Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Direct final rule; nomenclature change.

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 210 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)]

[Rules and Regulations]

[Pages 60565-60566]

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[FR Doc No: 2021-23825]

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

14 CFR Part 1215

[Document Number NASA-21-058; Docket Number-NASA-2021-0005]

RIN 2700-AE62

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

ACTION: Direct final rule; nomenclature change.

SUMMARY: This direct final rule amends NASA’s rule on Tracking and Data 

Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) to make nomenclature changes to update 

acronyms, network names, and office designations cited in the rule.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective on January 3, 2022. Comments 

due on or before December 3, 2021. If adverse comments are received, 

NASA will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the Federal 

Register.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be identified with RINs 2700-AE62 and may be 

sent to NASA via the Federal E-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 

comments. Please note that NASA will post all comments on the internet 

with changes, including any personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Salvas, 202-358-2330, 

craig.salvas@nasa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Direct Final Rule and Significant Adverse Comments

    NASA has determined this rulemaking meets the criteria for a direct 

final rule because it makes non-substantive changes to make 

nomenclature changes to update acronyms, network names, and office 

designations cited in the rule. No opposition to the changes and no 

significant adverse comments are expected. However, if NASA receives 

significant adverse comments, it will withdraw this direct final rule 

by publishing a notice in the Federal Register. A significant adverse 

comment is one that explains: (1) Why the direct final rule is 

inappropriate, including challenges to the rule’s underlying premise or 

approach; or (2) why the direct final rule will be ineffective or 

unacceptable without a change. In determining whether a comment 

necessitates withdrawal of this direct final rule, NASA will consider 

whether it warrants a substantive response in a notice and comment 

process.

II. Background

    TDRSS is a network of U.S. communication satellites and ground 

stations used by NASA for space communications near the Earth. The 

system was designed to increase the time spacecraft were in 

communication with the ground and improve the amount of data that could 

be transferred. The primary goal of TDRSS is to provide improved 

tracking and data acquisition services capability to spacecraft in low-

Earth orbit or to mobile terrestrial users such as aircraft or 

balloons. NASA is amending this rule to make nomenclature changes to 

update acronyms, network names, and office designations cited in 

Sec. Sec.  1215.103, 1215.108, and 1215.109.

III. Regulatory Analysis

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive 

Order 13563, Improvement Regulation and Regulation Review

    Executive Orders (E.O.) 13563 and 12866 direct agencies to assess 

all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if 

regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public 

health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). E.O. 

13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, 

of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility. 

This rule has been designated as “not significant” under section 3(f) 

of E.O. 12866.

Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires an 

agency to prepare an initial regulatory flexibility analysis to be 

published at the time the proposed rule is published. This requirement 

does not apply if the agency “certifies that the rule will not, if 

promulgated, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number 

of small entities” (5 U.S.C. 603). This rule makes nomenclature 

changes and, therefore, does not have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities.

Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act

    These nomenclature changes do not contain any information 

collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Review Under E.O. 13132

    E.O. 13132, “Federalism,” 64 FR 43255 (August 4, 1999), requires 

regulations to be reviewed for Federalism effects on the institutional 

interest of states and local governments, and, if the effects are 

sufficiently substantial, preparation of the Federal assessment is 

required to assist senior policy makers. The amendments will not have 

any substantial direct effects on state and local governments within 

the meaning of the E.O. Therefore, no Federalism assessment is 

required.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 1215

    Satellites.

    Accordingly, under the authority of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Act, as amended, 51 U.S.C. 20113, NASA amends 14 CFR part 1215 as 

follows:

PART 1215–TRACKING AND DATA RELAY SATELLITE SYSTEM (TDRSS)

0

1. The authority citation for part 1215 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Sec. 203, Pub. L. 85-568, 72 Stat. 429, as amended; 

42 U.S.C. 2473.

Sec. Sec.  1215.103 1215.108, and 1215.109   [Amended]

0

2. In the table below, for each section indicated in the left column, 

remove the acronym, network name, or office designation indicated in 

the middle column from wherever it appears in the section, and add the 

acronym, network name, or office designation indicated in the right 

column:

————————————————————————

             Section                    Remove                Add

————————————————————————

1215.103……………………  Space Network…..  Near Space

                                                       Network.

1215.103……………………  SNUG…………..  NSNUG.

1215.103……………………  Networks            Commercialization,

                                   Integration         Innovation, and

                                   Management Office.  Synergies.

1215.108……………………  SNUG…………..  NSNUG.

1215.108……………………  NIMO…………..  Near Space

                                                       Network.

1215.108……………………  Networks            Commercialization,

                                   Integration         Innovation, and

                                   Management Office.  Synergies.

1215.109……………………  NIMO…………..  Near Space

                                                       Network.

————————————————————————

Nanette Smith,

Team Lead, NASA Directives and Regulations.

[FR Doc. 2021-23825 Filed 11-2-21; 8:45 am]

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