FAA Part 21 Training Sessions Scheduled

The FAA published its new manufacturing regulations on October 16, 2009.  While most of the new manufacturing rules that affect PMA companies  do not become effective until April 2011, a few become effective in April 2010.   The FAA has announced a schedule for the Part 21 Training, in order to introduce the new regulation to the public.

MARPA also plans to host a FAA training at its 2010 Winter meeting (which is a members-only meeting).

FAA Training Schedule (open to the public)

December 7 – Laemmle Theater, 1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA (9am – 12am)

December 8 – Laemmle Theater, 1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA (9am – 12am)

December 9 – Laemmle Theater, 1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA (9am – 12am)

December 10 – Harkins Theater, Arizona Mills Mall (I-10 and US-60), Phoenix, AZ (9am – 12a (9am – 12am)m)

December 11 – Harkins Theater, Arizona Mills Mall (I-10 and US-60), Phoenix, AZ (9am – 12am)

December 14 – Boeing Air Museum, Seattle, WA (1pm – 4pm)

December 15 – Boeing Air Museum, Seattle, WA (9am – 12am)

January 4 – Oklahoma City Marriott, Oklahoma City, OK (1pm – 4pm)

January 5 – Oklahoma City Marriott, Oklahoma City, OK (9am – 12am)

January 6 – Marriott Market Center, Dallas, TX (1pm – 4pm)

January 7 – Marriott Market Center, Dallas, TX (9am – 12am)

January 11 – Hilton Palacio del Rio, San Antonio, TX (1pm – 4pm)

January 12 – Hilton Palacio del Rio, San Antonio, TX (9am – 12am)

January 25 – Location TBA, Kansas City, MO (1pm – 4pm)

January 26 – Location TBA, Kansas City, MO (9am – 12am)

January 27 – Location TBA, Indianapolis, IN  (1pm – 4pm)

January 28 – Location TBA, Indianapolis, IN (9am – 12am)

February 8 – Location TBA, Atlanta, GA  (1pm – 4pm)

February 9 – Location TBA, Atlanta, GA (9am – 12am)

February 10 – Location TBA, Orlando, FL  (1pm – 4pm) **

February 11 – Location TBA, Orlando, FL (9am – 12am) **

February 22 – Location TBA, Windsor Locks, CT (time TBA) **

February 23 – Location TBA, Windsor Locks, CT (time TBA) **

February 24 – Location TBA, Philadelphia, PA (time TBA)

February 25 – Location TBA, Philadelphia, PA (time TBA)

The MIDOs have already invited all PAHs, but now these session are being opened to the public.  We were asked today to publicize these meetings to the entire MARPA community.  As you can see, each meeting is situated near a MIDO.  More information on each meeting can be obtained from the MIDO closest to the particular meeting.

** NOTE: The Orlando and Windsor Locks dates MAY be swapped because of scheduling difficulties.  Please contact the appropriate MIDOs as these dates get closer for information about whether these dates may have changed.

FTC Sets New Red Flags Compliance Date

Are you ready for the new Red Flags Rule?  If you extend credit to your customers, then you are likely to need to comply by June 1, 2010.

The Rule was promulgated under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, in which Congress directed the Federal Trade Commission to develop regulations requiring “creditors” and “financial institutions” to address the risk of identity theft.  The resulting Red Flags Rule requires all covered entities that have “covered accounts” to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs to help identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities – known as “red flags” – that could indicate identity theft.

MARPA members that extend credit to their customers for the purchase of aircraft parts are creating “accounts,” as that term is defined by the FTC.  16 C.F.R. § 681.2(b)(1)(i).  If there is a reasonably foreseeable risk of identity theft then this is considered to be a “covered account.”  16 C.F.R. § 681.2(b)(3)(ii).  MARPA members with one or more covered accounts must develop a written identity theft program.  16 C.F.R. § 681.2(d).

The Commission staff has continued to provide guidance on this Rule to the public.  It has useful guidance on its dedicated “Red Flags Rule” website (www.ftc.gov/redflagsrule).  On that website, you will see that the FTC has published a compliance guide for business, and created a template that enables low risk entities to create an identity theft program with an easy-to-use online form.  There are also answers to frequently asked questions.

A company’s Identity Theft Red Flags Program must include reasonable policies and procedures that accomplish the following goals:

1. Identify relevant Red Flags for the covered accounts that the company offers or maintains, and incorporate those Red Flags into its Program;
2. Detect Red Flags that have been incorporated into the company’s Program;
3. Respond appropriately to any Red Flags that are detected, to prevent and mitigate identity theft; and
4. Ensure the Program (including the Red Flags determined to be relevant) is updated periodically, to reflect changes in risks to customers and to the safety and soundness of the company from identity theft.

