House of Representatives Overwhelmingly Reauthorizes FAA
Last Thursday (July 20), The US House of Representatives approved a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years.
The measure, formally titled the H.R. 3935, the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, passed in a bipartisan 351-69 vote.
“H.R. 3935 is critical to keeping America the global leader in aviation,” House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO.) said during the House debate last Wednesday.
“It’s vital to our economy, to millions of American jobs and to the 850 million passengers that depend on our National Airspace System every year,” he said. “If Congress fails to act on a new long-term aviation measure by September 30, when the current FAA law expires, key aviation programs will cease to function.”
The bill reauthorized the FAA through fiscal year 2028, including activities and programs related to airport planning and development, facilities and equipment, and operations. The bill also reauthorized the National Transportation Safety Board through the same period.
According to the FAA website, a five-year authorization frees the Agency from the uncertainty of more short-term extensions and instead “authorizes the reliable, predictable funding the FAA needs to invest in these critical priorities.”
The reauthorization bill also included some space-related amendments, including one saying that the FAA will consult with NASA on the feasibility of supersonic flight over the US, including the development of guidelines to regulate sound levels during takeoff and landing. And in a move to gather statistics on space tourism and private space launches, the bill recommends evaluating updates to runways for usage at a spaceport. The provision also mandates that the FAA collect and disseminate information on commercial space transportation operations, such as the number of launches and reentries, number of spaceflight participants, number of payloads, and mass of the payloads.
However, not all of the amendments pertaining to space activity made it into the final bill that will now be presented to the Senate. One amendment that was cut included directives to NASA and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commerce to submit a report to Congress on the merits of establishing an institute relating to space resources. Space resources include minerals and substances in outer space that can be used for more affordable and flexible transportation.
The bill also doesn’t include a draft provision that would direct the General Accounting Office to report on collaborations between NASA and the FAA on advanced aviation and research technologies.
The bill now heads to the Senate. Lawmakers in both chambers will have to work out differences by September 30, which is when the current FAA authorization ends.
