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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
Where:
a = July CPIU of year of current adjustment b = the CPIU figure in August 2011 when the inflation adjustment provision was added to part 250.

Section 250.5e specifies that the DBC liability limit in 250.5a3 shall be twice the revised limit for 250.5a2, the DBC liability limit in 250.5b2 shall be the same as the revised limit for 250.5a2, and the DBC liability limit in 250.5b3 shall be twice the revised limit in 250.5a2.
In a final rule issued on May 27, 2015, the Department reviewed the DBC
liability limit amounts then in effect $650 and $1,300. Based on the formula prescribed in 250.5e, using the CPI
U for July 2014, the Department determined that the DBC liability limit amounts should be raised to $675/
$1,350.4
For this review, we are using the CPI
U for July 2020, which was issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on August 12, 2020. In this review, we apply the formula using the CPIU from August 2011 the basis month required by the formula and July 2020. The results of this calculation require that the DBC
liability limit amounts be raised.
Specifically, the appropriate inflation adjustment for the amount provided in 250.5a2 is $675 259.101/226.545
$675 1.1437, which yields $772. The base amount of $675 in the formula was the denied boarding compensation liability limit amount in 250.5a2,5
as adjusted by the 2015 final rule;
259.101 was the CPIU for July 2020, and 226.545 was the CPIU for August 2011. Section 250.5e requires us to round the adjustment to the nearest $25, which is $775 in this case. Section 250.5
under paragraphs a3 and b3
provide that for passengers who are not rerouted to reach their destination within two hours of the planned arrival time of their original domestic flight four hours for international transportation, the DBC liability limit amount is twice the amount provided by 250.5a2 and b2; therefore, under 4 80

FR 30144.
250.5a2 provides that the liability limit amount for DBC is $675 for passengers who are denied boarding involuntarily on a domestic flight by a carrier who offers alternate transportation that is planned to arrive at the passengers first stopover or final destination more than one hour but less than two hours after the planned arrival time of the passengers original flight. Section 250.5a3 provides that the liability limit amount for DBC is $1,350 for passengers who are denied boarding involuntarily on a domestic flight by a carrier who offers alternate transportation that is planned to arrive at the passengers first stopover or final destination more than two hours after the planned arrival time of the passengers original flight.
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the formula adjustment, this amount is twice $775, or $1,550.
IV. Revision of Domestic Baggage Liability Limit The baggage liability limit that air carriers may apply to domestic air service is established by 14 CFR part 254. This limit applies to a carriers liabilities towards any provable direct or consequential damages resulting from the disappearance of, damage to, or delay in delivery of a passengers baggage that was in a carriers custody during domestic air transportation. Like the requirements regarding the provision of DBC to passengers in appropriate circumstances, this requirement has never limited the maximum amount of compensation a carrier may provide a passenger in connection with mishandled baggage. It merely provides a regulatory minimum liability limit that carriers may set.
Section 254.6 requires review every two years of the limit of liability prescribed in part 254 and revision of the limit of liability, if necessary, to reflect changes in the CPIU as of July of each review year through a specific formula. The formula is below:
$2500 a/b rounded to the nearest $100
Where:
a = July CPIU of year of current adjustment b = the CPIU figure in December 1999 when the inflation adjustment provision was added to part 254.

The application of the formula during the 20142015 review of the domestic baggage liability limit raised the amount from $3,400 to the current amount of $3,500. The current review requires another inflation adjustment. Applying the formula using the consumer price index for December 1999 the basis month required by the formula and July 2020, the appropriate inflation adjustment is $2,500 259.101/168.30
$2,500 1.5395, which yields $3,848.75. The base amount of $2,500 in the formula was the minimum liability limit in part 254 at the time that this biennial indexing provision was added to the rule in 1999, 259.101 was the CPIU for July 2020, and 168.30 was the CPIU for December 1999. Section 254.6
requires rounding the adjustment to the nearest $100, which is $3,800.
V. Regulatory Analyses and Notices A. Good Cause for Issuing Rule Without Prior Notice and Comment Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act APA 5 U.S.C. 553
provides that when an agency, for good cause, finds that notice and public procedure thereon are impractical,
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unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, the agency may issue a final rule without providing notice and an opportunity for public comment 5
U.S.C. 553b3B. The Department has determined that there is good cause to issue this final rule without notice and an opportunity for public comment because such notice and comment would be unnecessary.
This rule implements section 425e of the TICKETS Act by making conforming changes to the rule text of 14 CFR part 250 to clarify that the Departments oversales regulation does not impose a ceiling on the amount of denied boarding compensation an airline may provide to a passenger involuntarily denied boarding. These editorial changes do not amend what the rule previously required and is not expected to impact carriers current practice. This rule also implements sections 425bd of the TICKETS Act by incorporating, virtually verbatim, the statutory language prohibiting airlines from involuntarily denying boarding to a passenger after the passengers boarding pass has been collected or scanned and the passenger has boarded.
Since the Department is exercising no discretion to implement these TICKETS
Act provisions, public comment is unnecessary.
The Department has also determined that under 5 U.S.C. 553b3B good cause exists for dispensing with a notice of proposed rulemaking and public comment for the inflation adjustments herein as the application of this rule does not involve any agency discretion.
These adjustments are a ministerial inflation update based on the terms and formulas set by 14 CFR 250.5 and 14
CFR 254.6. Those formulas were subject to notice and comment in the rulemaking proceedings during which they were added to the baggage liability and oversales rules. Accordingly, because this is purely a formula update, we find that there is good cause to dispense with notice and comment for this rulemaking.
B. Executive Order 12866
This final rule has been evaluated following existing policies and procedures, and is considered not significant under Executive Order 12866
and DOTs Regulatory Policies and Procedures. Therefore, the rule has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget OMB under Executive Order 12866. This regulation conforms with the policies and procedures of DOTs administrative rule on rulemakings. 49 CFR part 5.

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