I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 670

To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit States to impose fees

to finance programs for providing air service to small communities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 1997

Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit States

to impose fees to finance programs for providing air

service to small communities.

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 Community Air

5 Service Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. SMALL COMMUNITY AIR SERVICE FEES.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 401 of title 49, United

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow9 ing:
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1 ‘‘§ 40121. Small community air service fees

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation

3 may authorize under this section a State to impose a small

4 community air service fee of $1, $2, or $3 on each paying

5 passenger of an air carrier or foreign air carrier boarding

6 an aircraft at an airport in the State to finance a small

7 community air service program of the State.

8 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State must submit to the

10 Secretary an application for authority to impose a

11 small community air service fee. The application

12 shall contain such information and be in such form

13 as the Secretary may require by regulation.

14 ‘‘(2) NOTICE AND COMMENT.—After receiving

15 an application, the Secretary shall provide notice

16 and an opportunity to air carriers, foreign air car17 riers, and other interested persons to comment on

18 the application. The Secretary shall make a final de19 cision on the application not later than 120 days

20 after receiving it.

21 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS ON APPROVING APPLICATIONS.—

22 The Secretary may approve an application that a State

23 has submitted under subsection (b) only if the Secretary

24 finds, based on the application, that—
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1 ‘‘(1) the small community air service program

2 of the State meets the requirements of this section;

3 and

4 ‘‘(2) the amount of the proposed small commu5 nity air service fee will result in revenue (including

6 interest and other returns on the revenue) that is

7 not more than the amount necessary to finance the

8 small community air service program.

9 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON IMPOSING FEES.—

10 ‘‘(1) TERMS TO BE PRESCRIBED BY THE SEC11 RETARY.—A State may impose a small community

12 air service fee only—

13 ‘‘(A) if the Secretary approves an applica14 tion that the State has submitted under sub15 section (b); and

16 ‘‘(B) subject to terms the Secretary may

17 prescribe to carry out the objectives of this sec18 tion.

19 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC LIMITATIONS.—A small commu20 nity air service fee may not be collected from a pas21 senger—

22 ‘‘(A) for more than two boardings on a

23 one-way trip or a trip in each direction of a

24 round trip; or
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1 ‘‘(B) enplaning at an airport if the pas2 senger did not pay for the air transportation

3 which resulted in such enplanement, including

4 any case in which the passenger obtained the

5 ticket for the air transportation with a frequent

6 flier award coupon without monetary payment.

7 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL COMMUNITY AIR

8 SERVICE PROGRAM.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A small community air

10 service program shall be designed to provide com11 pensation to air carriers for providing air service to

12 places that would not receive air service without

13 such compensation. Such compensation may be used

14 to supplement compensation made available under

15 subchapter II of chapter 417 of this title.

16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PLACES.—Decisions concerning

17 individual places eligible for compensation under the

18 small community air service program of a State and

19 the level of air service provided to such places shall

20 be made by the State and shall not be subject to re21 view by the Secretary.

22 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section,

23 the following definitions apply:

24 ‘‘(1) AIRPORT.—The term ‘airport’ has the

25 same meaning given such term by section 47102.
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1 ‘‘(2) SMALL COMMUNITY AIR SERVICE FEE.—

2 The term ‘small community air service fee’ means a

3 fee imposed under this section.’’.

4 (b) AMENDMENT TO TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The

5 table of sections at the beginning of chapter 401 of such

6 title is amended by adding at the end the following new

7 item:

‘‘40121. Small community air service fees.’’.

8 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 40116(b)

9 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking

10 ‘‘and section 40117’’ and inserting ‘‘, section 40117, and

11 section 40121’’.

12 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

14 take effect on the first day of the first fiscal year begin15 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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