Rule making discretion on final rule

[bflynn]

A question - is the FAA required to take public comments into consideration before publishing a final rule?

A made up situation - the FAA is considering a rules change. For the sake of argument, pretend that the rule has to do with using pilot GPS position as being more accurate than ATC radar when considering busing airspaces. Please don't argue about that because it isn't the point of the question.

After the public comment period, the FAA gets back a ton of negative comments from practically everyone except GA pilots. Can they just basically ignore the comments and publish the rule anyway?

 

[Ken Ibold]

Short answer: yes.

When the rule is published in the Fed Register, they will cite comments and their basis for accepting or rejecting them. The comments may be aggregated, such as "29 comments pertained to the FAA's jurisdiction in making the change. The Aviation General Counsel determined ..." But they can just decide the comment is without merit and throw off a rationale for declining to make a change to the rule.