(a) The FAA will determine whether a safety element is eligible for and may be issued a safety approval. We will base our determination on performance-based criteria, against which we may assess the effect on public health and safety and on safety of property, in the following hierarchy:

(1) FAA or other appropriate Federal regulations.

(2) Government-developed or adopted standards.

(3) Industry consensus performance-based criteria or standard.

(4) Applicant-developed criteria. Applicant-developed criteria are performance standards customized by the manufacturer that intends to produce the system, system component, or part. The applicant-developed criteria must define—

(i) Design and minimum performance;

(ii) Quality assurance system requirements;

(iii) Production acceptance test specifications; and

(iv) Continued operational safety monitoring system characteristics.

(b) The applicant must allow the FAA to make its proposed safety approval criteria available to the public as part of the approval process.