Thu, Dec 22, 2011
Agency Will Not Approve And Publish Repair Station Rule For
Another Year
The U.S. aviation industry received notification Wednesday from
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that the final rule for
aircraft repair station security will not be approved and published
until the fourth quarter of 2012. This notification was
prompted after 20 industry leaders sent a letter to DHS Secretary
Janet Napolitano (pictured) asking that the rule, which has
been under consideration for eight years, be finalized before the
end of 2011.
TSA first held a public meeting on this rulemaking, mandated by
the 2003 Vision 100 Century of Aviation Act, in 2004 and issued a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) five years later in November
2009. The aviation industry provided TSA with comprehensive
comments on the nature and diversity of repair station operations
and how to make this rule an effective, risk-based security
regulation. The public comment period for this NPRM closed in
February 2010 and work on a final rule has been ongoing for the
past 21 months. As of August 2008, the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) has been barred from issuing new certificates
for repair stations outside the United States.
“Repair station security is clearly not a priority for
DHS, despite Congressional direction requiring the agency to act on
multiple occasions,” said Pete Bunce, president and CEO of
the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). “The
result of years of DHS inaction has unfairly punished the aviation
industry by impeding exports and hampering manufacturers’
ability to capitalize on profitable emerging markets. It is
astonishing that a federal department can procrastinate for more
than eight years on an important security rule mandated by
Congress. There are no excuses for such bureaucratic foot-dragging
especially when it hurts our nation’s security and economic
well-being.”
“We are incredibly disappointed with the response offered
by DHS,” stated NATA President James K. Coyne. “The
inability of DHS to offer a final rule stifles economic growth in a
climate where aviation maintenance facilities big and small need
all the help they can get.”
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