PLANE Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2198 To promote the launch of aviation’s next era. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 22, 2019 Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To promote the launch of aviation’s next era. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS; DEFINI- 3 TION OF ADMINISTRATOR. 4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 5 ‘‘Promoting the Launch of Aviation’s Next Era Act of 6 2019’’ or the ‘‘PLANE Act of 2019’’. 7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 8 this Act is as follows: 9 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; definition of Administrator. TITLE I—FAIRNESS FOR PILOTS Sec. 101. Expansion of Pilot’s Bill of Rights. Sec. 102. Enhancing protections for the aviation community. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2198 IS Sec. 103. Limitations on reexamination of certificate holders. Sec. 104. Aviation rulemaking and exemption petition due process. Sec. 105. Timely resolution of investigations. TITLE II—FORWARD LOOKING INVESTMENT IN GENERAL AVIATION, HANGARS, AND TARMACS (FLIGHT ACT) Sec. 201. Establishment of public-private partnership program at general avia- tion airports. Sec. 202. General aviation airport entitlement reform. Sec. 203. Disaster relief airports. Sec. 204. Airport development relating to disaster relief. Sec. 205. Funding for projects as disaster relief airports. Sec. 206. Revision of automated weather observing systems (AWOS) policy. TITLE III—SECURING AND REVITALIZING AVIATION (SARA ACT) Sec. 301. Limitation of liability for certain individuals designated as represent- atives of the Federal Aviation Administration. TITLE IV—AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER REFORMS Sec. 401. Federal Aviation Administration Academy. Sec. 402. Practical experience for air traffic controllers. TITLE V—AVIATION FUEL TAXES Sec. 501. Treatment of fuel for use in aviation. TITLE VI—VOLUNTARY SURRENDER OF REPAIR STATION CERTIFICATE Sec. 601. Revision of certain regulations relating to repair station certificates. (c) DEFINITION OF ADMINISTRATOR.—In this Act, 1 the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator of the 2 Federal Aviation Administration. 3 TITLE I—FAIRNESS FOR PILOTS 4 SEC. 101. EXPANSION OF PILOT’S BILL OF RIGHTS. 5 (a) APPEALS OF SUSPENDED AND REVOKED AIRMAN 6 CERTIFICATES.—Section 2(d)(1) of the Pilot’s Bill of 7 Rights (Public Law 112–153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 8 44703 note) is amended by striking ‘‘or imposing a puni- 9 tive civil action or an emergency order of revocation under 10 subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709 of such title’’ and 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2198 IS inserting ‘‘suspending or revoking an airman certificate 1 under section 44709(d) of such title, or imposing an emer- 2 gency order of revocation under subsections (d) and (e) 3 of section 44709 of such title’’. 4 (b) DE NOVO REVIEW BY DISTRICT COURT; BURDEN 5 OF PROOF.—Section 2(e) of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 6 (Public Law 112–153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 44703 7 note) is amended— 8 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol- 9 lows: 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In an appeal filed under 11 subsection (d) in a United States district court with 12 respect to a denial, suspension, or revocation of an 13 airman certificate by the Administrator— 14 ‘‘(A) the district court shall review the de- 15 nial, suspension, or revocation de novo, includ- 16 ing by— 17 ‘‘(i) conducting a full independent re- 18 view of the complete administrative record 19 of the denial, suspension, or revocation; 20 ‘‘(ii) permitting additional discovery 21 and the taking of additional evidence; and 22 ‘‘(iii) making the findings of fact and 23 conclusions of law required by Rule 52 of 24 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2198 IS out being bound to any findings of fact of 1 the Administrator or the National Trans- 2 portation Safety Board.’’; 3 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para- 4 graph (3); and 5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(2) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In an appeal filed 8 under subsection (d) in a United States district 9 court after an exhaustion of administrative remedies, 10 the burden of proof shall be as follows: 11 ‘‘(A) In an appeal of the denial of an ap- 12 plication for the issuance or renewal of an air- 13 man certificate under section 44703 of title 49, 14 United States Code, the burden of proof shall 15 be upon the applicant denied an airman certifi- 16 cate by the Administrator. 