Calendar No. 539

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1994

[Report No. 104–333]

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to reauistration, and for other purposes. thorize programs of the Federal Aviation AdminJULY 26, 1996

Read twice and placed on the calendar
II

Calendar No. 539

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1994

[Report No. 104–333]

To amend title 49, United States Code, to reauthorize programs of the

Federal Aviation Administration, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 26, 1996

Mr. PRESSLER, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, reported the following original bill; which was read twice and

placed on the calendar

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to reauthorize programs of the Federal Aviation Administration, and for

other purposes.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

Section 1. Short Title; Table of Contents.
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Sec. 2. Amendments to Title 49, United States Code.

TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF FAA PROGRAMS

Sec. 101. Federal Aviation Administration Operations.

Sec. 102. Air Navigation Facilities.

Sec. 103. Research and development.

Sec. 104. Airport Improvement Program.

Sec. 105. Interaccount flexibility.

TITLE II—AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS

Sec. 201. Pavement maintenance program.

Sec. 202. Maximum percentages of amount made available for grants to certain

primary airports.

Sec. 203. Discretionary fund.

Sec. 204. Designating current and former military airports.

Sec. 205. State block grant program.

Sec. 206. Access to airports by intercity buses.

TITLE III—EXTENSION OF AIRPORT AND AIRWAY

TRUST FUND EXPENDITURE AUTHORITY

Sec. 301. Expenditures from Airport and Airway Trust Fund.

TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 401. Acquisition of housing units.

Sec. 402. Technical correction of title 49 codification.

Sec. 403. Protection of voluntary submission of information.

Sec. 404. Discretionary authority for criminal history records checks.

Sec. 405. Application of FAA regulations.

Sec. 406. Sense of the Senate regarding the funding of the Federal Aviation

Administration.

Sec. 407. Authorization for State-specific safety measures.

Sec. 408. Sense of the Senate regarding the air ambulance exemption from certain Federal excise taxes.

Sec. 409. FAA safety mission.

TITLE V—COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPORTATION

Sec. 501. Commercial space launch amendments.

TITLE VI—AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT ACT

Sec. 601. Short title.

Sec. 602. Definitions.

Sec. 603. Effective date.

SUBTITLE A—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 621. Findings.

Sec. 622. Purposes.

Sec. 623. Regulation of civilian air transportation and related services by the

Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation.

Sec. 624. Regulations.

Sec. 625. Personnel and services.

Sec. 626. Contracts.

Sec. 627. Facilities.

Sec. 628. Property.

Sec. 629. Transfers of funds from other federal agencies.

Sec. 630. Management Advisory Council.

Sec. 631. Aircraft engine standards.

Sec. 632. Rural air fare study.

SUBTITLE B—FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

STREAMLINING PROGRAMS
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Sec. 651. Review of acquisition management system.

Sec. 652. Air traffic control modernization reviews.

Sec. 653. Federal Aviation Administration personnel management system.

Sec. 654. Conforming amendment.

SUBTITLE C—SYSTEM TO FUND CERTAIN FEDERAL

AVIATION ADMINISTRATION FUNCTIONS

Sec. 671. Findings.

Sec. 672. Purposes.

Sec. 673. User fees for various Federal Aviation Administration services.

Sec. 674. Independent assessment and task force to review existing and innovative funding mechanisms.

Sec. 675. Procedure for consideration of certain funding proposals.

Sec. 676. Administrative provisions.

Sec. 677. Advance appropriations for Airport and Airway Trust Fund activities.

Sec. 678. Rural Air Service Survival Act.

TITLE VII—PILOT RECORDS

Sec. 701. Short title.

Sec. 702. Employment investigations of pilot applicants.

Sec. 703. Study of minimum standards for pilot qualifications.

1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE.

2 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in

3 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

4 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi5 sion of law, the reference shall be considered to be made

6 to a section or other provision of title 49, United States

7 Code.

8 TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION OF

9 FAA PROGRAMS

10 SEC. 101. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION OPER11 ATIONS.

12 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FROM

13 GENERAL FUND.—Section 106(k) is amended—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘1995,’’; and
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1 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the

2 following: ‘‘, and $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year

3 1997.’’.

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FROM

5 TRUST FUND.—Section 48104(b) is amended—

6 (1) in the subsection heading by striking ‘‘FOR

7 FISCAL YEARS 1993’’; and

8 (2) by striking the phrase ‘‘for fiscal year

9 1993’’.

10 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 48108 is

11 amended by striking subsection (c).

12 SEC. 102. AIR NAVIGATION FACILITIES.

13 Section 48101(a) is amended by adding at the end

14 the following:

15 ‘‘(5) For the fiscal years ending September 30,

16 1991–1997, $17,929,000,000.’’.

17 SEC. 103. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

18 Section 48102(a) is amended by striking ‘‘title:’’ and

19 all that follows through the end of the subsection, and in20 serting the following: ‘‘title, $200,000,000 for fiscal year

21 1997.’’.

22 SEC. 104. AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

23 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

24 48103 is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and $21,958,500,000’’ and in2 serting ‘‘$19,200,500,000’’; and

3 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the

4 following: ‘‘, $21,480,500,000 for fiscal years ending

5 before October 1, 1997.

6 (b) OBLIGATIONAL AUTHORITY.—Section 47104(c)

7 is amended by striking ‘‘1996’’ and inserting ‘‘1997’’.

8 SEC. 105. INTERACCOUNT FLEXIBILITY.

9 Section 106 is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new subsection:

11 ‘‘(l) INTERACCOUNT FLEXIBILITY.—

12 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the

13 Administrator may transfer budget authority derived

14 from trust funds among appropriations authorized

15 by subsection (k) and sections 48101 and 48102, if

16 the aggregate estimated outlays in such accounts in

17 the fiscal year in which the transfers are made will

18 not be increased as a result of such transfer.

19 ‘‘(2) The transfer of budget authority under

20 paragraph (1) may be made only to the extent that

21 outlays do not exceed the aggregate estimated out22 lays.

23 ‘‘(3) A transfer of budget authority under para24 graph (1) may not result in a net decrease of more

25 than 5 percent, or a net increase of more than 10
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1 percent, in the budget authority available under any

2 appropriation involved in that transfer.

3 ‘‘(4) Any action taken pursuant to this section

4 shall be treated as a reprogramming of funds that

5 is subject to review by the appropriate committees of

6 the Congress.

7 ‘‘(5) The Administrator may transfer budget

8 authority pursuant to this section only after—

9 ‘‘(A) submitting a written explanation of

10 the proposed transfer to the Committees on

11 Transportation and Infrastructure and Appro12 priations of the House of Representatives and

13 the Committees on Commerce, Science, and

14 Transportation and Appropriations of the Sen15 ate; and

16 ‘‘(B) 30 days have passed after the expla17 nation is submitted and none of the Committees

18 notifies the Administrator in writing that it ob19 jects to the proposed transfer within the 30 day

20 period.’’.
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1 TITLE II—AIRPORT IMPROVE2 MENT PROGRAM MODIFICA3 TIONS

4 SEC. 201. PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE PROGRAM.

5 (a) PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE.—Chapter 471 is

6 amended by adding the following section at the end of sub7 chapter I:

8 ‘‘§ 47132. Pavement maintenance

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Fed10 eral Aviation Administration shall prescribe regulations to

11 carry out a pavement maintenance pilot project to pre12 serve and extend the useful life of runways, taxiways, and

13 aprons at airports for which apportionments are made

14 under section 47114(d). The regulations shall provide that

15 the Administrator may designate not more than 10

16 projects. The regulations shall provide criteria for the Ad17 ministrator to use in choosing the projects. At least 2 such

18 projects must be in States without a primary airport that

19 had 0.25 percent or more of the total boardings in the

20 United States in the preceding calendar year. In designat21 ing a project, the Administrator shall take into consider22 ation geographical, climatological, and soil diversity.

23 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall be effec24 tive beginning on the date of enactment of the Federal
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1 Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996 and ending on Sep2 tember 30, 1999.’’.

3 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL MANDATES.—

4 (1) USE OF AIP GRANTS.—Section 47102(3) is

5 amended—

6 (A) in subparagraph (E) by inserting ‘‘or

7 under section 40117’’ before the period at the

8 end; and

9 (B) in subparagraph (F) by striking ‘‘paid

10 for by a grant under this subchapter and’’.

11 (2) USE OF PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES.—

12 Section 40117(a)(3) is amended—

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub14 paragraph (D);

15 (B) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of sub16 paragraph (E) and inserting a period; and

17 (C) by striking subparagraph (F).

18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analy19 sis for subchapter I of chapter 471 is amended by insert20 ing after the item relating to section 47131 the following

21 new item:

‘‘47132. Pavement maintenance.’’.
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1 SEC. 202. MAXIMUM PERCENTAGES OF AMOUNT MADE

2 AVAILABLE FOR GRANTS TO CERTAIN PRI3 MARY AIRPORTS.

4 Section 47114 is amended by adding at the end

5 thereof the following:

6 ‘‘(g) SLIDING SCALE.—

7 ‘‘(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of

8 this title, of the amount newly made available under

9 section 48103 of this title for fiscal year 1997 to

10 make grants, not more than the percentage of such

11 amount newly made available that is specified in

12 paragraph (2) shall be distributed in total in such

13 fiscal year for grants described in paragraph (3).

14 ‘‘(2) If the amount newly made available is—

15 ‘‘(A) not more than $1,150,000,000, then

16 the percentage is 47.0;

17 ‘‘(B) more than $1,150,000,000 but not

18 more than $1,250,000,000, then the percentage

19 is 46.0;

20 ‘‘(C) more than $1,250,000,000 but not

21 more than $1,350,000,000, then the percentage

22 is 45.4;

23 ‘‘(D) more than $1,350,000,000 but not

24 more than $1,450,000,000, then the percentage

25 is 44.8; or
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1 ‘‘(E) more than $1,450,000,000 but not

2 more than $1,550,000,000, then the percentage

3 is 44.3.

4 ‘‘(3) This section applies to the aggregate

5 amount of grants in a fiscal year for projects at

6 those primary airports that each have not less than

7 0.25 per centum of the total passenger boardings in

8 the United States in the preceding calendar year.’’.

9 SEC. 203. DISCRETIONARY FUND.

10 Section 47115 is amended—

11 (1) by redesignating the second subsection (f)

12 as subsection (g); and

13 (2) by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(h) PRIORITY FOR LETTERS OF INTENT.—In mak15 ing grants in a fiscal year with funds made available under

16 this section, the Secretary shall fulfill intentions to obli17 gate under section 47110(e).’’

18 SEC. 204. DESIGNATING CURRENT AND FORMER MILITARY

19 AIRPORTS.

20 (a) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—Section 47118(a) is

21 amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘not more than 15’’; and

23 (2) by inserting after the first sentence the fol24 lowing: ‘‘The maximum number of airports which
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1 may be designated by the Secretary under this sec2 tion at any time is 10.’’.

3 (b) PARKING LOTS, FUEL FARMS, AND UTILITIES.—

4 Subsection (f) of section 47118 is amended by striking

5 ‘‘the fiscal years ending September 30, 1993–1996,’’ and

6 inserting ‘‘for fiscal years beginning after September 30,

7 1992,’’.

8 (c) ONE YEAR EXTENSION.—Section 47117(e)(1)(E)

9 is amended by striking ‘‘and 1996,’’ and inserting ‘‘1996,

10 and 1997,’’.

11 SEC. 205. STATE BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM.

12 (a) PARTICIPATING STATES.—Section 47128 is

13 amended—

14 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through

15 (E) of subsection (b)(1) as paragraphs (1) through

16 (5), respectively;

17 (2) by striking ‘‘(1) A State’’ in subsection (b)

18 and inserting ‘‘A State’’; and

19 (3) by striking paragraph (2).

20 (b) USE OF STATE PRIORITY SYSTEM.—Section

21 47128(c) is amended by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall per23 mit a State to use the priority system of the State if such

24 system is not inconsistent with the national priority sys25 tem.’’.
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1 (c) CHANGE OF EXPIRATION DATE.—Section

2 47128(d) is amended by striking ‘‘1996’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘1997’’.

4 SEC. 206. ACCESS TO AIRPORTS BY INTERCITY BUSES.

5 Section 47107 (a) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

7 (18);

8 (2) by striking the period at the end of para9 graph (19) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and

10 (3) by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(20) the airport owner or operator will permit,

12 to the maximum extent practicable, intercity buses

13 or other modes of transportation to have access to

14 the airport, but the sponsor does not have any obli15 gation under this paragraph, or because of it, to

16 fund special facilities for intercity bus service or for

17 other modes of transportation.’’.
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1 TITLE III—EXTENSION OF AIR2 PORT AND AIRWAY TRUST

3 FUND EXPENDITURE AU4 THORITY

5 SEC. 301. EXPENDITURES FROM AIRPORT AND AIRWAY

6 TRUST FUND.

7 Section 9502(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of

8 1986 (relating to expenditures from Airport and Airway

9 Trust Fund) is amended by:

10 (1) striking ‘‘1996’’ and inserting ‘‘1997’’;

11 (2) inserting ‘‘or the Federal Aviation Reau12 thorization Act of 1996’’ after ‘‘Administration Au13 thorization Act of 1994’’;

14 TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS

15 PROVISIONS

16 SEC. 401. ACQUISITION OF HOUSING UNITS.

17 Section 40110 is amended—

18 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub19 section (c); and

20 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow21 ing:

22 ‘‘(b) ACQUISITION OF HOUSING UNITS.—

23 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—In carrying out this part,

24 the Administrator may acquire interests in housing

25 units outside the contiguous United States.
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1 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING OBLIGATIONS.—Notwith2 standing section 1341 of title 31, United States

3 Code, the Administrator may acquire an interest in

4 a housing unit under paragraph (1) even if there is

5 an obligation thereafter to pay necessary and rea6 sonable fees duly assessed upon such unit, including

7 fees related to operation, maintenance, taxes, and in8 surance.

9 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—The Ad10 ministrator may acquire an interest in a housing

11 unit under paragraph (1) only if the Administrator

12 transmits to the Committee on Transportation and

13 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and

14 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans15 portation of the Senate at least 30 days before com16 pleting the acquisition a report containing—

17 ‘‘(A) a description of the housing unit and

18 its price; and

19 ‘‘(B) a certification that acquiring the

20 housing unit is the most cost-beneficial means

21 of providing necessary accommodations in car22 rying out this part.

23 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT OF FEES.—The Administrator

24 may pay, when due, fees resulting from the acquisi25 tion of an interest in a housing unit under this sub-
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1 section from any amounts made available to the Ad2 ministrator.’’.

3 SEC. 402. TECHNICAL CORRECTION OF TITLE 49 CODIFICA4 TION.

5 Section 40116(b) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection

6 (c) of this section and’’.

7 SEC. 403. PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION OF IN8 FORMATION.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 401 is amended by redes10 ignating section 40120 as section 40121 and by inserting

11 after section 40119 the following:

12 ‘‘§ 40120. Protection of voluntarily submitted infor13 mation

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro15 vision of law, neither the Administrator of the Federal

16 Aviation Administration, nor any agency receiving infor17 mation from the Administrator, shall disclose voluntarily18 provided safety or security related information if the Ad19 ministrator finds that—

20 ‘‘(1) the disclosure of the information would in21 hibit the voluntary provision of that type of informa22 tion and that the receipt of that type of information

23 aids in fulfilling the Administrator’s safety and secu24 rity responsibilities; and
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1 ‘‘(2) withholding such information from disclo2 sure would be consistent with the Administrator’s

3 safety and security responsibilities.

4 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall issue

5 regulations to carry out this section.’’.

6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec7 tions at the beginning of chapter 401 is amended by strik8 ing the item relating to section 40120 and inserting the

9 following:

‘‘40120. Protection of voluntarily submitted information.

‘‘40121. Relationship to other laws.’’.

10 SEC. 404. DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY FOR CRIMINAL HIS11 TORY RECORDS CHECKS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44936(a)(1) is amend13 ed—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(1)(A)’’;

15 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and

16 (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; and

17 (3) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(B) The Administrator may require by regula19 tion that an employment investigation, (including a

20 criminal history record check in cases in which the

21 employment investigation reveals a gap in employ22 ment of 12 months or more that the individual does

23 not satisfactorily account for or the individual is un24 able to support statements made or there are signifi-
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1 cant inconsistencies between information provided on

2 an application) be conducted for individuals who will

3 be responsible for screening passengers or property

4 under chapter 449 of this title and their super5 visors.’’.

6 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub7 section (a)(3) shall apply to individuals hired as screeners

8 or supervisors of screeners after the date of the enactment

9 of this Act.

10 SEC. 405. APPLICATION OF FAA REGULATIONS.

11 In amending title 14, Code of Federal Regulations,

12 in a manner affecting intrastate aviation in Alaska, the

13 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration

14 shall consider the extent to which Alaska is not served by

15 transportation modes other than aviation, and shall estab16 lish such regulatory distinctions as the Administrator

17 deems appropriate.

18 SEC. 406. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE FUND19 ING OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINIS20 TRATION.

21 (a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that—

22 (1) the Congress is responsible for ensuring

23 that the financial needs of the Federal Aviation Ad24 ministration, the agency that performs the critical

25 function of overseeing the Nation’s air traffic control
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1 system and ensuring the safety of air travelers in

2 the United States, are met;

3 (2) the number of air traffic control equipment

4 and power failures is increasing, which could place

5 at risk the reliability of our Nation’s air traffic con6 trol system;

7 (3) aviation excise taxes that constitute the Air8 port and Airway Trust Fund, which provides most

9 of the funding for the Federal Aviation Administra10 tion, have expired;

11 (4) the surplus in the Airport and Airway Trust

12 Fund will be spent by the Federal Aviation Adminis13 tration by December 1996;

14 (5) the existing system of funding the Federal

15 Aviation Administration will not provide the agency

16 with sufficient short-term or long-term funding;

17 (6) this Act creates a sound process to review

18 Federal Aviation Administration funding and de19 velop a funding system to meet the Federal Aviation

20 Administration’s long-term funding needs; and

21 (7) without immediate action by the Congress

22 to ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration’s

23 financial needs are met, air travelers’ confidence in

24 the system could be undermined.
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1 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the

2 Senate that there should be an immediate enactment of

3 an 18-month reinstatement of the aviation excise taxes to

4 provide short-term funding for the Federal Aviation Ad5 ministration.

6 SEC. 407. AUTHORIZATION FOR STATE-SPECIFIC SAFETY

7 MEASURES.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Fed9 eral Aviation Administration not more than $10,000,000

10 in fiscal year 1997 for the purpose of addressing State11 specific aviation safety problems identified by the National

12 Transportation Safety Board.

13 SEC. 408. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE AIR AM14 BULANCE EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN FED15 ERAL EXCISE TAXES.

16 It is the sense of the Senate that, if the excise taxes

17 imposed by section 4261 or 4271 of the Internal Revenue

18 Code of 1986 are reinstated, the exemption from those

19 taxes provided by section 4261(f) of such Code for air

20 transportation by helicopter for the purpose of providing

21 emergency medical services should be broadened to include

22 air transportation by fixed-wing aircraft for that purpose.

23 SEC. 409. FAA SAFETY MISSION.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 40104 is amended—
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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘safety of’’ before ‘‘air com2 merce’’ in the section caption;

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘SAFETY OF’’ before ‘‘AIR

4 COMMERCE’’ in the caption of subsection (a); and

5 (3) by and inserting ‘‘safety of’’ before ‘‘air

6 commerce’’ in subsection (a).

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

8 for chapter 401 is amended by striking the item relating

9 to section 40104 and inserting:

‘‘40104. Promotion of civil aeronautics and air commerce safety.’’.

10 TITLE V—COMMERCIAL SPACE

11 TRANSPORTATION

12 SEC. 501. COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH AMENDMENTS.

13 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 701 is amended—

14 (1) in the table of sections—

15 (A) by amending the item relating to sec16 tion 70104 to read as follows:

‘‘70104. Restrictions on launches, operations, and reentries.’’;

17 (B) by amending the item relating to sec18 tion 70108 to read as follows:

‘‘70108. Prohibition, suspension, and end of launches, operation of launch sites

and reentry sites, and reentries.’’;

19 and

20 (C) by amending the item relating to sec21 tion 70109 to read as follows:

‘‘70109. Preemption of scheduled launches or reentries.’’;

22 (2) in section 70101—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘microgravity research,’’

2 after ‘‘information services,’’ in subsection

3 (a)(3);

4 (B) by inserting ‘‘, reentry,’’ after ‘‘launch5 ing’’ both places it appears in subsection (a)(4);

6 (C) by inserting ‘‘, reentry vehicles,’’ after

7 ‘‘launch vehicles’’ in subsection (a)(5);

8 (D) by inserting ‘‘and reentry services’’

9 after ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(6);

10 (E) by inserting ‘‘, reentries,’’ after

11 ‘‘launches’’ both places it appears in subsection

12 (a)(7);

13 (F) by inserting ‘‘, reentry sites,’’ after

14 ‘‘launch sites’’ in subsection (a)(8);

15 (G) by inserting ‘‘and reentry services’’

16 after ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(8);

17 (H) by inserting ‘‘reentry sites,’’ after

18 ‘‘launch sites,’’ in subsection (a)(9);

19 (I) by inserting ‘‘and reentry site’’ after

20 ‘‘launch site’’ in subsection (a)(9);

21 (J) by inserting ‘‘reentry vehicles,’’ after

22 ‘‘launch vehicles’’ in subsection (b)(2);

23 (K) by striking ‘‘launch’’ in subsection

24 (b)(2)(A);
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1 (L) by inserting ‘‘and reentry’’ after ‘‘com2 mercial launch’’ in subsection (b)(3);

3 (M) by striking ‘‘launch’’ after ‘‘and trans4 fer commercial’’ in subsection (b)(3); and

5 (N) by inserting ‘‘and development of re6 entry sites,’’ after ‘‘launch-site support facili7 ties,’’ in subsection (b)(4);

8 (3) in section 70102—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘and any payload’’ and in10 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘or reentry vehicle and

11 any payload from Earth’’ in paragraph (3);

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry vehicle’’ after

13 ‘‘means of a launch vehicle’’ in paragraph (8);

14 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (10)

15 through (12) as paragraphs (14) through (16),

16 respectively;

17 (D) by inserting after paragraph (9) the

18 following new paragraphs:

19 ‘‘(10) ‘reenter’ and ‘reentry’ mean to return or

20 attempt to return, purposefully, a reentry vehicle

21 and its payload, if any, from Earth orbit or from

22 outer space to Earth.

23 ‘‘(11) ‘reentry services’ means—
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1 ‘‘(A) activities involved in the preparation

2 of a reentry vehicle and its payload, if any, for

3 reentry; and

4 ‘‘(B) the conduct of a reentry.

5 ‘‘(12) ‘reentry site’ means the location on Earth

6 to which a reentry vehicle is intended to return (as

7 defined in a license the Secretary issues or transfers

8 under this chapter).

9 ‘‘(13) ‘reentry vehicle’ means a vehicle designed

10 to return from Earth orbit or outer space to Earth,

11 or a reusable launch vehicle designed to return from

12 outer space substantially intact.’’; and

13 (E) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

14 ‘‘launch services’’ each place it appears in para15 graph (15), as so redesignated by subparagraph

16 (C) of this paragraph;

17 (4) in section 70103(b)—

18 (A) by inserting ‘‘AND REENTRIES’’ after

19 ‘‘LAUNCHES’’ in the subsection heading;

20 (B) by inserting ‘‘and reentries’’ after

21 ‘‘space launches’’ in paragraph (1); and

22 (C) by inserting ‘‘and reentry’’ after

23 ‘‘space launch’’ in paragraph (2);

24 (5) in section 70104—
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1 (A) by amending the section designation

2 and heading to read as follows:

3 ‘‘§ 70104. Restrictions on launches, operations, and

4 reentries’’;

5 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site, or to re6 enter a reentry vehicle,’’ after ‘‘operate a

7 launch site’’ each place it appears in subsection

8 (a);

9 (C) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘launch

10 or operation’’ in subsection (a)(3) and (4);

11 (D) in subsection (b)—

12 (i) by striking ‘‘launch license’’ and

13 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘license’’;

14 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or reenter’’ after

15 ‘‘may launch’’; and

16 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or reentering’’ after

17 ‘‘related to launching’’; and

18 (E) in subsection (c)—

19 (i) by amending the subsection head20 ing to read as follows: ‘‘PREVENTING

21 LAUNCHES AND REENTRIES.—’’;

22 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

23 ‘‘prevent the launch’’; and

24 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

25 ‘‘decides the launch’’;
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1 (6) in section 70105—

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘or a reentry site, or the

3 reentry of a reentry vehicle,’’ after ‘‘operation

4 of a launch site’’ in subsection (b)(1); and

5 (B) by striking ‘‘or operation’’ and insert6 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘, operation, or reentry’’ in

7 subsection (b)(2)(A);

8 (7) in section 70106(a)—

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site’’ after

10 ‘‘observer at a launch site’’;

11 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry vehicle’’ after

12 ‘‘assemble a launch vehicle’’; and

13 (C) by inserting ‘‘or reentry vehicle’’ after

14 ‘‘with a launch vehicle’’;

15 (8) in section 70108—

16 (A) by amending the section designation

17 and heading to read as follows:

18 ‘‘§ 70108. Prohibition, suspension, and end of

19 launches, operation of launch sites and

20 reentry sites, and reentries’’;

21 and

22 (B) in subsection (a)—

23 (i) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site, or re24 entry of a reentry vehicle,’’ after ‘‘oper25 ation of a launch site’’; and
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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

2 ‘‘launch or operation’’;

3 (9) in section 70109—

4 (A) by amending the section designation

5 and heading to read as follows:

6 ‘‘§ 70109. Preemption of scheduled launches or reen7 tries’’;

8 (B) in subsection (a)—

9 (i) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

10 ‘‘ensure that a launch’’;

11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, reentry site,’’ after

12 ‘‘United States Government launch site’’;

13 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry date

14 commitment’’ after ‘‘launch date commit15 ment’’;

16 (iv) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

17 ‘‘obtained for a launch’’;

18 (v) by inserting ‘‘, reentry site,’’ after

19 ‘‘access to a launch site’’;

20 (vi) by inserting ‘‘, or services related

21 to a reentry,’’ after ‘‘amount for launch

22 services’’; and

23 (vii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

24 ‘‘the scheduled launch’’; and
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1 (C) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or re2 entry’’ after ‘‘prompt launching’’;

3 (10) in section 70110—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘pre5 vent the launch’’ in subsection (a)(2); and

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site, or re7 entry of a reentry vehicle,’’ after ‘‘operation of

8 a launch site’’ in subsection (a)(3)(B);

9 (11) in section 70111—

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

11 ‘‘launch’’ in subsection (a)(1)(A);

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘and reentry services’’

13 after ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(1)(B);

14 (C) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

15 ‘‘or launch services’’ in subsection (a)(2);

16 (D) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘com17 mercial launch’’ both places it appears in sub18 section (b)(1);

19 (E) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

20 ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (b)(2)(C);

21 (F) by striking ‘‘or its payload for launch’’

22 in subsection (d) and inserting in lieu thereof

23 ‘‘or reentry vehicle, or the payload of either, for

24 launch or reentry’’; and
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1 (G) by inserting ‘‘, reentry vehicle,’’ after

2 ‘‘manufacturer of the launch vehicle’’ in sub3 section (d);

4 (12) in section 70112—

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘one

6 launch’’ in subsection (a)(3);

7 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

8 ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(4);

9 (C) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

10 ‘‘launch services’’ each place it appears in sub11 section (b);

12 (D) by inserting ‘‘applicable’’ after ‘‘car13 ried out under the’’ in paragraphs (1) and (2)

14 of subsection (b);

15 (E) by striking ‘‘, Space, and Technology’’

16 in subsection (d)(1);

17 (F) by inserting ‘‘OR REENTRIES’’ after

18 ‘‘LAUNCHES’’ in the heading for subsection (e);

19 and

20 (G) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site or a re21 entry’’ after ‘‘launch site’’ in subsection (e);

22 (13) in section 70113(a)(1) and (d)(1) and (2),

23 by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘one launch’’ each

24 place it appears;

25 (14) in section 70115(b)(1)(D)(i)—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘reentry site,’’ after

2 ‘‘launch site,’’; and

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry vehicle’’ after

4 ‘‘launch vehicle’’ both places it appears; and

5 (15) in section 70117—

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site, or to re7 enter a reentry vehicle’’ after ‘‘operate a launch

8 site’’ in subsection (a);

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘ap10 proval of a space launch’’ in subsection (d);

11 (C) by amending subsection (f) to read as

12 follows:

13 ‘‘(f) LAUNCH NOT AN EXPORT; REENTRY NOT AN

14 IMPORT.—A launch vehicle, reentry vehicle, or payload

15 that is launched or reentered is not, because of the launch

16 or reentry, an export or import, respectively, for purposes

17 of a law controlling exports or imports.’’; and

18 (D) in subsection (g)—

19 (i) by striking ‘‘operation of a launch

20 vehicle or launch site,’’ in paragraph (1)

21 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘reentry, op22 eration of a launch vehicle or reentry vehi23 cle, or operation of a launch site or reentry

24 site,’’; and
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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘reentry,’’ after

2 ‘‘launch,’’ in paragraph (2).

