I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1507

To require the Secretary of Transportation to grant exemptions under section

41714 of title 49, United States Code, to allow 30 additional slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for air carriers

to provide daily air service between Ronald Reagan Washington National

Airport and other airports that are more than 1,250 statute miles from

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 21, 1999

Mr. HANSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Transportation to grant exemptions under section 41714 of title 49, United States

Code, to allow 30 additional slot exemptions at Ronald

Reagan Washington National Airport for air carriers to

provide daily air service between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and other airports that are more

than 1,250 statute miles from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ronald Reagan Wash3 ington National Airport Freedom of Travel Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. SLOTS FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION BEYOND PERIM5 ETER RULE AT RONALD REAGAN WASH6 INGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT.

7 Section 41714 of title 49, United States Code, is

8 amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(j) SLOTS FOR AIRPORTS BEYOND 1,250 MILES

10 FROM REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT.—

11 ‘‘(1) EXEMPTIONS.—Notwithstanding chapter

12 491, the Secretary shall grant, by order, exemptions

13 from the requirements of subparts K and S of part

14 93 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (per15 taining to slots at high density airports), to enable

16 air carriers to provide daily nonstop air transpor17 tation between Ronald Reagan Washington National

18 Airport and an airport that is more than 1,250 stat19 ute miles from Ronald Reagan Washington National

20 Airport if the Secretary finds the exemptions will—

21 ‘‘(A) result in the provision of air trans22 portation service with domestic network benefits

23 in areas that are more than 1,250 statute miles

24 from Ronald Reagan Washington National Air25 port; and
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1 ‘‘(B) increase domestic travel options for

2 communities that are more than 1,250 statute

3 miles from Ronald Reagan Washington Na4 tional Airport.

5 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—

6 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF EXEMPTIONS

7 PER HOUR.—No more than two exemptions per

8 hour between 7:00 ante meridiem and 9:59 post

9 meridiem may be granted under this subsection

10 for slots at Ronald Reagan Washington Na11 tional Airport.

12 ‘‘(B) STAGE 3 AIRCRAFT REQUIRED.—An

13 exemption may be granted under this sub14 section for a slot at Ronald Reagan Washington

15 National Airport only if jet aircraft that comply

16 with the stage 3 noise levels of part 36 of title

17 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations will be

18 used for the flight that will be operating under

19 such slot.

20 ‘‘(C) NUMBER OF EXEMPTIONS.—The

21 Secretary—

22 ‘‘(i) shall grant 30 daily exemptions

23 under this subsection;

24 ‘‘(ii) may not grant more than 4 of

25 such exemptions to any 1 air carrier; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) may only grant an even number

2 of such exemptions under this subsection

3 to an air carrier.

4 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—An air carrier interested

5 in an exemption under this subsection shall submit

6 to the Secretary an application for such exemption.

7 No application may be submitted to the Secretary

8 before the last day of the 30-day period beginning

9 on the date of the enactment of this paragraph.

10 ‘‘(4) DEADLINE FOR DECISION.—Notwith11 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary

12 shall make a decision with regard to granting an ex13 emption under this subsection on or before the

14 120th day following the date of the application for

15 the exemption. If the Secretary does not make the

16 decision on or before such 120th day, the air carrier

17 applying for the service may provide such service

18 until the Secretary makes the decision or the Admin19 istrator of the Federal Aviation Administration de20 termines that providing such service would have an

21 adverse effect on air safety.

22 ‘‘(5) PERIOD OF EFFECTIVENESS.—An exemp23 tion granted under this subsection with respect to an

24 airport may remain in effect only while the air car25 rier for whom the exemption is granted continues to
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1 provide daily nonstop air transportation between the

2 airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National

3 Airport.

4 ‘‘(6) RANKING OF APPLICATIONS.—In the event

5 that applications are filed for more than 30 slots

6 under this subsection, the Secretary shall award the

7 exemptions to—

8 ‘‘(A) air carriers that provide air transpor9 tation service with the greatest domestic net10 work benefits in areas that are more than 1,250

11 statute miles from Ronald Reagan Washington

12 National Airport; and

13 ‘‘(B) hub airports which provide access to

14 the maximum number of domestic cities.

15 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection the fol16 lowing definitions apply:

17 ‘‘(A) HUB AIRPORT.—The term ‘hub air18 port’ has the meaning such term has under sec19 tion 41731.

20 ‘‘(B) MEDIUM HUB AIRPORT.—The term

21 ‘medium hub airport’ means an airport that has

22 at least .25 percent, but less than 1.0 percent,

23 of the total annual boardings in the United

24 States.
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1 ‘‘(C) SMALL HUB AIRPORT.—The term

2 ‘small hub airport’ has the meaning such term

3 has under section 41731.’’.

4 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

5 Section 49109 of title 49, United States Code, is

6 amended by striking ‘‘An air’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to

7 section 41714(j), an air’’.

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