II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2707

To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal land and the

airspace over that land.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 8, 2000

Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mr. CRAIG, and Mr. BURNS) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and

Natural Resources

A BILL

To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal

land and the airspace over that land.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Backcountry Landing

5 Strip Access Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds as follows:

8 (1) The Secretary of the Interior and the Sec9 retary of Agriculture should adopt a nationwide pol10 icy for governing backcountry aviation issues related
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1 to the management of Federal land under the juris2 diction of those Secretaries and should require re3 gional managers to adhere to that policy.

4 (2) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential

5 safety role as emergency landing areas.

6 (3) Aircraft landing strips provide access to

7 people who would otherwise be physically unable to

8 enjoy national parks, national forests, and other

9 Federal lands and serve an essential purpose in

10 search and rescue, firefighting, forest, and ecological

11 management, research, and aerial mapping.

12 SEC. 3. PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF ACTIONS AF13 FECTING AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Neither the Secretary of the Inte15 rior nor the Secretary of Agriculture shall take any action

16 which would permanently close or render or declare as un17 serviceable any aircraft landing strip located on Federal

18 land under the administrative jurisdiction of either Sec19 retary unless—

20 (1) the head of the aviation department of each

21 State in which the aircraft landing strip is located

22 has approved the action;

23 (2) notice of the proposed action and the fact

24 that the action would permanently close or render or
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1 declare as unserviceable the aircraft landing strip

2 has been published in the Federal Register;

3 (3) a 90-day public comment period on the ac4 tion has been provided after the publication under

5 paragraph (2); and

6 (4) any comments received during the comment

7 period provided under paragraph (3) have been

8 taken into consideration by the Secretary of the In9 terior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case

10 may be, and the head of the aviation department of

11 each State in which the affected aircraft landing

12 strip is located.

13 (b) NATIONAL POLICY.—Not later than 2 years after

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

15 the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall—

16 (1) adopt a nationwide policy that is in accord17 ance with this Act for governing backcountry avia18 tion issues related to the management of Federal

19 land under the jurisdiction of those Secretaries; and

20 (2) require regional managers to adhere to that

21 policy.

22 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR POLICIES.—A policy affect23 ing air access to an aircraft landing strip located on Fed24 eral land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the

25 Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, including the pol-
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1 icy required by subsection (b), shall not take effect unless

2 the policy—

3 (1) states that the Federal Aviation Adminis4 tration has the sole authority to control aviation and

5 airspace over the United States; and

6 (2) seeks and considers comments from State

7 governments and the public.

8 (d) MAINTENANCE OF AIRSTRIPS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte10 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall consult

11 with—

12 (A) the head of the aviation department of

13 each State in which an aircraft landing strip on

14 Federal land under the jurisdiction of that Sec15 retary is located; and

16 (B) other interested parties,

17 to ensure that such aircraft landing strips are main18 tained in a manner that is consistent with the re19 source values of the adjacent area.

20 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Sec21 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri22 culture may enter into cooperative agreements with

23 interested parties for the maintenance of aircraft

24 landing strips located on Federal land.
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1 (e) EXCHANGES OR ACQUISITIONS.—Closure or pur2 poseful neglect of any aircraft landing strip, or any other

3 action which would render any aircraft landing strip un4 serviceable, shall not be a condition of any Federal acquisi5 tion of or exchange involving private property upon which

6 the aircraft landing strip is located.

7 (f) NEW AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS NOT CRE8 ATED.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create

9 or authorize additional aircraft landing strips.

10 (g) PERMANENTLY CLOSE.—For the purposes of this

11 Act, the term ‘‘permanently close’’ means any closure the

12 duration of which is more than 180 days in any calendar

13 year.

14 (h) APPLICABILITY.—

15 (1) AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS.—This Act shall

16 apply only to established aircraft landing strips on

17 Federal lands administered by the Secretary of the

18 Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture that are

19 commonly known and have been or are consistently

20 used for aircraft landing and departure activities.

21 (2) ACTIONS, POLICIES, EXCHANGES, AND AC22 QUISITIONS.—Subsections (a), (c), and (e) shall

23 apply to any action, policy, exchange, or acquisition,

24 respectively, that is not final on the date of the en25 actment of this Act.
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1 (i) FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION AUTHOR2 ITY NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in this Act shall be con3 strued to affect the authority of the Federal Aviation Ad4 ministration over aviation or airspace.

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