The FAA withdrew an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), released in July 2009, that solicited public comment on potential rules requiring a safety management system (SMS) for Part 21, 119, 121, 125, 135, 141, 142, and 145 certificate holders, product manufacturers, applicants and employers. This comment period closed on Oct. 21, 2009. “The FAA is withdrawing the ANPRM because we have issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require [Part 121] certificate holders to develop and implement an SMS,” the agency said in the withdrawal notice. But Part 135 charter operators, or the other aforementioned certificate holders, are not off the hook for SMS because of this ANPRM withdrawal–if anything, it only delays the inevitable. “The FAA may initiate additional rulemaking in the future to consider SMS for other product/service providers,” the agency noted. Previously, the FAA has said that SMS rules for Part 135 operators would be similar to those drafted for Part 121.