3 (b) ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 70105

4 is amended—

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘A person may

6 apply’’ in subsection (a);

7 (B) by striking ‘‘receiving an application’’ both

8 places it appears in subsection (a) and inserting in

9 lieu thereof ‘‘accepting an application in accordance

10 with criteria established pursuant to subsection

11 (b)(2)(D)’’;

12 (C) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the

13 following new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary

15 may establish procedures for certification of the safety of

16 a launch vehicle, reentry vehicle, or safety system, proce17 dure, service, or personnel that may be used in conducting

18 licensed commercial space launch or reentry activities.’’;

19 (D) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subsection

20 (b)(2)(B);

21 (E) by striking the period at the end of sub22 section (b)(2)(C) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘;

23 and’’;

24 (F) by adding at the end of subsection (b)(2)

25 the following new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(D) regulations establishing criteria for ac2 cepting or rejecting an application for a license

3 under this chapter within 60 days after receipt of

4 such application.’’; and

5 (G) by inserting ‘‘, or the requirement to obtain

6 a license,’’ after ‘‘waive a requirement’’ in subsection

7 (b)(3).

8 (2) The amendment made by paragraph (1)(B) shall

9 take effect upon the effective date of final regulations is10 sued pursuant to section 70105(b)(2)(D) of title 49, Unit11 ed States Code, as added by paragraph (1)(F) of this sub12 section.

13 (3) Section 70102(5) is amended—

14 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and

15 (B) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively; and

16 (B) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as so

17 redesignated by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph,

18 the following new subparagraph:

19 ‘‘(A) activities directly related to the prep20 aration of a launch site or payload facility for

21 one or more launches;’’.

22 (4) Section 70103(b) is amended—

23 (A) in the subsection heading, as amended by

24 subsection (a)(4)(A) of this section, by inserting
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1 ‘‘AND STATE SPONSORED SPACEPORTS’’ after ‘‘AND

2 REENTRIES’’; and

3 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and State

4 sponsored spaceports’’ after ‘‘private sector’’.

5 (5) Section 70105(a)(1), as amended by subsection

6 (b)(1) of this section, is amended by inserting at the end

7 the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall submit to the Commit8 tee on Science of the House of Representatives and the

9 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

10 the Senate a written notice not later than 7 days after

11 any occurrence when a license is not issued within the

12 deadline established by this subsection.’’.

13 (6) Section 70111 is amended—

14 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting after sub15 paragraph (B) the following:

16 ‘‘The Secretary shall establish criteria and procedures for

17 determining the priority of competing requests from the

18 private sector and State governments for property and

19 services under this section.’’;

20 (B) by striking ‘‘actual costs’’ in subsection

21 (b)(1) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘additive costs

22 only’’; and

23 (C) by inserting after subsection (b)(2) the fol24 lowing new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall ensure the establishment of

2 uniform guidelines for, and consistent implementation of,

3 this section by all Federal agencies.’’.

4 (7) Section 70112 is amended—

5 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘launch,

6 reentry, or site operator’’ after ‘‘(1) When a’’;

7 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘launch,

8 reentry, or site operator’’ after ‘‘(1)A’’; and

9 (C) in subsection (f), by inserting ‘‘launch, re10 entry, or site operator’’ after ‘‘carried out under a’’.

11 (c) REGULATIONS.—(1) Chapter 701 is amended by

12 adding at the end the following new section:

13 ‘‘§ 70120. Regulations

14 ‘‘The Secretary of Transportation, within 6 months

15 after the date of the enactment of this section, shall issue

16 regulations to carry out this chapter that include—

17 ‘‘(1) guidelines for industry to obtain sufficient

18 insurance coverage for potential damages to third

19 parties;

20 ‘‘(2) procedures for requesting and obtaining li21 censes to operate a commercial launch vehicle and

22 reentry vehicle;

23 ‘‘(3) procedures for requesting and obtaining

24 operator licenses for launch and reentry; and
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1 ‘‘(4) procedures for the application of govern2 ment indemnification.’’.

3 (2) The table of sections for such chapter 701 is

4 amended by adding after the item relating to section

5 70119 the following new item:

‘‘70120. Regulations.’’.

6 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—(1) Chapter 701 is fur7 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sec8 tion:

9 ‘‘§ 70121. Report to Congress

10 ‘‘The Secretary of Transportation shall submit to

11 Congress an annual report to accompany the President’s

12 budget request that—

13 ‘‘(1) describes all activities undertaken under

14 this chapter, including a description of the process

15 for the application for and approval of licenses under

16 this chapter and recommendations for legislation

17 that may further commercial launches and reentries;

18 and

19 ‘‘(2) reviews the performance of the regulatory

20 activities and the effectiveness of the Office of Com21 mercial Space Transportation.’’.

22 (2) The table of sections for such chapter 701 is fur23 ther amended by adding after the item relating to section
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1 70120, as added by subsection (c)(2) of this section, the

2 following new item:

‘‘70121. Report to Congress.’’.

3 TITLE VI—AIR TRAFFIC MAN4 AGEMENT SYSTEM PERFORM5 ANCE IMPROVEMENT ACT

6 SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE.

7 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Air Traffic Manage8 ment System Performance Improvement Act of 1996’’.

9 SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.

10 For the purposes of this title the following definitions

11 shall apply:

12 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra13 tion’’ means the Federal Aviation Administration.

14 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis15 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal

16 Aviation Administration.

17 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

18 the Secretary of Transportation.

19 SEC. 603. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 The provisions of this title and the amendments made

21 by this title shall take effect on the date that is 30 days

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SUBTITLE A—GENERAL

2 PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 621. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds the following:

5 (1) In many respects the Administration is a

6 unique agency, being one of the few non-defense gov7 ernment agencies that operates 24 hours a day, 365

8 days of the year, while continuing to rely on out9 dated technology to carry out its responsibilities for

10 a state-of-the-art industry.

11 (2) Until January 1, 1996, users of the air

12 transportation system paid 70 percent of the budget

13 of the Administration, with the remaining 30 per14 cent coming from the General Fund. The General

15 Fund contribution over the years is one measure of

16 the benefit received by the general public, military,

17 and other users of Administration’s services.

18 (3) The Administration must become a more ef19 ficient, effective, and different organization to meet

20 future challenges.

21 (4) The need to balance the Federal budget

22 means that it may become more and more difficult

23 to obtain sufficient General Fund contributions to

24 meet the Administration’s future budget needs.
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1 (5) Congress must keep its commitment to the

2 users of the national air transportation system by

3 seeking to spend all monies collected from them each

4 year and deposited into the Airport and Airway

5 Trust Fund. Existing surpluses representing past re6 ceipts must also be spent for the purposes for which

7 such funds were collected.

8 (6) The aviation community and the employees

9 of the Administration must come together to im10 prove the system. The Administration must continue

11 to recognize who its customers are and what their

12 needs are, and to design and redesign the system to

13 make safety improvements and increase productivity.

14 (7) The Administration projects that commer15 cial operations will increase by 18 percent and pas16 senger traffic by 35 percent by the year 2002. With17 out effective airport expansion and system mod18 ernization, these needs cannot be met.

19 (8) Absent significant and meaningful reform,

20 future challenges and needs cannot be met.

21 (9) The Administration must have a new way

22 of doing business.

23 (10) There is widespread agreement within gov24 ernment and the aviation industry that reform of the

25 Administration is essential to safely and efficiently
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1 accommodate the projected growth of aviation within

2 the next decade.

3 (11) To the extent that the Congress deter4 mines that certain segments of the aviation commu5 nity are not required to pay all of the costs of the

6 government services which they require and benefits

7 which they receive, the Congress should appropriate

8 the difference between such costs and any receipts

9 received from such segment.

10 (12) Prior to the imposition of any new charges

11 or user fees on segments of the industry, an inde12 pendent review must be performed to assess the

13 funding needs and assumptions for operations, cap14 ital spending, and airport infrastructure.

15 (13) An independent, thorough, and complete

16 study and assessment must be performed of the

17 costs to the Administration and the costs driven by

18 each segment of the aviation system for safety and

19 operational services, including the use of the air

20 traffic control system and the nation’s airports.

21 (14) Because the Administration is a unique

22 Federal entity in that it is a participant in the daily

23 operations of an industry, and because the national

24 air transportation system faces significant problems

25 without significant changes, the Administration has
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1 been authorized to change the Federal procurement

2 and personnel systems to ensure that the Adminis3 tration has the ability to keep pace with new tech4 nology and is able to match resources with the real

5 personnel needs of the Administration.

6 (15) The existing budget system does not allow

7 for long-term planning or timely acquisition of tech8 nology by the Administration.

9 (16) Without reforms in the areas of procure10 ment, personnel, funding, and governance, the Ad11 ministration will continue to experience delays and

12 cost overruns in its major modernization programs

13 and needed improvements in the performance of the

14 air traffic management system will not occur.

15 (17) All reforms should be designed to help the

16 Administration become more responsive to the needs

17 of its customers and maintains the highest stand18 ards of safety.

19 SEC. 622. PURPOSES.

20 The purposes of this title are—

21 (1) to ensure that final action shall be taken on

22 all notices of proposed rulemaking of the Adminis23 tration within 18 months after the date of their pub24 lication;
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1 (2) to permit the Administration, with Congres2 sional review, to establish a program to improve air

3 traffic management system performance and to es4 tablish appropriate levels of cost accountability for

5 air traffic management services provided by the Ad6 ministration;

7 (3) to establish a more autonomous and ac8 countable Administration within the Department of

9 Transportation; and

10 (4) to make the Administration a more efficient

11 and effective organization, able to meet the needs of

12 a dynamic, growing industry, and to ensure the safe13 ty of the travelling public.

14 SEC. 623. REGULATION OF CIVILIAN AIR TRANSPORTATION

15 AND RELATED SERVICES BY THE FEDERAL

16 AVIATION ADMINISTRATION AND DEPART17 MENT OF TRANSPORTATION.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ in the fifth

20 sentence of subsection (b) and inserting ‘‘Except as

21 provided in subsection (f) of this section or in other

22 provisions of law, the Administrator’’; and

23 (2) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the

24 following:
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1 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY AND THE AD2 MINISTRATOR.—

3 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY.—Except

4 as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary of

5 Transportation shall carry out the duties and powers

6 of the Administration.

7 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF THE ADMINISTRATOR.—

8 The Administrator—

9 ‘‘(A) is the final authority for carrying out

10 all functions, powers, and duties of the Admin11 istration relating to—

12 ‘‘(i) except as otherwise provided in

13 paragraph (3), the promulgation of regula14 tions, rules, orders, circulars, bulletins, and

15 other official publications of the Adminis16 tration; and

17 ‘‘(ii) any obligation imposed on the

18 Administrator, or power conferred on the

19 Administrator, by the Air Traffic Manage20 ment System Performance Improvement

21 Act of 1996 (or any amendment made by

22 that Act);

23 ‘‘(B) shall offer advice and counsel to the

24 President with respect to the appointment and

25 qualifications of any officer or employee of the
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1 Administration to be appointed by the Presi2 dent or as a political appointee;

3 ‘‘(C) may delegate, and authorize succes4 sive redelegations of, to an officer or employee

5 of the Administration any function, power, or

6 duty conferred upon the Administrator, unless

7 such delegation is prohibited by law; and

8 ‘‘(D) except as otherwise provided for in

9 this title, and notwithstanding any other provi10 sion of law to the contrary, shall not be re11 quired to coordinate, submit for approval or

12 concurrence, or seek the advice or views of the

13 Secretary or any other officer or employee of

14 the Department of Transportation on any mat15 ter with respect to which the Administrator is

16 the final authority.

17 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF POLITICAL APPOINTEE.—

18 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘political

19 appointee’ means any individual who—

20 ‘‘(A) is employed in a position on the Ex21 ecutive Schedule under sections 5312 through

22 5316 of title 5;

23 ‘‘(B) is a limited term appointee, limited

24 emergency appointee, or noncareer appointee in

25 the Senior Executive Service as defined under
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1 section 3132(a) (5), (6), and (7) of title 5, re2 spectively; or

3 ‘‘(C) is employed in a position in the exec4 utive branch of the Government of a confiden5 tial or policy-determining character under

6 Schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5

7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.’’.

8 (b) PRESERVATION OF EXISTING AUTHORITY.—

9 Nothing in this title or the amendments made by this title

10 limits any authority granted to the Administrator by stat11 ute or by delegation that was in effect on the day before

12 the date of enactment of this Act.

13 SEC. 624. REGULATIONS.

14 Section 106(f) as amended by section 623, is further

15 amended—

16 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para17 graph (4); and

18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the follow19 ing:

20 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the performance of

22 the functions of the Administrator and the Ad23 ministration, the Administrator is authorized to

24 issue, rescind, and revise such regulations as

25 are necessary to carry out those functions. The
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1 issuance of such regulations shall be governed

2 by the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5. The

3 Administrator shall act upon all petitions for

4 rulemaking no later than 6 months after the

5 date such petitions are filed by dismissing such

6 petitions, by informing the petitioner of an in7 tention to dismiss, or by issuing a notice of pro8 posed rulemaking or advanced notice of pro9 posed rulemaking. The Administrator shall

10 issue a final regulation, or take other final ac11 tion, not later than 18 months after the date of

12 publication in the Federal Register of a notice

13 of proposed rulemaking or, in the case of an ad14 vanced notice of proposed rulemaking, if issued,

15 not later than 24 months after that date.

16 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL OF SECRETARY OF

17 TRANSPORTATION.—

18 ‘‘(i) The Administrator may not issue

19 a proposed regulation or final regulation

20 that is likely to result in the expenditure

21 by State, local, and tribal governments in

22 the aggregate, or by the private sector, of

23 $50,000,000 or more (adjusted annually

24 for inflation beginning with the year fol25 lowing the date of enactment of the Air
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1 Traffic Management System Performance

2 Improvement Act of 1996) in any 1 year,

3 or any regulation which is significant, un4 less the Secretary of Transportation ap5 proves the issuance of the regulation in ad6 vance. For purposes of this paragraph, a

7 regulation is significant if it is likely to—

8 ‘‘(I) have an annual effect on the

9 economy of $100 million or more or ad10 versely affect in a material way the econ11 omy, a sector of the economy, productivity,

12 competition, jobs, the environment, public

13 health or safety, or State, local, or tribal

14 governments or communities;

15 ‘‘(II) create a serious inconsistency or

16 otherwise interfere with an action taken or

17 planned by another agency;

18 ‘‘(III) materially alter the budgetary

19 impact of entitlements, grants, user fees,

20 or loan programs or the rights and obliga21 tions of recipients thereof; or

22 ‘‘(IV) raise novel legal or policy issues

23 arising out of legal mandates.

24 ‘‘(ii) In an emergency, the Administrator

25 may issue a regulation described in clause (i)
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1 without prior approval by the Secretary, but

2 any such emergency regulation is subject to

3 ratification by the Secretary after it is issued

4 and shall be rescinded by the Administrator

5 within 5 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays,

6 and legal public holidays) after issuance if the

7 Secretary fails to ratify its issuance.

8 ‘‘(iii) Any regulation that does not meet

9 the criteria of clause (i), and any regulation or

10 other action that is a routine or frequent action

11 or a procedural action, may be issued by the

12 Administrator without review or approval by the

13 Secretary.

14 ‘‘(iv) The Administrator shall submit a

15 copy of any regulation requiring approval by

16 the Secretary under clause (i) to the Secretary,

17 who shall either approve it or return it to the

18 Administrator with comments within 45 days

19 after receiving it.

20 ‘‘(C) PERIODIC REVIEW.—(i) Beginning on

21 the date which is 3 years after the date of en22 actment of the Air Traffic Management System

23 Performance Improvement Act of 1996, the Ad24 ministrator shall review any unusually burden25 some regulation issued by the Administrator
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1 after the date of enactment of the Air Traffic

2 Management System Performance Improvement

3 Act of 1996 beginning not later than 3 years

4 after the effective date of the regulation to de5 termine if the cost assumptions were accurate,

6 the benefit of the regulations, and the need to

7 continue such regulations in force in their

8 present form.

9 ‘‘(ii) The Administrator may identify for

10 review under the criteria set forth in clause (i)

11 unusually burdensome regulations that were is12 sued before the date of enactment of the Air

13 Traffic Management System Performance Im14 provement Act of 1996 and that have been in

15 force for more than 3 years.

16 ‘‘(iii) For purposes of this subparagraph,

17 the term ‘unusually burdensome regulation’

18 means any regulation that results in the annual

19 expenditure by State, local, and tribal govern20 ments in the aggregate, or by the private sec21 tor, of $25,000,000 or more (adjusted annually

22 for inflation beginning with the year following

23 the date of enactment of the Air Traffic Man24 agement System Performance Act of 1996) in

25 any year.
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1 ‘‘(iv) The periodic review of regulations

2 may be performed by advisory committees and

3 the Management Advisory Council established

4 under subsection (p).’’.

5 SEC. 625. PERSONNEL AND SERVICES.

6 Section 106 is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new subsection:

8 ‘‘(l) PERSONNEL AND SERVICES.—

9 ‘‘(1) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.—Except as

10 provided in section 40121(a) of this title and section

11 347 of Public Law 104–50, the Administrator is au12 thorized, in the performance of the functions of the

13 Administrator, to appoint, transfer, and fix the com14 pensation of such officers and employees, including

15 attorneys, as may be necessary to carry out the

16 functions of the Administrator and the Administra17 tion. Except as otherwise provided by law, such offi18 cers and employees shall be appointed in accordance

19 with the civil service laws and compensated in ac20 cordance with title 5. In fixing compensation and

21 benefits of officers and employees, the Administrator

22 shall not engage in any type of bargaining, except to

23 the extent provided for in section 40121(a), nor

24 shall the Administrator be bound by any require-
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1 ment to establish such compensation or benefits at

2 particular levels.

3 ‘‘(2) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Ad4 ministrator is authorized to obtain the services of ex5 perts and consultants in accordance with section

6 3109 of title 5.

7 ‘‘(3) TRANSPORTATION AND PER DIEM EX8 PENSES.—The Administrator is authorized to pay

9 transportation expenses, and per diem in lieu of sub10 sistence expenses, in accordance with chapter 57 of

11 title 5.

12 ‘‘(4) USE OF PERSONNEL FROM OTHER AGEN13 CIES.—The Administrator is authorized to utilize

14 the services of personnel of any other Federal agen15 cy (as such term is defined under section 551(1) of

16 title 5).

17 ‘‘(5) VOLUNTARY SERVICES.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—(i) In exercising the

19 authority to accept gifts and voluntary services

20 under section 326 of this title, and without re21 gard to section 1342 of title 31, the Adminis22 trator may not accept voluntary and uncompen23 sated services if such services are used to dis24 place Federal employees employed on a full25 time, part-time, or seasonal basis.
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1 ‘‘(ii) The Administrator is authorized to

2 provide for incidental expenses, including trans3 portation, lodging, and subsistence for volun4 teers who provide voluntary services under this

5 subsection.

6 ‘‘(iii) An individual who provides voluntary

7 services under this subsection shall not be con8 sidered a Federal employee for any purpose

9 other than for purposes of chapter 81 of title

10 5, relating to compensation for work injuries,

11 and chapter 171 of title 28, relating to tort

12 claims.’’.

13 SEC. 626. CONTRACTS.

14 Section 106(l) as added by section 625 of this title,

15 is amended by adding at the end the following new para16 graph:

17 ‘‘(6) CONTRACTS.—The Administrator is au18 thorized to enter into and perform such contracts,

19 leases, cooperative agreements, or other transactions

20 as may be necessary to carry out the functions of

21 the Administrator and the Administration. The Ad22 ministrator may enter into such contracts, leases,

23 cooperative agreements, and other transactions with

24 any Federal agency (as such term is defined in sec25 tion 551(1) of title 5) or any instrumentality of the
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1 United States, any State, territory, or possession, or

2 political subdivision thereof, any other governmental

3 entity, or any person, firm, association, corporation,

4 or educational institution, on such terms and condi5 tions as the Administrator may consider appro6 priate.’’.

7 SEC. 627. FACILITIES.

8 Section 106 as amended by section 625 of this title,

9 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

10 subsection:

11 ‘‘(m) COOPERATION BY ADMINISTRATOR.—With the

12 consent of appropriate officials, the Administrator may,

13 with or without reimbursement, use or accept the services,

14 equipment, personnel, and facilities of any other Federal

15 agency (as such term is defined in section 551(1) of title

16 5) and any other public or private entity. The Adminis17 trator may also cooperate with appropriate officials of

18 other public and private agencies and instrumentalities

19 concerning the use of services, equipment, personnel, and

20 facilities. The head of each Federal agency shall cooperate

21 with the Administrator in making the services, equipment,

22 personnel, and facilities of the Federal agency available

23 to the Administrator. The head of a Federal agency is au24 thorized, notwithstanding any other provision of law, to

25 transfer to or to receive from the Administration, without
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1 reimbursement, supplies and equipment other than admin2 istrative supplies or equipment.’’.

3 SEC. 628. PROPERTY.

4 Section 106 as amended by section 628 of this title,

5 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

6 subsection:

7 ‘‘(n) ACQUISITION.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is au9 thorized—

10 ‘‘(A) to acquire (by purchase, lease, con11 demnation, or otherwise), construct, improve,

12 repair, operate, and maintain—

13 ‘‘(i) air traffic control facilities and

14 equipment;

15 ‘‘(ii) research and testing sites and fa16 cilities; and

17 ‘‘(iii) such other real and personal

18 property (including office space and pat19 ents), or any interest therein, within and

20 outside the continental United States as

21 the Administrator considers necessary;

22 ‘‘(B) to lease to others such real and per23 sonal property; and

24 ‘‘(C) to provide by contract or otherwise

25 for eating facilities and other necessary facili-
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1 ties for the welfare of employees of the Admin2 istration at the installations of the Administra3 tion, and to acquire, operate, and maintain

4 equipment for these facilities.

5 ‘‘(2) TITLE.—Title to any property or interest

6 therein acquired pursuant to this subsection shall be

7 held by the Government of the United States.’’.

8 SEC. 629. TRANSFERS OF FUNDS FROM OTHER FEDERAL

9 AGENCIES.

10 Section 106 as amended by section 629 of this title,

11 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

12 subsection:

13 ‘‘(o) TRANSFERS OF FUNDS.—The Administrator is

14 authorized to accept transfers of unobligated balances and

15 unexpended balances of funds appropriated to other Fed16 eral agencies (as such term is defined in section 551(1)

17 of title 5) to carry out functions transferred by law to the

18 Administrator or functions transferred pursuant to law to

19 the Administrator on or after the date of the enactment

20 of the Air Traffic Management System Performance Im21 provement Act of 1996.’’.

22 SEC. 630. MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL.

23 Section 106 as amended by section 631 of this title,

24 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

25 subsection:
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1 ‘‘(p) MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL.—

2 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Within 3 months after

3 the date of enactment of the Air Traffic Manage4 ment System Performance Improvement Act of

5 1996, the Administrator shall establish an advisory

6 council which shall be known as the Federal Aviation

7 Management Advisory Council (in this subsection re8 ferred to as the ‘Council’). With respect to Adminis9 tration management, policy, spending, funding, and

10 regulatory matters affecting the aviation industry,

11 the Council may submit comments, recommended

12 modifications, and dissenting views to the Adminis13 trator. The Administrator shall include in any sub14 mission to Congress, the Secretary, or the general

15 public, and in any submission for publication in the

16 Federal Register, a description of the comments,

17 recommended modifications, and dissenting views re18 ceived from the Council, together with the reasons

19 for any differences between the views of the Council

20 and the views or actions of the Administrator.

21 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Council shall consist

22 of 15 members, who shall consist of—

23 ‘‘(A) a designee of the Secretary of Trans24 portation;
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1 ‘‘(B) a designee of the Secretary of De2 fense; and

3 ‘‘(C) 13 members representing aviation in4 terests, appointed by the President by and with

5 the advice and consent of the Senate.

6 ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS.—No member appointed

7 under paragraph (2)(C) may serve as an officer or

8 employee of the United States Government while

9 serving as a member of the Council.

10 ‘‘(4) FUNCTIONS.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—(i) The Council shall

12 provide advice and counsel to the Administrator

13 on issues which affect or are affected by the op14 erations of the Administrator. The Council shall

15 function as an oversight resource for manage16 ment, policy, spending, and regulatory matters

17 under the jurisdiction of the Administration.

18 ‘‘(ii) The Council shall review the rule19 making cost-benefit analysis process and de20 velop recommendations to improve the analysis

21 and ensure that the public interest is fully pro22 tected.

23 ‘‘(iii) The Council shall review the process

24 through which the Administration determines to

25 use advisory circulars and service bulletins.
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1 ‘‘(B) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet

2 on a regular and periodic basis or at the call of

3 the chairman or of the Administrator.

4 ‘‘(C) ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS AND

5 STAFF.—The Administration may give the

6 Council appropriate access to relevant docu7 ments and personnel of the Administration, and

8 the Administrator shall make available, consist9 ent with the authority to withhold commercial

10 and other proprietary information under section

11 552 of title 5 (commonly known as the ‘Free12 dom of Information Act’), cost data associated

13 with the acquisition and operation of air traffic

14 service systems. Any member of the Council

15 who receives commercial or other proprietary

16 data from the Administrator shall be subject to

17 the provisions of section 1905 of title 18, per18 taining to unauthorized disclosure of such infor19 mation.

20 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT NOT

21 TO APPLY.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

22 U.S.C. App.) does not apply to the Council or such

23 aviation rulemaking committees as the Adminis24 trator shall designate.

25 ‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) TERMS OF MEMBERS.—(i) Except as

2 provided in subparagraph (B), members of the

3 Council appointed by the President under para4 graph (2)(C) shall be appointed for a term of

5 3 years.

6 ‘‘(ii) Of the members first appointed by the

7 President—

8 ‘‘(I) 4 shall be appointed for terms of

9 1 year;

10 ‘‘(II) 5 shall be appointed for terms of

11 2 years; and

12 ‘‘(III) 4 shall be appointed for terms

13 of 3 years.

14 ‘‘(iii) An individual chosen to fill a vacancy

15 shall be appointed for the unexpired term of the

16 member replaced.

17 ‘‘(iv) A member whose term expires shall

18 continue to serve until the date on which the

19 member’s successor takes office.

20 ‘‘(B) CHAIRMAN; VICE CHAIRMAN.—The

21 Council shall elect a chair and a vice chair from

22 among the members appointed under paragraph

23 (2)(C), each of whom shall serve for a term of

24 1 year. The vice chair shall perform the duties

25 of the chairman in the absence of the chairman.
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1 ‘‘(C) TRAVEL AND PER DIEM.—Each mem2 ber of the Council shall be paid actual travel ex3 penses, and per diem in lieu of subsistence ex4 penses when away from his or her usual place

5 of residence, in accordance with section 5703 of

6 title 5.

