Notice to Airmen Improvement Act of 2021

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1262 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 16, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To establish a task force on improvements for certain notices to airmen, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1262.RFS H1262 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1262 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Notice to Airmen Im- 2 provement Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. FAA TASK FORCE ON NOTAM IMPROVEMENT. 4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 6 the Federal Aviation Administration shall establish a task 7 force to be known as the FAA Task Force on NOTAM 8 Improvement (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Task 9 Force’’). 10 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall consist of 11 members appointed by the Administrator, including at 12 least one member of each of the following: 13 (1) Air carrier representatives. 14 (2) Labor union representatives of airline pilots. 15 (3) Labor union certified under section 7111 of 16 title 5, United States Code, to represent FAA air 17 traffic control specialists assigned to the U.S. 18 NOTAM Office. 19 (4) Labor union certified under section 7111 of 20 title 5, United States Code, to represent FAA aero- 21 nautical information specialists. 22 (5) General and business aviation representa- 23 tives. 24 (6) Aviation safety experts with knowledge of 25 NOTAMs. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1262.RFS H1262 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1262 RFS (7) Human factors experts. 1 (c) DUTIES.—The duties of the Task Force shall in- 2 clude— 3 (1) reviewing existing methods for presenting 4 NOTAMs and flight operations information to pilots; 5 (2) reviewing regulations and policies relating 6 to NOTAMs, including their content and presen- 7 tation to pilots; 8 (3) evaluating and determining best practices to 9 organize, prioritize, and present flight operations in- 10 formation in a manner that optimizes pilot review 11 and retention of relevant information; and 12 (4) providing recommendations for— 13 (A) improving the presentation of NOTAM 14 information in a manner that prioritizes or 15 highlights the most important information, and 16 optimizes pilot review and retention of relevant 17 information; 18 (B) ways to ensure that NOTAMs are 19 complete, accurate, and contain the proper in- 20 formation; 21 (C) any best practices that the FAA 22 should consider to improve the accuracy and 23 understandability of NOTAMs and the display 24 of flight operations information; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1262.RFS H1262 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1262 RFS (D) ways to work with air carriers, other 1 airspace users, and aviation service providers to 2 implement solutions that are aligned with the 3 recommendations under this paragraph. 4 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 5 of the establishment of the Task Force, the Task Force 6 shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and In- 7 frastructure of the House of Representatives and the Com- 8 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 9 Senate a report detailing— 10 (1) the results of the reviews and evaluations of 11 the Task Force under paragraphs (1) through (3) of 12 subsection (c); 13 (2) the best practices identified and rec- 14 ommendations provided by the Task Force under 15 subsection (c)(4); 16 (3) any recommendations of the Task Force for 17 additional regulatory or policy actions to improve the 18 presentation of NOTAMs; and 19 (4) the degree to which implementing the rec- 20 ommendations of the Task Force described under 21 paragraph (2) will address National Transportation 22 Safety Board Safety Recommendation A–18–024. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1262.RFS H1262 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1262 RFS (e) APPLICABLE LAW.—The Federal Advisory Com- 1 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Task 2 Force. 3 (f) SUNSET.—The Task Force shall terminate on the 4 later of— 5 (1) the date on which the Task Force submits 6 the report required under subsection (d); or 7 (2) the date that is 18 months after the date 8 on which the Task Force is established under sub- 9 section (a). 10 (g) AUTHORITY.—The Administrator shall have the 11 authority to carry out the recommendations of the Task 12 Force detailed in the report required under subsection (d). 13 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 (1) FAA.—The term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Fed- 15 eral Aviation Administration. 16 (2) NOTAM.—The term ‘‘NOTAM’’ means no- 17 tices to airmen required by international or domestic 18 regulation or law, as described in the order issued by 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1262.RFS H1262 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1262 RFS the FAA on December 11, 2018, titled ‘‘Notices to 1 Airmen (NOTAM)’’. 2 Passed the House of Representatives June 15, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jun 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1262.RFS H1262 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS