AIP bill

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982

Amendments

Title II: Federal Aviation Act of 1958

Title III: Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979

Amendments

Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions

Title V: Airport-Air carrier Disputes Regarding Rates, Fees,

and Charges

Title VI: Committee Oversight Hearings

Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 - Title I: Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 Amendments - Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 (the Act) to authorize appropriations for FY 1995 and 1995 for: (1) airport planning and airport development projects; and (2) airport noise compatibility planning programs.

(Sec. 102) Declares congressional policy that it is in the national interest to encourage projects that employ innovative technology, concepts, and approaches that will promote safety, capacity, and efficiency improvements in the construction of airports and in the air transportation system. Urges the Secretary of Transportation to encourage and solicit innovative technology proposals and activities in the expenditure of funding under this Act.

(Sec. 103) Includes as an "airport development" activity the acquisition or installation at or by a public-use airport of explosive detection devices and universal access systems.

(Sec. 104) Prohibits the use of airway improvement funds for the replacement or reconstruction of pavement at an airport unless the sponsor has provided assurances that such airport has implemented an airport pavement maintenance-management program.

(Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary to establish a program to purchase and reserve an inventory of precision approach instrument landing system equipment for installation at airports. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 106) Prohibits the use of airway improvement funds for the development or procurement of microwave landing systems, except as necessary to meet Government contracts in effect on January 1, 1994.

(Sec. 107) Extends the mandate that funds from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund be used for airport and airway programs prior to any expenditure on air navigation facilities or services that are internationally joint-financed.

(Sec. 108) Makes permanent the military airport set-aside program.

(Sec. 109) Authorizes the Secretary to designate one or more military airports (currently, mandates not more than 12 current or former military airports) to receive grants to improve the capacity of the national air transportation system. Declares that airports designated prior to enactment of this Act shall be eligible to receive such grants. Requires the Secretary in selecting such airports to consider those military airports listed in the reports issued by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission whose conversion to civilian commercial or reliever airport would enhance airport and air traffic control system capacity and reduce flight delays.

(Sec. 110) Authorizes States to apply for airport development projects or airport planning for similar projects benefitting one or more (currently, two or more) airports if specified conditions are met.

(Sec. 111) Declares as an "allowable cost," reimbursable by the Federal Government, airport development and planning project costs that are incurred: (1) not more than two years before the grant agreement for such project is executed; (2) between September 30, 1993, and September 30, 1996; and (3) in accordance with an approved airport layout plan.

(Sec. 112) Repeals a provision of the Act limiting the Federal share of terminal development project costs.

(Sec. 113) Authorizes the Secretary to issue letters of intent and use funds for planning, approving, and administering grants under the Airport Improvement Program.

(Sec. 114) Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the obligation of amounts for airport development and planning projects pursuant to a letter of intent in the same fiscal year as the letter is issued.

(Sec. 115) Requires the Secretary, before approval of a project grant application for construction of a new hub airport that is expected to have .25 percent or more of the total annual U.S. enplanements, to report to the Congress an analysis of the impact of such proposed new airport on: (1) fees charged to air carriers and other costs incurred by air carriers for using the airport; (2) air transportation that will be provided in the airport's geographic region; and (3) the availability and cost of providing air transportation to rural areas in the geographic region.

(Sec. 116) Authorizes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator to contract for the collection of airport safety data using sole source or limited source authority.

(Sec. 117) Revises the term "integrated airport system planning" to include the role which airports play in the transportation system in a specific area.

Requires a planning agency, before the Secretary's approval of a grant to it for integrated airport system planning, to certify: (1) that the sponsor of any airport enplaning .25 percent or more of the total number of passengers enplaned annually at all commercial service airports is considered to be an operator of a major mode of transportation; and (2) that such sponsor is a member, or will be appointed a member, of such planning agency.

(Sec. 118) Directs the Secretary to study and report to specified congressional committees on innovative approaches for using Federal funds to finance airport development as a means of supplementing financing available under the Airport Improvement Program.

(Sec. 119) Requires the FAA Administrator to consider for approval under a specified section of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) the new generation, low cost, advanced landing system being developed by the Department of Defense.

(Sec. 121) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize expenditures from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund.

(Sec. 122) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 for asbestos abatement activities and the demolition and removal of buildings at the vacant Air Force station located on Mount Tamalpais, Marin County, California.

Title II: Federal Aviation Act of 1958 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to authorize the FAA Administrator to provide safety-related training and operational services to foreign aviation authorities, with or without reimbursement, if such services promote aviation safety.

(Sec. 202) Authorizes the Administrator to collect fees for providing as a service any test, authorization, certificate, permit, rating, evaluation, approval, or review outside the United States.