7 ‘‘(D) DETAIL OF PERSONNEL FROM THE

8 ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator shall

9 make available to the Council such staff, infor10 mation, and administrative services and assist11 ance as may reasonably be required to enable

12 the Council to carry out its responsibilities

13 under this subsection.’’.

14 SEC. 631. AIRCRAFT ENGINE STANDARDS.

15 Subsection (a)(1) of section 44715 is amended to

16 read as follows:

17 ‘‘(a) STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS.—(1) To relieve

18 and protect the public health and welfare from aircraft

19 noise, sonic boom, and aircraft engine emissions, the Ad20 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, as he

21 deems necessary, shall prescribe—

22 ‘‘(A) standards to measure aircraft noise and

23 sonic boom;

24 ‘‘(B) regulations to control and abate aircraft

25 noise and sonic boom; and
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1 ‘‘(C) emission standards applicable to the emis2 sion of any air pollutant from any class or classes

3 of aircraft engines which, in the judgment of the Ad4 ministrator, causes, or contributes to, air pollution

5 which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger

6 public health or welfare.’’.

7 SEC. 632. RURAL AIR FARE STUDY.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a

9 study to—

10 (1) compare air fares paid (calculated as both

11 actual and adjusted air fares) for air transportation

12 on flights conducted by commercial air carriers—

13 (A) between—

14 (i) nonhub airports located in small

15 communities; and

16 (ii) large hub airports; and

17 (B) between large hub airports;

18 (2) analyze—

19 (A) the extent to which passenger service

20 that is provided from nonhub airports is pro21 vided on—

22 (i) regional commuter commercial air

23 carriers; or

24 (ii) major air carriers;
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1 (B) the type of aircraft employed in pro2 viding passenger service at nonhub airports;

3 and

4 (C) whether there is competition among

5 commercial air carriers with respect to the pro6 vision of air service to passengers from nonhub

7 airports.

8 (b) FINDINGS.—The Secretary shall include in the re9 port of the study conducted under subsection (a) findings

10 concerning—

11 (1) whether passengers who use commercial air

12 carriers to and from rural areas (as defined by the

13 Secretary) pay a disproportionately greater price for

14 that transportation than passengers who use com15 mercial air carriers between urban areas (as defined

16 by the Secretary);

17 (2) the nature of competition, if any, in rural

18 markets (as defined by the Secretary) for commer19 cial air carriers;

20 (3) whether a relationship exists between higher

21 air fares and competition among commercial air car22 riers for passengers travelling on jet aircraft from

23 small communities (as defined by the Secretary)

24 and, if such a relation exists, the nature of that rela25 tionship;
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1 (4) the number of small communities that have

2 lost air service as a result of the deregulation of

3 commercial air carriers with respect to air fares;

4 (5) the number of small communities served by

5 airports with respect to which, after commercial air

6 carrier fares were deregulated, jet aircraft service

7 was replaced by turboprop aircraft service; and

8 (6) where such replacement occurred, any cor9 responding decreases in available seat capacity for

10 consumers at the airports referred to in that sub11 paragraph.

12 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date

13 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a final

14 report on the study carried out under subsection (a) to

15 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

16 of the Senate.

17 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

18 following definitions shall apply:

19 (1) ADJUSTED AIR FARE.—The term ‘‘adjusted

20 air fare’’ means an actual air fare that is adjusted

21 for distance travelled by a passenger.

22 (2) AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘air carrier’’ is

23 defined in section 40102(a)(2) of title 49, United

24 States Code.
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1 (3) AIRPORT.—The term ‘‘airport’’ is defined in

2 section 40102(9) of such title.

3 (4) COMMERCIAL AIR CARRIER.—The term

4 ‘‘commercial air carrier’’ means an air carrier that

5 provides air transportation for commercial purposes

6 (as determined by the Secretary).

7 (5) HUB AIRPORT.—The term ‘‘hub airport’’ is

8 defined in section 41731(a)(2) of such title.

9 (6) LARGE HUB AIRPORT.—The term ‘‘large

10 hub airport’’ shall be defined by the Secretary but

11 the definition may not include a small hub airport,

12 as that term is defined in section 41731(a)(5) of

13 such title.

14 (7) MAJOR AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘major air

15 carrier’’ shall be defined by the Secretary.

16 (8) NONHUB AIRPORT.—The term ‘‘nonhub air17 port’’ is defined in section 41731(a)(4) of such title.

18 (9) REGIONAL COMMUTER AIR CARRIER.—The

19 term ‘‘regional commuter air carrier’’ shall be de20 fined by the Secretary.
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1 SUBTITLE B—FEDERAL AVIA2 TION ADMINISTRATION

3 STREAMLINING PROGRAMS

4 SEC. 651. REVIEW OF ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

5 Not later than April 1, 1999, the Administration

6 shall employ outside experts to provide an independent

7 evaluation of the effectiveness of its acquisition manage8 ment system within 3 months after such date. The Admin9 istrator shall transmit a copy of the evaluation to the

10 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

11 the Senate, and the Committee on Transportation and In12 frastructure of the House of Representatives.

13 SEC. 652. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL MODERNIZATION RE14 VIEWS.

15 Chapter 401, as amended by section 404 of this Act,

16 is amended by redesignating section 40121 as 40123, and

17 by inserting after section 40120 the following new section:

18 ‘‘§ 40121. Air traffic control modernization reviews

19 ‘‘(a) REQUIRED TERMINATIONS OF ACQUISITIONS.—

20 The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration

21 (hereafter referred to in this section as the ‘Adminis22 trator’) shall terminate any program initiated after the

23 date of enactment of the Air Traffic Management System

24 Performance Improvement Act of 1996 and funded under

25 the Facilities and Equipment account that—
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1 ‘‘(1) is more than 50 percent over the cost goal

2 established for the program;

3 ‘‘(2) fails to achieve at least 50 percent of the

4 performance goals established for the program; or

5 ‘‘(3) is more than 50 percent behind schedule

6 as determined in accordance with the schedule goal

7 established for the program.

8 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED TERMINATIONS OF ACQUISI9 TIONS.—The Administrator shall consider terminating,

10 under the authority of subsection (a), any substantial ac11 quisition that—

12 ‘‘(1) is more than 10 percent over the cost goal

13 established for the program;

14 ‘‘(2) fails to achieve at least 90 percent of the

15 performance goals established for the program; or

16 ‘‘(3) is more than 10 percent behind schedule

17 as determined in accordance with the schedule goal

18 established for the program.

19 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS AND REPORT.—

20 ‘‘(1) CONTINUANCE OF PROGRAM, ETC.—Not21 withstanding subsection (a), the Administrator may

22 continue an acquisitions program required to be ter23 minated under subsection (a) if the Administrator

24 determines that termination would be inconsistent

25 with the development or operation of the national air
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1 transportation system in a safe and efficient man2 ner.

3 ‘‘(2) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—The Depart4 ment of Defense shall have the same exemptions

5 from acquisition laws as are waived by the Adminis6 trator under section 348(b) of Public Law 104–50

7 when engaged in joint actions to improve or replen8 ish the national air traffic control system. The Ad9 ministration may acquire real property, goods, and

10 services through the Department of Defense, or

11 other appropriate agencies, but is bound by the ac12 quisition laws and regulations governing those cases.

13 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—If the Administrator makes a

14 determination under paragraph (1), the Adminis15 trator shall transmit a copy of the determination, to16 gether with a statement of the basis for the deter17 mination, to the Committees on Appropriations of

18 the Senate and the House of Representatives, the

19 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor20 tation of the Senate, and the Committee on Trans21 portation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep22 resentatives.’’.
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1 SEC. 653. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION PERSON2 NEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

3 Chapter 401, as amended by section 652, is further

4 amended by inserting after section 40121 the following

5 new section:

6 ‘‘§ 40122. Federal Aviation Administration personnel

7 management system

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

9 ‘‘(1) CONSULTATION AND NEGOTIATION.—In

10 developing and making changes to the personnel

11 management system initially implemented by the Ad12 ministrator on April 1, 1996, the Administrator

13 shall negotiate with the exclusive bargaining rep14 resentatives of employees of the Administration cer15 tified under section 7111 of title 5 and consult with

16 other employees of the Administration.

17 ‘‘(2) MEDIATION.—If the Administrator does

18 not reach an agreement under paragraph (1) with

19 the exclusive bargaining representatives, the services

20 of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

21 shall be used to attempt to reach such agreement.

22 If the services of the Federal Mediation and Concil23 iation Service do not lead to an agreement, the Ad24 ministrator’s proposed change to the personnel man25 agement system shall not take effect until 60 days

26 have elapsed after the Administrator has transmit-
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1 ted the proposed change, along with the objections

2 of the exclusive bargaining representatives to the

3 change, and the reasons for such objections, to the

4 Congress.

5 ‘‘(3) COST SAVINGS AND PRODUCTIVITY

6 GOALS.—The Administration and the exclusive bar7 gaining representatives of the employees shall use

8 every reasonable effort to find cost savings and to

9 increase productivity within each of the affected bar10 gaining units.

11 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL BUDGET DISCUSSIONS.—The Ad12 ministration and the exclusive bargaining represent13 atives of the employees shall meet annually for the

14 purpose of finding additional cost savings within the

15 Administration’s annual budget as it applies to each

16 of the affected bargaining units and throughout the

17 agency.

18 ‘‘(b) EXPERT EVALUATION.—On the date which is 3

19 years after the personnel management system is imple20 mented, the Administration shall employ outside experts

21 to provide an independent evaluation of the effectiveness

22 of the system within 3 months after such date. For this

23 purpose, the Administrator may utilize the services of ex24 perts and consultants under section 3109 of title 5 without

25 regard to the limitation imposed by the last sentence of
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1 section 3109(b) of such title, and may contract on a sole

2 source basis, notwithstanding any other provision of law

3 to the contrary.

4 ‘‘(c) PAY RESTRICTION.—No officer or employee of

5 the Administration may receive an annual rate of basic

6 pay in excess of the annual rate of basic pay payable to

7 the Administrator.

8 ‘‘(d) ETHICS.—The Administration shall be subject

9 to Executive Order 12674 and regulations and opinions

10 promulgated by the Office of Government Ethics, includ11 ing those set forth in section 2635 of title 5 of the Code

12 of Federal Regulations.

13 ‘‘(e) EMPLOYEE PROTECTIONS.—Until July 1, 1999,

14 basic wages (including locality pay) and operational dif15 ferential pay provided employees of the Administration

16 shall not be involuntarily adversely affected by reason of

17 the enactment of this section, except for unacceptable per18 formance or by reason of a reduction in force or reorga19 nization or by agreement between the Administration and

20 the affected employees’ exclusive bargaining representa21 tive.

22 ‘‘(f) LABOR-MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS.—Except

23 as otherwise provided by this title, all labor-management

24 agreements covering employees of the Administration that

25 are in effect on the effective date of the Air Traffic Man-
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1 agement System Performance Improvement Act of 1996

2 shall remain in effect until their normal expiration date,

3 unless the Administrator and the exclusive bargaining rep4 resentative agree to the contrary.’’.

5 SEC. 654. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

6 The chapter analysis for chapter 401, as amended by

7 section 403(b) of this Act, is amended by striking the item

8 relating to section 40120 and inserting the following new

9 items:

‘‘40121. Air traffic control modernization reviews.

‘‘40122. Federal Aviation Administration personnel management system.

‘‘40123. Relationship to other laws.’’.

10 SUBTITLE C—SYSTEM TO FUND

11 CERTAIN FEDERAL AVIATION

12 ADMINISTRATION FUNCTIONS

13 SEC. 671. FINDINGS.

14 The Congress finds the following:

15 (1) The Administration is recognized through16 out the world as a leader in aviation safety.

17 (2) The Administration certifies aircraft, en18 gines, propellers and other manufactured parts.

19 (3) The Administration certifies more than 650

20 training schools for pilots and non-pilots, more than

21 4,858 repair stations, and more than 193 mainte22 nance schools.
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1 (4) The Administration certifies pilot examin2 ers, who are then qualified to determine if a person

3 has the skills necessary to become a pilot.

4 (5) The Administration certifies more than

5 6,000 medical examiners, each of whom is then

6 qualified to medically certify the qualifications of pi7 lots and non-pilots.

8 (6) The Administration certifies more than 470

9 airports, and provides a limited certification for an10 other 205 airports. Other airports in the United

11 States are also reviewed by the Administration.

12 (7) The Administration each year performs

13 more than 355,000 inspections.

14 (8) The Administration issues more than

15 655,000 pilots licenses and more than 560,000 non16 pilot licenses (e.g., mechanics).

17 (9) The Administration’s certification means

18 that the product meets world-wide recognized stand19 ards of safety and reliability.

20 (10) The Administration’s certification means

21 aviation-related equipment and services meet world22 wide recognized standards.

23 (11) The Administration’s certification is recog24 nized by governments and businesses throughout the

25 world and as such may be a valuable element for any
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1 company desiring to sell aviation-related products

2 throughout the world.

3 (12) The Administration’s certification may

4 constitute a valuable license, franchise or privilege,

5 and confers many benefits on the holders.

6 (13) The Administration also is a major pur7 chaser of computers, radars, and other systems

8 needed to run the air traffic control system. The Ad9 ministration’s design, acceptance, commissioning, or

10 certification of such equipment enables the private

11 sector to market those products around the world,

12 and as such confers a benefit on the manufacturer.

13 (14) The Administration provides extensive

14 services to public use aircraft.

