© 2018 Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP | kaplankirsch.com FAA Reauthorization Bill Passes House; Senate Process Underway In late April, the House of Representatives passed a six-year FAA reauthorization bill. This is a significant step forward in the effort to reauthorize the FAA, since the House has been unable to reach consensus on long-term reauthorization for several years, and the FAA has operated under short-term extensions for some time. This most recent bill passed the House after Congressman Bill Shuster—outgoing Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure— dropped his proposal to privatize the FAA’s air traffic control functions – an idea that was previously met with significant resistance. The House bill includes several provisions that should be of interest to airport sponsors: • Limits FAA regulation of non-federally sponsored airport property to facilitate airports’ ability to generate non- aeronautical revenue • Requires some airports to provide sanitizing equipment in mothers’ rooms and baby-changing tables in restrooms • Directs the FAA and GAO to undertake various studies related to noise impacts of air traffic on local communities • Adds contract tower construction as an eligible activity under the AIP small airport fund • Allows AIP funds to be used to construct storage facilities to shelter snow removal, aircraft rescue, and firefighting equipment meeting certain conditions regardless of whether federal funding was used to acquire the equipment • Directs the FAA to partner with nongovernmental organizations, state, and local agencies to prevent recreational unmanned aircraft from interfering with the efforts of…Open full document
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