SUMMARY: On December 15, 2011, the FAA published a Federal Register Notice (76 FR 77939) requesting comments on the FAA's plans for providing PBN services, and particularly the transition from the current Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Ranges (VOR) and other legacy navigation aids (NAVAIDS) to Area Navigation (RNAV)-based airspace and procedures. This action responds to the public comments the FAA received.

ADDRESSES: You may review the public docket for this notice (Docket No. FAA-2011-1082) at the Docket Management Facility at DOT Headquarters in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also review the public docket on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Greg Joyner, AJM-324, Program Management Organization, Navigation Program Engineering, Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW., Washington DC 20591: telephone 202-493-5721.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA sought comments on the proposed transition of the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) navigation infrastructure to enable PBN as part of the NextGen. The FAA plans to transition from defining airways, routes and procedures using VOR and other legacy NAVAIDs, to a NAS based on RNAV everywhere and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) where beneficial. RNAV and RNP capabilities will primarily be enabled by the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The FAA plans to retain an optimized network of Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) facilities and a Minimum Operational Network (MON) of VOR facilities to ensure safety and support continued operations in high and low altitude en route airspace over the Conterminous United States (CONUS) and in terminal airspace at the Core 30 airports. The FAA is also conducting research on non-GPS based Alternate Positioning, Navigation and Timing (APNT) solutions that would enable further reduction of VORs below that of the MON.

In addition, the FAA plans to satisfy any new requirements for Category I (CAT I) instrument landing operations with WAAS Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) procedures. A network of existing Instrument Landing Systems (ILSs) will be sustained to provide alternative approach and landing capabilities to support continued recovery and dispatch of aircraft during GPS outages.

This transition is consistent with the FAA's NextGen Implementation Plan (NGIP), NAS Enterprise Architecture (NASEA), and other documentation. More information is available on the FAA's NextGen Web site at http://www.faa.gov/nextgen and the NASEA Web site at https://nasea.faa.gov.

Discussion of Comments Received

Summary

The FAA received 330 comments on the FRN. Commenters include aircraft manufacturers, airline operators, individuals, and associations representing users, airports and several federal, state and local government organizations. Most comments were supportive of the evolution of the NAS to an RNAV based system, but a significant number of commenters were concerned about reliance on GPS and WAAS related to possible impacts of interference or disruption, as well as the requirements and costs of avionics. A number of commenters were concerned about loss of approach services at specific airports in the event of discontinuation of service from specific VOR facilities. A substantial number of the comments (185) received were from individuals concerned about noise and environmental impact in the New York metropolitan area. Some reflected concerns about aircraft emissions and flight paths used by helicopters. These comments have been forwarded to the FAA Eastern Region for action.

Discussion

The FAA has reviewed all the comments received in response to the FRN and plans to proceed with the strategy as outlined in the FRN. The FAA is developing an initial VOR MON Plan, which will be publicly available when it is sufficiently matured. Development of this Plan will harmonize with development of a national Concept of Operations (CONOPS) supporting navigation and positioning in the NAS as it evolves from conventional navigation to PBN. When completed, this CONOPS will also be publicly available.

As part of the coordination process, the FAA plans to develop a schedule showing the requisite activities associated with the discontinuance of VOR services. These activities will include timely notification for individual facilities and airspace and procedure redesign.

Comment #1: Several commenters (International Air Traffic Association (IATA), Boeing Commercial Airplanes, National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Department of Defense (DoD), and Airlines For America (A4A)) expressed interest in being included in the working group that the FRN indicated would be formed to complete the details of VOR discontinuance. Some airlines commented that they would like to be consulted on the policy.

FAA Response: The FAA will convene a working group that will engage aviation industry stakeholders and other members of the public for input once the Program has reached a sufficient level of maturity conducive to working group.

Comment #2: NASAO commented that planning the transition to NextGen PBN well in advance would be beneficial to the FAA and the state government aviation agencies.