15 SEC. 672. PURPOSES.

16 The purposes of this title are—

17 (1) to provide a financial structure for the Ad18 ministration so that it will be able to support the fu19 ture growth in the national aviation and airport sys20 tem;

21 (2) to review existing and alternative funding

22 options, including incentive-based fees for services,

23 and establish a program to improve air traffic man24 agement system performance and to establish appro25 priate levels of cost accountability for air traffic
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1 management services provided by the Administra2 tion;

3 (3) to ensure that any funding will be dedicated

4 solely for the use of the Administration;

5 (4) to authorize the Administration to recover

6 the costs of its services from those who benefit from,

7 but do not contribute to, the national aviation sys8 tem and the services provided by the Administration;

9 (5) to consider a fee system based on the cost

10 or value of the services provided and other funding

11 alternatives;

12 (6) to develop funding options for the Congress

13 in order to provide for the long-term efficient and

14 cost-effective support of the Administration and the

15 aviation system; and

16 (7) to achieve a more efficient and effective Ad17 ministration for the benefit of the aviation transpor18 tation industry.

19 SEC. 673. USER FEES FOR VARIOUS FEDERAL AVIATION AD20 MINISTRATION SERVICES.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 453 is amended by strik22 ing section 45301 and inserting the following new section:

23 ‘‘§ 45301. General provisions

24 ‘‘(a) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—The Administrator shall

25 establish a schedule of new fees, and a collection process
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1 for such fees, for the following services provided by the

2 Administration:

3 ‘‘(1) Air traffic control and related services pro4 vided to aircraft (other than foreign government air5 craft) that neither take off from nor land in the

6 United States.

7 ‘‘(2) Services (other than air traffic control

8 services) provided to a foreign government.

9 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION AND IMPACT CONSIDER11 ATIONS.—In establishing fees under subsection (a),

12 the Administrator—

13 ‘‘(A) is authorized to recover in fiscal year

14 1997 $100,000,000; and

15 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that each of the fees re16 quired by subsection (a), is reasonably related

17 to—

18 ‘‘(i) the Administration’s total cost of

19 providing the service rendered; or

20 ‘‘(ii) the value of the service provided

21 to the recipient, including in the case of air

22 traffic control and related services de23 scribed in subsection (a)(1), distance trav24 eled, aircraft weight or size, and the nature

25 of the operation conducted.
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1 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION; COMMENT.—The Adminis2 trator shall publish in the Federal Register an initial

3 fee schedule and associated collection process as an

4 interim final rule, pursuant to which public comment

5 will be sought and a final rule issued.

6 ‘‘(c) USE OF EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—In de7 veloping the system, the Administrator may consult with

8 such nongovernmental experts as the Administrator may

9 employ and the Administrator may utilize the services of

10 experts and consultants under section 3109 of title 5 with11 out regard to the limitation imposed by the last sentence

12 of section 3109(b) of such title, and may contract on a

13 sole source basis, notwithstanding any other provision of

14 law to the contrary. Notwithstanding any other provision

15 of law to the contrary, the Administrator may retain such

16 experts under a contract awarded on a basis other than

17 a competitive basis and without regard to any such provi18 sions requiring competitive bidding or precluding sole

19 source contract authority.’’.

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analy21 sis for chapter 453 is amended by striking the item relat22 ing to section 45301 and inserting the following new item:

‘‘45301. General provisions.’’.

23 (c) REPEAL.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 70118 is repealed.
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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter

2 analysis for chapter 701 is amended by striking the

3 item relating to section 70118.

4 SEC. 674. INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT AND TASK FORCE TO

5 REVIEW EXISTING AND INNOVATIVE FUND6 ING MECHANISMS.

7 (a) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.—

8 (1) INITIATION.—As soon as all members of the

9 task force are appointed under subsection (b) of this

10 section, the Administrator shall contract with an en11 tity independent of the Administration and the De12 partment of Transportation to conduct a complete

13 independent assessment of the financial require14 ments of the Administration through the year 2002.

15 (2) ASSESSMENT CRITERIA.—The Adminis16 trator shall provide to the independent entity esti17 mates of the financial requirements of the Adminis18 tration for the period described in paragraph (1),

19 using as a base the fiscal year 1997 authorization

20 levels established by the Congress. The independent

21 assessment shall be based on an objective analysis of

22 agency funding needs.

23 (3) CERTAIN FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO AC24 COUNT.—The independent assessment shall take

25 into account all relevant factors, including—
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1 (A) anticipated air traffic forecasts;

2 (B) other workload measures;

3 (C) estimated productivity gains, if any,

4 which contribute to budgetary requirements;

5 (D) the need for programs; and

6 (5) the need to provide for continued im7 provements in all facets of aviation safety,

8 along with operational improvements in air traf9 fic control.

10 (4) COST ALLOCATION.—The independent as11 sessment shall also assess the costs to the Adminis12 tration occasioned by the provision of services to

13 each segment of the aviation system.

14 (5) DEADLINE.—The independent assessment

15 shall be completed no later than 90 days after the

16 contract is awarded, and shall be submitted to the

17 task force, the Secretary, the Committee on Com18 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate,

19 and the Committee on Transportation and Infra20 structure of the House of Representatives.

21 (b) TASK FORCE.—

22 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days

23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary shall establish an 11-member task force, inde-
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1 pendent of the Administration and the Department

2 of Transportation.

3 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the task

4 force shall be selected from among individuals who

5 have expertise in the aviation industry and who are

6 able, collectively, to represent a balanced view of the

7 issues important to general aviation, major air car8 riers, air cargo carriers, regional air carriers, busi9 ness aviation, airports, aircraft manufacturers, the

10 financial community, aviation industry workers, and

11 airline passengers. At least one member of the task

12 force shall have detailed knowledge of the Congres13 sional budgetary process.

14 (3) HEARINGS AND CONSULTATION.—

15 (A) HEARINGS.—The task force shall take

16 such testimony and solicit and receive such

17 comments from the public and other interested

18 parties as it deems appropriate, shall conduct 2

19 public hearings after affording adequate notice

20 to the public thereof, and is authorized to con21 duct such additional hearings as may be nec22 essary.

23 (B) CONSULTATION.—The task force shall

24 consult on a regular and frequent basis with the

25 Secretary of Transportation, the Committee on
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1 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the

2 Senate, and the Committee on Transportation

3 and Infrastructure of the House of Representa4 tives.

5 (C) FACA NOT TO APPLY.—The task force

6 shall not be considered an advisory committee

7 for purposes of the Federal Advisory Committee

8 Act (5 U.S.C. App.).

9 (4) DUTIES.—

10 (A) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—The task force shall

12 submit a report setting forth a comprehen13 sive analysis of the Administration’s budg14 etary requirements through fiscal year

15 2002, based upon the independent assess16 ment under subsection (a), that analyzes

17 alternative financing and funding means

18 for meeting the needs of the aviation sys19 tem through the year 2002. The task force

20 shall submit a preliminary report of that

21 analysis to the Secretary not later than 6

22 months after the independent assessment

23 is completed under subsection (a). The

24 Secretary shall provide comments on the

25 preliminary report to the task force within
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1 30 days after receiving it. The task force

2 shall issue a final report of such com3 prehensive analysis within 30 days after

4 receiving the Secretary’s comments on its

5 preliminary report.

6 (ii) CONTENTS.—The report submit7 ted by the task force under clause (i)—

8 (I) shall consider the independent

9 assessment under subsection (a);

10 (II) shall consider estimated cost

11 savings, if any, resulting from the

12 procurement and personnel reforms

13 included in this Act or in sections 347

14 and 348 of Public Law 105–40, and

15 additional financial initiatives;

16 (III) shall include specific rec17 ommendations to the Congress on how

18 the Administration can reduce costs,

19 raise additional revenue for the sup20 port of agency operations, and accel21 erate modernization efforts; and

22 (IV) shall include a draft bill

23 containing the changes in law nec24 essary to implement its recommenda25 tions.
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1 (B) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The task force

2 shall make such recommendations under sub3 paragraph (A)(III) as the task force deems ap4 propriate. Those recommendations may in5 clude—

6 (i) alternative financing and funding

7 proposals, including linked financing pro8 posals;

9 (ii) modifications to existing levels of

10 Airport and Airways Trust Fund receipts

11 and taxes for each type of tax;

12 (iii) establishment of a cost-based user

13 fee system based on, but not limited to,

14 criteria under subparagraph (F) and meth15 ods to ensure that costs are borne by users

16 on a fair and equitable basis;

17 (iv) methods to ensure that funds col18 lected from the aviation community are

19 able to meet the needs of the agency;

20 (v) methods to ensure that funds col21 lected from the aviation community and

22 passengers are used to support the aviation

23 system;
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1 (vi) means of meeting the airport in2 frastructure needs for large, medium, and

3 small airports; and

4 (vii) any other matter the task force

5 deems appropriate to address the funding

6 and needs of the Administration and the

7 aviation system.

8 (C) ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS.—

9 The task force report may also make rec10 ommendations concerning—

11 (i) means of improving productivity by

12 expanding and accelerating the use of au13 tomation and other technology;

14 (ii) means of contracting out services

15 consistent with this Act, other applicable

16 law, and safety and National defense

17 needs;

18 (iii) methods to accelerate air traffic

19 control modernization and improvements in

20 aviation safety and safety services;

21 (iv) the elimination of unneeded pro22 grams; and

23 (v) a limited innovative program

24 based on funding mechanisms such as loan

25 guarantees, financial partnerships with for-
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1 profit private sector entities, government

2 sponsored enterprises, and revolving loan

3 funds, as a means of funding specific fa4 cilities and equipment projects, and to pro5 vide limited additional funding alternatives

6 for airport capacity development.

7 (D) IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR REC8 OMMENDATIONS.—For each recommendation

9 contained in the task force’s report, the report

10 shall include a full analysis and assessment of

11 the impact implementation of the recommenda12 tion would have on—

13 (i) safety;

14 (ii) administrative costs;

15 (iii) the Congressional budget process;

16 (iv) the economics of the industry (in17 cluding the proportionate share of all

18 users);

19 (v) the ability of the Administration

20 to utilize the sums collected; and

21 (vi) the funding needs of the Adminis22 tration.

23 (E) TRUST FUND TAX RECOMMENDA24 TIONS.—If the task force’s report includes a

25 recommendation that the existing Airport and
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1 Airways Trust Fund tax structure be modified,

2 the report shall—

3 (i) state the specific rates for each

4 group affected by the proposed modifica5 tions;

6 (ii) consider the impact such modifica7 tions shall have on specific users and the

8 public (including passengers); and

9 (iii) state the basis for the rec10 ommendations.

11 (F) FEE SYSTEM RECOMMENDATIONS.—If

12 the task force’s report includes a recommenda13 tion that a fee system be established, including

14 an air traffic control performance-based user

15 fee system, the report shall consider—

16 (i) the impact such a recommendation

17 would have on passengers, air fares (in18 cluding low-fare, high frequency service),

19 service, and competition;

20 (ii) existing contributions provided by

21 individual air carriers toward funding the

22 Administration and the air traffic control

23 system through contributions to the Air24 port and Airways Trust Fund;
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1 (iii) continuing the promotion of fair

2 and competitive practices;

3 (iv) the unique circumstances associ4 ated with inter island air carrier service in

5 Hawaii and rural air service in Alaska;

6 (v) the impact such a recommendation

7 would have on service to small commu8 nities;

9 (vi) the impact such a recommenda10 tion would have on services provided by re11 gional air carriers;

12 (vii) alternative methodologies for cal13 culating fees so as to achieve a fair and

14 reasonable distribution of costs of service

15 among users;

16 (viii) the usefulness of phased-in ap17 proaches to implementing such a financing

18 system;

19 (ix) means of assuring the provision

20 of general fund contributions, as appro21 priate, toward the support of the Adminis22 tration; and

23 (x) the provision of incentives to en24 courage greater efficiency in the provision

25 of air traffic services by the Administration
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1 and greater efficiency in the use of air

2 traffic services by aircraft operators.

3 (c) REPORT BY SECRETARY TO CONGRESS.—

4 (1) CONSIDERATION OF TASK FORCE’S PRE5 LIMINARY REPORT.—Within 30 days after receiving

6 preliminary report of the task force under subsection

7 (b), the Secretary shall furnish comments on that

8 report to the task force.

9 (2) SECRETARY’S REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

10 Within 30 days after receiving the final report of the

11 task force and in no event more than 1 year after

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

13 shall submit a report, based upon the final report of

14 the task force, containing the Secretary’s rec15 ommendations for funding the needs of the aviation

16 system through the year 2002 to the Committee on

17 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen18 ate and the Committee on Transportation and Infra19 structure of the House of Representatives.

20 (3) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall include in

21 his report to the Congress under paragraph (2)—

22 (A) a copy of the final report of the task

23 force; and
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1 (B) a draft bill containing the changes in

2 law necessary to implement the Secretary’s rec3 ommendations.

4 (4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall cause a

5 copy of the reports to be printed in the Federal Reg6 ister upon their submission to Congress.

7 (d) GAO AUDIT OF COST ALLOCATION.—The Comp8 troller General shall conduct an assessment of the manner

9 in which costs for air traffic control services are allocated

10 between the Administration and the Department of De11 fense. The Comptroller General shall report the results of

12 the assessment, together with any recommendations the

13 Comptroller General may have for reallocation of costs

14 and for opportunities to increase the efficiency of air traf15 fic control services provided by the Administration and by

16 the Department of Defense, to the task force, the Admin17 istrator, the Secretary of Defense, the Committee on Com18 merce of the House of Representatives, and the Committee

19 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate

20 not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of

21 this Act.

22 SEC. 675. PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN

23 FUNDING PROPOSALS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 481 is amended by add25 ing at the end thereof the following:
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1 ‘‘§ 48111. Funding Proposals

2 ‘‘(a) INTRODUCTION AND REFERRAL.—Within 15

3 days (not counting any day on which either House is not

4 in session) after a funding proposal is submitted to the

5 House of Representatives and the Senate by the Secretary

6 of Transportation under section 674(c) of the Air Traffic

7 Management System Performance Improvement Act of

8 1996, an implementing bill with respect to such funding

9 proposal shall be introduced in the House by the majority

10 leader of the House, for himself and the minority leader

11 of the House, or by Members of the House designated by

12 the majority leader and minority leader of the House; and

13 shall be introduced in the Senate by the majority leader

14 of the Senate, for himself and the minority leader of the

15 Senate, or by Members of the Senate designated by the

16 majority leader and minority leader of the Senate. The

17 implementing bill shall be referred by the Presiding Offi18 cers of the respective Houses to the appropriate commit19 tee, or, in the case of a bill containing provisions within

20 the jurisdiction of two or more committees, jointly to such

21 committees for consideration of those provisions within

22 their respective jurisdictions.

