GAMA, NATA SAY DHS INACTION HURTS SECURITY AND U.S. COMPETITIVENESS

On December 21, the U.S. aviation industry received notification from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that the final rule for aircraft repair station security will not be approved and published until the fourth quarter of 2012. This notification was prompted after 20 industry leaders sent a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano asking that the rule, which has been under consideration for eight years, be finalized before the end of 2011.

TSA first held a public meeting on this rulemaking, mandated by the 2003 Vision 100 Century of Aviation Act, in 2004 and issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) five years later in November 2009. The aviation industry provided TSA with comprehensive comments on the nature and diversity of repair station operations and how to make this rule an effective, risk-based security regulation. The public comment period for this NPRM closed in February 2010 and work on a final rule has been ongoing for the past 21 months. As of August 2008, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been barred from issuing new certificates for repair stations outside the United States.