2:15, 16th August, 2004

The Pulmonary Education and Research Foundation has been asked to disseminate the following letter from Mr. Gary Ewart

August 13, 2004

TO:  US COPD Coalition
FROM:  Gary Ewart
RE:  FAA Extension of the Comment Deadline on Use of Portable Oxygen Concentrators on Aircraft 

Today, the Federal Aviation Administration announced a 15-day extension in deadline for submitting comments on the proposed rule to allow portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) on aircraft.  The new deadline for submitting public comments is Monday, August 30, 2004.

The comment extension was granted by FAA at the request of the Airline Transportation Administration (ATA) - the trade association of U.S. commercial airlines.  ATA has initially requested a 60-day extension, however FAA determined that a 15-day extension was sufficient to allow all interested parties the opportunity to comment on the proposed rule. 

To date over 2,000 patients and organizations  have submitted comments in support of allowing patients to bring their own POCs on aircraft. The US COPD Coalition strongly encourages all member organizations and individuals to use the comment period extension to submit comments in support of allowing patients to bring their own POCs on aircraft. You can submit comments in four ways:

  •  DOT Docket Web site: Go to http://dms.dot.gov and follow the instructions for sending your comments electronically.

  •  Government-wide rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions for sending your comments electronically.

  •  Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-001.

  •  Fax: 1-(202)-493-2251.

If you have questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact Mr. Gary Ewart at the American Thoracic Society.  Mr. Ewart can be reached at (202) 785-3355 or via email at (gewart@thoracic.org).

Gary Ewart 
Director, ATS Government Relations
American Thoracic Society
1150 18th Street, N.W.
Suite 900
Washington, D.C.  20036
ph (202) 785-3355 ex 226
fx  (202) 452-1805

PLEASE NOTE:

  • Please do not reply to this e-mail as the sender address is not monitored.
  • Should you wish not to receive our e-Newsletter, click here to send an e-mail to unsubscribe Please allow up to 72 hours to remove your e-mail address from our data base.
  • Click the following link to access our newsletter catalog. From this page you will be able to access all the available newsletters both in HTML and PDF (Adobe's Portable Document Format).
  • To access the print-equivalent Newletter in PDF  you will need to download and install the Adobe PDF Reader. You can access the free download site of Adobe by clicking this icon
  • Regarding any other issue please send an e-mail to PERF

PERF
Box 1133 Lomita, California 90717-5133
Fax   (310) 539 - 8390
Tel (310) 539-8390

Disclaimer © PERF 2003