Airport Transfer of License Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3209 To amend title 49, United States Code, to codify requirements for changes in airport sponsorship or operations with respect to airport operating certificates, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2019 Mr. LEWIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to codify require- ments for changes in airport sponsorship or operations with respect to airport operating certificates, 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 ‘‘Airport Transfer of 4 License Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3209.IH H3209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3209 IH SEC. 2. CHANGES IN AIRPORT SPONSORSHIP OR OPER- 1 ATIONS. 2 Section 44706 of title 49, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub- 5 section (h); and 6 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(f) CHANGE OF AIRPORT SPONSORSHIP OR OPER- 9 ATIONS.— 10 ‘‘(1) UNDISPUTED CHANGE OF AIRPORT SPON- 11 SORSHIP OR OPERATIONS.—Except as provided for 12 in paragraph (2), for a proposed transfer of the 13 sponsorship or operations of an airport to a new 14 sponsor or operator, the Administrator shall issue an 15 airport operating certificate to a new sponsor or op- 16 erator if— 17 ‘‘(A) the holder of the airport operating 18 certificate for such airport consents to the 19 transfer of sponsorship or operations; and 20 ‘‘(B) the new sponsor or operator satisfies 21 all requirements for obtaining a certificate 22 under this section. 23 ‘‘(2) DISPUTED CHANGE OF AIRPORT SPONSOR- 24 SHIP OR OPERATIONS.—For a proposed transfer of 25 the sponsorship or operations of an airport to a new 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3209.IH H3209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3209 IH sponsor or operator for which the holder of the air- 1 port operating certificate disputes such transfer, the 2 Administrator shall issue an airport operating cer- 3 tificate to the new sponsor if the new sponsor or op- 4 erator satisfies all requirements for obtaining a cer- 5 tificate under this section and the dispute is resolved 6 by— 7 ‘‘(A) the issuance of a final, non-appeal- 8 able judicial decision requiring a change of 9 sponsorship or operations; 10 ‘‘(B) the issuance of a consent letter be- 11 tween the holder of an airport operating certifi- 12 cate and a new sponsor or operator; or 13 ‘‘(C) any other legally definitive means of 14 requiring a change of sponsorship or operations 15 that the Administrator determines appropriate. 16 ‘‘(g) REIMBURSEMENT OF AIRPORT INVESTMENT.— 17 After a change in sponsorship or operations under sub- 18 section (f), the new airport sponsor or operator shall reim- 19 burse the previous holder of an airport operating certifi- 20 cate for investments made by such holder that have not 21 been fully recouped as of the change in airport sponsorship 22 or operations and such reimbursement shall be consistent 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3209.IH H3209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3209 IH with all policies and procedures of the Federal Aviation 1 Administration.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3209.IH H3209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS