60-day FR Notice 2120-066

18700

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 51 / Thursday, March 14, 2024 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
[Docket No. 2023–1859]

Agency Information Collection
Activities: Requests for Comments;
Renewed Approval of Information
Collection: Safe Disposition of LifeLimited Aircraft Parts
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA
invites public comments about our
intention to request the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB)
approval to renew an information
collection. The collection involves
maintaining and recording ‘‘the status of
life-limited parts of each airframe,
engine, propeller, rotor, and appliance.
The information to be collected is
necessary for maintaining and recording
that the part is airworthy.
DATES: Written comments should be
submitted by May 13, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please send written
comments:
By Electronic Docket:
www.regulations.gov (Enter docket
number into search field).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Randy.A.Shafer by email at:
[email protected]; phone: 217–
971–8378.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public
Comments Invited: You are asked to
comment on any aspect of this
information collection, including (a)
Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for FAA’s
performance; (b) the accuracy of the
estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA to
enhance the quality, utility and clarity
of the information collection; and (d)
ways that the burden could be
minimized without reducing the quality
of the collected information. The agency
will summarize and/or include your
comments in the request for OMB’s
clearance of this information collection.
OMB Control Number: 2120–0665.
Title: Safe Disposition of Life-Limited
Aircraft Parts.
Form Numbers: N/A.
Type of Review: Renewal of an
Information Collection.
Background: The FAA has found lifelimited parts that exceeded their lifelimits installed on type-certificated
products during accident investigations
and in routine surveillance. Although
such installation of life-limited parts

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violates existing FAA regulations,
concerns have arisen regarding the
disposition of these life-limited parts
when they have reached their life limits.
Concerns over the use of life-limited
aircraft parts led Congress to pass a law
requiring the safe disposition of these
parts. The Wendell H. Ford Investment
and Reform Act for the 21st Century
(Pub. L. 106–181), added section 44725
to title 49, United States Code.
Current Requirements: The type
design of an aircraft, aircraft engine, or
propeller includes the Instructions for
Continued Airworthiness (ICA), which
includes the Airworthiness Limitations
that describe life limits for parts
installed on the product. See, for
instance, 14 CFR 21.3(c) and 21.50. In
order for an aviation product to comply
with its type design, the life-limited
parts installed on it must fall within the
acceptable ranges described in the
Airworthiness Limitations section of the
Instructions for Continued
Airworthiness. For this reason,
installation of a life-limited part after
the mandatory replacement time has
been reached would be a violation of the
maintenance regulations. Section
43.13(b) requires that maintenance work
be completed so that the product
worked on ‘‘will be at least equal to its
original or properly altered condition.
* * *’’ The product is not at least equal
to its original or properly altered
condition if a life-limited part has
reached or exceeded its life limit.
Existing regulations require that specific
markings be placed on all life-limited
parts at the time of manufacture. This
includes permanently marking the part
with a part number (or equivalent) and
a serial number (or equivalent). See 14
CFR 45.14. Persons who install parts
must have adequate information to
determine a part’s current life status. In
particular, documentation problems
may mislead an installer concerning the
life remaining for a life-limited part.
This rule further provides for the data
needs of subsequent installers to ensure
they know the life remaining on a part
and prevent the part being used beyond
its life limit. Existing regulations
provide for records on life-limited parts
that are installed on aircraft. The
regulations require that each owner or
operator under § 91.417(a)(2)(ii) and
each certificate holder under
§ 121.380(a)(2)(iii) or § 135.439(a)(2)(ii),
maintain records showing ‘‘the current
status of life-limited parts of each
airframe, engine, propeller, rotor, and
appliance.’’ These regulations do not
govern the disposition of the part when
it is removed from the aircraft. If the
part is intended to be reinstalled,

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however, a record of the life status of
the part will be needed at the time of
reinstallation to show that the part is
within its life limit and to create the
required record under
§§ 91.417(a)(2)(ii), 121.380(a)(2)(iii), or
135.439(a)(2)(ii), as applicable.
Therefore, when a life-limited part is
removed from an aircraft and that part
is intended to be reinstalled in an
aircraft, industry practice is to make a
record of the part’s status at the time of
removal. Repair stations, air carriers,
and fixed base operators (FBO’s) have
systems in place to keep accurate
records of such parts to ensure that they
can reinstall the parts and have the
required records to show that the part is
airworthy. If the part is not intended to
be reinstalled, however, under existing
regulations and practice there is no
record required or routinely made when
a part is removed from an aircraft. The
part may be at the end of its life limit
and not eligible for installation. Or the
part may not have reached the end of its
life limit but is so close that
reinstallation would not be practicable.
In these cases, industry practices vary.
For instance, the part might be put in a
bin and later sold as scrap metal, it
might be used as a training aid, or it
might be mutilated. This renewal of the
OMB control action requires the
continued information collection.
Respondents: 8,000.
Frequency: As identified in previous
rulemaking proposals for an annual
frequency of information collection
requirements is 100,000 procedures.
Estimated Average Burden per
Response: 30 minutes per procedure.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: As
identified in previous rule making
estimates for this information collection
the FAA refined its estimate of annual
burden and has determined that there is
no more than a minimal paperwork
burden on any respondent for the record
keeping and reporting requirements of
30 minutes duration, at $54 per hour per
procedure.
Issued in Washington, DC, on March 11,
2024.
David A. Hoyng,
Aviation Safety, Flight Standards Office of
Safety Standards, Aircraft Maintenance
Division (FS300).
[FR Doc. 2024–05454 Filed 3–13–24; 8:45 am]
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