GBAS Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3933 To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for the installation of ground-based augmentation systems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 16, 2021 Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself, Mr. LAMB, Mrs. TORRES of California, and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide for the installation of ground-based augmentation systems, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ground-Based Aug- 4 mentation Systems in the National Airspace System Im- 5 plementation Act’’ or the ‘‘GBAS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3933.IH H3933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3933 IH SEC. 2. GROUND-BASED AUGMENTATION SYSTEMS IMPLE- 1 MENTATION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44502 of title 49, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(g) IMPLEMENTATION OF GROUND-BASED AUG- 6 MENTATION SYSTEMS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 8 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 9 Secretary of Transportation shall establish proce- 10 dures, criteria, and grant programs necessary for de- 11 ploying GBAS equipment and avionics at United 12 States airports and in aircraft operated by air car- 13 riers in the United States approving categories of in- 14 strument approaches and maintaining GBAS. 15 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.— 16 ‘‘(A) TO AIRPORTS.—The Secretary shall 17 fund up to the 39 busiest airports in the United 18 States, in terms of annual air carrier aircraft 19 operations, to install GBAS equipment as a fed- 20 erally funded navigational aid. 21 ‘‘(B) TO AIR CARRIERS.—To the maximum 22 extent practicable and economical, the Secretary 23 shall offer to fund air carriers operating in the 24 United States for the installation and upgrade 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3933.IH H3933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3933 IH of GBAS avionics in the regional and air trans- 1 port aircraft operated by such airports. 2 ‘‘(3) VALIDATION OF INSTALLATIONS AND IN- 3 STRUMENT APPROACHES.—The Secretary shall vali- 4 date the GBAS installations and certify aircraft for 5 categories of instrument approaches. 6 ‘‘(4) OVERSIGHT AND MAINTENANCE.—The 7 Secretary shall maintain oversight and control over 8 the operation and maintenance of GBAS at public 9 airports. 10 ‘‘(5) DEADLINE FOR INSTALLATION.—To the 11 maximum extent feasible, any installation of GBAS 12 equipment required under this subsection shall be 13 completed not later than 10 years after the date of 14 enactment of this subsection. 15 ‘‘(6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 16 this subsection shall be construed to require the Sec- 17 retary to decommission the ground-based naviga- 18 tional instrument landing system. 19 ‘‘(7) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 20 date of enactment of this subsection, and annually 21 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 22 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the 23 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 24 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3933.IH H3933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3933 IH Science, and Transportation and the Committee on 1 Appropriations of the Senate a report that— 2 ‘‘(A) describes the status of GBAS instal- 3 lation at airports and on aircraft and an esti- 4 mate of the timeline for completing any remain- 5 ing installations; 6 ‘‘(B) identifies any funding shortfalls re- 7 quired for the installation of GBAS at airports 8 and on aircraft as well as for projected annual 9 maintenance requirements; 10 ‘‘(C) identifies any further enhancements 11 or upgrades to improve runways landings under 12 all-weather operations; and 13 ‘‘(D) identifies any administrative and leg- 14 islative actions that would improve the effi- 15 ciency of the installation, validation, oversight 16 and maintenance of the systems. 17 ‘‘(8) DEFINITION OF GBAS.—In this subsection, 18 the term ‘GBAS’ means ground-based augmentation 19 systems, including ground equipment and avionics. 20 ‘‘(9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To make grants under 22 this subsection, there is authorized to be appro- 23 priated $797,000,000. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3933.IH H3933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3933 IH ‘‘(B) INSTALLATION OF GBAS.—For the 1 procurement and installation of GBAS under 2 paragraph (1), there is authorized to be appro- 3 priated such sums as may be necessary. 4 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The 5 Secretary may reserve up to 0.5 percent of 6 funds made available to carry out this sub- 7 section to cover the costs of additional per- 8 sonnel, contracting, or other costs necessary for 9 the administration of this subsection.’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3933.IH H3933 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS