H. R. 2115—97
SEC. 712. AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM.
Section 44511 is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
‘‘(f) AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Transportation
shall establish a 4-year pilot airport cooperative research pro-
gram to—
‘‘(A) identify problems that are shared by airport oper-
ating agencies and can be solved through applied research
but that are not being adequately addressed by existing
Federal research programs; and
‘‘(B) fund research to address those problems.
‘‘(2) GOVERNANCE.—The Secretary of Transportation shall
appoint an independent governing board for the research pro-
gram established under this subsection. The governing board
shall be appointed from candidates nominated by national
associations representing public airport operating agencies, air-
port executives, State aviation officials, and the scheduled air-
lines, and shall include representatives of appropriate Federal
agencies. Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act
shall not apply to the governing board.
‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Transportation
shall enter into an arrangement with the National Academy
of Sciences to provide staff support to the governing board
established under paragraph (2) and to carry out projects pro-
posed by the governing board that the Secretary considers
appropriate.
‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the expiration
of the program under this subsection, the Secretary shall
transmit to the Congress a report on the program, including
recommendations as to the need for establishing a permanent
airport cooperative research program.’’.
TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS
SEC. 801. DEFINITIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 47102 is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (19) and (20) as paragraphs
(24) and (25), respectively;
(2) by inserting after paragraph (18) the following:
‘‘(23) ‘small hub airport’ means a commercial service airport
that has at least 0.05 percent but less than 0.25 percent of
the passenger boardings.’’;
(3) in paragraph (10) by striking subparagraphs (A) and
(B) and inserting following:
‘‘(A) means, unless the context indicates otherwise,
revenue passenger boardings in the United States in the
prior calendar year on an aircraft in service in air com-
merce, as the Secretary determines under regulations the
Secretary prescribes; and
‘‘(B) includes passengers who continue on an aircraft
in international flight that stops at an airport in the 48
contiguous States, Alaska, or Hawaii for a nontraffic pur-
pose.’’;
(4) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through (18) as para-
graphs (14) through (22), respectively;
H. R. 2115—98
(5) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
‘‘(10) ‘large hub airport’ means a commercial service airport
that has at least 1.0 percent of the passenger boardings.
‘‘(12) ‘medium hub airport’ means a commercial service
airport that has at least 0.25 percent but less than 1.0 percent
of the passenger boardings.
‘‘(13) ‘nonhub airport’ means a commercial service airport
that has less than 0.05 percent of the passenger boardings.’’;
and
(6) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following:
‘‘(6) ‘amount made available under section 48103’ or
‘amount newly made available’ means the amount authorized
for grants under section 48103 as that amount may be limited
in that year by a subsequent law, but as determined without
regard to grant obligation recoveries made in that year or
amounts covered by section 47107(f).’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 47116(b)(1) is amended
by striking ‘‘(as defined in section 41731 of this title)’’.
SEC. 802. REPORT ON AVIATION SAFETY REPORTING SYSTEM.
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall
transmit to Congress a report on the long-term goals and objectives
of the Aviation Safety Reporting System and how such system
interrelates with other safety reporting systems of the Federal
Government.
SEC. 803. ANCHORAGE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30, 2004, the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall com-
plete a study and transmit a report to the appropriate committees
regarding the feasibility of consolidating the Anchorage Terminal
Radar Approach Control and the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Con-
trol Center at the existing Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control
Center facility.
(b) APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES.—In this section, the term
‘‘appropriate committees’’ means the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 804. EXTENSION OF METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AIRPORTS
AUTHORITY.
Section 49108 is amended by striking ‘‘2004’’ and inserting
‘‘2008’’.
SEC. 805. IMPROVEMENT OF AVIATION INFORMATION COLLECTION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 329(b)(1) is amended by striking
‘‘except that in no case’’ and all that follows through the semicolon
at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘except that, if the Secretary
requires air carriers to provide flight-specific information, the
Secretary—
‘‘(A) shall not disseminate fare information for a spe-
cific flight to the general public for a period of at least
9 months following the date of the flight; and
‘‘(B) shall give due consideration to and address con-
fidentiality concerns of carriers, including competitive
implications, in any rulemaking prior to adoption of a
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rule requiring the dissemination to the general public of
any flight-specific fare;’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on the date of the issuance of a final rule to
modernize the Origin and Destination Survey of Airline Passenger
Traffic, pursuant to the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
published July 15, 1998 (Regulation Identifier Number 2105–AC71),
that reduces the reporting burden for air carriers through electronic
filing of the survey data collected under section 329(b)(1) of title
49, United States Code.
SEC. 806. GOVERNMENT-FINANCED AIR TRANSPORTATION.
Section 40118(f)(2) is amended by inserting before the period
at the end the following: ‘‘, except that it shall not include a
contract for the transportation by air of passengers’’.
SEC. 807. AIR CARRIER CITIZENSHIP.
Section 40102(a)(15)(C) is amended by inserting ‘‘which is under
the actual control of citizens of the United States,’’ before ‘‘and
in which’’.
SEC. 808. UNITED STATES PRESENCE IN GLOBAL AIR CARGO
INDUSTRY.
Section 41703 is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(e) CARGO IN ALASKA.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—For the purposes of subsection (c),
eligible cargo taken on or off any aircraft at a place in Alaska
in the course of transportation of that cargo by any combination
of 2 or more air carriers or foreign air carriers in either direction
between a place in the United States and a place outside
the United States shall not be deemed to have broken its
international journey in, be taken on in, or be destined for
Alaska.
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE CARGO.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the
term ‘eligible cargo’ means cargo transported between Alaska
and any other place in the United States on a foreign air
carrier (having been transported from, or thereafter being
transported to, a place outside the United States on a different
air carrier or foreign air carrier) that is carried—
‘‘(A) under the code of a United States air carrier
providing air transportation to Alaska;
‘‘(B) on an air carrier way bill of an air carrier providing
air transportation to Alaska;
‘‘(C) under a term arrangement or block space agree-
ment with an air carrier; or
‘‘(D) under the code of a United States air carrier
for purposes of transportation within the United States.’’.
SEC. 809. AVAILABILITY OF AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT SITE INFORMATION.
(a) DOMESTIC
AIR
TRANSPORTATION.—Section 41113(b) is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (16) by striking ‘‘the air carrier’’ the third
place it appears; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(17)(A) An assurance that, in the case of an accident
that results in significant damage to a manmade structure
or other property on the ground that is not government-owned,
the air carrier will promptly provide notice, in writing, to
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the extent practicable, directly to the owner of the structure
or other property about liability for any property damage and
means for obtaining compensation.
‘‘(B) At a minimum, the written notice shall advise an
owner (i) to contact the insurer of the property as the authori-
tative source for information about coverage and compensation;
(ii) to not rely on unofficial information offered by air carrier
representatives about compensation by the air carrier for
accident-site property damage; and (iii) to obtain photographic
or other detailed evidence of property damage as soon as pos-
sible after the accident, consistent with restrictions on access
to the accident site.
‘‘(18) An assurance that, in the case of an accident in
which the National Transportation Safety Board conducts a
public hearing or comparable proceeding at a location greater
than 80 miles from the accident site, the air carrier will ensure
that the proceeding is made available simultaneously by elec-
tronic means at a location open to the public at both the
origin city and destination city of the air carrier’s flight if
that city is located in the United States.’’.
(b) 
FOREIGN
AIR
TRANSPORTATION.—Section 
41313(c) 
is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(17) NOTICE CONCERNING LIABILITY FOR MANMADE STRUC-
TURES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An assurance that, in the case of
an accident that results in significant damage to a man-
made structure or other property on the ground that is
not government-owned, the foreign air carrier will promptly
provide notice, in writing, to the extent practicable, directly
to the owner of the structure or other property about
liability for any property damage and means for obtaining
compensation.
‘‘(B) MINIMUM CONTENTS.—At a minimum, the written
notice shall advise an owner (i) to contact the insurer
of the property as the authoritative source for information
about coverage and compensation; (ii) to not rely on unoffi-
cial information offered by foreign air carrier representa-
tives about compensation by the foreign air carrier for
accident-site property damage; and (iii) to obtain photo-
graphic or other detailed evidence of property damage as
soon as possible after the accident, consistent with restric-
tions on access to the accident site.
‘‘(18) SIMULTANEOUS ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF NTSB
HEARING.—An assurance that, in the case of an accident in
which the National Transportation Safety Board conducts a
public hearing or comparable proceeding at a location greater
than 80 miles from the accident site, the foreign air carrier
will ensure that the proceeding is made available simulta-
neously by electronic means at a location open to the public
at both the origin city and destination city of the foreign air
carrier’s flight if that city is located in the United States.’’.
(c) UPDATE PLANS.—Air carriers and foreign air carriers shall
update their plans under sections 41113 and 41313 of title 49,
United States Code, respectively, to reflect the amendments made
by subsections (a) and (b) of this section not later than 90 days
after the date of enactment of this Act.