Regulatory Alert: FAA Submits Airport SMS Final Rule to White House
May 10, 2022
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) submitted a draft final rule on airport safety management systems (SMS) to the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on May 9, which now has up to 90 days to review the document and ensure that FAA complied with the applicable rulemaking requirements. OMB updated their website to reflect receipt of the draft rule. Upon completion of OMB's review, FAA would be permitted to move forward with issuing the rule. OMB's receipt of the draft document signals a strong possibility that the industry will see a final rule on airport SMS in August or September. 
Last September, AAAE submitted a second set of comments to FAA on the airport SMS rulemaking, emphasizing the need for FAA to ensure they work collaboratively with industry on implementation of any new SMS regulatory requirements and provide airports with flexible timelines for developing and deploying their programs. AAAE also highlighted the concerns that some airports have over the costs associated with any new requirements and urged FAA to ensure that any new regulatory requirements were limited to an appropriate scope of airports where the benefits will meaningfully outweigh the costs. 
In the event a rule issues late this summer, AAAE is prepared to work with our airport members, FAA, and industry partners to ensure a coordinated implementation effort.
Background on SMS Rulemaking. As many airports are aware, FAA's rulemaking on airport SMS has a very long history. FAA proposed the original notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in 2010. However, AAAE and the airport community raised major questions about the scope and cost, administrative burdens, and liability issues, among other things, associated with that proposal. In 2016, FAA published a supplemental NPRM (SNPRM), which addressed many of those concerns, but also raised new issues to which AAAE and others responded. 
Over the past five years, FAA has adjudicated the comments filed in response to the SNPRM in 2016. However, before moving forward with a final rule, in August 2021, FAA reopened the comment period for the rulemaking, providing a 30-day window for industry to provide the agency with any new information that airports may have for the agency. AAAE submitted comments in response to this reopened comment period, which you can review here. 
OMB Review Process. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which is part of OMB, reviews every significant rulemaking action from agencies like FAA to ensure that the agency reviewed public comments, considered alternatives, and analyzed costs and benefits. OIRA has up to 90 days to review, with the option of extending the period by an additional 30 days on a one-time basis. During or after the review, OIRA may raise concerns over the draft rule directly with FAA, although those issues are usually addressed before the draft is officially submitted to and “received“ by OIRA. During this period industry does not have access to the document that is being considered. Upon completion of OIRA's review, FAA would be permitted to move forward with issuing the final rule. 
What's Next? OMB will review the draft final rule on airport SMS over the next several months. Absent any major developments during the review, FAA is likely to issue the final rule in August or September of this year. Issuance of a final rule would trigger an implementation period over the next two years based on the SNPRM that was released in 2016. In that proposal, FAA would require airports to (a) develop an implementation plan within 12 months of the final rule date and (b) submit an amended Airport Certification Manual and Airport SMS Manual, if applicable, to FAA within 24 months of the final rule date. The implementation timeframe is subject to change depending on what is included in the final rule text. 
Airport SMS Resources
• FAA's SNPRM on Airport SMS (July 14, 2016) 
• Regulatory Docket for FAA's Airport SMS Rulemaking 
• AAAE's 2016 Response to the FAA SNPRM 
• AAAE's September 2021 Webinar on FAA's SNPRM 
• AAAE's September 2021 Slide Deck on FAA's SNPRM 
• AAAE's September 2021 Response to Reopened Comment Period on FAA's SNPRM 
• AAAE's September 23 Regulatory Alert Summarizing Comments to FAA 
 
Last September, AAAE submitted a second set of comments to FAA on the airport SMS rulemaking, emphasizing the need for FAA to ensure they work collaboratively with industry on implementation of any new SMS regulatory requirements and provide airports with flexible timelines for developing and deploying their programs. AAAE also highlighted the concerns that some airports have over the costs associated with any new requirements and urged FAA to ensure that any new regulatory requirements were limited to an appropriate scope of airports where the benefits will meaningfully outweigh the costs. 
In the event a rule issues late this summer, AAAE is prepared to work with our airport members, FAA, and industry partners to ensure a coordinated implementation effort.
Background on SMS Rulemaking. As many airports are aware, FAA's rulemaking on airport SMS has a very long history. FAA proposed the original notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in 2010. However, AAAE and the airport community raised major questions about the scope and cost, administrative burdens, and liability issues, among other things, associated with that proposal. In 2016, FAA published a supplemental NPRM (SNPRM), which addressed many of those concerns, but also raised new issues to which AAAE and others responded. 
Over the past five years, FAA has adjudicated the comments filed in response to the SNPRM in 2016. However, before moving forward with a final rule, in August 2021, FAA reopened the comment period for the rulemaking, providing a 30-day window for industry to provide the agency with any new information that airports may have for the agency. AAAE submitted comments in response to this reopened comment period, which you can review here. 
OMB Review Process. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which is part of OMB, reviews every significant rulemaking action from agencies like FAA to ensure that the agency reviewed public comments, considered alternatives, and analyzed costs and benefits. OIRA has up to 90 days to review, with the option of extending the period by an additional 30 days on a one-time basis. During or after the review, OIRA may raise concerns over the draft rule directly with FAA, although those issues are usually addressed before the draft is officially submitted to and “received“ by OIRA. During this period industry does not have access to the document that is being considered. Upon completion of OIRA's review, FAA would be permitted to move forward with issuing the final rule. 
What's Next? OMB will review the draft final rule on airport SMS over the next several months. Absent any major developments during the review, FAA is likely to issue the final rule in August or September of this year. Issuance of a final rule would trigger an implementation period over the next two years based on the SNPRM that was released in 2016. In that proposal, FAA would require airports to (a) develop an implementation plan within 12 months of the final rule date and (b) submit an amended Airport Certification Manual and Airport SMS Manual, if applicable, to FAA within 24 months of the final rule date. The implementation timeframe is subject to change depending on what is included in the final rule text. 
Airport SMS Resources
• FAA's SNPRM on Airport SMS (July 14, 2016) 
• Regulatory Docket for FAA's Airport SMS Rulemaking 
• AAAE's 2016 Response to the FAA SNPRM 
• AAAE's September 2021 Webinar on FAA's SNPRM 
• AAAE's September 2021 Slide Deck on FAA's SNPRM 
• AAAE's September 2021 Response to Reopened Comment Period on FAA's SNPRM 
• AAAE's September 23 Regulatory Alert Summarizing Comments to FAA 
 
