Russian Temporary Denial Orders are Being Renewed

October 6, 2022 by Leave a comment

The Temporary Denial Orders for Aeroflot, Azur, and UTair are scheduled to be renewed in the Federal Register, tomorrow. This means that the heightened transaction prohibitions continue to apply to them.

As we previously reported, the United States Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued temporary denial orders (TDOs) against several Russian air carriers. These TDOs effectively prevent both exports to, and acquisitions from, these carriers. The original TDOs were scheduled to expire, but they are being renewed by the U.S. Government. The renewals extend the TDOs for another 180 days.

If the Iran-related TDOs are any guide, BIS will automatically extend each of these TDOs until the conflict that gave rise to the sanctions is over. This could mean that the TDOs stay in place until the conflict in Ukraine is over, but it could also mean that the TDOs stay in place until other conditions are met, like the return by Russia of effective sovereignty and control over territory previously identified as part of Ukraine. Or a new administration could simply decide not to renew them as a matter of policy.

What do the denial orders say? They say that there is an enhanced area of exclusion for these named parties. They preclude applying for many licenses – a major exception to this is that you are allowed to apply for a license for an export that is directly related to safety-of-flight (so there is a licensing path for the aircraft parts industry). … But you still have to obtain the license before you can engage in the transaction.

You are also precluded from taking “any action to acquire from or to facilitate the acquisition or attempted acquisition from <the denied party> of any item subject to the EAR that has been exported from the United States.” When you see this clause in the TDO, it prohibits purchases from the denied party – including purchases that would reflect imports! This is an important element that makes the temporary denial orders different from mere export limits. In order to fit this under an “export” order, the acquisition exclusions are tied to transactions that involved a past export (like Boeing equipment that was previously exported) or to transactions that anticipate a future export or re-export. Because of the global nature of the aviation market, this is effective in covering almost all transactions in part subject to the EAR.

The TDOs typically prevent servicing on behalf of any named <denied party>. This can include installation, maintenance, repair, modification, and/or testing.

If you are considering business that may be affected by a TDO, then read the TDO carefully and identify your compliance path. While there are exceptions for “safety-of-flight,” those exceptions typically require BIS to license the transaction.

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FAA Gears Up for Covid-19: What Does This Mean for Distributors and their DARs?

March 25, 2020 by Leave a comment

Ali Bahrami hosted a teleconference yesterday afternoon and invited industry leaders to discuss the FAA ongoing work to support aviation safety during the Covid-19 crisis.  Bahrami is the FAA’s Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety but he used to be with AIA so he understands the industry perspective, and the importance of transparency in government.

Bahrami expects the situation to impact the FAA for about 60-90 days, and has been planning accordingly. The FAA expects to issue new policy statements and extensions in order to facilitate aviation business while maintaining aviation safety.  They expect the first of the new guidance documents to be released by the end of this week.

Risk-Based Approach

Last week and this week the FAA has been working on using a risk-based approach to identify and categorize the tasks the FAA performs.  The FAA has used this approach to distinguish which tasks can be delayed and which ones must be accomplished as planned in order to preserve the expected level of safety.  Among those that must be performed as planned, they are investigating how best to ensure health and safety when they perform the tasks.  Some examples include:

  • The FAA is publishing guidance on how technologies can be used to perform remote oversight during the Covid-19 crisis;
  • Expiring class one medical certificates will be extended for 90 days so that holders will not have to visit aviation medical examiners during the Covid-19 crisis;
  • The FAA is investigating ways to mitigate the health dangers of Covid-19 in confined spaces, like health risks to to inspectors, trainers and students in simulators;

The FAA has been coordinating its plans with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in order to help ensure that the FAA’s practices are consistent with those of the rest of the world, and will not adversely affect acceptance of  US aviation products in the rest of the world.

FAA Aircraft Certification Service

Earl Lawrence is the Executive Director of the FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service. He’s also a former trade association guy and an old friend – having worked for EAA for many years.  Lawrence joined the call to talk about FAA oversight of design and production, but he also answered questions about DARs, which is an important issue for ASA members.

DAR Extensions and Privileges

Lawrence explained that he remembered our concerns about DARs, and that the FAA is already working on the guidance for them.  The current guidance for the Covid-19 crisis will be modeled on the approach that the FAA adopted during the last government shutdown.

During the last government shutdown, ASA worked with Lawrence on protocols for extending DARs’ recurrent training and extension requirements.  Under those protocols, those who needed training during the shutdown would be able to wait and get the training after the shutdown; and those whose authority expired during the shutdown would be permitted to operate until after the end of the shutdown (the guidance included a window of time after the shutdown, because of the recognition that the FAA would not be able to process everything immediately, after the shutdown ended). This should be the model for treatment of DAR renewal and training during the Covid-19 crisis.

The new designee guidance is being developed jointly with the Flight Standards Service to make sure that all DARs are covered.  He expects it to be issued next week.

