DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

14 CFR Part 39

[Docket No. FAA-2008-0182; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-262-AD]
RIN 2120-AA64

AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES; Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A.
(EMBRAER) Model EMB-135ER, -135KE, -135KL, and -135LR Airplanes, and
Model EMB-145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP
Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM); reopening of
comment period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: We are  revising an earlier  NPRM for the  products listed above.
This action revises the earlier NPRM by expanding the scope. This proposed
AD  results  from mandatory  continuing  airworthiness information  (MCAI)
originated by  an aviation  authority of  another country  to identify and
correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the
unsafe condition as:

Fuel   system   reassessment,   performed  according  to  RBHA-E88/SFAR-88
(Regulamento  Brasileiro  de  Homologacao  Aeronautica  88/Special Federal
Aviation Regulation  No. 88),  requires the  inclusion of  new maintenance
tasks in the Critical Design Configuration Control Limitations (CDCCL) and
in  the  Fuel System  Limitations  (FSL), necessary  to  preclude ignition
sources in the fuel system. * * *

The proposed  AD would  require actions  that are  intended to address the
unsafe condition described in the MCAI.

DATES: We must receive comments on this proposed AD by May 27, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments by any of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http:// www.regulations.gov. Follow  the
instructions for submitting comments.

Fax: (202) 493-2251.

Mail: U.S.  Department of  Transportation, Docket  Operations, M-30,  West
Building  Ground  Floor,  Room  W12-140,  1200  New  Jersey  Avenue,  SE.,
Washington, DC 20590.

Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30,
West Building  Ground Floor,  Room W12-40,  1200 New  Jersey Avenue,  SE.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m.  and 5 p.m., Monday through  Friday, except
Federal holidays.

EXAMINING THE AD DOCKET

You   may   examine   the   AD  docket   on   the   Internet   at  http://
www.regulations.gov; or in person at the Docket Operations office  between
9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The  AD
docket contains this proposed AD, the regulatory evaluation, any  comments
received,  and  other  information.  The  street  address  for  the Docket
Operations office (telephone (800) 647-5527) is in the ADDRESSES  section.
Comments will be available in the AD docket shortly after receipt.

FOR  FURTHER  INFORMATION  CONTACT:  Sanjay  Ralhan,  Aerospace  Engineer,
International Branch, ANM-116,  Transport Airplane Directorate,  FAA, 1601
Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 98057-3356; telephone (425) 227-1405;
fax (425) 227-1149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

COMMENTS INVITED

We invite you to send any written relevant data, views, or arguments about
this  proposed AD.  Send your  comments  to  an address  listed under  the
ADDRESSES  section.   Include  "Docket   No.  FAA-2008-0182;   Directorate
Identifier  2007-NM-262-AD"  at  the   beginning  of  your  comments.   We
specifically  invite  comments   on  the  overall   regulatory,  economic,
environmental, and energy  aspects of this  proposed AD. We  will consider
all comments received by the closing  date and may amend this proposed  AD
based on those comments.

We  will  post  all  comments  we  receive,  without  change,  to  http://
www.regulations.gov, including  any personal  information you  provide. We
will also  post a  report summarizing  each substantive  verbal contact we
receive about this proposed AD.

DISCUSSION

We proposed to amend 14 CFR part 39 with an earlier NPRM for the specified
products, which was published in the Federal Register on February 21, 2008
(73 FR 9497).  That earlier NPRM  proposed to require  actions intended to
address the unsafe condition for the products listed above.

Since that earlier  NPRM was issued,  we have determined  that for certain
airplanes the initial  compliance times for  doing the tasks  specified in
paragraph (f)(2) of  the earlier NPRM  must be reduced.  That earlier NPRM
resulted  from  Brazilian  Airworthiness  Directive  2007-08-02, effective
September 27, 2007 (referred to after this as "the MCAI").

The MCAI does not provide an initial compliance time for doing the  tasks.
In the original NPRM, we proposed an initial compliance time that  started
from the effective date of the AD; or the date of issuance of the original
Brazilian standard airworthiness  certificate or the  date of issuance  of
the  original  Brazilian export  certificate  of airworthiness;  whichever
occurs later. Although unstated in  the MCAI, we have determined  that the
intent of the MCAI  is for the initial  compliance time to start  from the
initial delivery date of the  airplane in order to address  the identified
unsafe condition  in a  timely manner.  We have  also revised  the initial
compliance times for clarity by providing a threshold and grace period for
each task. We  have revised this  supplemental NPRM by  adding Table 1  to
specify the initial compliance times for each task. You may obtain further
information by examining the MCAI in the AD docket.

COMMENTS

We have considered the following comments received on the earlier NPRM.

REQUEST TO CLARIFY COMPLIANCE TIMES

EMBRAER  and  ExpressJet  request  that  we  revise  the  NPRM  to include
paragraph (section) A2.5.1 of  Appendix 2 of EMBRAER  EMB-135/ERJ-140/ EMB
-145 Maintenance  Review Board  Report (MRBR)  MRB-145/1150, Revision  10,
dated August 4, 2006. The commenters assert that paragraph A2.5.1 contains
provisions  to  allow  operators to  implement  the  required fuel  system
limitation inspections in a timely manner. ExpressJet asserts that without
the inclusion of paragraph A2.5.1,  operators will be non- compliant  with
the  AD  immediately upon  the  inclusion of  paragraph  A.2.5.2 into  the
maintenance programs. Finally, ExpressJet asserts that operators will  not
have sufficient spare parts and  states that they have been  informed that
the manufacturer of  replacement parts required  by these new  limitations
will be unable to meet the demand, which could lead to immediate grounding
of airplanes. The commenters therefore request that we revise the NPRM  to
include paragraph A2.5.1 of the MRBR so operators are able to comply  with
the AD in an achievable time frame.

