CAA: Legislative Update, "Senate Commerce Committee Approves Steps to Speed-Up the Runway Approval Process"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title:

Thursday, August 2, 2001

Senate Commerce Committee Approves Steps to Speed-Up the Runway Approval Process

AAAE/ACI-NA

We have more good news for airports! This morning, the Senate Commerce Committee approved S. 633, the "Aviation Delay Prevention Act", which includes a number of important provisions to help expedite the review and approval process for major capacity projects. As a result of numerous meetings and discussions AAAE and ACI-NA had with committee staff, the bill includes several provisions that are similar to those included in our Expedited Airport System Enhancement (EASE) initiative. The bill also includes a provision supported by airports granting airlines the ability to talk to each other for purposes of schedule recovery during periods of bad weather. The bill is now cleared for Senate floor action, which isn't expected until after Congress returns from the August recess.

The following includes: 1) a breakdown of what the Senate Commerce Committee approved as compared to the EASE proposal; 2) a brief summary of the bill; 3) a description of the subsequent changes that were made to the bill; 4) a summary of today’s committee action; and 5) related information.

Aviation Delay Prevention Act

The Aviation Delay Prevention Act was introduced by Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and John D. Rockefeller (D-WV), the Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, respectively, on March 27. As introduced, the legislation included the following provisions:

• Calls for the Secretary of Transportation to develop and implement an expedited coordinated review process for airport capacity-enhancement projects.
• Calls for the Secretary of Transportation to complete a review and report to Congress on air carrier overscheduling at large hub airports.
• Grants airlines limited exemption from antitrust laws to reach cooperative scheduling agreements.

Capacity Enhancement Provisions

The bill approved by the Senate Commerce Committee is substantially different from the one introduced in March. The revised version includes the following additional provisions related to capacity enhancement:

• Requires Secretary of Transportation to identify those airports with delays that affect the national air transportation system.
• Requires Secretary to establish a Delay Reduction Means Task Force to study increasing capacity at each of those airports not engaged in a runway expansion process.
• If Secretary recommends construction of a new runway, Secretary and airports must complete planning and environmental review process within five years.
• Designated airports that don't agree to undergo expansion process shall be ineligible for AIP funds or new PFCs.
• Secretary may designate a project as a national capacity project if it significantly enhances capacity of national air transportation system.
• Requires each federal department and agency to give national capacity projects the highest possible priority and to conduct the review expeditiously.
• Requires Secretary to designate project coordinator and environmental impact team.
• Secretary may consider prescribing flight procedures to avoid or minimize potentially significant adverse noise impacts.
• Requires Secretary to initiate a five year pilot program that allows airports to hire additional environmental specialists and attorneys.

Aviation Delay Prevention Provisions

The bill also included the following provisions designed to reduce airline delays.

• Allows revenue generated from PFCs to be used for the construction of gates and related areas at which passengers board or exit aircraft.
• Allows AIP funds to be used for the construction or improvement of air traffic control towers as well as the acquisition and installation of air traffic control equipment.
• Grants airlines limited exemption from antitrust law to reach cooperative scheduling agreements during periods of inclement weather as David Plavin, the President of ACI-NA, and Chip Barclay, the President of AAAE, have suggested.

Committee Action

During today's markup, the Committee approved the following amendments that were supported by AAAE and ACI-NA:

• Sen. Brownback (R-KS) amendment to eliminate the Governor's Certificate requirement which is duplicative of Clean Air and Clean Water Act requirements.
• Sen. Stevens (R-AK) amendment to require Secretary to report to Congress on possible additions to the list of categorical exclusions.
• Sen. Stevens (R-AK) amendment to require the Secretary to establish a Federal Register process for comment on whether reasonable alternatives exist to a capacity enhancement project at a congested airport.

Related Information

The text of S. 633, the Aviation Delay Prevention Act, can be viewed at: http://www.airportnet.org/depts/federal/legis107/kbh.pdf

The CRS summary of S. 633 can be viewed at: http://www.airportnet.org/depts/federal/legis107/kbhsummary.pdf

The Hearing Report from the Commerce Committee's hearing on Aviation Delay Prevention can be viewed at: http://www.airportnet.org/depts/federal/Hearings/2001/hr0330.htm

The Airport Alert from Senator Hutchison's introduction of S. 633 can be viewed at: http://www.airportnet.org/secure/federal/alerts/2001/0303.htm

The Airport Alert announcing the postponement of the mark-up of S. 633 due to the Jeffords switch can be viewed at: http://www.airportnet.org/secure/federal/alerts/2001/a0524markupcanceled.htm