U.S. Agents for Service on Individuals With Foreign Addresses Who Hold or Apply for Certain Certificates, Ratings, or Authorizations

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>Federal Aviation Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>14 CFR Part 3</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No.: FAA-2023-1194; Amendment No. 3-3]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2120-AL85</RIN> <SUBJECT>U.S. Agents for Service on Individuals With Foreign Addresses Who Hold or Apply for Certain Certificates, Ratings, or Authorizations</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The FAA will require individuals with foreign addresses, and no U.S. physical address of record on file with the FAA, who hold or apply for certain certificates, ratings, or authorizations to designate a U.S. agent for service of FAA documents. The U.S. agent will receive service of FAA documents on the certificate holder or applicant's behalf. This rule facilitates the FAA's ability to accomplish prompt and cost-effective service of process and service of other safety-critical or time-sensitive documents to individuals abroad through service on their U.S. agents. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> <E T="03">Effective dates:</E> Amendatory instructions 1 (part 3) and 2 (subpart C of part 3) are effective October 8, 2024, amendatory instruction 3 (§ 3.303(d) and (e)) is effective January 6, 2025, and amendatory instruction 4 (§ 3.303(d)) is effective July 7, 2025. <E T="03">Compliance dates:</E> The compliance dates for this final rule are as follows: January 6, 2025, for applicants of any certificate, rating, or authorization issued under part 47, 61, 63, 65, 67, or 107, and July 7, 2025 for holders of any certificate, rating, or authorization issued under part 47, 61, 63, 65, 67, or 107. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> For information on where to obtain copies of rulemaking documents and other information related to this final rule, see “How to Obtain Additional Information” in the <E T="02">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION</E> section of this document. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Jessica Kabaz-Gomez, Office of the Chief Counsel, Enforcement Division, AGC-300, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591; (202) 267-7395; email <E T="03">Jessica.Kabaz-Gomez@faa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Executive Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Overview of Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Summary of the Costs and Benefits</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Authority for This Rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Statement of the Problem</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Summary of the NRPM</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. General Overview of Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Discussion of Comments and the Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Request for Use of the Defined Term “U.S. agent address”</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Request for Exception From the U.S. Agent for Service Requirement for U.S. Government Employees, Military Members, and Special Purpose Pilot Authorization (SPPA) Holders</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Request for Pilots To Have Alternatives to a U.S. Agent for Service Such as Email or Voluntary and Temporary Certificate Surrender When Pilots Go Abroad</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Miscellaneous Issues</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Regulatory Notices and Analyses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Regulatory Impact Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. International Trade Impact Assessment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Unfunded Mandates Assessment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Paperwork Reduction Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. International Compatibility</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Environmental Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Executive Order Determinations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Executive Order 13132, Federalism</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Executive Order 13211, Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Executive Order 13609, Promoting International Regulatory Cooperation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Privacy</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VIII. Additional Information</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Electronic Access and Filing</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Executive Summary</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Overview of Final Rule</HD> This final rule adds subpart C to part 3 of title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). Subpart C requires individuals who have a foreign address and no U.S. physical address of record on file with the FAA to designate a U.S. agent for service if they apply for a certificate, rating, or authorization issued under 14 CFR part 47, 61, 63, 65, 67, or 107, or hold a certificate, rating, or authorization issued under any of these parts. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> U.S. Agents for Service on Individuals With Foreign Addresses Who Hold or Apply for Certain Certificates, Ratings, or Authorizations, 88 FR 38003 (June 12, 2023). These individuals comprise the majority of individuals holding FAA certificates, ratings, and authorizations abroad and represent those who the agency most commonly serves with process and other safety-critical or time-sensitive documents. Individuals who only hold or apply for FAA certificates, ratings, or authorizations other than those issued under 14 CFR part 47, 61, 63, 65, 67, or 107 are not covered by the rule due to the limited benefit that would be derived by having the rule apply to them. </FTNT> The U.S. agent will receive service of FAA documents on behalf of the certificate, rating, or authorization holder or applicant. This final rule facilitates the FAA's ability to accomplish prompt and cost-effective service of process and service of other safety-critical or time-sensitive documents to individuals abroad through service on their U.S. agents. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> This will conserve agency resources, ensure that lengthy delays in service of process do not compromise aviation safety, and provide individuals abroad with timely notice of FAA actions and the opportunity for more expedient due process. <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> U.S. Agents for Service on Individuals With Foreign Addresses Who Hold or Apply for Certain Certificates, Ratings, or Authorizations, 88 FR 38004 (June 12, 2023). Examples of documents that may be served on U.S. agents may include reexamination letters, letters of investigation, Office of Aerospace Medicine letters requesting additional information or denying a medical certificate, and notices to aircraft owners of ineffective or invalid aircraft registration. Additionally, service of process includes the FAA's service of documents that compel compliance, may be time-sensitive or safety-critical, and are subject to administrative or legal review, such as notices of proposed civil penalty or assessment, orders of suspension or revocation, and emergency orders of suspension or revocation. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. Summary of the Costs and Benefits</HD> Approximately 115,000 individuals outside the U.S. as of July 2022 hold certificates, ratings, or authorizations issued under 14 CFR part 47, 61, 63, 65, 67, or 107 and do not have a U.S. physical address of record on file with the FAA. Service of process abroad imposes burdensome costs on the FAA. This rule will eliminate a majority of the costs of affecting international service and transfer some of these transaction costs back to the individual applicant or certificate holder by requiring designation of a U.S. agent. The costs experienced by these individuals will depend on the arrangements made ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> hiring a professional U.S. agent for service of process could cost $50 to $200 annually). Although there may be some initial costs to the FAA to revise its systems to accommodate the change, these costs will be offset by avoiding the foreign service of process costs that include international mailings and foreign translations. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Authority for This Rulemaking</HD> The FAA's authority to issue rules on aviation safety, such as the rules governing service that are addressed in this notice, is found in title 49 of the United States Code. Subtitle I, section 106 describes the authority of the FAA Administrator. Subtitle VII, Aviation Programs, describes in more detail the scope of the agency's authority, including the authority to issue regulations. This rulemaking is issued under the authority described in 49 U.S.C. 44701(a)(5), which establishes the authority of the Administrator to prescribe regulations and minimum standards for other practices, methods, and procedures the Administrator finds necessary for safety in air commerce and national security. These regulations are within the scope of that authority and are consistent with 49 U.S.C. 46103, which governs the FAA's service of notice, process, and actions, and provides that the FAA may effectuate service on an agent. <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Background</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Statement of the Problem</HD> Previously, only U.S. air carriers, foreign air carriers and foreign persons operating a U.S.-registered aircraft in common carriage solely outside the United States were required to designate a U.S. agent for service of FAA documents. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> However, individuals across the world can hold and apply for FAA certificates, ratings, and authorizations. As of July 2022, there were approximately 115,000 individuals holding certificates, ratings, or au ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 57k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━