House Committee Releases Report to Accompany FY24 DOT/FAA Spending Bill, Including Airport Earmarks
July 17, 2023
As we noted in our Alert last week, the House Appropriations Committee is moving forward with legislation to fund the operations and programs of the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration in the fiscal year (2024) that begins on October 1. Tomorrow, the full Appropriations Committee will meet to consider a draft measure approved by a key subcommittee last week.
In advance of tomorrow's markup, the House Appropriations Committee today released its report accompanying the bill, which includes a list of airport 'earmarks' (pages 138-144) and provides congressional direction to DOT and FAA on a host of issues related to the Contract Tower Program, airport fees on transportation network companies, PFAS mitigation, aviation workforce development, community engagement and noise, small community air service, FAA regulatory processes, and other items of note highlighted below.
As a reminder, the underlying House bill proposes $3.35 billion in AIP funding with another $303 million provided for the airport earmarks highlighted in the committee report. The measure also funds the Contract Tower Program at $194 million. Overall, the measure includes $19.553 billion in total budgetary resources for the FAA, which is $529 million above the FY23 enacted level. Of that amount, $12.73 billion is proposed for FAA operations, which committee leaders say would meet existing needs and allow the agency to hire 1,800 air traffic controllers to replace the retiring workforce. The bill proposes $2.973 billion for FAA facilities and equipment, which is $27.9 million above the FY23 enacted level. The FAA research, engineering, and development account is funded at $196.05 million.
As we have highlighted, House Republicans are working aggressively to reduce federal spending and moving to fund annual appropriations bills at FY22 levels overall, which would necessitate government-wide cuts of nearly $120 billion from current levels. In contrast, the Democrat-controlled Senate is moving to fund the federal government at FY23 levels in accordance with the recent debt ceiling deal negotiated by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee will consider its version of the FY24 DOT/FAA spending bill.
Notable Items in the Report Accompanying the House FY24 DOT/FAA Spending Bill
Airport Earmarks: Can be viewed beginning on page 138 of the report.
Contract towers: The Committee recommendation includes $194,000,000 for the contract tower program, including the contract tower cost share program. The Committee continues to strongly support the FAA contract tower program as a cost-effective and efficient way to provide air traffic control services to smaller airports across the country. The Committee expects the FAA to continue to operate the 262 contract towers currently in the program, annualize funding for towers that will be added in 2023, and provide full-year funding for new airports expected to be added to the program in fiscal year 2024.
Contract tower radar display systems: The Committee is concerned that the FAA is currently not installing certified radar display systems in its contract towers. The lack of radar display systems at FAA-certified towers creates congestion and inefficiencies at airports that handle large jet traffic in the region without the equipment to avoid air traffic conflicts. The Committee requests a briefing, within 180 days of enactment of this Act, on the FAA's plans to put Certified Tower Radar Displays in FAA contract towers. The briefing should also include information on how the agency will urgently address and prioritize the deployment of any off-the-shelf equipment that is available to provide visibility of traffic to tower controllers in the FAA's contract tower program.
Airport fees on transportation network companies (TNCs): The Committee notes that trends in ground transportation to and from airports have shifted over recent years. The Committee directs the GAO to study how selected airports assess per-trip fees for rides starting or ending on airport property that are fulfilled by TNCs and similar modes of for-hire transportation, including taxis, limousines, and private shuttles. The study shall include a comparison of airports' fees and fee-setting methodologies for various forms of private ground transportation and legal and other considerations for setting ground transportation fees at airports. The Committee directs the GAO to report to the Committee on the results of this study no later than one year after the enactment of this Act.
Airport environmental mitigation/PFAS: The Committee provides no less than $5,000,000 to fund demonstration projects for airports to collect and remove obsolete aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), AFFF residuals and other polyflourinated substances (PFAS) waste, and to field test and measure lab proven innovative destruction technologies, including Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permitted incineration, to measurably reduce and mitigate the impacts of PFAS and AFFF substances on surface and groundwater quality at the airport or within five miles of the airport.
Aviation workforce: The Committee supports increasing the strength and number of aviation professionals who are well-trained and can be relied upon to make air travel safe and efficient. The Committee provides $10,000,000 for the aviation maintenance technician development program and $5,000,000 for aviation workforce development program in accordance with section 625 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018.
Community engagement and noise: The Committee supports the FAA's efforts to engage communities regarding aircraft noise and urges the FAA to continue to its ongoing efforts to evaluate alternative metrics to the current Day Night Level 65 standard. The Committee also urges the FAA to complete and operationalize a central repository for constituent complaints regarding airport noise.
Air cargo study: The Committee notes that air cargo volumes are rising in an environment where technology, infrastructure, and operations have fallen behind optimal standards for efficiency and cost effectiveness. This could result in higher costs to stakeholders and consumers, delays of sensitive pharma and perishable shipments, lost jobs, decreasing regional tax benefits, and ground traffic congestion near airports. The Committee directs the GAO to conduct a study on the state of U.S. air cargo including DOT oversight of air cargo operations, to help identify, prioritize, and address the issues affecting congestion and throughput at our Nation's airports.