23 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REP24 RESENTATIVES.—

25 ‘‘(1) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—Any com26 mittee of the House of Representatives to which a
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1 implementing bill is referred shall report it, with or

2 without recommendation, not later than the 45th

3 calendar day of session after the date of its intro4 duction. If any committee fails to report the bill

5 within that period, it is in order to move that the

6 House discharge the committee from further consid7 eration of the bill. A motion to discharge may be

8 made only by a Member favoring the bill (but only

9 at a time or place designated by the Speaker in the

10 legislative schedule of the day after the calendar day

11 on which the Member offering the motion announces

12 to the House his intention to do so and the form

13 of the motion), the motion is highly privileged. De14 bate thereon shall be limited to not more than one

15 hour, the time to be divided in the House equally

16 between a proponent and an opponent. The previous

17 question shall be considered as ordered on the mo18 tion to its adoption without intervening motion. A

19 motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion

20 is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order.

21 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF IMPLEMENTING

22 BILL.—After an implementing bill is reported or a

23 committee has been discharged from further consid24 eration, it is in order to move that the House resolve

25 into the Committee of the Whole House on the State
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1 of the Union for consideration of the bill. If reported

2 and the report has been available for at least one

3 calendar day, all points of order against the bill and

4 against consideration of the bill are waived. If dis5 charged, all points of order against the bill and

6 against consideration of the bill are waived. The mo7 tion is highly privileged. A motion to reconsider the

8 vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed

9 to shall not be in order. During consideration of the

10 bill in the committee of the Whole, the first reading

11 of the bill shall be dispensed with. General debate

12 shall proceed, shall be confined to the bill, and shall

13 not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled

14 by a proponent and an opponent of the bill. The bill

15 shall be considered as read for amendment under the

16 five-minute rule. Only one motion to rise shall be in

17 order, except if offered by the manager. No amend18 ment to the bill is in order except an amendment

19 that is relevant to aviation funding and the Federal

20 Aviation Administration. Consideration of the bill for

21 amendment shall not exceed one hour excluding time

22 for recorded votes and quorum calls. No amendment

23 shall be subject to further amendment, except pro

24 forma amendments for the purposes of debate only.

25 At the conclusion of the consideration of the bill for
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1 amendment, the Committee shall rise and report the

2 bill to the House with such amendments as may

3 have been adopted. The previous question shall be

4 considered as ordered on the bill and amendments

5 thereto to final passage without intervening motion.

6 A motion to reconsider the vote on passage of the

7 bill shall not be in order.

8 ‘‘(3) APPEALS OF RULINGS.—Appeals from de9 cision of the Chair regarding application of the rules

10 of the House of Representatives to the procedure re11 lating to an implementing bill shall be decided with12 out debate.

13 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION OF MORE THAN ONE IM14 PLEMENTING BILL.—It shall not be in order to con15 sider under this subsection more than one imple16 menting bill under this section, except for consider17 ation of a similar Senate bill (unless the House has

18 already rejected an implementing bill) or more than

19 one motion to discharge described in paragraph (1)

20 with respect to an implementing bill.

21 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.—

22 ‘‘(1) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—An imple23 menting bill introduced in the Senate shall be re24 ferred to the appropriate committee or committees.

25 A committee to which an implementing bill has been
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1 referred shall report the bill not later than the 45th

2 day of session following the date of introduction of

3 that bill. If any committee fails to report the bill

4 within that period, that committee shall be auto5 matically discharged from further consideration of

6 the bill and the bill shall be placed on the Calendar.

7 ‘‘(2) IMPLEMENTING BILL FROM HOUSE.—

8 When the Senate receives from the House of Rep9 resentatives an implementing bill, the bill shall not

10 be referred to committee and shall be placed on the

11 Calendar.

12 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION OF SINGLE IMPLEMENT13 ING BILL.—After the Senate has proceeded to the

14 consideration of an implementing bill under this sub15 section, then no other implementing bill originating

16 in that same House shall be subject to the proce17 dures set forth in this subsection.

18 ‘‘(4) AMENDMENTS.—No amendment to the bill

19 is in order except an amendment that is relevant to

20 aviation funding and the Federal Aviation Adminis21 tration. Consideration of the bill for amendment

22 shall not exceed one hour excluding time for re23 corded votes and quorum calls. No amendment shall

24 be subject to further amendment, except for perfect25 ing amendments.
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1 ‘‘(5) MOTION NONDEBATABLE.—A motion to

2 proceed to consideration of an implementing bill

3 under this subsection shall not be debatable. It shall

4 not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by

5 which the motion to proceed was adopted or re6 jected, although subsequent motions to proceed may

7 be made under this paragraph.

8 ‘‘(6) LIMIT ON CONSIDERATION.—

9 ‘‘(A) After no more than 20 hours of con10 sideration of an implementing bill, the Senate

11 shall proceed, without intervening action or de12 bate (except as permitted under paragraph (9)),

13 to vote on the final disposition thereof to the

14 exclusion of all amendments not then pending

15 and to the exclusion of all motions, except a

16 motion to reconsider or table.

17 ‘‘(B) The time for debate on the imple18 menting bill shall be equally divided between

19 the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader

20 or their designees.

21 ‘‘(7) DEBATE OF AMENDMENTS.—Debate on

22 any amendment to an implementing bill shall be lim23 ited to one hour, equally divided and controlled by

24 the Senator proposing the amendment and the ma25 jority manager, unless the majority manager is in
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1 favor of the amendment, in which case the minority

2 manager shall be in control of the time in opposi3 tion.

4 ‘‘(8) NO MOTION TO RECOMMIT.—A motion to

5 recommit an implementing bill shall not be in order.

6 ‘‘(9) DISPOSITION OF SENATE BILL.—If the

7 Senate has read for the third time an implementing

8 bill that originated in the Senate, then it shall be in

9 order at any time thereafter to move to proceed to

10 the consideration of an implementing bill for the

11 same special message received from the House of

12 Representatives and placed on the Calendar pursu13 ant to paragraph (2), strike all after the enacting

14 clause, substitute the text of the Senate implement15 ing bill, agree to the Senate amendment, and vote on

16 final disposition of the House implementing bill, all

17 without any intervening action or debate.

18 ‘‘(10) CONSIDERATION OF HOUSE MESSAGE.—

19 Consideration in the Senate of all motions, amend20 ments, or appeals necessary to dispose of a message

21 from the House of Representatives on an implement22 ing bill shall be limited to not more than 4 hours.

23 Debate on each motion or amendment shall be lim24 ited to 30 minutes. Debate on any appeal or point

25 of order that is submitted in connection with the dis-
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1 position of the House message shall be limited to 20

2 minutes. Any time for debate shall be equally divided

3 and controlled by the proponent and the majority

4 manager, unless the majority manager is a pro5 ponent of the motion, amendment, appeal, or point

6 of order, in which case the minority manager shall

7 be in control of the time in opposition.

8 ‘‘(d) CONSIDERATION IN CONFERENCE.—

9 ‘‘(1) CONVENING OF CONFERENCE.—In the

10 case of disagreement between the two Houses of

11 Congress with respect to an implementing bill passed

12 by both Houses, conferees should be promptly ap13 pointed and a conference promptly convened, if nec14 essary.

15 ‘‘(2) HOUSE CONSIDERATION.—Notwithstand16 ing any other rule of the House of Representatives,

17 it shall be in order to consider the report of a com18 mittee of conference relating to an implementing bill

19 if such report has been available for one calendar

20 day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holi21 days, unless the House is in session on such a day)

22 and the accompanying statement shall have been

23 filed in the House.

24 ‘‘(3) SENATE CONSIDERATION.—Consideration

25 in the Senate of the conference report and any
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1 amendments in disagreement on an implementing

2 bill shall be limited to not more than 4 hours equally

3 divided and controlled by the majority leader and

4 the minority leader or their designees. A motion to

5 recommit the conference report is not in order.

6 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

7 ‘‘(1) IMPLEMENTING BILL.—The term ‘imple8 menting bill’ means only a bill of either House of

9 Congress which is introduced as provided in sub10 section (a) with respect to one or more Federal

11 Aviation Administration funding proposals which

12 contains changes in existing laws or new statutory

13 authority required to implement such funding pro14 posal or proposals.

15 ‘‘(2) FUNDING PROPOSAL.—The term ‘funding

16 proposal’ means a proposal to provide interim or

17 permanent funding for operations of the Federal

18 Aviation Administration.

19 ‘‘(e) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND

20 SENATE.—This section is enacted by the Congress—

21 ‘‘(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of

22 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re23 spectively, and as such they are deemed a part of

24 the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable

25 only with respect to the procedure to be followed in
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1 that House in the case of implementing bills de2 scribed in subsection (d); and they supersede other

3 rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent

4 therewith; and

5 ‘‘(2) with full recognition of the constitutional

6 right of either House to change the rules (so far as

7 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time,

8 in the same manner and to the same extent as in

9 the case of any other rule of that House.’’.

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

11 for chapter 481 is amended by adding at the end thereof

12 the following:

‘‘48111. Funding proposals’’.

13 SEC. 676. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 453 as amended by sec15 tion 654 of this title, is further amended by—

16 (1) redesignating section 45303 as section

17 45304; and

18 (2) by inserting after section 45302 the follow19 ing:

20 ‘‘§ 45303. Administrative provisions

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

22 ‘‘(1) FEES PAYABLE TO ADMINISTRATOR.—All

23 fees imposed and amounts collected under this chap24 ter for services performed, or materials furnished, by

25 the Federal Aviation Administration (hereafter in
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1 this section referred to as the ‘Administration’) are

2 payable to the Administrator.

3 ‘‘(2) REFUNDS.—The Administrator may re4 fund any fee paid by mistake or any amount paid in

5 excess of that required.

6 ‘‘(3) RECEIPTS CREDITED TO ACCOUNT.—Not7 withstanding section 3302 of title 31 all fees and

8 amounts collected by the Administration, except in9 surance premiums and other fees charged for the

10 provision of insurance and deposited in the Aviation

11 Insurance Revolving Fund and interest earned on in12 vestments of such Fund, and except amounts which

13 on the date of enactment of the Air Traffic Manage14 ment System Performance Improvement Act of 1996

15 are required to be credited to the General Fund of

16 the Treasury, (whether imposed under this section

17 or not)—

18 ‘‘(A) shall be credited to a separate ac19 count established in the Treasury and made

20 available for Administration activities as offset21 ting collections;

22 ‘‘(B) shall be available immediately for ex23 penditure but only for Congressionally author24 ized and intended purposes; and

25 ‘‘(C) shall remain available until expended.
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1 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL BUDGET REPORT BY ADMINIS2 TRATOR.—The Administrator shall, on the same day

3 each year as the President submits the annual budg4 et to the Congress, provide to the Committee on

5 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen6 ate and the Committee on Transportation and Infra7 structure of the House of Representatives—

8 ‘‘(A) a list of fee collections by the Admin9 istration during the preceding fiscal year;

10 ‘‘(B) a list of activities by the Administra11 tion during the preceding fiscal year that were

12 supported by fee expenditures and appropria13 tions;

14 ‘‘(C) budget plans for significant pro15 grams, projects, and activities of the Adminis16 tration, including out-year funding estimates;

17 ‘‘(D) any proposed disposition of surplus

18 fees by the Administration; and

19 ‘‘(E) such other information as those com20 mittees consider necessary.

21 ‘‘(5) DEVELOPMENT OF COST ACCOUNTING SYS22 TEM.—The Administration shall develop a cost ac23 counting system that adequately and accurately re24 flects the investments, operating and overhead costs,
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1 revenues, and other financial measurement and re2 porting aspects of its operations.

3 ‘‘(6) COMPENSATION TO CARRIERS FOR ACTING

4 AS COLLECTION AGENTS.—The Administration shall

5 prescribe regulations to ensure that any air carrier

6 required, pursuant to the Air Traffic Management

7 System Performance Improvement Act of 1996 or

8 any amendments made by that Act, to collect a fee

9 imposed on another party by the Administrator may

10 collect from such other party an additional uniform

11 amount that the Administrator determines reflects

12 the necessary and reasonable expenses (net of inter13 est accruing to the carrier after collection and before

14 remittance) incurred in collecting and handling the

15 fee.

16 ‘‘(7) COST REDUCTION AND EFFICIENCY RE17 PORT.—Prior to the submission of any proposal for

18 establishment, implementation, or expansion of any

19 fees or taxes imposed on the aviation industry, the

20 Administrator shall prepare a report for submission

21 to the Congress which includes—

22 ‘‘(A) a justification of the need for the pro23 posed fees or taxes;
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1 ‘‘(B) a statement of steps taken by the Ad2 ministrator to reduce costs and improve effi3 ciency within the Administration;

4 ‘‘(C) an analysis of the impact of any fee

5 or tax increase on each sector of the aviation

6 transportation industry; and

7 ‘‘(D) a comparative analysis of any de8 crease in taxes amounts equal to the receipts

9 from which are credited to the Airport and Air10 way Trust Fund established under section 9502

11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’.

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analy13 sis for chapter 453 is amended by striking the item relat14 ing to section 45303 and inserting the following:

‘‘45303. Administrative provisions.

‘‘45304. Maximum fees for private person services.’’.

15 SEC. 677. ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS FOR AIRPORT AND

16 AIRWAY TRUST FUND ACTIVITIES.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of subtitle VII is amended

18 by adding at the end the following new chapter:

19 ‘‘CHAPTER 482—ADVANCE APPROPRIA20 TIONS FOR AIRPORT AND AIRWAY

21 TRUST FACILITIES

‘‘Sec.

‘‘48201. Advance appropriations.
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1 ‘‘§ 48201. Advance appropriations

2 ‘‘(a) MULTIYEAR AUTHORIZATIONS.—Beginning with

3 fiscal year 1998, any authorization of appropriations for

4 an activity for which amounts are to be appropriated from

5 the Airport and Airway Trust Fund established under sec6 tion 9502 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall pro7 vide funds for a period of not less than 3 fiscal years un8 less the activity for which appropriations are authorized

9 is to be concluded before the end of that period.

