ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, Feb. 17, 2011 – The Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) took the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to task for its failure to abide by a court mandate to perform a required Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) analysis of its 2006 drug and alcohol testing rules.

In the more than three years that have passed since the court’s decision, the FAA made no effort to accomplish the required RFA analysis. Because of that delay, ARSA took the rare action of filing a formal request with the court to compel the FAA to fulfill its legal obligation.

In the underlying case (ARSA, et. al. v. FAA 494 F. 3d 161), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that the FAA failed to perform a required RFA analysis to determine the small business impact of its drug and alcohol testing rules. The court sided with ARSA and determined that the rules would pose a substantial burden on many small businesses; the association estimates that the FAA failed to account for as many as 22,000 small businesses.

Ultimately, the court ordered the FAA to perform a full RFA analysis. The FAA has ignored that order.

A copy of ARSA’s filing with the court is available here.

Contact:
Jason Langford
Communications Manager
703 739 9543

###

ARSA is an Alexandria, Virginia-based trade association that represents aviation maintenance and manufacturing companies. The association has a distinguished 25-year record of advocating for repair stations and providing regulatory compliance assistance to the industry.

More from ARSA