On Wednesday, July 6, 2016, Sen. John #Thune (R-SD) announced that the House and Senate negotiators had finally reached a deal for a short-term extension of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (#FAA) reauthorization. Although the bill itself has not yet been released to the public, the Senate Commerce Committee did post a summary of its provisions. You will recall that the House passed a bill that included an overhaul of the Air Traffic System. That proposal did not go over well in the Senate, who passed their own bill without the revamping of Air Traffic. With the July 15, 2016, deadline looming the two chambers finally came together on a much smaller package of legislation along with a very short-reauthorization period – only until September, 2017.
Here are the highlights:
Drones:
Although the FAA has issued its long-awaited commercial drone regulations, Congress wants to make sure that drones are operated safely and do not interfere with other aviation activities.
- Streamlines processes for approval and interagency cooperation to deploy unmanned aircraft during emergencies, such as disaster responses and wildfires.
- Prohibits unmanned aircraft users from interfering with emergency response activities, including wildfire suppression, and raises civil penalties to not more than $20,000 for those found in violation.
- Creates new processes to detect, identify, and mitigate unauthorized operation of unmanned aircraft around airports and critical infrastructure
In summary, the bill will focus primarily on wildfires – how to use drones and how to keep them out; and on keeping rogue drones away from airports.
Aviation Security:
Because of the recent terrorist activities, aviation security was a driving force in getting this bill done. The bill seems to track the Senate bill.
- Strengthens security for foreign airports by requiring comprehensive security assessments for all overseas airports serving the United States and considers the level of information sharing and security capabilities of foreign airports.
- Authorizes capacity development, training, screening equipment donation, and cargo program certification for overseas airports to bolster the security standards for flights headed to the United States from high risk airports.
- Expands the TSA PreCheck program by directing TSA to partner with the private sector to develop enhanced enrollment and vetting methods. By developing and marketing this program, TSA can strengthen security by identifying trusted travelers, while also increasing operational efficiency of checkpoints by providing expedited screening to more passengers.
- Optimizes checkpoints by redeploying certain TSA personnel and assessing TSA’s staffing allocation model, in order to reduce passenger wait times while enhancing security effectiveness.
- Tightens the access controls and employee vetting standards for aviation workers with access to secure and sterile areas of airports, in order to mitigate the insider threat to aviation security.
- Authorizes “Checkpoint of the Future” innovation efforts underway at TSA, authorizes additional TSA Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams, and ensures these teams are trained to assist transportation hubs in preparing for and responding to active shooter scenarios.
Consumer Protection:
- Requires air carriers to provide a refund of paid baggage fees when items are lost or unreasonably delayed.
- Requires airlines to generally ensure that children 13 years of age or under are seated adjacent to an adult or older child traveling with them.
- Takes steps to improve air travel for persons with disabilities by requiring a review of training and best practices by airports and airlines, and by requiring DOT to issue a rule to address several issues of concern to the disabled community.
- Extends authority for the DOT’s Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protection.
Pilot/Aviation Safety/Air Traffic Control:
- Strengthens mental health screening for pilots, addressing a factor in the 2015 Germanwings Flight 9525 crash.
- Expedites the completion of the pilot records database required in the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010 in response to the 2009 Colgan Air Flight 3407 accident
- Ensures that pilots are sufficiently trained on manual flying skills and how to monitor cockpit automation systems, addressing a factor in the 2013 Asiana Flight 214 accident in San Francisco.
- Reforms and streamlines the third-class medical certification process
- Requires training for flight attendants in recognizing and responding to potential victims of human trafficking.
- Requires the FAA to provide quarterly updates to Congress regarding the number of incidents involving laser pointers being aimed at aircraft, and the number of civil or criminal enforcement actions taken by federal authorities with regard to these incidents.
- Streamlines and improves the air traffic controller hiring process and ensures the FAA can better address chronic controller shortages with experienced candidates.
- Directs the FAA to establish a comprehensive and strategic framework to identify and address cybersecurity risks to the aviation system
As soon as the entire bill is released to the public this blog post will be updated.
Aviation and Airport Development News 