Compliance Countdown

An update is underway of the noise compatibility program for LaGuardia Airport, New York. The FAA is scheduled to approve or disapprove the proposed program on or before Jan. 2, 2023. Comments on the proposed update are due Sep. 4, 2022. Meanwhile, after reviewing the airport's noise exposure map, the agency determined on June 16, 2022, that LaGuardia Airport is in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements of FAR Part 150 (Airport Noise Compatibility Planning).

The FAA is reviewing a proposed Part 150 noise compatibility program that was submitted for Teterboro Airport by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. This program was submitted subsequent to a determination by the FAA that associated noise exposure maps submitted for Teterboro Airport were in compliance with applicable requirements. The proposed program will be approved or disapproved on or before Jan. 11, 2023. Comments are due Sept. 13, 2022.

As part of an interim final rule overhauling aviation maintenance technician schools regulations (Parts 65 and 147), the FAA is transitioning from using the mechanic practical test standards (PTS) as the testing standard to obtaining a mechanic certificate. As a part of this transition, the FAA developed the mechanic airman certification standards (ACS), which adds task-specific knowledge and risk management elements, “resulting in a comprehensive presentation that integrates the standards for what an applicant must demonstrate to pass the written, oral, and practical tests for a certificate or rating,” said the agency. To allow for each school to train its students under the curriculum aligned with the ACS, the FAA will use the PTS as the testing standard until July 31, 2023. Starting Aug. 1, 2023, the FAA will use the ACS to conduct mechanic certification tests. With the exception of the PTS to ACS transition period, this rule is effective on September 21, 2022. 

The U.S. DOT is requesting public comment on how its regulations for conducting workplace drug and alcohol testing of those working in the transportation industry could be amended to allow the use of electronic signatures on documents, the use of electronic versions of forms, and to electronically store forms and data. The regulatory changes would apply to DOT-regulated employers, including those in aviation and their contractors, who administer drug and alcohol testing programs. Currently, employers and their service agents must use, sign and store paper documents exclusively, unless the employer is utilizing a laboratory’s electronic Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Form (electronic CCF) system. Comments are due by Oct. 4, 2022.

This Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) will enable the use of vibration health monitoring (VHM) systems to be a more integral part of the continued airworthiness regime of Part 29 large rotorcraft. The NPA will also ensure that better and updated guidance is provided for the design as well as the routine and effective in-service use of these systems. This will allow VHM systems to aid in reducing the risk for errors or oversights in the maintenance of rotor and rotor drive units. “Current acceptable means of compliance are not sufficient to ensure that VHM systems can be used to optimize maintenance interventions for certain rotorcraft,” EASA said. Comments are due by Oct. 11, 2022.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has published rules that permit operators to reduce the amount of contingency fuel carried, thereby reducing the CO₂ emissions and the overall environmental impact of the flight. While the rules recognize that extra fuel needs to be carried to account for unexpected situations that delay or prevent landing at the originally flight planned airport, EASA says that “The amount of additional fuel required can be optimized, while continuing to ensure high safety levels, due to improved risk assessment, calculations based on better data, and better decision making.” The new requirements are scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 31, 2022.

Starting on Dec. 2, 2022 EASA Part 145 maintenance organizations are required to meet revised regulations that were published in November 2021. However, there is a two-year transition period, to Dec. 2, 2024, to allow maintenance organizations to correct any findings of non-compliance with the new Part-145 requirements. The main change introduced in the regulation is the required implementation of a safety management system. SMS requires maintenance organizations to implement hazard identification, risk management and safety assurance processes, and the designation of a safety manager. To support the safety management system processes, several organization requirements have been changed including the safety policy, internal occurrence reporting, competence of staff, and compliance monitoring (replacing quality assurance).

Cockpit voice and flight data equipment requirements for commercial turbine aircraft operations (including air taxis) that were adopted in 2011 by Mexico’s aviation authority will become effective and go into force incrementally from Dec. 31, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2022, based on the number of aircraft in an operators fleet. Generally, the rules apply to turbine airplanes with 10 or more passenger seats and large turbine helicopters flying in Mexico airspace under an international air operator certificate.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's CO2 aircraft emissions standards apply to new design applications made on or after Jan. 1, 2023 for jets with a mtow of 133,000 pounds or less and have 19 or fewer passenger seats. The standards also apply to new deliveries of in-production large jets starting Jan. 1, 2028. Jets with mtow under 12,566 pounds, turboprops below 19,000 pounds mtow, and piston-engine airplanes are exempt.