17 ‘‘(B) In an appeal of an order issued by 18 the Administrator under section 44709 of title 19 49, United States Code, the burden of proof 20 shall be upon the Administrator.’’; and 21 (4) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE PRO- 23 CEDURE ACT.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(A) of 24 this subsection or subsection (a)(1) of section 554 of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2198 IS title 5, United States Code, section 554 of such title 1 shall apply to adjudications of the Administrator 2 and the National Transportation Safety Board to 3 the same extent as that section applied to such adju- 4 dications before the date of enactment of the Pro- 5 moting the Launch of Aviation’s Next Era Act of 6 2019.’’. 7 SEC. 102. ENHANCING PROTECTIONS FOR THE AVIATION 8 COMMUNITY. 9 (a) NTSB REVIEW OF APPLICATION FOR AIRMAN 10 CERTIFICATE.—Section 44703(d) of title 49, United 11 States Code, is amended— 12 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 13 paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and 14 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1), the fol- 15 lowing new paragraph: 16 ‘‘(2) NTSB REVIEW.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an ap- 18 plication for the issuance of an airman medical 19 certificate, the National Transportation Safety 20 Board may review a denial that may not be 21 considered a final denial by the Administrator 22 when the Administrator has twice reconsidered 23 the application and sustained a previous denial 24 on that application. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2198 IS ‘‘(B) DEEMED DENIAL.—The Administra- 1 tor’s failure to rule upon a request for reconsid- 2 eration of the denial of issuance of an airman 3 medical certificate within 60 days of the date 4 on which the application to reconsider is sub- 5 mitted to the Administrator shall be deemed to 6 be a denial of the application.’’. 7 (b) VOLUNTARY SURRENDER OF AN AIRMAN MED- 8 ICAL CERTIFICATE.—Section 44703 of title 49, United 9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 10 lowing new subsection: 11 ‘‘(l) VOLUNTARY SURRENDER OF AN AIRMAN MED- 12 ICAL CERTIFICATE.—An airman may voluntarily sur- 13 render an airman medical certificate issued under this sec- 14 tion for cancellation at any time, unless the certificate is 15 subject to a Federal Aviation Administration order of sus- 16 pension or revocation at the time of the voluntary sur- 17 render.’’. 18 (c) APPEALS.—Section 44703(d)(1) of title 49, 19 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘hold a certifi- 20 cate that’’ and all that follows through the period and in- 21 serting ‘‘holds a certificate that is suspended at the time 22 of denial.’’. 23 (d) REAPPLICATIONS.—Section 44709 of title 49, 24 United States Code, is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2198 IS (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub- 1 section (g); and 2 (2) by inserting after subsection (e), the fol- 3 lowing new subsection: 4 ‘‘(f) REAPPLICATIONS.—Except as provided in sec- 5 tion 44710, any person whose certificate has been revoked 6 by an order of the Administrator or the National Trans- 7 portation Safety Board may reapply for a certificate at 8 any time following the revocation.’’. 9 (e) APPEAL OF SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF 10 DELEGATION.—Section 44702(d) of title 49, United 11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 12 lowing: ‘‘Subsections (d), (e), and (f) of section 44709 13 shall apply to a rescission of a delegation under this sub- 14 section in the same manner as those subsections apply to 15 an order of the Administrator or the National Transpor- 16 tation Safety Board under that section.’’. 17 SEC. 103. LIMITATIONS ON REEXAMINATION OF CERTIFI- 18 CATE HOLDERS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44709(a) of title 49, 20 United States Code, is amended— 21 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘reexamine’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘, except as provided in paragraphs 23 (2) and (3), reexamine’’; and 24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2198 IS ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON THE REEXAMINATION OF 1 AIRMAN CERTIFICATES.