CAA: Legislative Update, "Full House Appropriations Committee Marks-Up FY02 Spending Bill"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

Full House Appropriations Committee Marks-Up FY02 Spending Bill
AAAE/ACI-NA


More good news today on transportation appropriations. The House
Appropriations Committee approved legislation that is substantially similar
to the bill approved last week by the House Transportation Appropriations
Subcommittee, funding the Department of Transportation for Fiscal Year 2002.
The bill approved today includes $3.3 billion for AIP ($100 million above
the FY01 level), $2.914 billion for Facilities and Equipment, $10 million
for the Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program, full funding
for the Contract Tower and Contract Tower Cost Share program, funding for
Essential Air Service, general provisions prohibiting the FAA from moving
forward on Cost Free Space and allowing airports to pay for project-specific
staff and consultants to review and approve environmental work on key
capacity projects, and an additional $20 million for aviation noise
research. Additional details are below.

Full Funding of $3.3 billion for the Airport Improvement Program
AIP was fully funded at $3.3 billion.

Full Funding of $2.914 billion for the FAA Facilities and Equipment Account
F&E was fully funded at $2.914 billion.

Funding for the Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program
$10 million was appropriated for the Small Community Air Service Development
Pilot Program. While clearly not all we had hoped for ($27.5 million), it is
significant that funding was included.

Funding for the Essential Air Service Program
An additional $13 million was funded for the Essential Air Service Program,
which will allow the eighteen communities targeted by the Bush
Administration for elimination from the program to remain.

FAA Use of Space in Airport-Owned Facilities
The same language that was included in last year's appropriations bill
prohibiting the FAA from moving forward on implementing a new policy on
cost-free space was again extended for FY02. Last year, it was the Senate
that put the provision in, not the House. Our chances of keeping it in the
final bill is vastly improved for the reason that the House bill included it
this year.

Airport funding of Project -Specific Staff or Consultants
This component of our EASE proposal, allowing airports to pay for FAA
personnel for the review and approval of runway projects, was also included
in the spending bill today.

FAA Operations
FAA Operations were funded at $6.87 billion.

Full Funding for the Contract Tower Program
The Contract Tower Program was fully funded at $70.5 million. Also, $6
million was appropriated for the Cost-Sharing program as we requested.

Aircraft Noise Research
The bill provides $27. 6 million for aircraft noise research, an increase of
$20 million above the budget estimate. In explaining the significant
increase in funding, the Committee noted that it is concerned that necessary
airport infrastructure cannot be expanded in some locations due to community
concerns over aircraft noise.

Funding for Aviation-Related Research and Development
The Committee appropriated $191 million for research and development.

Summary

Although today's developments are significant, there have been some
rumblings form the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee regarding the
Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program and the general
provision enabling airports to pay for additional staff for environmental
review and approvals. The Committee has indicated that it may object to
these provisions on jurisdictional grounds when the bill moves to the House
floor. We are working to address those concerns. At this point, it looks
like the Senate Appropriations Committee will begin its consideration in
July, with the Subcommittee slated to move forward on July 10 and the full
Committee on July 12.

On a related note, AAAE President Chip Barclay and ACI-NA President David
Plavin sent a letter to the entire House Appropriations Committee last week
urging support for the FY02 DOT spending bill approved by the Transportation
Subcommittee. You can view the letter at
http://www.airportnet.org/depts/federal/letters/housemarkup.pdf.

   Post your comments in the CAA Legislative Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID5

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