Routes and Airports Channel

US House passes FAA reauthorization bill

ATW's Airports Today, June, 2009, p.6

The US House of Representatives passed an FAA reauthorization bill in May containing several controversial provisions championed by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.), setting the stage for debate in the Senate on the long-stalled effort to renew FAA's legislative mandate and provide long-term funding for the agency.

FAA's authorization expired on Sept. 30, 2007, and it since has been funded via temporary extensions. The House has passed versions of reauthorization legislation in previous Congressional sessions only to see the bills die in the Senate.

The latest bill, which passed the House by a 277-136 vote, would provide $53.5 billion in funding in FY2010-12 and raise fuel taxes on noncommercial aviation from 21.8 cents per gal. to 35.9 cents, a move that would shift slightly some of the burden for funding ATC from airlines to general and business aviation.

The measure also includes $13.4 billion for implementation of FAA's satellite-based Next Generation air traffic management system. "NextGen begins and ends at the airport," said ACI-NA President Greg Principato. "This system will increase airspace capacity and efficiency while simultaneously improving safety and reducing environmental impacts. However, without critical investments in airport infrastructure, improvements made possible by NextGen will be squandered as congestion moves from the sky to the ground."

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