(Sec. 203) Permits, under specified conditions, nighttime takeoffs and landings at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport, Colorado, for pilots operating under instrument flight rules or visual flight rules under the CFR. Declares that the owner or operator of such airport shall be considered in compliance with specified aviation safety requirements and not unjustly discriminatory to air carriers if they notify the FAA Administrator that they commit to: (1) modify their existing regulation to expand access to general aviation operations under the above-mentioned conditions for night operations at such airport; and (2) permanently not enforce regulations eliminating the so-called "ski season exception" to its nighttime curfew.

Directs the FAA Administrator to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking on mountain flying.

(Sec. 204) Requires the Secretary's current examination of slot regulations at high density airports to include consideration of the impact: (1) of the current slot allocation process upon the ability of air carriers to provide essential air service in accordance with a specified section of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958; (2) of the process upon the ability of new entrant air carriers to obtain slots in time periods that enable them to provide service; (3) of the process on the ability of foreign air carriers to obtain slots; and (4) of aircraft noise on affected communities. Requires the examination also to consider: (1) the fairness of the process to air carriers and the extent to which they are provided equivalent rights of access to airports in countries of which foreign air carriers holding slots are citizens; and (2) the impact, on the ability of air carriers to provide domestic and international service, of the withdrawal of slots from air carriers in order to provide slots for foreign air carriers. Requires the Secretary to submit the results of such examination to specified congressional committees.

Sets forth specified exemptions for air carriers (including new entrant air carriers) and foreign air carriers providing air service to high density airports (except Washington National Airport).

(Sec. 205) Prohibits a carrier from terminating interstate or overseas air transportation from a nonhub airport unless it has given the Secretary at least 60 days' notice. Sets forth specified exceptions.

(Sec. 206) Authorizes the FAA Administrator to enter into cooperative agreements on a cost-shared basis with Federal and non-Federal entities to promote aviation research, engineering, and development, including the development of prototypes and demonstration models.

(Sec. 207) Limits State or local income tax liability for compensation paid by an air carrier to an employee on leave from regular duty in order to perform services on behalf of the employee's airline union.

(Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to: (1) review a specified section of the CFR dealing with the passenger facility charge program to assess its effectiveness in light of specified objectives under the Federal Aviation Act of 1958; and (2) take corrective action to address any problems discovered in such review.

(Sec. 209) Exempts the State of Hawaii from the prohibition against regulating intrastate air transportation. Deems a passenger commencing and terminating air transportation in Hawaii an intrastate passenger. Deems to be an interstate passenger any passenger moving as part of a single itinerary on a single ticket beginning or ending outside Hawaii.

(Sec. 210) Changes from December 31 to March 31 the deadline for the Secretary's annual report to the Congress on transportation security.

(Sec. 211) Prohibits any State or interstate agency or political agency of two or more States from enacting a law relating to rates, routes, or services of any intermodal all-cargo air carrier when it is transporting property, pieces, parcels, or packages between States or within a State by aircraft or motor vehicle (whether or not such property has had or will have a prior or subsequent air movement).

Title III: Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979 Amendments - Amends the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979 to repeal the requirement for an annual report on the status of the development of collision avoidance systems in the national air traffic control system.

(Sec. 302) Provides for projects to soundproof residential buildings if specified conditions are met.

(Sec. 303) Amends the Aviation Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 to provide certain waiver authority with respect to foreign air carriers.

(Sec. 304) Amends the Federal Aviation Administration Research, Engineering, and Development Authorization Act of 1992 to direct the FAA Administrator and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to study technologies for noise reduction of propeller driven aircraft and rotorcraft.

Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Prohibits the FAA Administrator from publishing, or contracting with any other organization for the publication of, the "Aviation Safety Journal."

(Sec. 402) Directs the Secretary to study the safety of the approaches to the Juneau International Airport, Alaska.

(Sec. 403) Authorizes the Secretary to grant releases from any of the terms, conditions, reservations, and restrictions contained in the conveyance of certain U.S. property for airport purposes to the cities of Soldotna, Alaska, and Rolla, Missouri.

(Sec. 405) Authorizes the FAA Administrator to grant release from any of the terms, conditions, reservations, and restrictions contained in the conveyance of certain U.S. property for airport purposes to Palm Springs, California.

(Sec. 406) Requires compensation received by the United States from the transfer of the San Jacinto Disposal Area to the City of Galveston, Texas, to include compensation to the FAA for costs to replace existing airway facilities on such area.

(Sec. 407) Requires the Secretary to provide for weather observation services, including direct radio contact between weather observers and pilots, at Augusta State Airport, Maine.

(Sec. 408) Directs the FAA Administrator to study the effectiveness and cost of restraint systems that may offer protection for children carried in the lap of an adult aboard an aircraft or provide for the attachment of such systems to the aircraft.

(Sec. 409) Directs the FAA Administrator to enforce FAA regulations relating to pilot vision and smoke emergencies caused by smoke in the cockpit on current and future aircraft.

