I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3185 To enhance flight options for consumers flying to and from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 10, 2023 Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself and Mr. OWENS) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To enhance flight options for consumers flying to and from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. 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 ‘‘Direct Capital Access 4 Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘DCA Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3185.IH H3185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3185 IH SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL WITHIN AND BEYOND PERIMETER 1 SLOT EXEMPTIONS AT RONALD REAGAN 2 WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT. 3 (a) INCREASE IN NUMBER OF SLOT EXEMPTIONS.— 4 Section 41718 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 5 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 6 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL SLOT EXEMPTIONS.— 7 ‘‘(1) INCREASE IN SLOT EXEMPTIONS.—Not 8 later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 9 this subsection, the Secretary shall grant, by order, 10 56 exemptions from— 11 ‘‘(A) the application of sections 12 49104(a)(5), 49109, and 41714 to air carriers 13 to operate limited frequencies and aircraft on 14 routes between Ronald Reagan Washington Na- 15 tional Airport and airports located within or be- 16 yond the perimeter described in section 49109; 17 and 18 ‘‘(B) the requirements of subparts K, S, 19 and T of part 93, Code of Federal Regulations. 20 ‘‘(2) INCREMENTAL DCA SLOT ALLOCATIONS.— 21 Of the slot exemptions made available under para- 22 graph (1), the Secretary shall make 40 available to 23 incumbent air carriers qualifying for status as a 24 non-limited incumbent carrier and 16 available to in- 25 cumbent carriers qualifying for status as a limited 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3185.IH H3185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3185 IH incumbent carrier at Ronald Reagan Washington 1 National Airport as of the date of enactment of this 2 subsection. Each such air carrier— 3 ‘‘(A) may operate up to a maximum of 8 4 of the newly authorized slot exemptions; 5 ‘‘(B) shall have sole discretion concerning 6 the use of an exemption made available under 7 paragraph (1), including the initial or any sub- 8 sequent within or beyond perimeter destinations 9 to be served; and 10 ‘‘(C) shall file a notice of intent with the 11 Secretary and subsequent notices of intent, 12 when appropriate, to inform the Secretary of 13 any change in circumstances concerning the use 14 of any exemption made available under para- 15 graph (1). 16 ‘‘(3) NOTICES OF INTENT.—Notices of intent 17 under paragraph (2)(C) shall specify the within or 18 beyond perimeter destinations to be served. 19 ‘‘(4) CONDITIONS.—Flight operations carried 20 out by an air carrier using an exemption granted 21 under this subsection shall be subject to the fol- 22 lowing conditions: 23 ‘‘(A) An air carrier granted an exemption 24 under this subsection is prohibited from trans- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3185.IH H3185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3185 IH ferring the rights to its slot exemptions pursu- 1 ant to section 41714(j). 2 ‘‘(B) The exemptions granted under sub- 3 section (2)— 4 ‘‘(i) may not be for operations be- 5 tween the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 6 a.m.; and 7 ‘‘(ii) may not increase the number of 8 operations at Ronald Reagan Washington 9 National Airport in any 1-hour period dur- 10 ing the hours between 7:00 a.m. and 9:59 11 p.m. by more than 8 operations.’’. 12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 41718 of 13 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 14 (1) in subsection (c)(2)— 15 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 16 (i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘or 17 (i)(2)’’ after ‘‘(g)(2)’’; and 18 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and 19 (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘(g), and (i)’’; and 20 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or 21 (i)(2)’’ after ‘‘(g)(3)’’; and 22 (2) in subsection (h)(1), by inserting ‘‘or (i)’’ 23 after ‘‘subsection (g)’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3185.IH H3185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS