Comments on the FAA’s False and Misleading Statements Rule are due on Monday, April 8.
The FAA has recognized that they have a variety of rules related to false and misleading statements, and the variety has led to incongruous interpretations. In order to harmonize the standards for false and misleading statements, the FAA is removing the false statement rules throughout the regulations and replacing all of them with a unified standard for false statements.
For example, many ASA members are familiar with 14 C.F.R. 43.12 that makes it illegal to make a false entry in a maintenance record. It also forbids reproductions and alterations to such records for fraudulent purposes. That rule will be removed in favor of a single broad regulation.
The new regulation will be codified in Part 402. The new language will collect the limits previously imposed by various regulations, and will uniformly forbid fraudulent or intentionally false statements in any record or document required under the FAA’s regulations. The prohibition also extends to omissions of material facts in such records.
In addition to false statements, this rule will also forbid “materially incorrect statements” as well as omission of a material fact in records and documents. This could elevate honest mistakes to the level of regulatory violations
In addition, the new rulemaking creates an additional subsection with Part 3. This rule will forbid false statements and also “materially incorrect statements” as well as omission of a material fact in records and documents related to the following FAA-regulated functions:
- FAA subchapter A (except parts 1 and 3) – this is for Safety Management Systems [SMS] (and would appear to apply to hazard identification and risk assessment);
- FAA subchapter C (except part 39) – this includes aircraft certification, registration, recording, and maintenance (and would include 8130-3 tags);
- FAA subchapter D – this includes certification of pilots and other airmen;
- FAA subchapter E (except parts 71 and 73) – this includes the airspace rule;
- FAA subchapter F (except parts 95 and 97) – this includes both air traffic rules and general operating rules;
- FAA subchapter G (except part 110) – this includes air carrier and other operation-for-hire rules;
- FAA subchapter H – this includes both the repair station rules and the rules that apply to schools; and
- FAA subchapter K (except parts 185, 187, 189 and 193) – this appears to be limited to the rules that apply to FAA designees including individuals like DARs and organizations, like ODAs.
This is a very broad swath of rules and functions, but the scope is meant to reproduce the focus of regulations that have been removed in favor of these new regulations. The fact that materially incorrect statements are now going to be forbidden means that the FAA can bring enforcement actions against people and businesses who make an honest mistake in their records.
FAA Part 3 already forbids certain false and misleading statements about aircraft parts (airworthiness and/or acceptability). The new regulation DOES NOT replace 14 C.F.R. 3.5 (false and misleading statements about aircraft parts). One reason that section 3.5 will remain is because the new rule (Part 402) only applies to documents and records related to FAA actions, while section 3.5 extends to all statements about parts including commercial statements.
You can find the proposed regulations at 89 Federal Register 8560. Public comments on the proposal are due April 8.