(Sec. 410) Directs the FAA Administrator to convey certain FAA buildings and properties to: (1) the Iditarod Area School District at Lake Minchumina, Alaska, for the purpose of providing educational facilities; and (2) the city of Fort Yukon, Alaska, for the purpose of providing health services.

Directs the FAA Administrator to provide at specified communities in Alaska human observers to offer real-time weather information to pilots by direct radio contact.

(Sec. 411) Prescribes conditions under which the Secretary may grant release from the terms of a specified deed of conveyance under which the United States conveyed certain property, for airport purposes of the Sturgis Municipal Airport, to the Union County Air Board, Kentucky.

(Sec. 412) Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit an air carrier or foreign air carrier from installing, transporting, operating, or permitting the use of any gambling device on board an aircraft in foreign transportation. Requires the Secretary to study and report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the aviation safety effects of gambling applications on electronic interactive video systems installed on board aircraft for passenger use; and (2) the competitive implications of permitting only foreign air carriers to install and operate such applications on board aircraft on flights over international waters or in fifth freedom city-pair markets.

(Sec. 413) Authorizes the Secretary to approve an upward adjustment not to exceed a specified amount in the maximum U.S. obligation under an airport improvement program grant to a reliever airport after September 1, 1989, and before October 1, 1989, in order to assist in funding increased land acquisition costs.

(Sec. 414) Prescribes conditions under which the Secretary may grant release from the terms of a specified deed of conveyance under which the United States conveyed certain property then constituting Selman Field, for airport purposes, to the city of Monroe, Louisiana.

(Sec. 415) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States and the Republic of Korea should take action to deter and, if necessary, repel an attack from a nuclear-armed North Korea.

(Sec. 416) Directs the FAA Administrator to carry out on-going radar approach control activities at K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan.

(Sec. 417) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (DOT) in carrying out the duties of the Inspector General Act of 1978 has oversight responsibilities with respect to any funds appropriated by the Congress for programs at the Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport.

(Sec. 418) Expresses the sense of the Senate that, for purposes of issuing guidelines under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in connection with proposed guidelines published by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on October 1, 1993, that: (1) the category of religion should be withdrawn from the proposed guidelines; (2) any new guidelines for the determination of religious harassment should be drafted to make clear that expressions of religious belief consistent with the first amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 are not to be restricted and do not constitute proof of harassment; and (3) the EEOC should hold public hearings and receive additional public comment before issuing similar new regulations.

(Sec. 419) Requires the Secretary, in the interest of protecting the health of air travelers, to publish a list of the countries that require disinsection of aircraft landing in countries while passengers and crew are aboard it.

(Sec. 420) Directs the Secretary to take appropriate action to assist Chandler, Arizona, Aberdeen, South Dakota, and other communities in obtaining the installation of Level I Contract Towers.

(Sec. 421) Declares that it is the sense of the Senate that the Secretary should revise DOT's cost-benefit analysis process to fully take projected military enplanement and cost savings figures into consideration with regard to radar installation at joint-use civilian and military airports. Expresses the sense of the Senate with respect to aircraft radar needs of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, airport and of Southeast Wyoming.

Title V: Airport-Air carrier Disputes Regarding Rates, Fees, and Charges - Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 to declare congressional policy that: (1) airport fees must be reasonable and may only be used for purposes not prohibited by this Act; (2) airports should be self-sustaining; and (3) in establishing new fees and generating new revenues from all sources, airport owners and operators should not create revenue surpluses that exceed amounts to be used for the airport system.

(Sec. 502) Requires the Secretary to prescribe a uniform simplified reporting format designed to enable the public to understand how airport funds are collected and spent. Directs the Secretary to provide specified congressional committees annual summaries of the above-mentioned airport financial report.

(Sec. 503) Directs the Secretary to establish procedures that will: (1) prohibit diversion of airport revenues; (2) take into account whether owners and operators have taken reasonable steps to make airports self-sustaining; and (3) mandate DOT administrative safeguards to respond to complaints regarding possible specified violations.

Requires the Secretary to withhold approval of any new grant applications for airport development projects or applications to impose a passenger facility fee if, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, the Secretary finds a violation of specified grant assurances regarding airport revenues. Provides for judicial enforcement. Sets forth both civil and administrative penalties.

(Sec. 504) Sets forth procedures for resolution of complaints of the reasonableness of fees imposed by owners or operators of airports on air carriers.

Title VI: Committee Oversight Hearings - Requires the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in the Senate to conduct hearings into and make a public report to the Senate on whether improper conduct occurred regarding: (1) communications between officials of the White House and the Department of the Treasury or the Resolution Trust Corporation relating to the Whitewater Development Corporation and the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan Association; (2) the Park Service Police Investigation into the death of White House Deputy Counsel Vincent Foster; and (3) the way in which White House officials handled documents in Foster's White House office at the time of his death.

Requires the committee to coordinate its activities with the independent counsel's investigation.

Increases the amount authorized for expenditures by the committee for March 1, 1994, through February 28, 1995.