Cargo operators at small airports: The Committee urges the FAA to continue to monitor and support funding for smaller commercial service nonhub airports, also defined as ‘‘NSG 3'' airports. It is essential to the safety and performance for cargo operators that these airports are funded to the extent that access to these airports is not restricted due to FAA tower personnel staffing and airport navigation and surveillance equipage.
Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) facilities funding: The Committee notes that the IIJA (P.L. 117-58) provides $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 advanced appropriations for facilities replacement and improvements. The following activities are eligible for this funding: (1) replacing terminal and en route air traffic control facilities; (2) improving air route traffic control center and combined control facility buildings; (3) improving air traffic control en route radar facilities; (4) improving air traffic control tower and terminal radar approach control facilities; (5) national airspace system facilities OSHA and environmental standards compliance; (6) landing and navigational aids; (7) fuel storage tank replacement and management; (8) unstaffed infrastructure sustainment; (9) real property disposition; (10) electrical power system sustain and support; (11) energy maintenance and compliance; (12) hazardous materials management and environmental cleanup; (13) facility security risk management; (14) mobile asset management program; and (15) administrative expenses, including salaries and expenses, administration, and oversight. The Committee notes that at least $165,000,000 will be available from fiscal year 2024 advanced appropriations due to an excess of personnel related expenses planned for fiscal year 2024. As such, the Committee directs the FAA to utilize advanced appropriations for critical upgrades to facilities not included in the above funding table. If additional funds are needed to meet critical facility requirements, the FAA is directed to defer lower priority control tower replacements planned for this IIJA funding to fiscal year 2025.
Enhanced remote digital tower certification: The Committee is aware of the growing need from small and rural communities to improve safety and modernize the air traffic control capabilities of their airports in a timely manner. The Committee notes that the FAA is exploring remote digital towers as a solution to address these needs but has not yet adopted a certification process that would permit localities to establish a remote virtual tower in a timely manner. The Committee directs the FAA to report to the committee quarterly, with progress against milestones, on the System Design Approval (SDA) testing at the Technical Center that allows for the certification of the remote digital tower system within 18 months of enactment of this Act. The FAA should report to the Committee on the plan to achieve Active Approval of the system at an airport within four months of SDA.
Air service in small and rural communities: The Committee notes that air service to small and rural communities has been declining in recent years. The Committee is aware that carriers are utilizing existing DOT authorities under Part 298 and 135 to ensure twin jet service to these communities but recognizes recent delays in DOT approval of applications. The Committee directs the DOT to move expeditiously in its consideration of applications intended to provide service for small and rural communities and determine approval using the same set of criteria as has been utilized for other entities previously approved.
Small community commercial air service: The Committee recognizes the importance of regular commercial air service as a strong economic driver for small metropolitan and majority rural communities, particularly in rural states. The Committee is concerned by the reduction or elimination of commercial air service at rural and small community airports across the country. The Committee encourages the Secretary to account for the elimination or extreme reduction of commercial air service at airports located in metropolitan statistical area (MSA) cities in rural states when awarding Small Community Air Service Development grants, with the intention of ensuring these grants may support communities that recently lost or are at risk of losing commercial air service. The Committee directs the Secretary to provide the Committee within 90 days of enactment of this Act an assessment of existing gaps in Federal programs supporting rural and small community airports.
Regulatory process improvements: The Committee directs FAA to conduct a comprehensive review of its regulatory processes and report its findings to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 120 days of the enactment of this Act. The Committee directs the FAA to provide recommendations to improve the timeliness, transparency, and performance accountability in the promulgation of rules, regulatory policies, guidance, and other materials including the elimination of any redundant or unnecessary reviews and delays.
Safety management systems: On January 11, 2023, the FAA released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to update and expand the requirements for safety management systems. As the FAA reviews comments to the NPRM and drafts the final rule, the Committee urges the FAA to ensure that SMS requirements are appropriately scaled to the size and complexity of each operator.
Radio altimeters: The Committee provides $5,000,000 for the FAA to establish a program at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, in partnership with aviation manufacturers, to accelerate testing, certification, and implementation of new radio altimeter capabilities consistent with the next generation avionics standards.
Integrated project delivery: The Committee is aware that Integrated Project Delivery is a construction delivery method that integrates project teams, including agencies, engineers, builders, and owners, which can lead to significant project delivery efficiencies. When evaluating applicants of discretionary grant programs administered by the Secretary, the Committee urges DOT, to the extent appropriate, to encourage projects that are employing innovative approaches to procurement and contracting that accelerate project delivery and achieve improved outcomes for communities.
State block grant program: The Committee is concerned that some states participating in the Airport Improvement Program State Block Grant Program may not be able to effectively administer funding provided for general aviation and commercial service airports that are not primary airports. The Committee directs the FAA to report on its evaluation of this issue and propose any appropriate administrative or legislative remedy to ensure that block grant states have the appropriate flexibility and authorities to administer these funds.