Remote Witnessing and 8130-3 Tags

Lawrence explained that his office is also working on how best to use technology during Covid-19 to accomplish their oversight goals.

In fact, his office is working on two pieces of guidance – one on deviation authority to permit use of remote technologies to carry out FAA oversight responsibilities and one on using technology to accomplish testing, oversight, witnessing and certification in FAA projects.  Lawrence expects both of these documents to be in draft form by today, and hopes to have them issued by early next week.

He expects that their ideas will be turned into guidance that can be used by FAA designees as well.  He specifically mentioned using remote technologies for issuing 8130-3 tags during the Covid-19 crisis.

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FAA Extends Designees Deadlines to April 30 – Offers Plan for Next Shutdown

February 5, 2019 by Leave a comment

During the last government shutdown, ASA asked the FAA to issue guidance extending the termination dates of all designees who expired during the shutdown, in order to allow them to continue providing critical safety-related services to the aviation industry.  This was due to the fact that as they were expiring, there was no FAA staffing to renew their designations during the shutdown.

The FAA was unable to do this (it was outside the scope of the Antideficiency Act and the DOT guidance).  But they did the next best thing. When FAA safety personnel returned to work before the end of the shutdown, they made designee oversight a priority. And then as soon as they could issue useful guidance, they did so.

On the first work day that the government was opened after the shutdown, the FAA published guidance explaining that designees in good standing may continue to perform authorized functions in an active status without regard to the status shown on the various designee databases (DIN, DMS or VIS). It also specifically allows designees to extend certain due dates for (1) designee recurrent training, (2) oversight, and (3) renewal. Those training, oversight and renewal dates are extended to April 30, 2019.

 

Which Designees are Affected by the Memo?

The memo applies to both Flight Standards Service designees (like DAR-T) and Aircraft Certification Service designees (like DAR-F, DMIR, and DER).  It does not apply to Air Carrier Check Pilot observations.

 

Which Due Dates are Affected by the Memo?

The memo applies to deadlines for required designee recurrent training, for required designee oversight, and/or for required designee renewal, when those deadlines arise during the period from December 22, 2018 through April 29, 2019.  The deadlines that fall during this period are extended to April 30, 2019.

 

What about ODA Unit Members?

The memo also applies to ODA unit members.  The may continue to perform authorized functions during this period.

 

How Does This Affect A Future Shutdown?

In the event the FAA experiences another lapse in funding, the memo wil continue to apply to that shutdown.  Such a subsequent shutdown has already been threatened and could arise after February 15, 2019.  If a subsequent shutdown lasts beyond April 30, 2019 then the FAA would have to find another solution (but no government shutdown has ever lasted than long).

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ASA Members Confirm that Designee Oversight is Restarting

January 17, 2019 by 2 Comments

We have been communicating with senior FAA management about the issue of FAA designees whose privileges expire during the government shutdown.  While renewal is usually a straight-forward process, the shutdown has prevented the FAA from renewing designee privileges that are essential to the continued safe functioning of the aviation system.  Designee oversight is an important part of the FAA’s safety oversight system, and FAA has identified it as one of the important functions that should be conducted during the shutdown.

Yesterday, we reported that nearly 3000 additional FAA aviation safety staff had been ordered back to work. We are already seeing the results of this return.

Today, members began to confirm that the FAA was confirming renewal of designee privileges through their online system.  We know that some flight standards designees who were awaiting renewal have received their renewal notifications.

Aircraft certification designees should start enjoying the same oversight, as well.  The FAA has confirmed that some Aircraft Certification staff are among the safety personnel being recalled.

As of today the MIDO’s are nearly up to full strength. The FAA’s focus is on returning the MIDO employees to work, restructuring oversight plans, and starting surveillance up again.  This should be good news for DARs whose delegated privileges are issued via a MIDO.  FAA senior management has clarified that one of the focal areas for the returning aviation safety staff is designee oversight (including both ODAs and individual designees).  The FAA is also recalling a small number of Aircraft Certification engineers, who will be focused on continued airworthiness tasks, including designee oversight (e.g. DERs).

These returning FAA employees will continue to work without pay until the lapse in funding has ended. Congress passed a bi-partisan bill to ensure payment of back-pay to the federal employees, and that bill was signed by the President yesterday, so we know they will be paid, eventually. ASA continues to empathize with the FAA staff whose pay remains withheld, but we also remain proud of the dedicated FAA staff who are returning to their safety mission during the funding lapse.

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Renewing Delegated Privileges During the Shutdown

January 9, 2019 by 1 Comment

Delegated privileges for DARs, DERs and DMIRs need to be periodically renewed. Normally, the renewal period is annual (every twelve months).  This affects many people in the aircraft parts community, including the DARs who issue 8130-3 tags for aircraft parts.

Under current guidance, a designee that is not renewed by their expiration date will be automatically placed in expired status.  When a designee is placed in expired status, he or she is not permitted to exercise the delegated functions.

