General Aviation Airport Access Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1847 To amend title 49, United States Code, to increase access to general aviation airports, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 7, 2023 Mr. BUDD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to increase access to general aviation airports, 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 ‘‘General Aviation Air- 4 port Access Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PUBLIC AIRPORT APRON ACCESS FOR TRANSIENT 6 GENERAL AVIATION AIRCRAFT. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 401 of title 49, United 8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1847.IS S1847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1847 IS ‘‘§ 40131. Apron access for transient general aviation 1 aircraft 2 ‘‘(a) TRANSIENT APRON.—A covered airport shall 3 provide transient general aviation aircraft parking on or 4 near the existing apron when the pilot or owner of that 5 aircraft does not need or request fuel or use other related 6 services from the covered airport or a fixed-base operator 7 at the covered airport. 8 ‘‘(b) TRANSIENT FEES.—A covered airport may as- 9 sess a fee on a transient general aviation aircraft for using 10 the transient apron described in subsection (a) and, if it 11 does assess such a fee, the fee shall be fair, reasonable, 12 transparent, publicly available (including on the website 13 of the entity that imposes such fee), and exclude any ex- 14 traneous or hidden costs. 15 ‘‘(c) ACCESS TO TRANSIENT APRON.—A controlled 16 access airport, or a fixed-base operator at a controlled ac- 17 cess airport, may not charge a fee for a pilot or passengers 18 to transit between their transient general aviation aircraft 19 parked on the transient apron described in subsection (a) 20 and a place outside the airport’s perimeter fence, whether 21 or not such transit requires passing through a building. 22 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 ‘‘(1) CONTROLLED ACCESS AIRPORT.—The 24 term ‘controlled access airport’ means an airport 25 that is a public use airport and— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1847.IS S1847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1847 IS ‘‘(A) is required to have an airport security 1 program under part 1542 of title 49, Code of 2 Federal Regulations; or 3 ‘‘(B) the airport or a fixed-base operator 4 at the airport does not allow a pilot unescorted 5 access to the pilot’s transient general aviation 6 aircraft that is parked on the transient apron 7 described in subsection (a). 8 ‘‘(2) COVERED AIRPORT.—The term ‘covered 9 airport’ means an airport that is a public use airport 10 and has— 11 ‘‘(A) received a grant under section 48103 12 or chapter 471 at any time during the most re- 13 cent 20-year period; or 14 ‘‘(B) been the recipient of a Federal prop- 15 erty conveyance. 16 ‘‘(3) FIXED-BASE OPERATOR.—The term ‘fixed- 17 base operator’ means a business granted the right 18 by an airport sponsor or heliport sponsor to operate 19 on an airport or heliport and provide aeronautical 20 services, including fueling and charging, aircraft 21 hangaring, tiedown and parking, aircraft rental, air- 22 craft maintenance, and flight instruction. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1847.IS S1847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1847 IS ‘‘(4) PUBLIC USE AIRPORT.—The term ‘public 1 use airport’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 2 tion 47102. 3 ‘‘(5) TRANSIENT GENERAL AVIATION AIR- 4 CRAFT.—The term ‘transient general aviation air- 5 craft’ means an aircraft, not owned or operated by 6 an air carrier or foreign air carrier, that is seeking 7 to park temporarily at an airport.’’. 8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap- 9 ter 401 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 10 inserting after the item relating to section 40130 the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘40131. Apron access for transient general aviation aircraft.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1847.IS S1847 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB