I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2881
To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit States to impose fees
to finance programs for providing air service to small communities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 25, 1996
Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to permit States
to impose fees to finance programs for providing air
service to small communities.
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 ‘‘Small Community Air
Service Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. SMALL COMMUNITY AIR SERVICE FEES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 401 of title 49, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing:
‘‘§ 40121. Small community air service fees
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation
may authorize under this section a State to impose a small
community air service fee of $1, $2, or $3 on each paying
passenger of an air carrier or foreign air carrier boarding
an aircraft at an airport in the State to finance a small
community air service program of the State.
‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State must submit to the
Secretary an application for authority to impose a
small community air service fee. The application
shall contain such information and be in such form
as the Secretary may require by regulation.
‘‘(2) NOTICE AND COMMENT.—After receiving
an application, the Secretary shall provide notice
and an opportunity to air carriers, foreign air car-
riers, and other interested persons to comment on
the application. The Secretary shall make a final de-
cision on the application not later than 120 days
after receiving it.
‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS ON APPROVING APPLICATIONS.—
The Secretary may approve an application that a State
has submitted under subsection (b) only if the Secretary
finds, based on the application, that—
‘‘(1) the small community air service program
of the State meets the requirements of this section;
and
‘‘(2) the amount of the proposed small commu-
nity air service fee will result in revenue (including
interest and other returns on the revenue) that is
not more than the amount necessary to finance the
small community air service program.
‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON IMPOSING FEES.—
‘‘(1) TERMS TO BE PRESCRIBED BY THE SEC-
RETARY.—A State may impose a small community
air service fee only—
‘‘(A) if the Secretary approves an applica-
tion that the State has submitted under sub-
section (b); and
‘‘(B) subject to terms the Secretary may
prescribe to carry out the objectives of this sec-
tion.
‘‘(2) SPECIFIC LIMITATIONS.—A small commu-
nity air service fee may not be collected from a pas-
senger—
‘‘(A) for more than 2 boardings on a one-
way trip or a trip in each direction of a round
trip; or
‘‘(B) enplaning at an airport if the pas-
senger did not pay for the air transportation
which resulted in such enplanement, including
any case in which the passenger obtained the
ticket for the air transportation with a frequent
flier award coupon without monetary payment.
‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS FOR SMALL COMMUNITY AIR
SERVICE PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A small community air
service program shall be designed to provide com-
pensation to air carriers for providing air service to
places that would not receive air service without
such compensation. Such compensation may be used
to supplement compensation made available under
subchapter II of chapter 417 of this title.
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PLACES.—Decisions concerning
individual places eligible for compensation under the
small community air service program of a State and
the level of air service provided to such places shall
be made by the State and shall not be subject to re-
view by the Secretary.
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section,
the following definitions apply:
‘‘(1) AIRPORT.—The term ‘airport’ has the
same meaning given such term by section 47102.
‘‘(2) SMALL COMMUNITY AIR SERVICE FEE.—
The term ‘small community air service fee’ means a
fee imposed under this section.’’.
(b) AMENDMENT
TO TABLE
OF SECTIONS.—The
table of sections at the beginning of chapter 401 of such
title is amended by adding at the end the following new
item:
‘‘40121. Small community air service fees.’’.
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 40116(b)
of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking
‘‘and section 40117’’ and inserting ‘‘, section 40117, and
section 40121’’.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall
take effect on the first day of the first fiscal year begin-
ning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