A designee in expired status has a 90 day window.   During that 90 day period, the managing office is expected to determine a follow-on action, that is, either reappointment or termination.  In the event no FAA action is taken, then the action defaults to termination.

This could be a real problem for those designees whose expiration arises during the current lapse in funding (aka the shutdown), because there is likely nobody in the local office who can renew their delegated privileges.

To remedy this, we have asked the FAA senior management to issue a memo that tolls the expiration date of DAR, DER and DMIR delegated privileges.  This would have the effect of freezing the privileges as they existed on December 21, and if they were scheduled to expire between that date and the resumption of funding, then the privileges  would continue in place through the tenth business day after funding resumes (to permit a window of time to process the backlog).

This is a proposal only – and it is likely that the FAA will be unable to issue this proposed memo during the shutdown.

After the 2013 shutdown, FAA issued extensions and deviations once the government was reopened – we expect that this is the approach that will be used again in 2019.  Although the precise nature of the extensions and deviations that will be issued after the shutdown cannot be predicted, we hope that ASA’s draft memo tolling the expiration date of expiring delegations will be used as a template to endorse DAR work performed during the shutdown.

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DAR 56? Apply to Extend Your Credentials by September 30!

September 27, 2017 by Leave a comment

Do you have function code 56 privileges?  If you do, then you need to renew your credentials ASAP – the deadline for renewal is September 30.  Instructions and other guidance for renewal can be found in our earlier post about submitting your request for renewal.

Background on FC 56

FAA created a program (AIR-100-16-160-PM13) that allowed qualified distributor employees to issue 8130-3 tags as DARs exercising function code (FC) 56.

Many of the eligible new parts had been accepted under their previously acceptable documentation schemes, which were both known and recognized within the industry. ASA argued that under FAA policies (like FAA AC 20-62E), these documents were sufficient to identify a new part and to permit installation, so issuing an 8130-3 tag based on that evidence should be a mere ministerial task. The FAA agreed and created a Limited DAR program (“DAR 56”) in which individuals could obtain the DAR privilege of issuing 8130-3 for parts when the following conditions were met (this is only a partial list):

  1. Individual must work for an accredited distributor, and can only tag parts that were received by the distributor’s accredited system before a certain date (currently November 1, 2016)
  2. Individual must complete FAA training
  3. Part must either bear (1) part markings regulated under 14 C.F.R. § 45.14 [PMA, TSOA and critical parts], (2) a certificate from the manufacturer, confirming that the part was produced under a FAA production approval, or (3) a certificate from the manufacturer’s direct-ship authorized supplier, confirming that the part was produced under a FAA production approval.

The program was scheduled to end on September 30, 2017 but was extended by an additional policy memo (AIR-600-17-6F0-PM01) until 2018.

Discussion with the FAA About the Future of DAR 56

The FAA is considering converting all FC 56 DARs into FC 19 DARs (they will need to apply through normal channels, but the FAA would treat their distribution experience as relevant experience for obtaining Function Code 19 privileges).

If this program goes through, then many of the FC 56 limitations would ‘go away’ and the DARs would be able to use function code 19 to tags other sorts of new parts that have clear indicia of having been produced by US Production Approval Holders.  This could make it easier to handle expendables that have been difficult to get tagged because of their volume and low-cost (relative to the normal cost of obtaining an 8130-3).  It is likely that the converted DARs woud lneed to rely on their AC 00-56 systems as a condition of the exercise of their functions.

This is not yet subject to final approval by FAA management, so it could change!

Advice

If you currently hold Limited DAR credentials under the “DAR 56” program, then

  1. You need to apply to extend your credentials by September 30 – that deadline is coming up fast!! You can find more details here;
  2. Be sure to use your credentials to issue 8130-3 – activity is an important metric when seeking to renew or upgrade your credentials;
  3. We are working with the FAA to permit transfer of your credentials to a permanent DAR with function code 19 (able to issue 8130-3 tags for a wider class of demonstrably airworthy, new parts). We hope to have more news on this, soon!

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Congress Working to Renew Business Tax Provisions

December 8, 2014 by 1 Comment

What do the following tax provisions all have in common?

  • Research and Development Tax Credit
  • Bonus Depreciation
  • Increased Expensing Limits

They are all business-friendly tax provisions that expired at the end of last year, and thus could be unavailable for businesses when they file their 2014 taxes.

These provisions have all been “temporary ” tax provisions that are regularly renewed.  The fact that they are regularly renewed means that businesses have come to rely on their regular renewal, and expect these provisions to be available.  This could be a real problem for American businesses if the provisions were not renewed; it would lead to unexpectedly high taxes for businesses.  In order to remedy the fact that these provisions are not yet renewed, Congress is still looking to reauthorize these provisions.

On December 3, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would extend these tax provisions by a year.  The measure passed by a vote of 378 – 46.  The bill is HR 5771.

The Senate is planning on taking this matter up, but wants to pass a two-year extender bill, to give businesses more confidence.

All of this needs to happen rapidly, because Congress will soon adjourn for the holidays.

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