I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1363

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

airspace over that land.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 3, 2001

Mr. OTTER (for himself, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. MICA, Mr.

RADANOVICH, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. BASS, Mr. JONES of

North Carolina, Mr. CANNON, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr.

SCHAFFER, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. HERGER, Mr. STUMP, Mr.

GILCHREST, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. HAYES,

Mr. WALDEN of Oregon, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. FLAKE, and Mr. BOSWELL)

Introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal

land and to 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’’.
2

•HR 1363 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds as follows:

3 (1) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential

4 safety role as emergency landing areas.

5 (2) Aircraft landing strips provide access to

6 people who would otherwise be physically unable to

7 enjoy national parks, national forests, and other

8 Federal lands.

9 (3) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential

10 purpose in search and rescue, forest and ecological

11 management, research, and aerial mapping.

12 (4) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential

13 role in firefighting and disaster relief.

14 (5) The Secretary of the Interior and the Sec15 retary of Agriculture should adopt a nationwide pol16 icy for governing backcountry aviation issues related

17 to the management of Federal land under the juris18 diction of those Secretaries and should require re19 gional managers to adhere to that policy.

20 SEC. 3. PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF ACTIONS AF21 FECTING AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Neither the Secretary of the Inte23 rior nor the Secretary of Agriculture shall take any action

24 which would permanently close or render or declare as un25 serviceable any aircraft landing strip located on Federal
3

•HR 1363 IH

1 land under the administrative jurisdiction of either Sec2 retary unless—

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

4 State in which the aircraft landing strip is located

5 has approved the action;

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

7 that the action would permanently close or render or

8 declare as unserviceable the aircraft landing strip

9 has been published in the Federal Register;

10 (3) a 90-day public comment period on the ac11 tion has been provided after the publication under

12 paragraph (2); and

13 (4) any comments received during the comment

14 period provided under paragraph (3) have been

15 taken into consideration by the Secretary of the In16 terior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case

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

18 each State in which the affected aircraft landing

19 strip is located.

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

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

22 the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall—

23 (1) adopt a nationwide policy that is in accord24 ance with this Act for governing backcountry avia-
4

•HR 1363 IH

1 tion issues related to the management of Federal

2 land under the jurisdiction of those Secretaries; and

3 (2) require regional managers to adhere to that

4 policy.

5 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR POLICIES.—A policy affect6 ing air access to an aircraft landing strip located on Fed7 eral land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the

8 Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, including the pol9 icy required by subsection (b), shall not take effect unless

10 the policy—

11 (1) states that the Federal Aviation Adminis12 tration has the sole authority to control aviation and

13 airspace over the United States; and

14 (2) seeks and considers comments from State

15 governments and the public.

16 (d) MAINTENANCE OF AIRSTRIPS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte18 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall consult

19 with—

20 (A) the head of the aviation department of

21 each State in which an aircraft landing strip on

22 Federal land under the jurisdiction of that Sec23 retary is located; and

24 (B) other interested parties,
5

•HR 1363 IH

1 to ensure that such aircraft landing strips are main2 tained in a manner that is consistent with the re3 source values of the adjacent area.

4 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Sec5 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri6 culture may enter into cooperative agreements with

7 interested parties for the maintenance of aircraft

8 landing strips located on Federal land.

9 (e) EXCHANGES OR ACQUISITIONS.—Closure or pur10 poseful neglect of any aircraft landing strip, or any other

11 action which would render any aircraft landing strip un12 serviceable, shall not be a condition of any Federal acquisi13 tion of or exchange involving private property upon which

14 the aircraft landing strip is located.

15 (f) NEW AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS NOT CRE16 ATED.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create

17 or authorize additional aircraft landing strips.

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

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

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

21 year.

22 (h) APPLICABILITY.—

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

24 apply only to established aircraft landing strips on

25 Federal lands administered by the Secretary of the
6

•HR 1363 IH

1 Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture that are

2 commonly known and have been or are consistently

3 used for aircraft landing and departure activities.

4 (2) ACTIONS, POLICIES, EXCHANGES, AND AC5 QUISITIONS.—Subsections (a), (c), and (e) shall

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

7 respectively, that is not final on the date of the en8 actment of this Act.

9 (i) FAA AUTHORITY NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in

10 this Act shall be construed to affect the authority of the

11 Federal Aviation Administration over aviation or airspace.

Æ