I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2139 

To amend the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and title 49, 

United States Code, with respect to disadvantaged business enterprises, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 25, 2017 

Ms. MOORE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 

and title 49, United States Code, with respect to disadvantaged business enterprises, 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. INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON PARTICIPA4 TION IN FAA PROGRAMS BY DISADVANTAGED 

5 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 

6 Section 140 of the FAA Modernization and Reform 

7 Act of 2012 is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘each of 

2 fiscal years 2013 through 2017’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘fiscal year 2017 and periodically thereafter’’; 

4 and 

5 (B) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking ‘‘a 

6 list’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to the large 

7 and medium hub airports in the United States 

8 that participate in the airport disadvantaged 

9 business enterprise program referenced in sub10 section (a), a list’’; and 

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

12 ‘‘(d) ASSESSMENT OF EFFORTS.—The Inspector 

13 General shall assess the efforts of the Federal Aviation 

14 Administration with respect to implementing recommen15 dations suggested in reports submitted under subsection 

16 (c) and shall include in each semiannual report of the In17 spector General that is submitted to Congress a descrip18 tion of the results of such assessment.’’. 

19 SEC. 2. MINORITY AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS PAR20 TICIPATION. 

21 Section 47113 of title 49, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (c)— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and 

25 inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall’’; and 

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

3 ‘‘(2) CONSISTENCY OF INFORMATION.—The 

4 Secretary shall develop and maintain a training pro5 gram— 

6 ‘‘(A) for employees of the Federal Aviation 

7 Administration who provide guidance and train8 ing to entities that certify whether a small busi9 ness concern qualifies under this section (and 

10 for employees of the other modal administra11 tions of the Department of Transportation who 

12 provide similar services); and 

13 ‘‘(B) that ensures Federal officials provide 

14 consistent communications with respect to cer15 tification requirements. 

16 ‘‘(3) LISTS OF CERTIFYING AUTHORITIES.—The 

17 Secretary shall ensure that each State maintains an 

18 accurate list of the certifying authorities in such 

19 State for purposes of this section and that the list 

20 is— 

21 ‘‘(A) updated at least twice each year; and 

22 ‘‘(B) made available to the public.’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (e) by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall deter2 mine, for each fiscal year, the number of individuals 

3 who received training under this subsection and shall 

4 make such number available to the public on an ap5 propriate website operated by the Secretary. If the 

6 Secretary determines, with respect to a fiscal year, 

7 that fewer individuals received training under this 

8 subsection than in the previous fiscal year, the Sec9 retary shall submit to Congress, and make available 

10 to the public on an appropriate website operated by 

11 the Secretary, a report describing the reasons for 

12 the decrease. 

13 ‘‘(5) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 2 years 

14 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and 

15 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall assess 

16 the training program, including by soliciting feed17 back from stakeholders, and update the training pro18 gram as appropriate.’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(f) TREND ASSESSMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

22 after the date of enactment of this subsection, and 

23 at least every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 

24 study, using information reported by airports, trends 


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1 in the participation of small business concerns re2 ferred to in subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The study under paragraph 

4 (1) shall include— 

5 ‘‘(A) an analysis of whether the participa6 tion of small business concerns referred to in 

7 subsection (b) at reporting airports increased or 

8 decreased during the period studied, including 

9 for such concerns that were first time partici10 pants; 

11 ‘‘(B) an analysis of the factors relating to 

12 any significant increases or decreases in partici13 pation compared to prior years; and 

14 ‘‘(C) development of a plan to respond to 

15 the results of the study, including development 

16 of recommendations for sharing best practices 

17 for maintaining or boosting participation. 

18 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—For each study completed 

19 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to 

20 Congress, and make available to the program con21 tact at each airport that participates in the airport 

22 disadvantaged business enterprise program, a report 

23 describing the results of the study.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES. 

