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Union Calendar No. 296

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1979

[Report No. 107–496]

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide assistance for the

construction of certain air traffic control towers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 23, 2001

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

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

JUNE 6, 2002

Additional sponsors: Mr. DELAY, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. PICKERING, Mr.

SHOWS, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr.

WELDON of Florida, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. FROST, Mr.

ENGLISH, Mr. GOODE, Ms. HART, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr.

ADERHOLT, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr.

BONILLA, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr.

STUMP, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. CANNON, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. HERGER, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr.

HOLDEN, Mr. PASTOR, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. WELLER, Mr.

EVANS, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. FLAKE, Mr.

SIMPSON, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. KIRK, Mr.

UDALL of Colorado, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. KELLER, Mr.

HALL of Texas, Mr. GORDON, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. SHAW,

Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii,

Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. CANTOR, Mr.

MOORE, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina,

Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. ROSS, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr.

NORWOOD, Mr. PENCE, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr.

JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr.

BLUMENAUER, Mr. BALLENGER, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Mr. BARR

of Georgia, Ms. DUNN, Mr. SIMMONS, and Mr. HAYES
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JUNE 6, 2002

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 23, 2001]

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide assistance

for the construction of certain air traffic control towers.

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 ‘‘Small Airport Safety,

5 Security, and Air Service Improvement Act of 2002’’.

6 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF TOWERS IN AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT.

7 Section 47102(3) of title 49, United States Code, is

8 amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(M) constructing an air traffic control

10 tower or acquiring and installing air traffic con11 trol, communications, and related equipment at

12 an air traffic control tower under the terms spec13 ified in section 47124(b)(4).’’.

14 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOW15 ERS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 47124(b)(4) of title 49,

17 United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(4) CONSTRUCTION OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

2 TOWERS.—

3 ‘‘(A) GRANTS.—The Secretary may provide

4 grants to a sponsor of—

5 ‘‘(i) a primary airport—

6 ‘‘(I) from amounts made available

7 under sections 47114(c)(1) and

8 47114(c)(2) for the construction or im9 provement of a nonapproach control

10 tower, as defined by the Secretary, and

11 for the acquisition and installation of

12 air traffic control, communications,

13 and related equipment to be used in

14 that tower;

15 ‘‘(II) from amounts made avail16 able under sections 47114(c)(1) and

17 47114(c)(2) for reimbursement for the

18 cost of construction or improvement of

19 a nonapproach control tower, as de20 fined by the Secretary, incurred after

21 October 1, 1996, if the sponsor com22 plied with the requirements of sections

23 47107(e), 47112(b), and 47112(c) in

24 constructing or improving that tower;

25 and
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1 ‘‘(III) from amounts made avail2 able under sections 47114(c)(1) and

3 47114(c)(2) for reimbursement for the

4 cost of acquiring and installing in that

5 tower air traffic control, communica6 tions, and related equipment that was

7 acquired or installed after October 1,

8 1996; and

9 ‘‘(ii) a public-use airport that is not a

10 primary airport—

11 ‘‘(I) from amounts made available

12 under sections 47114(c)(2) and

13 47114(d) for the construction or im14 provement of a nonapproach control

15 tower, as defined by the Secretary, and

16 for the acquisition and installation of

17 air traffic control, communications,

18 and related equipment to be used in

19 that tower;

20 ‘‘(II) from amounts made avail21 able under sections 47114(c)(2) and

22 47114(d)(3)(A) for reimbursement for

23 the cost of construction or improvement

24 of a nonapproach control tower, as de25 fined by the Secretary, incurred after
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1 October 1, 1996, if the sponsor com2 plied with the requirements of sections

3 47107(e), 47112(b), and 47112(c) in

4 constructing or improving that tower;

5 and

6 ‘‘(III) from amounts made avail7 able under sections 47114(c)(2) and

8 47114(d)(3)(A) for reimbursement for

9 the cost of acquiring and installing in

10 that tower air traffic control, commu11 nications, and related equipment that

12 was acquired or installed after October

13 1, 1996.

14 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—An airport sponsor

15 shall be eligible for a grant under this paragraph

16 only if—

17 ‘‘(i)(I) the sponsor is a participant in

18 the Federal Aviation Administration con19 tract tower program established under sub20 section (a) and continued under paragraph

21 (1) or the pilot program established under

22 paragraph (3); or

23 ‘‘(II) construction of a nonapproach

24 control tower would qualify the sponsor to

25 be eligible to participate in such program;
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1 ‘‘(ii) the sponsor certifies that it will

2 pay not less than 10 percent of the cost of

3 the activities for which the sponsor is receiv4 ing assistance under this paragraph;

5 ‘‘(iii) the Secretary affirmatively ac6 cepts the proposed contract tower into a

7 contract tower program under this section

8 and certifies that the Secretary will seek fu9 ture appropriations to pay the Federal

10 Aviation Administration’s cost of the con11 tract to operate the tower to be constructed

12 under this paragraph;

13 ‘‘(iv) the sponsor certifies that it will

14 pay its share of the cost of the contract to

15 operate the tower to be constructed under

16 this paragraph; and

17 ‘‘(v) in the case of a tower to be con18 structed under this paragraph from

19 amounts made available under section

20 47114(d)(2) or 47114(d)(3)(B), the Sec21 retary certifies that—

22 ‘‘(I) the Federal Aviation Admin23 istration has consulted the State with24 in the borders of which the tower is to

25 be constructed and the State supports
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1 the construction of the tower as part of

2 its State airport capital plan; and

3 ‘‘(II) the selection of the tower for

4 funding is based on objective criteria,

5 giving no weight to any congressional

6 committee report, joint explanatory

7 statement of a conference committee, or

8 statutory designation.

9 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON FEDERAL SHARE.—

10 The Federal share of the cost of construction of

11 a nonapproach control tower under this para12 graph may not exceed $1,100,000.’’.

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 47124(b) of

14 such title is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking ‘‘Level I air

16 traffic control towers, as defined by the Secretary,’’

17 and inserting ‘‘nonapproach control towers, as de18 fined by the Secretary,’’; and

19 (2) in paragraph (3)(E) by striking ‘‘Subject to

20 paragraph (4)(D), of’’ and inserting ‘‘Of’’.

21 (c) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Notwithstanding the amend22 ments made by this section, the 2 towers for which assist23 ance is being provided on the day before the date of enact24 ment of this Act under section 47124(b)(4) of title 49,

25 United States Code, as in effect on such day, may continue
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1 to be provided such assistance under the terms of such sec2 tion.

3 SEC. 4. NONAPPROACH CONTROL TOWERS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal

5 Aviation Administration may enter into a lease agreement

6 or contract agreement with a private entity to provide for

7 construction and operation of a nonapproach control tower

8 as defined by the Secretary of Transportation.

9 (b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An agreement entered

10 into under this section—

11 (1) shall be negotiated under such procedures as

12 the Administrator considers necessary to ensure the

13 integrity of the selection process, the safety of air

14 travel, and to protect the interests of the United

15 States;

16 (2) may provide a lease option to the United

17 States, to be exercised at the discretion of the Admin18 istrator, to occupy any general-purpose space in a fa19 cility covered by the agreement;

20 (3) shall not require, unless specifically deter21 mined otherwise by the Administrator, Federal own22 ership of a facility covered under the agreement after

23 the expiration of the agreement;
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1 (4) shall describe the consideration, duties, and

2 responsibilities for which the United States and the

3 private entity are responsible;

4 (5) shall provide that the United Sates will not

5 be liable for any action, debt, or liability of any enti6 ty created by the agreement;

7 (6) shall provide that the private entity may not

8 execute any instrument or document creating or evi9 dencing any indebtedness with respect to a facility

10 covered by the agreement unless such instrument or

11 document specifically disclaims any liability of the

12 United States under the instrument or document; and

13 (7) shall include such other terms and conditions

14 as the Administrator considers appropriate.
Union Calendar No. 296

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1979

[Report No. 107–496]

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide

assistance for the construction of certain air traffic control towers.

JUNE 6, 2002

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,

and ordered to be printed