—The Administrator may 2 not reexamine an airman holding a student, sport, 3 recreational, or private pilot certificate issued under 4 section 44703 of this title if the reexamination is or- 5 dered as a result of an event involving the fault of 6 the Federal Aviation Administration or its designee, 7 unless the Administrator has reasonable grounds— 8 ‘‘(A) to establish that the airman may not 9 be qualified to exercise the privileges of a cer- 10 tificate or rating issued to the airman by the 11 Federal Aviation Administration or its designee, 12 based upon an act or omission committed by 13 the airman while exercising those privileges, 14 after the issuance of the certificate or rating; or 15 ‘‘(B) to demonstrate that the airman ob- 16 tained such a certificate or rating through 17 fraudulent means or through an examination 18 that was substantially and demonstrably inad- 19 equate to establish the airman’s qualifica- 20 tions.’’. 21 (b) AMENDMENT, MODIFICATION, SUSPENSION, OR 22 REVOCATION OF AIRMAN CERTIFICATES AFTER REEXAM- 23 INATION.—Section 44709(b) of title 49, United States 24 Code, is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2198 IS (1) in paragraph (1), by redesignating subpara- 1 graphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec- 2 tively, and by moving such clauses, as so redesig- 3 nated, 2 ems to the right; 4 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 5 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and by 6 moving such subparagraphs, as so redesignated, 2 7 ems to the right; 8 (3) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 9 as redesignated, by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ 10 and inserting the following: 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 12 graph (2), the Administrator’’; and 13 (4) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(2) AMENDMENTS, MODIFICATIONS, SUSPEN- 15 SIONS, AND REVOCATIONS OF AIRMAN CERTIFICATES 16 AFTER REEXAMINATION.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 18 may not issue an order to amend, modify, sus- 19 pend, or revoke an airman certificated held by 20 a student, sport, recreational, or private pilot 21 and issued under section 44703 of this title 22 after a reexamination of the airman holding the 23 certificate unless the Administrator determines 24 that the airman— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2198 IS ‘‘(i) lacks the technical skills and com- 1 petency, or care, judgment, and responsi- 2 bility, necessary to hold and safely exercise 3 the privileges of the certificate; or 4 ‘‘(ii) materially contributed to the 5 issuance of the certificate by fraudulent 6 means. 7 ‘‘(B) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—Any order 8 of the Administrator under this paragraph shall 9 be subject to the standard of review provided 10 for under section 2 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 11 (49 U.S.C. 44703 note).’’. 12 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 13 44709(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 14 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub- 15 section (b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 16 (b)(1)(A)(i)’’; and 17 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘sub- 18 section (b)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 19 (b)(1)(A)(ii)’’. 20 SEC. 104. AVIATION RULEMAKING AND EXEMPTION PETI- 21 TION DUE PROCESS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 23 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 24 Federal Aviation Administration shall issue a final rule 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2198 IS that amends, as appropriate, sections 11.61 through 1 11.103 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (Petitions 2 for Rulemaking and for Exemption) to do the following: 3 (1) Add the following decision factors to the de- 4 cision factors the Federal Aviation Administration 5 considers pursuant to subsection (a) of section 11.73 6 of such title 14 when deciding whether to act on a 7 petition for rulemaking: 8 (A) The number of certificate holders di- 9 rectly affected by the proposed rulemaking. 10 (B) The impact of the proposed rule- 11 making on small businesses. 12 (C) The number of organizations request- 13 ing the proposed rulemaking. 14 (2) Require the designation of an employee of 15 the Federal Aviation Administration to manage each 16 petition filed. 17 (3) Require notification of the following to each 18 petitioner within 30 days of receipt of a petition for 19 rulemaking properly submitted pursuant to such sec- 20 tion 11.71, a petition for exemption properly sub- 21 mitted pursuant to section 11.81 of such title 14, or 22 a petition for reconsideration submitted pursuant to 23 section 11.101 of such title 14: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.IS S2198 jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2198 IS (A) The name and contact information for 1 the employee of the Federal Aviation Adm [Text truncated for display. 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