FAA Reports “Letter of Compliance” Elimination
July 29, 2019
On July 24, ARSA received a response from the FAA regarding the association’s joint effort with the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) to purge agency guidance of a requirement for repair station applicants to submit a “letter of compliance.”
The agency’s letter reported that its “‘Part 145 Letter of Compliance’ policy” was removed from the Flight Safety Information Management System (FSIMS; Order 8900.1) in April 2019.
Prior to ARSA and AEA’s initial letter on the subject, which was delivered to the FAA in May 2018, the submission of a “letter of compliance” was “required” by FSIMS’ instructions for repair station certificate preapplication and formal application. At the time, the associations noted that such a letter had been specifically rejected through previous rulemaking efforts – a 2006 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) including such a requirement was withdrawn in 2009.
Without the letter included in FSIMS, the FAA’s guidance to inspectors has been cleansed of an inconsistency with the certificate application requirements of § 145.51.
To review the FAA’s response, click here.
For information about a larger effort to align FAA guidance with the plain language of the repair station rule, read about the ARSA/AEA-led Part 145 Working Group at arsa.org/145-task.
The May 2018 letter...
6/27/19 - Writing a Letter to Prevent a Letter
June 27, 2019
On June 26, ARSA delivered a follow up letter to the FAA regarding a 2018 request that the agency withdraw all references from its guidance materials requiring applicants for repair station certificates to submit a “letter of compliance.”
Having not yet received a response on the matter, ARSA Vice President of Operations Brett Levanto delivered the reminder on behalf of the association as well as its partners at the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA). Ric Peri, AEA vice president of government and industry affairs, signed on to the original letter with ARSA Executive Director Sarah MacLeod. In his follow up, Levanto noted that Peri and MacLeod are currently co-chairs of ARAC’s Part 145 Working group tasked with aligning agency guidance with the language of the repair station rule.
To read the follow up letter, which includes the original submission, click here.
6/1/2018 - ARSA, AEA Request FAA Cleanse Guidance of 'Letter of Compliance'
June 1, 2018
On May 29, ARSA and the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) asked the FAA to withdraw all references from its guidance material requiring applicants for repair station certificates to submit a “letter of compliance.”
The submission of a “letter of compliance” was specifically rejected – a 2006 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) including such a requirement was withdrawn in 2009 – but its submission is “required” by the preapplication and formal application instructions in the Flight Standards Information Management System (FSIMS).
“Considering (1) the rulemaking procedure specifically declined to impose the requirement for an applicant to submit a letter of compliance and (2) the introduction of the data collection tools of the safety assurance system eliminates the need for such a document, we request the agency withdraw all references to a letter of compliance in its guidance material as soon as possible,” ARSA and AEA said.
To read the full letter from ARSA and AEA to Flight Standards Executive Director John Duncan, click here.
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