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 Re-
sources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Backcountry Landing
Strip Access Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential
safety role as emergency landing areas.
(2) Aircraft landing strips provide access to
people who would otherwise be physically unable to
enjoy national parks, national forests, and other
Federal lands.
(3) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential
purpose in search and rescue, forest and ecological
management, research, and aerial mapping.
(4) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential
role in firefighting and disaster relief.
(5) The Secretary of the Interior and the Sec-
retary of Agriculture should adopt a nationwide pol-
icy for governing backcountry aviation issues related
to the management of Federal land under the juris-
diction of those Secretaries and should require re-
gional managers to adhere to that policy.
SEC. 3. PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF ACTIONS AF-
FECTING AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Neither the Secretary of the Inte-
rior nor the Secretary of Agriculture shall take any action
which would permanently close or render or declare as un-
serviceable any aircraft landing strip located on Federal
land under the administrative jurisdiction of either Sec-
retary unless—
(1) the head of the aviation department of each
State in which the aircraft landing strip is located
has approved the action;
(2) notice of the proposed action and the fact
that the action would permanently close or render or
declare as unserviceable the aircraft landing strip
has been published in the Federal Register;
(3) a 90-day public comment period on the ac-
tion has been provided after the publication under
paragraph (2); and
(4) any comments received during the comment
period provided under paragraph (3) have been
taken into consideration by the Secretary of the In-
terior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case
may be, and the head of the aviation department of
each State in which the affected aircraft landing
strip is located.
(b) NATIONAL POLICY.—Not later than 2 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall—
(1) adopt a nationwide policy that is in accord-
ance with this Act for governing backcountry avia-
tion issues related to the management of Federal
land under the jurisdiction of those Secretaries; and
(2) require regional managers to adhere to that
policy.
(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR POLICIES.—A policy affect-
ing air access to an aircraft landing strip located on Fed-
eral land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the
Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, including the pol-
icy required by subsection (b), shall not take effect unless
the policy—
(1) states that the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration has the sole authority to control aviation and
airspace over the United States; and
(2) seeks and considers comments from State
governments and the public.
(d) MAINTENANCE OF AIRSTRIPS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall consult
with—
(A) the head of the aviation department of
each State in which an aircraft landing strip on
Federal land under the jurisdiction of that Sec-
retary is located; and
(B) other interested parties,
to ensure that such aircraft landing strips are main-
tained in a manner that is consistent with the re-
source values of the adjacent area.
(2) COOPERATIVE
AGREEMENTS.—The Sec-
retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri-
culture may enter into cooperative agreements with
interested parties for the maintenance of aircraft
landing strips located on Federal land.
(e) EXCHANGES OR ACQUISITIONS.—Closure or pur-
poseful neglect of any aircraft landing strip, or any other
action which would render any aircraft landing strip un-
serviceable, shall not be a condition of any Federal acquisi-
tion of or exchange involving private property upon which
the aircraft landing strip is located.
(f) NEW AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS NOT CRE-
ATED.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create
or authorize additional aircraft landing strips.
(g) PERMANENTLY CLOSE.—For the purposes of this
Act, the term ‘‘permanently close’’ means any closure the
duration of which is more than 180 days in any calendar
year.
(h) APPLICABILITY.—
(1) AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS.—This Act shall
apply only to established aircraft landing strips on
Federal lands administered by the Secretary of the
Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture that are
commonly known and have been or are consistently
used for aircraft landing and departure activities.
(2) ACTIONS, POLICIES, EXCHANGES, AND AC-
QUISITIONS.—Subsections (a), (c), and (e) shall
apply to any action, policy, exchange, or acquisition,
respectively, that is not final on the date of the en-
actment of this Act.
(i) FAA AUTHORITY NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in
this Act shall be construed to affect the authority of the
Federal Aviation Administration over aviation or airspace.
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