We do not agree with this request to include MRBR paragraph A2.5.1,  which
describes deferring the first mandatory inspections to the next "C"  check
(5,000 flight hours).  However, as described  previously, we have  revised
the  initial  compliance  times  specified  in  paragraph  (f)(2)  of  the
supplemental NPRM. With  these revised compliance  times, there should  be
sufficient spare  parts. In  addition, if  an operator  decides that  more
compliance time is needed, the operator may request an alternative  method
of  compliance  (AMOC)  in   accordance  with  paragraph  (g)(1)   of  the
supplemental NPRM.

NEW SERVICE INFORMATION

Since the NPRM was issued,  we have reviewed sections A2.5.2,  Fuel System
Limitation  Items,  and   A2.4,  Critical  Design   Configuration  Control
Limitation (CDCCL), of Appendix 2 of the EMBRAER EMB-135/ERJ-  140/EMB-145
MRBR MRB-145/1150, Revision 11, dated  September 19, 2007 (we referred  to
the EMBRAER EMB-135/ERJ-140/EMB-145 MRBR MRB-145/1150, Revision 10,  dated
August 4, 2006, as the appropriate source of service information for doing
the actions  specified in  the NPRM).  No changes  were made  to the tasks
specified in the MRBR. We have revised this AD to refer to Revision 11  of
the MRBR.

FAA'S DETERMINATION AND REQUIREMENTS OF THIS PROPOSED AD

This  product  has been  approved  by the  aviation  authority of  another
country, and is approved for  operation in the United States.  Pursuant to
our bilateral agreement with the  State of Design Authority, we  have been
notified  of  the  unsafe  condition described  in  the  MCAI  and service
information  referenced  above.  We  are  proposing  this  AD  because  we
evaluated all  pertinent information  and determined  an unsafe  condition
exists and is  likely to exist  or develop on  other products of  the same
type design.

Certain changes described above expand the scope of the earlier NPRM. As a
result, we  have determined  that it  is necessary  to reopen  the comment
period to provide additional opportunity for the public to comment on this
proposed AD.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THIS AD AND THE MCAI OR SERVICE INFORMATION

We have reviewed the MCAI and related service information and, in general,
agree with their substance.  But we might have  found it necessary to  use
different words from those in the MCAI to ensure the AD is clear for  U.S.
operators and is enforceable. In making these changes, we do not intend to
differ substantively from the information provided in the MCAI and related
service information.

We might also have proposed different actions in this AD from those in the
MCAI in order to follow FAA policies. Any such differences are highlighted
in a NOTE within the proposed AD.

COSTS OF COMPLIANCE

Based on the service information, we estimate that this proposed AD  would
affect about 704 products of U.S. registry. We also estimate that it would
take about 1 work-hour per  product to comply with the  basic requirements
of this proposed AD. The average labor rate is $80 per work-hour. Based on
these figures, we estimate the cost  of the proposed AD on U.S.  operators
to be $56,320, or $80 per product.

AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULEMAKING

Title 49 of the United States Code specifies the FAA's authority to  issue
rules on aviation safety. 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.

We are issuing this rulemaking under the authority described in  "Subtitle
VII, Part A, Subpart III, Section 44701: General requirements." Under that
section, Congress  charges the  FAA with  promoting safe  flight of  civil
aircraft  in  air  commerce  by  prescribing  regulations  for  practices,
methods, and procedures  the Administrator finds  necessary for safety  in
air  commerce.  This regulation  is  within the  scope  of that  authority
because  it addresses  an  unsafe  condition that  is likely  to exist  or
develop on products identified in this rulemaking action.

REGULATORY FINDINGS

We determined that this proposed AD would not have federalism implications
under Executive Order 13132. This proposed AD would not have a substantial
direct effect  on the  States, on  the relationship  between the  national
Government  and  the  States,  or   on  the  distribution  of  power   and
responsibilities among the various levels of government.

For the reasons discussed above, I certify this proposed regulation:

1. Is not a "significant regulatory action" under Executive Order 12866;

2. Is not  a "significant  rule" under  the  DOT  Regulatory Policies  and
Procedures (44 FR 11034, February 26, 1979); and

3. Will not have a significant economic impact, positive or negative, on a
substantial number of small entities under the criteria of the  Regulatory
Flexibility Act.

We prepared a regulatory evaluation of the estimated costs to comply  with
this proposed AD and placed it in the AD docket.

LIST OF SUBJECTS IN 14 CFR PART 39

Air transportation, Aircraft, Aviation safety, Safety.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT

Accordingly, under the authority delegated to me by the Administrator, the
FAA proposes to amend 14 CFR part 39 as follows:

PART 39--AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES

1. The authority citation for part 39 continues to read as follows:

AUTHORITY: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701.

SEC.  39.13  [AMENDED]

2. The FAA amends Sec.  39.13 by adding the following new AD: