I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4449 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a remote air traffic 
control tower pilot program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 3, 2016 
Mr. KATKO (for himself and Mr. LIPINSKI) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 
remote air traffic control tower pilot program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. REMOTE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER PILOT 
PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 
completion of a safety risk management panel conducted 
by the Federal Aviation Administration for the Leesburg, 
Virginia project, the Secretary of Transportation shall es-
tablish a pilot program under which the Secretary shall 
install and operate not more than 6 remote air traffic con-
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trol towers to assess the benefits of the technology of such 
towers. 
(b) REQUIREMENT
FOR OPERATION.—Before air 
traffic is actively controlled by a remote air traffic control 
tower at a participating airport, the Secretary shall com-
plete a safety risk management process for the individual 
airport. 
(c) APPLICATION.—An operator of an eligible airport 
may submit to the Secretary an application to participate 
in the pilot program under this section before such date 
and containing such information as the Secretary may re-
quire. 
(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.— 
(1) SELECTION
OF
AIRPORTS.—From among 
applications submitted under subsection (c), the Sec-
retary may select for participation in the pilot pro-
gram— 
(A) 1 nonhub primary airport; 
(B) 2 reliever airports without existing air 
traffic control towers; 
(C) 1 primary airport for the purpose of 
augmenting the capabilities of an existing air 
traffic control tower; and 
(D) 2 airports classified as local or basic in 
the national plan of integrated airport systems. 
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(2) APPLICANT
SELECTION.—In carrying out 
the pilot program under this section, the Secretary 
shall— 
(A) in consultation with the exclusive rep-
resentative certified to represent air traffic con-
trollers under 7111 of title 5, United States 
Code, establish a list of benefits of remote 
tower technology to the National Airspace Sys-
tem and criteria that facilities should meet in 
order to best achieve those benefits; and 
(B) select applicants for participation in 
the pilot program based on such criteria. 
(3) ABILITY TO ALTER AIRPORT SELECTION.— 
If the Secretary receives an insufficient number of 
applications, the Secretary may alter the site dis-
tribution in paragraph (1). 
(4) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall select air-
ports for participation in the pilot program not less 
than 90 days after the date that the applications 
under subsection (c) are required to be submitted. 
(5) PARTICIPATION IN CONTRACT TOWER PRO-
GRAM.—An airport selected for participation under 
the pilot program shall be eligible for participation 
in, and funding from, the control tower contract pro-
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gram established under section 47124 of title 49, 
United States Code. 
(e) ASSET CLASSIFICATION.—A remote air traffic 
control tower and ancillary equipment installed with Gov-
ernment funds pursuant to this section shall be considered 
an air navigation facility as defined in section 40102 of 
title 49, United States Code. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ELIGIBLE
AIRPORT.—The term ‘‘eligible 
airport’’ means a public-use airport, as defined in 
section 47102 of title 49, United States Code. 
(2) REMOTE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER.— 
The term ‘‘remote air traffic control tower’’ means 
a facility that— 
(A) is designed to provide the functions of 
an air traffic control tower for an airport with-
out regard to whether the tower is located at 
such airport; and 
(B) receives from such airport, through a 
secure network, high definition real-time im-
ages, sensor data, and other data from relevant 
systems. 
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(g) PERIOD OF THE PILOT PROGRAM.—The pilot 
program under this section shall terminate on the date 
that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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