Title: WHEELChairs on Airplanes Act
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Working to Help Ensure Equity for Lithium-ion-powered Chairs on Airplanes Act or the WHEELChairs on Airplanes Act
This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct an annual survey on all carriers and foreign air carriers to compile the policies regarding lithium-ion battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids of each U.S. air carrier and foreign air carrier and determine whether any of the policies are more restrictive than FAA safety standards or inconsistent with FAA standards for adequate protection.
The bill requires air carriers with inconsistent or more restrictive policies than the FAA and those that do not have a policy in effect to update their policies.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9342 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9342

   To amend title 49, United States Code, to prevent discrimination 
   against airline passengers with disabilities who use lithium-ion-
powered wheelchairs and mobility aids that are safe for air travel, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 2022

 Mr. Langevin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 49, United States Code, to prevent discrimination 
   against airline passengers with disabilities who use lithium-ion-
powered wheelchairs and mobility aids that are safe for air travel, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Working to Help Ensure Equity for 
Lithium-ion-powered Chairs on Airplanes Act'' or the ``WHEELChairs on 
Airplanes Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Air Carrier 
        Access Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-435; 100 Stat. 1080), adding 
        a provision now codified in section 41705 of title 49, United 
        States Code, prohibiting disability-based discrimination in air 
        transportation.
            (2) Despite this effort, individuals with disabilities 
        continue to experience significant barriers to and with 
        traveling in air transportation.
            (3) The Department of Transportation's Airline Passengers 
        with Disabilities Bill of Rights specifies that ``airlines must 
        accept a battery powered wheelchair, if it fits in the cargo 
        compartment and can be transported consistent with safety and 
        security requirements''.
            (4) Wheelchairs and other mobility aids powered by lithium-
        ion batteries are growing in prevalence, as lithium-ion 
        batteries are light-weight and can extend a device's range 
        between charges.
            (5) Airline passengers with disabilities who travel with 
        lithium-ion-powered wheelchairs or mobility aids have been 
        arbitrarily and erroneously denied boarding despite presenting 
        documentation that their devices meet all applicable safety 
        standards.
            (6) As the popularity of lithium-ion-powered wheelchairs 
        and mobility aids continues to increase, so will the frequency 
        of instances when airline passengers with disabilities are 
        erroneously and arbitrarily denied boarding.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that an air 
carrier or foreign air carrier that denies an airline passenger with a 
disability who use a lithium-ion-powered wheelchair or mobility aid 
that meets all applicable safety standards for air travel should be 
considered to have violated such passenger's rights under section 41705 
of title 49, United States Code, and therefore, all air carriers and 
foreign air carriers must maintain clear policies pertaining to 
lithium-ion battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids that are no 
more restrictive than all applicable safety standards.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL SURVEY OF AIR CARRIER AND FOREIGN AIR CARRIER LITHIUM-
              ION BATTERY POLICIES FOR WHEELCHAIRS AND MOBILITY AIDS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 417 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 41727. Requirements for air carrier and foreign air carrier 
              lithium-ion battery policies for wheelchairs and mobility 
              aids
    ``(a) Survey Required.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of the WHEELChairs on Airplanes Act, and annually thereafter, 
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall conduct 
a survey on all air carriers and foreign air carriers to--
            ``(1) compile the policies regarding lithium-ion battery-
        powered wheelchairs and mobility aids of each air carrier and 
        foreign air carrier;
            ``(2) determine whether any of the policies described in 
        paragraph (1) are more restrictive than applicable standards in 
        section 175.10 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations; and
            ``(3) determine whether any of the policies described in 
        paragraph (1) are not consistent with the standards established 
        by the Administrator under subsection (f).
    ``(b) Report and Publication.--Upon completion of each survey 
required under subsection (a), the Administrator shall--
            ``(1) submit to the Committee on Transportation and 
        Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
        Senate a report containing such survey; and
            ``(2) publish on the website of the Department of 
        Transportation in an accessible format the information 
        collected under subsection (a).
    ``(c) Noncompliant Policies.--An air carrier or foreign air carrier 
is considered to have a noncompliant policy if the Administrator 
determines, as part of the survey conducted under subsection (a), that 
such air carrier or foreign air carrier--
            ``(1) does not have a policy for lithium-ion-powered 
        wheelchairs or mobility aids in effect;
            ``(2) has a policy for lithium-ion-powered wheelchairs or 
        mobility aids in effect that is more restrictive than standards 
        in section 175.10 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations; or
            ``(3) has a policy that is not consistent with the 
        standards for adequate protection established by the 
        Administrator under subsection (f).
    ``(d) Notification; Updates.--For any noncompliant policy under 
subsection (c), the Administrator--
            ``(1) shall notify the air carrier or foreign air carrier 
        of the noncompliant status of the policy; and
            ``(2) shall require such air carrier or foreign air carrier 
        to update any such policy before the date that is 180 days 
        after the receipt of a notification under paragraph (1); and
            ``(3) shall assess a civil penalty under section 46301 for 
        any policy of the air carrier or foreign air carrier that 
        remains noncompliant beginning on such date.
    ``(e) Report on Compliant Policy.--An air carrier or foreign air 
carrier that is required to update a noncompliant policy under 
subsection (d)(2) shall--
            ``(1) update such policy; and
            ``(2) submit to the Administrator a report upon completion 
        of the update that contains the updated policy.
    ``(f) Adequate Protection.--The Administrator shall issue such 
regulations as are necessary to establish standards for adequate 
protection based on the requirements of section 175.10(a)(17)(v) of 
title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, for purposes of application 
under this section.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 46301(d)(2) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ``section 41727,'' before 
``chapter 441''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 417 of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 41726 the following:

``41727. Requirements for air carrier and foreign air carrier lithium-
                            ion battery policies for wheelchairs and 
                            mobility aids.''.
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