Improving Helicopter Safety Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4880 To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit certain helicopter flights over major cities with high population densities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 28, 2019 Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. NADLER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ENGEL, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit certain helicopter flights over major cities with high population densities, 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 ‘‘Improving Helicopter 4 Safety Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN FLIGHTS OVER MAJOR 6 CITIES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 447 of title 49 is amend- 8 ed by adding at the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4880.IH H4880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4880 IH ‘‘§ 44741. Prohibition on certain flights over major 1 cities 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 3 date of enactment of this section, no person may operate 4 a civil rotorcraft in covered airspace except as provided 5 for under subsection (b). 6 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 7 ‘‘(1) PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY.—The pro- 8 hibition in subsection (a) shall not apply to a flight 9 carried out for purposes of public health and safety, 10 including— 11 ‘‘(A) law enforcement; 12 ‘‘(B) emergency response; 13 ‘‘(C) disaster response; 14 ‘‘(D) the provision of medical services; and 15 ‘‘(E) providing other services for the ben- 16 efit of the general public, including flights car- 17 ried out for research or for official purposes by 18 a news organization. 19 ‘‘(2) INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE.—The 20 prohibition in subsection (a) shall not apply to a 21 flight carried out for purposes heavy-lift operations 22 in support of construction and infrastructure main- 23 tenance. 24 ‘‘(c) COVERED AIRSPACE DEFINED.—In this section, 25 the term ‘covered airspace’ means the airspace directly 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4880.IH H4880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4880 IH over any city with a population over 8 million people and 1 with a population density of over 25,000 people per square 2 mile, including the airspace over any waterways considered 3 within the limits of such city.’’. 4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 5 tions for chapter 447 of title 49 is amended by adding 6 at the end the following: 7 ‘‘44741. Prohibition on certain flights over major cities.’’. SEC. 3. HELICOPTER FLIGHT ROUTES FOR MAJOR CITIES 8 AND SURROUNDING AREAS. 9 Not later than 90 days after a city initially meets the 10 requirements to be covered by the prohibition in section 11 44741 of title 49, United States Code (as added by section 12 2), the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administra- 13 tion shall issue or update such regulations as are nec- 14 essary to carry out the requirements of such section. 15 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 16 (a) SECTION 44737.—Chapter 447 of title 49, United 17 States Code, is amending by redesignating the second sec- 18 tion 44737 (as added by section 581 of the FAA Reau- 19 thorization Act of 2018) as section 44740. 20 (b) ANALYSIS.—The analysis for chapter 447 of title 21 49, United States Code, is amended— 22 (1) by striking the item relating to the second 23 section 44737 (as added by section 581 of the FAA 24 Reauthorization Act of 2018); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4880.IH H4880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4880 IH (2) by inserting after section 44739 the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘44740. Special rule for certain aircraft operations.’’. (c) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN AIRCRAFT OPER- 3 ATIONS.—Section 44740 of title 49, United States Code, 4 (as redesignated by subsection (a)) is amended— 5 (1) in the heading, by striking the period at the 6 end; 7 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘(1)’’ the 8 second time it appears; and 9 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by adding a period at 10 the end. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4880.IH H4880 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS