Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Reauthorization of FAA Programs

Title II: Airport Improvement Program Modifications

Title III: Extension of Airport and Airway Trust Fund

Expenditure Authority

Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions

Title V: Commercial Space Transportation

Title VI: Air Traffic Management System Performance

Improvement Act

Subtitle A: General Provisions

Subtitle B: Federal Aviation Administration

Streamlining Programs

Subtitle C: System to Fund Certain Federal Aviation

Administration Functions

Title VII: Pilot Records

Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996 - Title I: Reauthorization of FAA Programs - Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 to authorize appropriations for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through FY 1997.

(Sec. 101) Makes permanent the limitation on funds that may be appropriated out of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for airport improvement projects.

(Sec. 102) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1997 for: (1) improvements to air navigation facilities; (2) research and development; and (3) airport planning and development programs. Decreases the FY 1996 appropriation for airport planning and development programs.

(Sec. 105) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to transfer budget authority derived from trust funds among appropriations authorized for air navigation facilities and research and development.

Title II: Airport Improvement Program Modifications - Amends Federal aviation law to direct the Administrator to prescribe regulations to carry out up to ten pavement maintenance pilot projects to preserve and extend the useful life of airport runways, taxiways, and aprons.

(Sec. 202) Sets forth on a sliding scale specified maximum percentages of airport planning and development grants that may be made available for projects at primary airports that have not less than .25 percent of the total passenger boardings in the United States.

(Sec. 204) Reduces from 15 to ten at any time the number of current or former military airports that may receive airport improvement grant funds. Extends the authority for such grants through FY 1997.

(Sec. 206) Makes it a condition for approval of a grant application for an airport development project that the airport owner or operator makes assurances that it will permit, to the maximum extent practicable, intercity buses or other modes of transportation to have access to the airport.

Title III: Extension of Airport and Airway Trust Fund Expenditure Authority - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the expenditure authority of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund through FY 1997.

Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Administrator, in carrying out various aviation programs, to purchase housing units outside the United States.

(Sec. 403) Prohibits both the Administrator, and any agency receiving information from the Administrator, from disclosing voluntarily provided safety or security related information in certain circumstances.

(Sec. 404) Authorizes the Administrator to require by regulation an employment investigation (including criminal history record check in certain circumstances) for employees who will be responsible for screening airline passengers and property.

(Sec. 405) Requires the FAA Administrator, in amending title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, in a manner affecting intrastate aviation in Alaska, to: (1) consider the extent to which Alaska is not served by transportation modes other than aviation; and (2) establish appropriate regulatory distinctions.

(Sec. 406) Expresses the sense of the Senate that there should be an immediate 18-month reinstatement of the aviation excise taxes to provide short-term funding for the FAA.

(Sec. 407) Authorizes appropriations to the FAA for the purpose of addressing State-specific aviation safety problems identified by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

(Sec. 408) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the exemption from certain excise taxes for emergency medical air transportation by helicopter should include emergency medical air transportation by fixed-wing aircraft.

Title V: Commercial Space Transportation - Amends Federal law to include reentry vehicles and launch and reentry operations within the scope of commercial space launch activities.

Title VI: Air Traffic Management System Performance Improvement Act - Air Traffic Management System Performance Improvement Act of 1996 - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to delineate the powers and duties of the Administrator and the Secretary of Transportation with respect to the FAA.

(Sec. 624) Authorizes the Administrator to issue, rescind, and revise regulations as necessary to carry out the FAA functions. Prohibits the Administrator, without prior approval of the Secretary, from issuing a proposed or final regulation that is significant or is likely to result in the expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $50 million or more in any year. Requires the Administrator to review any unusually burdensome regulations, which would result in the annual expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $25 million or more (adjusted annually for inflation) in any year.

(Sec. 625) Authorizes the Administrator to utilize personnel of other Federal agencies.

(Sec. 630) Directs the Administrator to establish the Federal Aviation Management Advisory Council which shall: (1) provide advice and counsel to the Administrator on issues which affect or are affected by the Administrator's operations; and (2) function as an oversight resource for management, policy, spending, and regulatory matters.

(Sec. 631) Requires the Administrator, in order to protect the public health and welfare from aircraft engine emissions, to prescribe air pollutant emission standards for aircraft engines.

(Sec. 632) Directs the Secretary to conduct, and submit to a specified congressional committee, a rural air fare study.

Subtitle B: Federal Aviation Administration Streamlining Programs - Directs the FAA to employ outside experts to provide an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of its acquisition management system.

(Sec. 652) Requires the Administrator to terminate air traffic control modernization programs funded under the Facilities and Equipment account, and to consider the termination of substantial acquisitions, that fail to meet specified established project criteria.

(Sec. 653) Requires the Administrator to negotiate with the bargaining representatives of FAA employees in developing and making changes to the FAA personnel management system.

Subtitle C: System to Fund Certain Federal Aviation Administration Functions - Directs the Administrator to establish a schedule of new fees, and a collection process for such fees, for various FAA services.

(Sec. 674) Directs the Administrator to provide for an independent assessment of the financial requirements of the FAA through 2002. Requires the Secretary to establish a task force to report on: (1) the FAA's budgetary requirements through FY 2002; and (2) recommendations to the Congress on ways the FAA can reduce costs, raise revenue, and accelerate modernization efforts.

(Sec. 675) Sets forth congressional procedures for consideration of FAA funding proposals.

(Sec. 677) Requires the multiyear appropriation (for not less than three years) of funds for Trust Fund activities.

(Sec. 678) Rural Air Service Survival Act - Authorizes the availability of a specified amount of user fees collected under this Act for each fiscal year to carry out the essential air service program. Authorizes the Secretary to require an eligible public agency that controls a commercial service airport to provide for basic essential (small community) air service matching funds of up to ten percent for any payments it receives under this Act.

Transfers the essential air service program from the Secretary to the FAA Administrator.

Title VII: Pilot Records - Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends Federal aviation law to require air carriers to request and receive a pilot applicant's record for the previous five years with respect to: (1) current airman certificate, including any summaries of legal enforcement actions; (2) employment; and (3) motor vehicle driving record.

(Sec. 702) Prohibits any Federal or State court action for defamation or invasion of privacy against any carrier or person with respect to the furnishing or use of such records according to the requirements of this Act.

(Sec. 703) Directs the Administrator to appoint a task force to study the development of standards and criteria for: (1) preemployment screening of pilots; and (2) pilot training facilities.