 

The rules were originally scheduled to become effective in 2008, but extensions has pushed back the compliance date to June 1, 2010.

FAA Issues Advisory Guidance to Support New Manufacturing Rules

The FAA has released four advisory circulars to aid companies in complying with the changes to the manufacturing rules.

• AC 21-42 Transition Document for 14 CFR Parts 1, 21, 43, and 45
• AC 21-43 Production Under 14 CFR Part 21, Subparts F, G, K, and O
• AC 21-44 Issuance of Export Airworthiness Approvals Under 14 CFR Part 21 Subpart L
• AC 45-2D Identification and Registration Marking

AC 21-42, the transition document, briefly describes the changes to the rules and is meant to facilitate the transition from the former part 21 rule to the new part 21 rule published in the Federal Register on October 16.  This AC provides information concerning changes to the following parts as they relate to the revised part 21 rule: 14 CFR part 1, Definitions and Abbreviations; 14 CFR part 43, Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Rebuilding, and Alteration; and 14 CFR part 45, Identification and Registration Marking.  This AC also provides information for both an applicant for and a holder of a production approval.  This information includes instructions on how to develop and maintain a quality system under the new rules.

AC 21-43  provides a greater degree of depth of discussion concerning quality systems for production approval holders.

AC 21-44 provides instructions for applicants for export airworthiness approvals.  For many years, the industry has complained that the FAA has been placing industry instructions in Order 8130.21.  This AC provides a partial remedy to that complaint by finally issuing the public side of the instructions for export airworthiness approvals in the form of an AC.  It also reflects the new regulations’ provisions which permit any person to apply for an export airworthiness approval for an eligible part.

AC 45-2D provides updated marking information to reflect the requirements of the new rules.

Start Looking Forward to Part 21 Training Sessions

We have been working with the FAA to help schedule Part 21 Training Sessions around the country, in order to provide guidance on how to implement the changes to Part 21.  At present, the FAA anticipates scheduling a total of 11 or 12 training classes:

DECEMBER

• Seattle (WA)
• Los Angeles (CA)
• Phoenix (AZ)

FIRST QUARTER of 2010

• Atlanta (GA)
• Fort Worth (TX)
• Indianapolis (IN)
• Kansas City (MO)
• Oklahoma City (OK)
• San Antonio (TX)
• Washington, DC
• Windsor Locks (CT)
• A twelfth class may be added to the list

Additional classes may be added at the FAA’s discretion.

As soon as we have confirmed dates, we will circulate them in this blog and also in the MARPA Supplement newsletter.

Part 21: Published!

The new Part 21 rulemaking has been published in the October 16 edition of the Federal Register!  This rule will become effective in six months, on April 14, 2010.

The new rule establishes new standards for manufacturing of aircraft products and aircraft parts.

MARPA will be working with the FAA to help coordinate a series of meetings all over the country to help educate the public about this new rule, and to provide an opportunity to ask your implementation questions to the FAA employees most directly responsible for the rule.  Right now, we are looking at the first two weeks of December for the West Coast meetings, with dates for all meetings to be announced, soon.  These meetings will be open to all, although you will need to RSVP in order to make sure that we can fit everyone.

MARPA also plans to work with the FAA to set up a members-only meeting during the implementation period (this Winter) in order to let MARPA member companies ask questions that have arisen in the course of the efforts to implement the new standards.

You can find the new rule online at:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-24821.pdf

October 21 deadline for SMS Comments is Fast Approaching

Your opportunity to file advance comments on the FAA’s SMS proposal is NOW!  Comments are dues October 21.

An SMS is the formal process of using System Safety practices in an organization’s everyday activities to control risk. Essentially, SMS is like a quality assurance system that uses risk-based analysis to look forward and predict future needs. This allows a company using SMS to commit resources in the present to address future safety needs.

SMS may not be as foreign a concept as it may initially sound. Many MARPA member companies have implemented Continued Operational Safety (COS) programs. COS programs permit safety data collection and risk-based analysis of that data and are viewed as providing the necessary infrastructure to support an SMS program.

A primary focus of this ANPRM is on collecting data about existing SMS programs. MARPA member companies’ data and information about their implementation of Continued Operation Safety (COS) programs is an example of data that would be very useful to the FAA.

MARPA member companies should forward copies of their comments to MARPA headquarters so that we can be sure your comments and concerns are also addressed in MARPA’s own comments.

MARPA Establishes New Opportunities to Participate!

The MARPA Board created several new committees, and gave an existing committee a new direction, at the Board meeting on September 29.  These Committees represent your opportunity to “be a part of the action” and to take a more active role in shaping the future of the PMA industry.

