I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1507
To require the Secretary of Transportation to grant exemptions under section
41714 of title 49, United States Code, to allow 30 additional slot exemp-
tions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for air carriers
to provide daily air service between Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport and other airports that are more than 1,250 statute miles from
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 21, 1999
Mr. HANSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Transportation to grant exemp-
tions under section 41714 of title 49, United States
Code, to allow 30 additional slot exemptions at Ronald
Reagan Washington National Airport for air carriers to
provide daily air service between Ronald Reagan Wash-
ington National Airport and other airports that are more
than 1,250 statute miles from Ronald Reagan Wash-
ington National Airport, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Ronald Reagan Wash-
ington National Airport Freedom of Travel Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. SLOTS FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION BEYOND PERIM-
ETER RULE AT RONALD REAGAN WASH-
INGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT.
Section 41714 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(j) SLOTS FOR AIRPORTS BEYOND 1,250 MILES
FROM REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT.—
‘‘(1) EXEMPTIONS.—Notwithstanding chapter
491, the Secretary shall grant, by order, exemptions
from the requirements of subparts K and S of part
93 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (per-
taining to slots at high density airports), to enable
air carriers to provide daily nonstop air transpor-
tation between Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport and an airport that is more than 1,250 stat-
ute miles from Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport if the Secretary finds the exemptions will—
‘‘(A) result in the provision of air trans-
portation service with domestic network benefits
in areas that are more than 1,250 statute miles
from Ronald Reagan Washington National Air-
port; and
‘‘(B) increase domestic travel options for
communities that are more than 1,250 statute
miles from Ronald Reagan Washington Na-
tional Airport.
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(A) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF EXEMPTIONS
PER HOUR.—No more than two exemptions per
hour between 7:00 ante meridiem and 9:59 post
meridiem may be granted under this subsection
for slots at Ronald Reagan Washington Na-
tional Airport.
‘‘(B) STAGE 3 AIRCRAFT REQUIRED.—An
exemption may be granted under this sub-
section for a slot at Ronald Reagan Washington
National Airport only if jet aircraft that comply
with the stage 3 noise levels of part 36 of title
14 of the Code of Federal Regulations will be
used for the flight that will be operating under
such slot.
‘‘(C) 
NUMBER
OF
EXEMPTIONS.—The
Secretary—
‘‘(i) shall grant 30 daily exemptions
under this subsection;
‘‘(ii) may not grant more than 4 of
such exemptions to any 1 air carrier; and
‘‘(iii) may only grant an even number
of such exemptions under this subsection
to an air carrier.
‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—An air carrier interested
in an exemption under this subsection shall submit
to the Secretary an application for such exemption.
No application may be submitted to the Secretary
before the last day of the 30-day period beginning
on the date of the enactment of this paragraph.
‘‘(4) 
DEADLINE
FOR
DECISION.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, the Secretary
shall make a decision with regard to granting an ex-
emption under this subsection on or before the
120th day following the date of the application for
the exemption. If the Secretary does not make the
decision on or before such 120th day, the air carrier
applying for the service may provide such service
until the Secretary makes the decision or the Admin-
istrator of the Federal Aviation Administration de-
termines that providing such service would have an
adverse effect on air safety.
‘‘(5) PERIOD OF EFFECTIVENESS.—An exemp-
tion granted under this subsection with respect to an
airport may remain in effect only while the air car-
rier for whom the exemption is granted continues to
provide daily nonstop air transportation between the
airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport.
‘‘(6) RANKING OF APPLICATIONS.—In the event
that applications are filed for more than 30 slots
under this subsection, the Secretary shall award the
exemptions to—
‘‘(A) air carriers that provide air transpor-
tation service with the greatest domestic net-
work benefits in areas that are more than 1,250
statute miles from Ronald Reagan Washington
National Airport; and
‘‘(B) hub airports which provide access to
the maximum number of domestic cities.
‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection the fol-
lowing definitions apply:
‘‘(A) HUB AIRPORT.—The term ‘hub air-
port’ has the meaning such term has under sec-
tion 41731.
‘‘(B) MEDIUM HUB AIRPORT.—The term
‘medium hub airport’ means an airport that has
at least .25 percent, but less than 1.0 percent,
of the total annual boardings in the United
States.
‘‘(C) SMALL
HUB
AIRPORT.—The term
‘small hub airport’ has the meaning such term
has under section 41731.’’.
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.
Section 49109 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by striking ‘‘An air’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to
section 41714(j), an air’’.
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