FAA Response: The FAA's VOR MON plan is proceeding to support transition to NextGen PBN in accordance with the NASEA. The NGIP, FRN and NASEA, all publicly available via FAA Web sites, are integral to the transition of the NAS to PBN operations.

Comment #3: The Nebraska Department of Aviation (DoA) recommended that VORs remain available as a viable means for air navigation while the services to support NextGen PBN be provided for users that can obtain benefits from them during a transition.

FAA Response: The VOR MON will remain in place during the PBN transition.

Comment #4: Nebraska state-owned VORs, similar to the FAA inventory of Second Generation VORs, are maintained by the State, who reports there have been no problems with support cost or availability of parts.

FAA Response: VOR facilities not owned or operated by the FAA are not being considered for discontinuance.

Comment #5: Operators that fly outside the United States desired clarification on the GNSS reference to be used.

FAA Response: The FRN used the terms GPS and WAAS, the specific U.S. implementations of the GNSS and Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS) described in ICAO Annex 10. Other countries have, or are building systems that implement these standards, such as Europe's GNSS (Galileo) and SBAS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS)). Since the U.S. does not make regulatory determinations on navigation systems allowed in other countries, the U.S. cannot authorize use of GPS in other countries. The FAA is responsible for determining which services are adequate for operations in the U.S. NAS, and has, to date, only approved the use of the U.S. GPS and WAAS, and Russia's Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS) on a supplemental basis. The U.S. is working with other GNSS providers to assure that their signals may be used to improve performance in the U.S. when those signals become available. Plans for navigation services will continue to use specific references (e.g., GPS and WAAS) and policies will be updated as additional constellations are approved for use in the U.S. The ability of avionics to use different GNSS constellations and services depends both on the authorized equipment available for specific aircraft and the type of systems the operators decided with which to equip their aircrafts. It also depends on what avionics manufacturers decide to develop. FAA's plans for navigation services will continue to use the "GPS" and "WAAS" terms so that it is clear that the U.S. is referring to U.S. systems/services for the U.S. NAS. Text describing this reasoning will be included in future documents to help ensure clarity.

Comment #6: Some users stated that they either will not equip with GPS avionics or will not be flying in airspace that requires ADS-B. The Nebraska DoA stated that many pilots and users do not plan to equip aircraft with GPS and that instructors will still require students to learn VOR navigation.

FAA Response: Pilots may continue to use VORs that remain in the MON or fly under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) in non-ADS-B airspace. Instructors will still teach VOR navigation.

Comment #7: Operators and some aircraft and equipment manufacturers stated that they did not intend to equip with WAAS because (1) WAAS service is not provided in many parts of the world outside the United States, and (2) many air carrier aircraft are equipped with avionics that allow at least RNAV, if not some level of RNP, and they do not believe WAAS provides benefits commensurate with the added complexity and cost involved with equipage.

FAA Response: WAAS avionics (Technical Standard Order (TSO)-C145/146) with suitable other avionics, such as Flight Management Systems (FMS) support LPV and Lateral Navigation/Vertical Navigation (LNAV/VNAV) terminal procedures and lower minima instrument approaches that are not available to users equipped with non-augmented GPS (TSO-C129 and C196) avionics. Pilots may continue to use non-augmented GPS or other RNAV capabilities as described in FAA advisory circulars AC 90-100, AC 90-101, AC 90-105, AC 90-107 and other directives.

Comment #8: Federal Express stated that the FRN described implementation of PBN based on GPS and WAAS backed up by a minimum network of VORs and DMEs, which it stated would require equipage of aircraft with avionics that is not offered by major airline airframe manufacturers.

--This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below--

Notice of proposed policy; disposition of comments.

CFR Part: "14 CFR Parts 91, 97, 121, 125, 129, and 135"

Citation: "77 FR 50420"

Document Number: "Docket No. FAA-2011-1082"

Federal Register Page Number: "50420"

"Proposed Rules"

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