2 Section 40117(c) of title 49, United States Code, is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(5) With respect to an application under this sub5 section that relates to an airport that participates in the 

6 airport disadvantaged business enterprise program ref7 erenced in section 140(a) of the FAA Modernization and 

8 Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 47113 note), the applica9 tion shall include a detailed description of good faith ef10 forts at the airport to contract with disadvantaged busi11 ness enterprises in relation to any project that is a subject 

12 of the application and to ensure that all small businesses, 

13 including those owned by veterans, fairly compete for work 

14 funded with passenger facility charges.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. ANNUAL TRACKING OF CERTAIN NEW FIRMS AT 

16 AIRPORTS WITH A DISADVANTAGED BUSI17 NESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM. 

18 (a) TRACKING REQUIRED.—Beginning in fiscal year 

19 2017, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Administrator 

20 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall require each 

21 covered airport to report to the Administrator on the num22 ber of new disadvantaged business enterprises that were 

23 awarded a contract or concession during the previous fis24 cal year at the airport. 


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1 (b) TRAINING.—The Administrator shall provide 

2 training to airports, on an ongoing basis, with respect to 

3 compliance with subsection (a). 

4 (c) REPORTING.—During the first fiscal year begin5 ning after the date of enactment of this Act and every 

6 fiscal year thereafter, the Administrator shall update 

7 dbE–Connect (or any successor online reporting system) 

8 to include information on the number of new disadvan9 taged business enterprises that were awarded a contract 

10 or concession during the previous fiscal year at a covered 

11 airport. 

12 (d) COVERED AIRPORT DEFINED.—In this section, 

13 the term ‘‘covered airport’’ means a large or medium hub 

14 airport that participates in the airport disadvantaged busi15 ness enterprise program referenced in section 140(a) of 

16 the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 

17 U.S.C. 47113 note). 

18 SEC. 5. AUDITS. 

19 The Inspector General of the Department of Trans20 portation shall conduct periodic audits regarding the accu21 racy of the data on disadvantaged business enterprises 

22 contained in the Federal Aviation Administration’s report23 ing database related to such enterprises or any similar or 

24 successor online reporting database developed by the Ad25 ministration. 


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1 SEC. 6. PROMPT PAYMENTS. 

2 (a) REPORTING OF COMPLAINTS.—Not later than 30 

3 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis4 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall ensure 

5 that each airport that participates in the Program tracks, 

6 and reports to the Administrator, the number of covered 

7 complaints made in relation to activities at that airport. 

8 (b) IMPROVING COMPLIANCE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

10 take actions to assess and improve compliance with 

11 prompt payment requirements under part 26 of title 

12 49, Code of Federal Regulations. 

13 (2) CONTENTS OF ASSESSMENT.—In carrying 

14 out paragraph (1), the Administrator shall assess— 

15 (A) whether requirements relating to the 

16 inclusion of prompt payment language in con17 tracts are being satisfied; 

18 (B) whether and how airports are enforc19 ing prompt payment requirements; 

20 (C) the processes by which covered com21 plaints are received and resolved by airports; 

22 (D) whether improvements need to be 

23 made to— 

24 (i) better track covered complaints re25 ceived by airports; and 


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1 (ii) assist the resolution of covered 

2 complaints in a timely manner; 

3 (E) the effectiveness of alternative dispute 

4 resolution mechanisms with respect to resolving 

5 covered complaints; 

6 (F) best practices that ensure prompt pay7 ment requirements are satisfied; 

8 (G) the Federal Aviation Administration 

9 resources, including staff, that are dedicated to 

10 helping resolve covered complaints; and 

11 (H) how the Federal Aviation Administra12 tion can enhance efforts to resolve covered com13 plaints, including by using timelines and pro14 viding additional staffing and other resources. 

15 (3) REPORTING.—The Administrator shall 

16 make available to the public on an appropriate web17 site operated by the Administrator a report describ18 ing the results of the assessment completed under 

19 this subsection, including a plan to respond to such 

20 results. 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi22 nitions apply: 

23 (1) COVERED COMPLAINT.—The term ‘‘covered 

24 complaint’’ means a complaint relating to an alleged 

25 failure to satisfy a prompt payment requirement 


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1 under part 26 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula2 tions. 

3 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

4 the airport disadvantaged business enterprise pro5 gram referenced in section 140(a) of the FAA Mod6 ernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 

7 47113 note). 

Æ 


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