I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2077

To amend title 49, United States Code, to enhance essential air service. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2003

Mr. MORAN of Kansas (for himself, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. MICHAUD, and Mr. PEARCE) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to enhance essential 

air service.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Essential Air Service 

5 Modernization Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION. 

7 Section 41742(a)(2) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘$15,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$75,000,000’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. TERMINATION NOTICE. 

2 Section 41733 of title 49, United States Code, is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following—

4 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION NOTICE.—If the Secretary de5 cides to terminate basic essential service to an eligible 

6 place, the Secretary shall notify the affected community 

7 not less than 90 days before such service is to be termi8 nated.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. JOINT PROPOSALS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 41740 of title 49, United 

11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: ‘‘The Secretary shall facilitate and assist in estab13 lishing negotiations between major and national air car14 riers and air carriers that provide essential air service to 

15 an eligible place in order to determine equitable joint 

16 fares.’’. 

17 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after enact18 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit a report 

19 to Congress regarding the progress and effectiveness of 

20 implementation of the amendment made by subsection (a). 

21 SEC. 5. COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL CHOICE PROGRAM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 417 of 

23 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following:
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1 ‘‘§ 41745. Community and regional choice program 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transpor3 tation shall establish an alternate essential air service pro4 gram in accordance with the requirements of this section. 

5 ‘‘(b) COMPENSATION TO ELIGIBLE PLACES.—In car6 rying out the program, the Secretary, instead of paying 

7 compensation to an air carrier to provide essential air 

8 service to an eligible place, may pay compensation directly 

9 to a unit of local government having jurisdiction over the 

10 eligible place or a State within the boundaries of which 

11 the eligible place is located. 

12 ‘‘(c) USE OF COMPENSATION.—A unit of local gov13 ernment or State receiving compensation for an eligible 

14 place under the program shall use the compensation for 

15 any of the following purposes: 

16 ‘‘(1) To provide assistance to an air carrier to 

17 provide scheduled air service to and from the eligible 

18 place, without being subject to the requirements of 

19 41732(b). 

20 ‘‘(2) To provide assistance to a person to pro21 vide scheduled or on-demand air taxi service to and

22 from the eligible place and a non-hub or a small, 

23 medium, or large hub. 

24 ‘‘(3) To provide assistance to a person to pro25 vide scheduled or on-demand surface transportation 
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1 to and from the eligible place and a non-hub or a 

2 small, medium, or large hub. 

3 ‘‘(4) In combination with other units of local 

4 government in the same region, to provide transpor5 tation services to and from all the eligible places in 

6 that region at an airport or other transportation 

7 center that can serve all the eligible places in that 

8 region. 

9 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A unit of local government 

11 or State seeking to participate in the program for an 

12 eligible place shall submit to the Secretary an appli13 cation in such form and containing such information 

14 as the Secretary may require. 

15 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—At a min16 imum, the application shall include—

17 ‘‘(A) a statement of the amount of com18 pensation required; and 

19 ‘‘(B) a description of how the compensa20 tion will be used. 

21 ‘‘(e) PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible 

22 place for which compensation is received under the pro23 gram in a fiscal year shall not be eligible to receive in 

24 that fiscal year the essential air service that it would oth25 erwise be entitled to under this subchapter. 
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1 ‘‘(f) SUBSEQUENT PARTICIPATION.—A unit of local 

2 government participating in the program under this sec3 tion in a fiscal year shall not be prohibited from partici4 pating in the basic essential air service program under this 

5 chapter in a subsequent fiscal year if such unit is other6 wise eligible to participate in such basic program. 

7 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—Amounts appropriated or otherwise 

8 made available to carry out the essential air service pro9 gram under this subchapter shall be available to carry out 

10 this section.

11 ‘‘§ 41746. Compensation for units of local government 

12 ‘‘Of the amounts made available under section 

13 41742(a) the Secretary shall pay directly to a unit of local 

14 government having jurisdiction over the eligible place not 

15 less than $5,000 for such fiscal year to promote public 

16 use of the air service or transportation for which com17 pensation is being paid.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

19 such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relat20 ing to section 41744 the following:

‘‘41745. Community and regional choice program. 

‘‘41746. Compensation for units of local government.’’.

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