA Costs
Annual Responses	Hours per Response	Labor Rate	Annual Costs
6	5	$74	$2,225
Source: FAA internal estimates 1. Calculated as hours multiplied by $74 per hour, based on a mean J Band salary without locality pay (Core Compensation Plan Pay Bands (Excluding Locality Pay) (faa.gov), escalated by a factor of 1.36 to account for benefits (https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/omb/memoranda/fy2008/m08-13.pdf).

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.

N/A – This is a new collection.

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 the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

As discussed in previous responses, this information is not published or made available to the public by the FAA. It is not retained by the FAA after the conclusion of the airplane certification program.

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

No approval is sought.

18. Explain each exception to the topics of the certification statement identified in “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.”

There are no exceptions identified in Item 19 of OMB Form 83-1.