10 ‘‘(b) MULTIYEAR APPROPRIATIONS.—Beginning with

11 fiscal year 1998, amounts appropriated from the Airport

12 and Airway Trust Fund shall be appropriated for periods

13 of 3 fiscal years rather than annually.’’.

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for

15 subtitle VIII is amended by adding at the end the follow16 ing new item:

‘‘482. Advance appropriations for airport and airway trust facilities .....48201.’’.

17 SEC. 678. RURAL AIR SERVICE SURVIVAL ACT.

18 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the

19 ‘‘Rural Air Service Survival Act’’.

20 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

21 (1) air service in rural areas is essential to a

22 national transportation network;

23 (2) the rural air service infrastructure supports

24 the safe operation of all air travel;
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1 (3) rural air service creates economic benefits

2 for all air carriers by making the national aviation

3 system available to passengers from rural areas;

4 (4) rural air service has suffered since deregula5 tion;

6 (5) the essential air service program under the

7 Department of Transportation—

8 (A) provides essential airline access to

9 rural and isolated rural communities through10 out the Nation;

11 (B) is necessary for the economic growth

12 and development of rural communities;

13 (C) is a critical component of the national

14 transportation system of the United States; and

15 (D) has endured serious funding cuts in

16 recent years; and

17 (6) a reliable source of funding must be estab18 lished to maintain air service in rural areas and the

19 essential air service program.

20 (c) ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE AUTHORIZATION.—Sec21 tion 41742 is amended to read as follows:

22 ‘‘§ 41742. Essential air service authorization

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Out of the amounts received by

24 the Administration credited to the account established

25 under section 45303(a)(3) or otherwise provided to the
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1 Administration, the sum of $50,000,000 is authorized and

2 shall be made available immediately for obligation and ex3 penditure to carry out the essential air service program

4 under this subchapter for each fiscal year.

5 ‘‘(b) FUNDING FOR SMALL COMMUNITY AIR SERV6 ICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, monies

7 credited to the account established under section

8 45303(a), including the funds derived from fees imposed

9 under the authority contained in section 45301(a), shall

10 be used to carry out the essential air service program

11 under this subchapter. Notwithstanding section 47114(g)

12 of this title, any amounts from those fees that are not

13 obligated or expended at the end of the fiscal year for the

14 purpose of funding the essential air service program under

15 this subchapter shall be made available to the Administra16 tion for use in improving rural air safety under subchapter

17 I of chapter 471 of this title and shall be used exclusively

18 for projects at rural airports under this subchapter.’’.

19 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter analy20 sis for chapter 417 is amended by striking the item relat21 ing to section 41742 and inserting the following:

‘‘41742. Essential air service authorization.’’.

22 (e) SECRETARY MAY REQUIRE MATCHING LOCAL

23 FUNDS.—Section 41737 is amended by adding at the end

24 thereof the following:
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1 ‘‘(e) MATCHING FUNDS.—No earlier than 2 years

2 after the effective date of section 679 of the Air Traffic

3 Management System Performance Improvement Act of

4 1996, the Secretary may require an eligible agency, as de5 fined in section 40117(a)(2) of this title, to provide match6 ing funds of up to 10 percent for any payments it receives

7 under this subchapter.’’.

8 (f) TRANSFER OF ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE PRO9 GRAM TO FAA.—The responsibility for administration of

10 subchapter II of chapter 417 is transferred from the Sec11 retary of Transportation to the Administrator.

12 TITLE VII—PILOT RECORDS

13 SEC. 701. SHORT TITLE.

14 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Pilot Records Im15 provement Act of 1996’’.

16 SEC. 702. EMPLOYMENT INVESTIGATIONS OF PILOT APPLI17 CANTS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44936 is amended by

19 adding at the end the following new subsection:

20 ‘‘(f) RECORDS OF EMPLOYMENT OF PILOT APPLI21 CANTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before hiring an individual

23 as a pilot, an air carrier shall request and receive

24 the following information:
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1 ‘‘(A) FAA RECORDS.—From the Adminis2 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration

3 (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the

4 ‘Administrator’), records pertaining to the indi5 vidual that are maintained by the Administrator

6 concerning—

7 ‘‘(i) current airman certificates (in8 cluding airman medical certificates) and

9 associated type ratings, including any limi10 tations to those certificates and ratings;

11 and

12 ‘‘(ii) summaries of legal enforcement

13 actions resulting in a finding by the Ad14 ministrator of a violation of this title or a

15 regulation prescribed or order issued under

16 this title that was not subsequently over17 turned.

18 ‘‘(B) AIR CARRIER AND OTHER

19 RECORDS.—From any air carrier or other per20 son that has employed the individual at any

21 time during the 5-year period preceding the

22 date of the employment application of the indi23 vidual, or from the trustee in bankruptcy for

24 such air carrier or person—
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1 ‘‘(i) records pertaining to the individ2 ual that are maintained by an air carrier

3 under regulations set forth in—

4 ‘‘(I) section 121.683 of title 14,

5 Code of Federal Regulations;

6 ‘‘(II) paragraph (A) of section

7 VI, appendix I, part 121 of such title;

8 ‘‘(III) paragraph (A) of section

9 IV, appendix J, part 121 of such title;

10 ‘‘(IV) section 125.401 of such

11 title; and

12 ‘‘(V) section 135.63(a)(4) of such

13 title; and

14 ‘‘(ii) other records pertaining to the

15 individual that are maintained by the air

16 carrier or person concerning—

17 ‘‘(I) the training, qualifications,

18 proficiency, or professional com19 petence of the individual, including

20 comments and evaluations made by a

21 check airman designated in accord22 ance with section 121.411, 125.295,

23 or 135.337 of such title;

24 ‘‘(II) any disciplinary action

25 taken with respect to the individual
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1 that was not subsequently overturned;

2 and

3 ‘‘(III) any release from employ4 ment or resignation, termination, or

5 disqualification with respect to em6 ployment.

7 ‘‘(C) NATIONAL DRIVER REGISTER

8 RECORDS.—In accordance with section

9 30305(b)(7), from the chief driver licensing of10 ficial of a State, information concerning the

11 motor vehicle driving record of the individual.

12 ‘‘(2) WRITTEN CONSENT; RELEASE FROM LI13 ABILITY.—An air carrier making a request for

14 records under paragraph (1)—

15 ‘‘(A) shall be required to obtain written

16 consent to the release of those records from the

17 individual that is the subject of the records re18 quested; and

19 ‘‘(B) may, notwithstanding any other pro20 vision of law or agreement to the contrary, re21 quire the individual who is the subject of the

22 records request to execute a release from liabil23 ity for any claim arising from the furnishing of

24 such records to or the use of such records by

25 such air carrier (other than a claim arising
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1 from furnishing information known to be false

2 and maintained in violation of a criminal stat3 ute).

4 ‘‘(3) 5-YEAR REPORTING PERIOD.—A person

5 shall not furnish a record in response to a request

6 made under paragraph (1) if the record was entered

7 more than 5 years before the date of the request,

8 unless the information concerns a revocation or sus9 pension of an airman certificate or motor vehicle li10 cense that is in effect on the date of the request.

11 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN RECORDS.—

12 The Administrator shall maintain pilot records de13 scribed in paragraph (1)(A) for a period of at least

14 5 years.

15 ‘‘(5) RECEIPT OF CONSENT; PROVISION OF IN16 FORMATION.—A person shall not furnish a record in

17 response to a request made under paragraph (1)

18 without first obtaining a copy of the written consent

19 of the individual who is the subject of the records re20 quested. A person who receives a request for records

21 under this paragraph shall furnish a copy of all of

22 such requested records maintained by the person not

23 later than 30 days after receiving the request.

24 ‘‘(6) RIGHT TO RECEIVE NOTICE AND COPY OF

25 ANY RECORD FURNISHED.—A person who receives a
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1 request for records under paragraph (1) shall pro2 vide to the individual who is the subject of the

3 records—

4 ‘‘(A) written notice of the request and of

5 the right of that individual to receive a copy of

6 such records; and

7 ‘‘(B) a copy of such records, if requested

8 by the individual.

9 ‘‘(7) REASONABLE CHARGES FOR PROCESSING

10 REQUESTS AND FURNISHING COPIES.—A person who

11 receives a request under paragraph (1) or (6) may

12 establish a reasonable charge for the cost of process13 ing the request and furnishing copies of the re14 quested records.

15 ‘‘(8) STANDARD FORMS.—The Administrator

16 shall promulgate—

17 ‘‘(A) standard forms that may be used by

18 an air carrier to request records under para19 graph (1); and

20 ‘‘(B) standard forms that may be used by

21 an air carrier to—

22 ‘‘(i) obtain the written consent of the

23 individual who is the subject of a request

24 under paragraph (1); and

25 ‘‘(ii) inform the individual of—
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1 ‘‘(I) the request; and

2 ‘‘(II) the individual right of that

3 individual to receive a copy of any

4 records furnished in response to the

5 request.

6 ‘‘(9) RIGHT TO CORRECT INACCURACIES.—An

7 air carrier that maintains or requests and receives

8 the records of an individual under paragraph (1)

9 shall provide the individual with a reasonable oppor10 tunity to submit written comments to correct any in11 accuracies contained in the records before making a

12 final hiring decision with respect to the individual.

13 ‘‘(10) RIGHT OF PILOT TO REVIEW CERTAIN

14 RECORDS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of

15 law or agreement, an air carrier shall, upon written

16 request from a pilot employed by such carrier, make

17 available, within a reasonable time of the request, to

18 the pilot for review, any and all employment records

19 referred to in paragraph (1)(B)(i) or (ii) pertaining

20 to the employment of the pilot.

21 ‘‘(11) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—An air carrier

22 that receives the records of an individual under

23 paragraph (1) may use such records only to assess

24 the qualifications of the individual in deciding

25 whether or not to hire the individual as a pilot. The
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1 air carrier shall take such actions as may be nec2 essary to protect the privacy of the pilot and the

3 confidentiality of the records, including ensuring

4 that information contained in the records is not di5 vulged to any individual that is not directly involved

6 in the hiring decision.

7 ‘‘(12) PERIODIC REVIEW.—Not later than 18

8 months after the date of enactment of the Pilot

9 Records Improvement Act of 1996, and at least once

10 every 3 years thereafter, the Administrator shall

11 transmit to the Congress a statement that contains,

12 taking into account recent developments in the avia13 tion industry—

14 ‘‘(A) recommendations by the Adminis15 trator concerning proposed changes to Federal

16 Aviation Administration records, air carrier

17 records, and other records required to be fur18 nished under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of

19 paragraph (1); or

20 ‘‘(B) reasons why the Administrator does

21 not recommend any proposed changes to the

22 records referred to in subparagraph (A).

23 ‘‘(13) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator may

24 prescribe such regulations as may be necessary—

25 ‘‘(A) to protect—
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1 ‘‘(i) the personal privacy of any indi2 vidual whose records are requested under

3 paragraph (1); and

4 ‘‘(ii) the confidentiality of those

5 records;

6 ‘‘(B) to preclude the further dissemination

7 of records received under paragraph (1) by the

8 person who requested those records; and

9 ‘‘(C) to ensure prompt compliance with

10 any request made under paragraph (1).

11 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY; PREEMPTION OF

12 STATE LAW.—

13 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—No action or

14 proceeding may be brought by or on behalf of an in15 dividual who has applied for or is seeking a position

16 with an air carrier as a pilot and who has signed a

17 release from liability, as provided for under para18 graph (2), against—

19 ‘‘(A) the air carrier requesting the records

20 of that individual under subsection (a)(1);

21 ‘‘(B) a person who has complied with such

22 request; or

23 ‘‘(C) an agent or employee of a person de24 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B);
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1 in the nature of an action for defamation, invasion

2 of privacy, negligence, interference with contract, or

3 otherwise, or under any Federal or State law with

4 respect to the furnishing or use of such records in

5 accordance with subsection (a).

6 ‘‘(2) PREEMPTION.—No State or political sub7 division thereof may enact, prescribe, issue, continue

8 in effect, or enforce any law (including any regula9 tion, standard, or other provision having the force

10 and effect of law) that prohibits, penalizes, or im11 poses liability for furnishing or using records in ac12 cordance with subsection (a).

13 ‘‘(3) PROVISION OF KNOWINGLY FALSE INFOR14 MATION.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not apply

15 with respect to a person who furnishes information,

16 in response to a request made under subsection

17 (f)(1), that—

18 ‘‘(A) the person knows is false; and

19 ‘‘(B) was maintained in violation of a

20 criminal statute of the United States.’’.

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 30305(b)

22 of such title is amended—

23 (1) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para24 graph (8); and
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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the follow2 ing:

3 ‘‘(7) An individual who is seeking employment

4 by an air carrier as a pilot may request the chief

5 driver licensing official of a State to provide infor6 mation about the individual under paragraph (2) to

7 the prospective employer of the individual or to the

8 Secretary of Transportation. Information may not be

9 obtained from the National Driver Register under

10 this subsection if the information was entered in the

11 Register more than 5 years before the request unless

12 the information is about a revocation or suspension

13 still in effect on the date of the request.’’.

14 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this

15 section shall apply to any air carrier hiring an individual

16 as a pilot whose application was first received by the car17 rier on or after the 120th day after the date of enactment

18 of this Act.

19 SEC. 703. STUDY OF MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR PILOT

20 QUALIFICATIONS.

21 The Administrator shall appoint a task force consist22 ing of appropriate representatives of the aviation industry

23 to conduct a study directed toward the development of—

24 (1) standards and criteria for preemployment

25 screening tests measuring the psychomotor coordina-
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1 tion, general intellectual capacity, instrument and

2 mechanical comprehension, and physical and mental

3 fitness of an applicant for employment as a pilot by

4 an air carrier; and

5 (2) standards and criteria for pilot training fa6 cilities to be licensed by the Administrator and

7 which will assure that pilots trained at such facilities

8 meet the preemployment screening standards and

9 criteria described in paragraph (1).