The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Final Rule that incorporates amendments under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations part 45 involving repair station regulations. Included in the changes is a section that seeks to weed out bad apples and repeat offenders from holding repair station licenses. The amendments prohibit “fraudulent or intentionally false entries or omissions of material facts in any application, record, or report made under the repair station rules,” also stating that intentionally misleading the FAA or concealing information “is grounds for imposing a civil penalty and for suspending or revoking any certificate, approval, or authorization.” The ruling also allows the agency to reject an application for a new repair station certificate if the person applying (or associated individuals) was involved in the revocation of a previous certificate.
Describing the amendments as “necessary” while pointing out that current rules do not have in place “safeguards” found in other parts of FAA code, the Final Rule states that both of the changes: “will enhance safety by reducing the number of individuals in the repair station industry who commit intentional and serious violations of the regulations or who demonstrate they are otherwise unqualified to hold repair stations certificates.” The FAA initiated the changes with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in May 2012 following a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident investigation where the board determined that the agency had similar restrictions in parts 121 and 135 covering airlines and other commercial operators.
More than 230 organizations and individuals submitted comments to the NPRM, including the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA), Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Lincoln, Neb.-based Duncan Aviation, General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), Modification and Replacement Parts Association (MARPA) and the National Air Transportation Association (NATA).
Not everyone agrees with the changes, or at least the process of coming up with those changes. ARSA objected to the amendments in an Aug. 12 release, citing additions after the comment period ended and describing the net effect as “killing a flea with an atom bomb.” ARSA executive director Sarah MacLeod said that the FAA incorporated “innocuous verbiage” into the final rule after the public input period “without notice or comment.” She continued that the organization is opposed to the approach the FAA is taking with the rule changes. “The elimination of poor quality is the goal of all good business and government; however to over-regulate is a more egregious action… The agency could have taken a much less onerous approach to achieve the same end.”
The amendments take effect on Nov. 10, 2014.
Read the FAA Final Rule at the Federal Register.
See other public-submitted comments about the Final Rule at regulations.gov
