268 
(C) Any other individuals the Secretary de-
termines are appropriate to comply with Fed-
eral law. 
(4) REPORT.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 
days after the establishment of the Committee, 
the Committee shall submit to the Secretary, 
the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives, and 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate a report that— 
(i) describes and evaluates the steps 
being taken in the private sector and by 
international regulatory authorities to im-
plement and enforce requirements relating 
to the safe transportation of bulk ship-
ments of lithium ion cells and batteries; 
and 
(ii) identifies any areas of enforce-
ment or regulatory requirements for which 
there is consensus that greater attention is 
needed. 
(B) INDEPENDENT
STATEMENTS.—Each 
member of the Committee shall be provided an 
opportunity to submit an independent state-
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ment of views with the report submitted pursu-
ant to subparagraph (A). 
(5) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall ter-
minate on the date that is 6 years after the date on 
which the Committee is established. 
(6) TERMINATION OF FUTURE OF AVIATION AD-
VISORY COMMITTEE.—The Future of Aviation Advi-
sory Committee shall terminate on the date on which 
the lithium ion battery air safety advisory committee 
is established. 
(c) CARRIAGE
OF LITHIUM ION BATTERIES
AS 
CARGO ON PASSENGER AIRCRAFT.— 
(1) RULEMAKING PROCEEDING.—The Secretary 
of Transportation shall conduct a rulemaking pro-
ceeding to implement the amendments to the ICAO 
Technical Instructions related to the carriage of lith-
ium ion batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft. 
(2) HARMONIZATION WITH ICAO TECHNICAL IN-
STRUCTIONS.—The Secretary (including any des-
ignee of the Secretary) may not issue or enforce any 
regulation or other requirement regarding the trans-
portation by aircraft of lithium ion cells or batteries, 
whether transported separately or packed with or 
contained in equipment, if the requirement is more 
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stringent than the requirements of the ICAO Tech-
nical Instructions (as defined in subsection (a)(4)). 
(d) PACKAGING IMPROVEMENTS.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary, in consultation with interested stakeholders, shall 
submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate an evaluation of current practices for the pack-
aging of lithium ion batteries and cells, including rec-
ommendations, if any, to improve the packaging of such 
batteries and cells in a safe, efficient, and cost-effective 
manner. 
SEC. 616. REMOTE TOWER PILOT PROGRAM FOR RURAL OR 
SMALL COMMUNITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor-
tation shall establish a pilot program under which, upon 
approval of an application submitted by an operator of a 
public-use airport, the Secretary shall install and operate 
at the airport a remote air traffic control tower in order 
to assess the operational benefits of remote air traffic con-
trol towers. 
(b) APPLICATIONS.—The operator of an airport seek-
ing to participate in the pilot program shall submit to the 
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Secretary for approval an application that is in such form 
and contains such information as the Secretary may re-
quire. 
(c) SELECTION CRITERIA.— 
(1) SELECTION
OF
AIRPORTS.—From among 
the applications submitted under subsection (b), the 
Secretary, after consultation with representatives of 
labor organizations representing operators and em-
ployees of the air traffic control system, shall select 
for participation in the pilot program 7 airports as 
follows: 
(A) 1 nonhub, primary airport. 
(B) 3 nonprimary airports without existing 
air traffic control towers. 
(C) 2 airports with air traffic control tow-
ers participating in a program established 
under section 47124 of title 49, United States 
Code. 
(D) 1 airport selected at the discretion of 
the Secretary. 
(2) PRIORITY
SELECTION.—In selecting from 
among the applications submitted under subsection 
(b), the Secretary shall give priority to applicants 
that can best demonstrate the capabilities and po-
tential of remote air traffic control towers. 
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(3) AUTHORITY TO REALLOCATE AIRPORT SE-
LECTION.—If the Secretary receives an insufficient 
number of applications, the Secretary may reallocate 
the distribution of airport sites described in para-
graph (1). 
(4) MULTIPLE REMOTE FACILITIES.—If prac-
ticable and necessary, the 2 remote air traffic con-
trol towers installed at reliever airports pursuant to 
paragraph (1)(B) may co-locate remote facilities to 
assess the benefits and efficiencies of consolidating 
such facilities. 
(d) ASSET CLASSIFICATION.—A remote air traffic 
control tower, including ancillary equipment, installed with 
Government funds pursuant to this section shall be consid-
ered to be an air navigation facility. 
(e) SAFETY RISK MANAGEMENT PANEL.— 
(1) SAFETY RISK MANAGEMENT PANEL MEET-
ING.—Prior to the operational use of a remote air 
traffic control tower, the Secretary shall convene a 
safety risk management panel for the tower to ad-
dress any safety issues with respect to the tower. 
(2) SAFETY RISK MANAGEMENT PANEL BEST 
PRACTICES.—The safety risk management panels 
shall be created and utilized in a manner similar to 
that of safety risk management panels previously es-
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