legislation: 104-s-1801
Data license: Public Domain (U.S. Government data) · Data source: Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API
This data as json
| bill_id | congress | bill_type | bill_number | title | policy_area | introduced_date | latest_action_date | latest_action_text | origin_chamber | sponsor_name | sponsor_state | sponsor_party | sponsor_bioguide_id | cosponsor_count | summary_text | update_date | url |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 104-s-1801 | 104 | s | 1801 | Omnibus Aviation Act of 1996 | Transportation and Public Works | 1996-05-23 | 1996-05-23 | Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce. | Senate | Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ] | AZ | R | M000303 | 0 | TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Federal Aviation Authorization Title II: Airport Revenue Protection Title III: Air Traffic Management System Performance Improvement Title IV: Pilot Records Title V: Abolition of Board of Review and Related Authority Title VI: Federal Aviation Administration Funding Omnibus aviation Act of 1996 - Title I: Federal Aviation Authorization - Federal Aviation Authorization Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to authorize appropriations for FY 1997 for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operations. (Sec. 103) Authorizes the Administrator of FAA to transfer budget authority derived from trust funds among appropriations authorized for FAA operations, air navigation facilities, and research and development, if the aggregate estimated outlays in such accounts in the fiscal year in which the transfers are made will not be increased as a result of such transfer. (Sec. 104) Authorizes appropriations out of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for FY 1997 for: (1) air navigation facilities; (2) research and development; and (3) airport planning and development and noise compatibility planning and programs (with a decrease in FY 1996 appropriations for such programs as a result of a FY 1995 rescission of a specified amount). (Sec. 121) Directs the Administrator of FAA to prescribe regulations to carry out a pavement maintenance pilot project to preserve and extend the useful life of airport runways and taxiways. (Sec. 122) Extends the program: (1) through FY 1997 for converting military airports to civil use; and (2) indefinitely for constructing parking lots, fuel farms, and utilities. (Sec. 123) Extends the State block grant pilot program through FY 1997. (Sec. 124) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to State or local government non-airport sponsors for preparation of land use compatibility plans or implementation of land use compatibility projects. (Sec. 131) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through FY 1997 the airport and airway program. (Sec. 144) Directs the Secretary, among other things, to promote the provision of commercial space transportation services. (Sec. 145) Revises Federal law regarding commercial space transportation to require a license for a person to operate a reentry site or to reenter a reentry vehicle. (Sec. 148) Authorizes the Secretary to prohibit, suspend, or end the operation of a reentry site, or the reentry of a reentry vehicle, if it is detrimental to the public health and safety, the safety of property, or national security or foreign policy interest of the United States. (Sec. 149) Provides for: (1) the preemption of scheduled reentries; and (2) administrative hearings and judicial review of the Secretary's decision to prohibit, suspend, or end the operation of a reentry site, or the reentry of a reentry vehicle. (Sec. 151) Directs the Secretary of Transportation to facilitate and encourage the acquisition of Government reentry services by the private sector and State governments. (Sec. 161) Extends aviation insurance and reinsurance programs through FY 2002. (Sec. 171) Authorizes the Administrator, in carrying out various aviation programs, to purchase housing units outside the contiguous United States. (Sec. 172) Authorizes the Administrator to require employment investigations, including criminal history record checks in cases where there is an employment gap, for individuals responsible for screening passengers and property at airports. (Sec. 173) Directs the Administrator to prescribe regulations prohibiting the disclosure of voluntarily provided information which could promote aviation safety or security. Title II: Airport Revenue Protection - Airport Revenue Protection Act of 1996 - Amends Federal aviation law to prohibit, with specified exceptions, the expenditure for non-airport purposes of local aviation fuel taxes or revenues generated by an airport that is the subject of Federal assistance or that operates pursuant to an airport operating certificate. (Sec. 205) Requires the Secretary to promulgate regulations requiring a recipient of an airport project grant or any other Federal airport financial assistance to include in its annual audit a review of airport-related funding activities. Requires the Secretary to review any audit identifying an illegal diversion of airport revenues. Requires the Secretary, after notifying the airport and its sponsor, to assess an administrative penalty equal to the amount of the illegal diversion, or withhold a similar amount from apportioned or grant funds that would otherwise be made available to the sponsor. (Sec. 207) Directs the Secretary to establish a process under which a private citizen (other than a Department of Transportation employee) may petition the Secretary or the Administrator for review of an allegation of illegal diversion of airport revenues. Prohibits the Secretary or the Administrator from disclosing the identity of a petitioner (whistleblower). (Sec. 209) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to conform to this Act. Title III: Air Traffic Management System Performance Improvement - Air Traffic Management System Performance Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to delineate the powers and duties of the Administrator and the Secretary with respect to the FAA. (Sec. 306) Authorizes the Administrator to issue, rescind, and revise regulations as necessary to carry out the FAA functions. Prohibits the Administrator, without the Secretary's prior approval, 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. 307) Authorizes the Administrator to utilize personnel of other Federal agencies. (Sec. 309) Requires the Administrator, after the first fiscal year in which the FAA is funded entirely by user fees, to prepare a budget for the FAA for each fiscal year. (Sec. 312) Directs the Administrator to establish a select panel to review and report to the Congress on a limited innovative program to fund specific facilities and equipment projects, and to provide limited additional funding alternatives for airport capacity development. (Sec. 314) 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. 315) 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. 316) Directs the Secretary to study and report to a specified congressional committee on rural air fares. (Sec. 321) Directs the Administrator to develop, and submit to the Congress, innovative: (1) acquisition management systems to procure goods and services; and (2) personnel system for the management, compensation, and advancement of FAA employees. (Sec. 322) 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. 333) Directs the Administrator to establish, and submit to the Congress, a performance-based fee system for various FAA services, including air traffic control services. (Sec. 336) Raises spending cap limitations under the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for domestic air navigation facilities and international joint air navigation services. (Sec. 337) Requires the multiyear appropriation (for not less than three years) of funds for Trust Fund activities. (Sec. 338) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Congress must make every effort to expend unobligated balances under the Trust Fund for the aviation industry. 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 IV: 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. 402) 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. 403) Directs the Administrator to appoint a task force to conduct a study directed toward the development of standards and criteria for: (1) preemployment screening of pilots; and (2) pilot training facilities. Title V: Abolition of Board of Review and Related Authority - Amends the Metropolitan Washington Airports Act of 1986 to abolish the Board of Review of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. (Sec. 502) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Airports Authority should: (1) not provide free preferential reserved parking areas to Members of Congress, Government officials, or diplomats at Washington National Airport or Washington Dulles International Airport; and (2) provide the public equal access to such parking areas. (Sec. 505) Increases from 11 to 13 the number of persons on the board of directors of the Airports Authority. Increases the number of board members whom the President must appoint with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires eight votes (currently, seven) to approve bond issues and the annual budget. Staggers the terms of presidential appointees to the board of directors. (Sec. 506) Requires the board of directors, including any members appointed under this Act, to continue to meet and act until necessary conforming changes in State law are made in order that the reconstituted board functions without interruption. Title VI: Federal Aviation Administration Funding - Expresses the sense of the Senate that there should be an immediate enactment of an interim measure to provide short-term funding for the FAA until the new funding system established under this Act is implemented. | 2025-08-21T20:16:56Z |