I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2507 To amend the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and title 49, United States Code, with respect to disadvantaged business enterprises, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 6, 2023 Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and title 49, United States Code, with respect to dis- advantaged business enterprises, 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. INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON PARTICIPA- 3 TION IN FAA PROGRAMS BY DISADVANTAGED 4 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 5 Section 140 of the FAA Modernization and Reform 6 Act of 2012 is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (c)— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2507.IH H2507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2507 IH (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘each of 1 fiscal years 2013 through 2018’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘fiscal year 2024 and periodically thereafter’’; 3 and 4 (B) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking ‘‘a 5 list’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to the large- 6 and medium-hub airports in the United States 7 that participate in the airport disadvantaged 8 business enterprise program referenced in sub- 9 section (a), a list’’; and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(d) ASSESSMENT OF EFFORTS.—The Inspector 12 General shall assess the efforts of the Federal Aviation 13 Administration with respect to implementing rec- 14 ommendations suggested in reports submitted under sub- 15 section (c) and shall include in each semiannual report of 16 the Inspector General that is submitted to Congress a de- 17 scription of the results of such assessment.’’. 18 SEC. 2. MINORITY AND DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS PAR- 19 TICIPATION. 20 Section 47113 of title 49, United States Code, is 21 amended— 22 (1) in subsection (c)— 23 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and 24 inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2507.IH H2507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2507 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall’’; and 1 (B) by adding at the end the following: 2 ‘‘(2) CONSISTENCY OF INFORMATION.—The 3 Secretary shall develop and maintain a training pro- 4 gram— 5 ‘‘(A) for employees of the Federal Aviation 6 Administration who provide guidance and train- 7 ing to entities that certify whether a small busi- 8 ness concern qualifies under this section (and 9 for employees of the other modal administra- 10 tions of the Department of Transportation who 11 provide similar services); and 12 ‘‘(B) that ensures Federal officials provide 13 consistent communications with respect to cer- 14 tification requirements. 15 ‘‘(3) LISTS OF CERTIFYING AUTHORITIES.—The 16 Secretary shall ensure that each State maintains an 17 accurate list of the certifying authorities in such 18 State for purposes of this section and that the list 19 is— 20 ‘‘(A) updated at least twice each year; and 21 ‘‘(B) made available to the public.’’; 22 (2) in subsection (e) by adding at the end the 23 following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2507.IH H2507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2507 IH ‘‘(4) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall deter- 1 mine, for each fiscal year, the number of individuals 2 who received training under this subsection and shall 3 make such number available to the public on an ap- 4 propriate website operated by the Secretary. If the 5 Secretary determines, with respect to a fiscal year, 6 that fewer individuals received training under this 7 subsection than in the previous fiscal year, the Sec- 8 retary shall submit to Congress, and make available 9 to the public on an appropriate website operated by 10 the Secretary, a report describing the reasons for 11 the decrease. 12 ‘‘(5) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 2 years 13 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and 14 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall assess 15 the training program, including by soliciting feed- 16 back from stakeholders, and update the training pro- 17 gram as appropriate.’’; and 18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(f) TREND ASSESSMENT.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 21 after the date of enactment of this subsection, and 22 at least every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 23 study, using information reported by airports, trends 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2507.IH H2507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2507 IH in the participation of small business concerns re- 1 ferred to in subsection (b). 2 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The study under paragraph 3 (1) shall include— 4 ‘‘(A) an analysis of whether the participa- 5 tion of small business concerns referred to in 6 subsection (b) at reporting airports increased or 7 decreased during the period studied, including 8 for such concerns that were first time partici- 9 pants; 10 ‘‘(B) an analysis of the factors relating to 11 any significant increases or decreases in partici- 12 pation compared to prior years; and 13 ‘‘(C) development of a plan to respond to 14 the results of the study, including development 15 of recommendations for sharing best practices 16 for maintaining or boosting participation. 17 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—For each study completed 18 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to 19 Congress, and make available to the program con- 20 tact at each airport that participates in the airport 21 disadvantaged business enterprise program, a report 22 describing the results of the study.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2507.IH H2507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2507 IH SEC. 3. PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES. 1 Section 40117(c) of title 49, United States Code, is 2 amended by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(5) With respect to an application under this sub- 4 section that relates to an airport that participates in the 5 airport disadvantaged business enterprise program ref- 6 erenced in section 140(a) of the FAA Modernization and 7 Reform Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 47113 note), the applica- 8 tion shall include a detailed description of good faith ef- 9 forts at the airport to contract with disadvantaged busi- 10 ness enterprises in relation to any project that is a subject 11 of the application and to ensure that all small businesses, 12 including those owned by veterans, fairly compete for work 13 funded with passenger facility charges.’’. 14 SEC. 4. ANNUAL TRACKING OF CERTAIN NEW FIRMS AT 15 AIRPORTS WITH A DISADVANTAGED BUSI- 16 NESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM. 17 (a) TRACKING REQUIRED.—Beginning in fiscal year 18 2024, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Administrator 19 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall require each 20 covered airport to report to the Administrator on the num- 21 ber of new disadvantaged business enterprises that were 22 awarded a contract or concession during the previous fis- 23 cal year at the airport. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2507.IH H2507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2507 IH (b) TRAINING.—The Administrator shall provide 1 training to airports, on an ongoing basis, with respect to 2 compliance with subsection (a). 3 (c) REPORTING.—During the first fiscal year begin- 4 ning after the date of enactment of this Act and every 5 fiscal year thereafter, the Administrator shall update 6 dbE–Connect (or any successor online reporting system) 7 to include information on the number of new disadvan- 8 taged business enterprises that were awarded a contract 9 or concession during the previous fiscal year at a covered 10 airport. 11 (d) COVERED AIRPORT DEFINED.—In this section, 12 the term ‘‘covered airport’’ means a large- or medium-hub 13 airport that participates in the airport disadvantaged busi- 14 ness enterprise program referenced in section 140(a) of 15 the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (49 16 U.S.C. 47113 note). 17 SEC. 5. AUDITS. 18 The Inspector General of the Department of Trans- 19 portation shall conduct periodic audits regarding the accu- 20 racy of the data on disadvantaged business enterprises 21 contained in the Federal Aviation Administration’s report- 22 ing database related to such enterprises or any similar or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2507.IH H2507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2507 IH successor online reporting database developed by the Ad- 1 ministration. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2507.IH H2507 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB