After 23 extensions, the House-Senate Conference Committee has approved a four-year airport-aviation bill, H.R. 658, the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act.
The issue that had held up the measure, a labor provision overturning a ruling governing union elections by the National Mediation Board, was resolved with a compromise between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The legislation has been a NACo legislative priority for five years, and the two top issues for NACo, funding for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and Essential Air Service (EAS), were resolved beneficially.
“We are thrilled that Congress finally finished this bill. It has been a long struggle and counties with airports or that receive EAS service should be pleased by the outcome,” said Benton County, Wash. Commissioner Leo Bowman, chair of NACo’s Transportation Steering Committee. The House approved the conference agreement Feb. 3 and the Senate was expected to follow shortly. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation.
The final bill funds the AIP program, which provides federal dollars for capital projects at county and other publicly owned airports, at $3.33 billion annually, the current funding level. This is higher than the House bill, which had provided $3 billion annually. Funding is for four years, which will ensure a steady stream of funding for airports.
EAS, which many considered to be an endangered program, is also continued for four years with funding projected at $193 million annually.
This is a major accomplishment since the House version of the bill had proposed to gradually eliminate EAS by FY13 everywhere in the U.S. except in Alaska and Hawaii. Supervisor David Finigan of Del Norte County, Calif., who chairs the NACo Airport Subcommittee and has EAS service in his county, said, “I am very pleased how well EAS fared in the final bill. It is an important program for rural counties. EAS lives for another four years.”
There are a few new limitations in EAS service in the final bill, which should only affect a small number of communities. The major new limitation requires EAS airports, except those in Alaska and Hawaii within 175 miles of a large or medium hub, to have at least 10 enplanements per day. The bill does, however, provide a process to restore service at these airports under certain conditions.
Under the legislation, no new EAS communities will be allowed into the program: Eligibility is limited to those communities receiving EAS service or those that have been notified that they were going to lose unsubsidized service.
EAS currently serves about 150 regions. A NACo-supported provision on marketing plans was included in the final bill as was a section repealing a pilot program requiring communities to assume a portion of EAS costs.
The Small Community Air Service program, is also kept alive with $6 million in funding. A plan and some funding to develop NextGen, a satellite-based air traffic control system, were included in the legislation. The issue of more long-distance flights from Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. was compromised with eight flights per day added.