Several members have suggested that MARPA should be better marketing the Association and its service, as well as marketing the PMA industry.  The Marketing Committee will help create a marketing plan for Board review, and will help implement the Board-approved plan.

The new Technical Committee will review government proposals and provide technical feedback to help support high-quality MARPA comments.  This is an important group because their feedback will help shape a wide variety of FAA policies.

The COS/SMS Committee is an expansion of the COS Committee.  It will continue to promote COS systems, but it will also serve as a resource to the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee that is charged with developing a SMS rule (the new paradigm for safety systems).

We need your help!  Please contact Katt Stanley at (202) 628-6777 if you would like to volunteer for any of these  committees.

Part 21 is Coming … Really!

The Part 21 rulemaking—a complete overhaul of the Part 21 manufacturing rules—has been released from OMB and will be published in the Federal Register in a matter of days.

This new set of rules is expected to have a number of small effects on PMA manufacturers … but when you put a few small effects together they can add up to a big effect, so we are cautiously awaiting the final language.

MARPA was active in the public elements of the rulemaking process. MARPA’s three founders all participated in the ARAC Rulemaking Committee that proposed the rule to the FAA in February 1999. We also filed public comments during the notice-and-comment period.

MARPA will continue to be actively involved in the rule change. We are working with the FAA to help arrange a series of public meetings at which the FAA can introduce the major features of the new rule, to better support the compliance process. Look for these meetings happening in the last two months of 2009. MARPA also plans to host a Winter meeting with the FAA, so that companies can talk about the hurdles they may be facing in implementing the new standards in their own facilities.

Of course, we will also maintain a regular dialogue with the FAA about this rule, so if you recognize problems in the new rule (e.g. new rule encourages unsafe practices, higher-than-expected costs, unexpected impediments to implementation, etc.), then please alert us immediately so we can be sure to begin working with the FAA on resolving any such problems.

MARPA Member Wencor: Latest Company to Receive ODA Authority From FAA!

MARPA member Wencor is the latest company to receive ODA authority from the FAA.

ODA, or Organization Designation Authorization, is the standard process by which companies are delegated FAA authority to perform ministrial tasks like data approval and issue of airworthiness authorization forms.  Under Wencor’s recent delegation, Wencor designees and manufacturing and engineering employees will perform delegated tasks for the FAA, including signing supplements approving new PMAs.

Companies like Wencor are taking their old delegations, like ODAR, DAS and SFAR 36, and combining them into single ODA units that harmonize the FAA interface through a single Administrator and according to a standard set of rules.  Wencor, for example, has had Designated Manufacturing Inspection Representatives (DMIRs) since 1991 and has had Organizational Designated Airworthiness Representative (ODAR) privileges since 2002.

“This latest delegation highlights the FAA’s confidence in our fabrication and inspection system as well as our designees, engineers and inspectors,” said K. Dick Vaughn, ODA Lead Administrator.

MARPA has been recommending to its members that they convert to ODA if they have other delegations (several forms of delegation sunset next month in November, 2009).  We have also recommended that members without delegated privileges consider developing ODA systems in order to streamline their compliance and approval processes. Under the ODA delegation, Wencor will be able to review and approve data associated with its own designs, oversee testing to ensure the products meet airworthiness standards, and sign its own airworthiness authorizations.

“Wencor customers will benefit because the ODA delegation will allow us to reduce administrative delays and thus accelerate the development of the PMAs they have requested,” explained Russ Adamson, Wencor President.

In accordance with ODA requirements, Wencor will regularly monitor, audit and report on delegated activities to the FAA.  A staff of experienced and qualified designees, engineers, inspectors and administrators comprise the ODA Unit. These approved representatives, or “ARs” have been approved through the FAA-approved system to perform the ODA delegated functions.

TSA’s Repair Station Security Rule is Coming!

TSA is one step closer to issuing security regulations for repair stations.  The draft notice of proposed rulemkaing has been submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.

Section 611(b)(1) of Vision 100–Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act, codified at 49 U.S.C. 44924, required TSA to issue “final regulations to ensure the security of foreign and domestic aircraft repair stations” within 240 days from date of enactment.  The deadline for those final regulations was August 8, 2004.  TSA did not meet that deadline.

Congress tried to motivate TSA to act on repair station security by setting a new deadline in section 1616 of the 9/11 Commission Act requires that the final rule be issued within one year of the date of enactment.  This new deadline was August 3, 2008.  TSA did not meet that deadline, either.

But it appears that TSA is finally putting out the long-awaited repair station security rules as a notice.  The notice was submitted to the White House office of Management and Budget on August 25 .  This means that the proposed repair station rule could be out in December (or even as early as Thanksgiving), although a January release might be more realistic.

You can find status information on the notice of proposed rulemaking on the government’s REGINFO website.