By Jim Berard 202-226-5064
The Chairmen of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Subcommittee on Aviation today introduced a new bill to reauthorize the nation’s aviation programs for another four years.
The Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2009 authorizes nearly $70 billion for the FAA for Fiscal Years 2009 through 2012.
“Airlines are expected to carry more than 1 billion passengers in the next 7-12 years, increasing from approximately 769 million in 2007. This bill will help our aviation system accommodate that growth,” said Rep. James L. Oberstar, Chairman of the full Committee. “This legislation is long overdue. Short-term funding extensions and continuing resolutions have led to delays in critical capital projects. Timely passage is needed to sustain FAA’s programs and keep the FAA moving forward on airport development and the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).”
The bill provides historic funding levels for the FAA’s capital programs, including $16.2 billion for the Airport Improvement Program, nearly $13.4 billion for FAA Facilities & Equipment, and $1.35 billion for Research, Engineering, and Development. These funding levels will enable the FAA to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system and make capacity-enhancing improvements at the nation’s airports. In addition, the bill provides $38.9 billion for FAA Operations over the next four years.
“Our bill again makes the safety of our air transportation system priority number one,” said Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry F. Costello (Ill.). “While technology is a big part of this equation, the recent ditching of US Airways Flight 1594 provides a shining example of the importance of training and having experienced personnel in ensuring safety. Our legislation addresses the need to have adequate numbers of inspectors and air traffic controllers in addition to quality work environments and investing in NextGen, all of which will help maintain the highest level of safety. We will move this bill quickly in the House, as we did two years ago, and look to the Senate to do so as well.”
The legislation will help make the skies safer. It increases the number of aviation safety inspectors, requires the FAA to inspect all certificated foreign repair stations twice each year, provides funding for runway incursion reduction programs and runway status light installation, calls for a study on pilot fatigue, and directs the FAA to implement long overdue occupational health standards to ensure crewmember safety.
In addition, this bill addresses issues raised by FAA whistleblowers and others at the April 3, 2008, full Committee hearing on lapses in FAA safety oversight of airlines:
• The bill creates an independent Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office within the FAA. That office will be charged with receiving safety complaints and information submitted by both FAA employees and employees of certificated entities, investigating them, and then recommending appropriate corrective actions to the FAA.
• It directs the FAA to modify its customer service initiative to remove air carriers or other entities regulated by the Agency as “customers,” and clarify that the Agency’s only customers are the individuals traveling on aircraft.
• It directs the Agency to clarify that the air carriers and other entities it regulates do not have the right to select the FAA employees who will inspect their operations.
• It establishes a two-year “post-service” cooling off period for FAA inspectors or persons responsible for FAA inspector oversight before they can act as agents or representatives before the Agency of a certificate holder that they oversaw during their service with the FAA.
• It requires the FAA to rotate principle supervisory inspectors between airline oversight offices every five years.
The bill will also help the agency modernize its operations. It encourages close coordination between the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) and the FAA to ensure that the FAA’s existing modernization program meshes seamlessly with the JPDO’s longer-term mission. It also facilitates the integration of NextGen into the FAA's ongoing planning and acquisition activities.
The bill introduced today is nearly identical to H.R. 2881, introduced in 2007. That bill passed the House, but stalled in the Senate. The bill expired in 2008 at the end of the 110th Congress. Although the FAA’s previous authorization was set to expire at the end of September 2007, the agency’s taxing and operating authority has been preserved through a series of extensions. The current extension expires at the end of March.
Despite the authorization’s failure to pass in the last Congress, Oberstar is optimistic about the new bill’s chances.
“We have a new President and a new Congress,” Oberstar said. “This time we’ll get the job done.”
View the FAA Reauthorization Summary here.
View the text of H.R. 915 here.
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