DCA Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1933 To enhance flight options for consumers flying to and from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2023 Mr. WARNOCK (for himself and Ms. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 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’’ or the ‘‘DCA Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:43 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1933.IS S1933 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1933 IS SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL WITHIN AND BEYOND PERIMETER 1 SLOT EXEMPTIONS AT RONALD REAGAN 2 WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT. 3 (a) INCREASE IN NUMBER OF SLOT EXEMPTIONS.— 4 Section 41718 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 5 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 6 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL SLOT EXEMPTIONS.— 7 ‘‘(1) INCREASE IN SLOT EXEMPTIONS.—Not 8 later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 9 this subsection, the Secretary shall grant, by order, 10 56 exemptions from— 11 ‘‘(A) the application of sections 12 49104(a)(5), 49109, and 41714 to air carriers 13 to operate limited frequencies and aircraft on 14 routes between Ronald Reagan Washington Na- 15 tional Airport and airports located within or be- 16 yond the perimeter described in section 49109; 17 and 18 ‘‘(B) the requirements of subparts K, S, 19 and T of part 93, Code of Federal Regulations. 20 ‘‘(2) INCREMENTAL DCA SLOT ALLOCATIONS.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the slot exemptions 22 made available under paragraph (1), the Sec- 23 retary shall make 40 available to incumbent air 24 carriers qualifying for status as a non-limited 25 incumbent carrier and 16 available to incum- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:43 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1933.IS S1933 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1933 IS bent carriers qualifying for status as a limited 1 incumbent carrier at Ronald Reagan Wash- 2 ington National Airport as of the date of enact- 3 ment of this subsection. 4 ‘‘(B) AIR CARRIER REQUIREMENTS.—An 5 air carrier granted a slot exemption made avail- 6 able under paragraph (1)— 7 ‘‘(i) may operate up to a maximum of 8 8 of the newly authorized slot exemptions; 9 ‘‘(ii) shall have sole discretion con- 10 cerning the use of an exemption made 11 available under paragraph (1), including 12 the initial or any subsequent within or be- 13 yond perimeter destinations to be served; 14 and 15 ‘‘(iii) shall file a notice of intent with 16 the Secretary and subsequent notices of in- 17 tent, when appropriate, to inform the Sec- 18 retary of any change in circumstances con- 19 cerning the use of any exemption made 20 available under paragraph (1). 21 ‘‘(3) NOTICES OF INTENT.—Notices of intent 22 under paragraph (2)(B)(iii) shall specify the within 23 or beyond perimeter destinations to be served. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:43 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1933.IS S1933 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1933 IS ‘‘(4) CONDITIONS.—Flight operations carried 1 out by an air carrier using an exemption granted 2 under this subsection shall be subject to the fol- 3 lowing conditions: 4 ‘‘(A) An air carrier granted an exemption 5 under this subsection is prohibited from trans- 6 ferring the rights to its slot exemptions pursu- 7 ant to section 41714(j). 8 ‘‘(B) The exemptions granted under sub- 9 section (2)— 10 ‘‘(i) may not be for operations be- 11 tween the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 12 a.m.; and 13 ‘‘(ii) may not increase the number of 14 operations at Ronald Reagan Washington 15 National Airport in any 1-hour period dur- 16 ing the hours between 7:00 a.m. and 9:59 17 p.m. by more than 8 operations.’’. 18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 41718 of 19 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (c)(2)— 21 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 22 (i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘or 23 (i)(2)’’ after ‘‘(g)(2)’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:43 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1933.IS S1933 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1933 IS (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and 1 (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘(g), and (i)’’; and 2 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or 3 (i)(2)’’ after ‘‘(g)(3)’’; and 4 (2) in subsection (h)(1), by inserting ‘‘or (i)’’ 5 after ‘‘subsection (g)’’. 6 (c) PRESERVATION OF EXISTING WITHIN-PERIM- 7 ETER AIR SERVICE.—In recognition of the importance of 8 preserving air service, as it exists on the date of enactment 9 of this section, between Ronald Reagan Washington Na- 10 tional Airport and within-perimeter airports and commu- 11 nities, this section and the amendments made by this sec- 12 tion shall not be construed as authorizing any limited in- 13 cumbent or non-limited incumbent air carrier holding slots 14 or slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington Na- 15 tional Airport as of the date of enactment of this sub- 16 section to use an existing within-perimeter slot to serve 17 an airport beyond the perimeter described in section 18 49109 of title 49, United States Code. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:43 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1933.IS S1933 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB