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The House Appropriations Committee tomorrow is set to consider a Fiscal Year 2019 transportation budget that will tighten the FAA’s budgetary resources overall but include some funding for certain airports affected by security protocols surrounding President Donald Trump’s travel to his residences.
The legislation provides $17.7 billion in total budgetary resources for the FAA, which appropriators say is $310 million below the FY2018-approved level. However, the FAA’s operations account would receive a $199 million boost under the bill, and the baseline airport grants-in-aids program and facilities and equipment accounts would remain steady.
The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization would receive a $147 million bump over 2018 levels, funding for 14,500 air traffic controllers, 7,400 safety inspectors, and operational support personnel. Also, the contract tower program would receive $168 million, providing funding to bring additional towers into the system.
Bill language would direct the FAA to make at least $3.5 million available to reimburse “airport sponsors that do not provide gateway operations and business located at those airports during a temporary flight restriction for any residence of the President that is designated to be secured by the U.S. Secret Service.”
The Washington insider publication Politico noted that this appears to target at least three airports near Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, that are severely hampered during Trump’s visits.
Other bill language would direct the FAA to prioritize the development of non-destructive inspection to facilitate use of additive manufacturing materials and to work with international regulators on improving and streamlining certification and validation procedures.
The budget would include $56 million for unmanned aircraft system integration and calls for a report by the end of September on the FAA’s UAS traffic management research.
Research, engineering, and development funding would be down nearly $9 million under the bill, with more than $5 million of that coming from the unleaded aviation gasoline initiative. The administration had requested no funding for this, but House lawmakers included $1.9 million to wrap up test and certification activities. The program received $7 million in 2018.
As in past years, the bill language includes privacy protections from real-time flight-tracking information and would maintain the weight limitations at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
House and Senate lawmakers are setting aside up to $3.5 million in FAA funding to reimburse certain airports and service providers affected by disruptions surrounding Presidential temporary flight restrictions (TFR). The language was included in both the House and Senate versions of the Fiscal Year 2019 transportation, housing, and urban development appropriations bill.
The House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY’19 funding bill in May, followed by Senate Appropriations Committee sign-off of its own bill in June.
The $3.5 million would reimburse “airport sponsors that do not provide gateway operations and providers of general aviation ground support services located at those airports closed during a TFR for any residence of the President that is designated or identified to be secured by the U.S. Secret Service,” according to bill language.
The language calls for verification but would cover both direct and incremental financial losses that occur when the airports are closed during the TFR. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has backed the provisions, which would provide relief to airports such as Palm Beach County Park Airport (Lantana Airport) that essentially shut down during the TFRS.
While the measure would cover non-gateway airports near Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, the National Air Transportation Association is hoping to convince lawmakers to expand the applicability to include Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) and the affected businesses there as well.
“While it is possible for general aviation aircraft to fly into and out of PBI during a Presidential TFR, the numerous restrictions render operations extremely difficult,” the association said, noting that businesses lose in excess of $1 million from the TFRs during peak season.
Bill Provisions
The House and Senate appropriations bills also would both provide the FAA with $17.7 billion in total budgetary resources overall, including access to additional infrastructure funding, but actual funding levels would come in at $310 million below the FY’18-approved level.
In the House bill, the FAA’s operations account would receive a $199 million boost, and the baseline airport grants-in-aids program and facilities and equipment accounts would remain steady.
The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization would receive a $147 million bump over 2018 levels, funding for 14,500 air traffic controllers, 7,400 safety inspectors, and operational support personnel. Also, the contract tower program would receive $168 million, providing funding to bring additional towers into the system.
Other House bill language would direct the FAA to prioritize the development of non-destructive inspection to facilitate use of additive manufacturing materials and to work with international regulators on improving and streamlining certification and validation procedures.
The House budget would include $56 million for unmanned aircraft system integration and calls for a report by the end of September on the FAA’s UAS traffic management research. Research, engineering, and development funding would be down nearly $9 million under the bill.
As in past years, the bill language includes privacy protections from real-time flight-tracking information and would maintain the weight limitations at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
In the Senate bill, the operation’s budget would be up $199 million as well. The Senate provides flexibility for the FAA to shift funding over its operations budget but reiterates its opposition to use of the funds to transfer air traffic control functions to an independent not-for-profit organization. “The U.S. has the largest, safest, most efficient and most complex air traffic control system in the world, and the FAA should remain a global leader with a singular and unified mission of safety,” the Senate appropriators said in report language.
Also included are $1 billion for NextGen programs, $168 million for contract towers, similar to the House bill. Further set aside is $750 million for airport improvements, in addition to the traditional annual Airport Improvement Program funding, for a total of $4.1 billion.
The $750 million is part of $10 billion in infrastructure funding included in the transportation appropriations bill across all modes.
The Senate report expresses a desire for the FAA to “do more to be responsive to community concerns” regarding noise and directs the agency to improve the development of flight procedures in ways that take public comment into consideration.
The bill further directs the FAA to review and improve the Flight Standards Service regulatory process with a focus on consistency. In addition, the bill calls on the FAA to coordinate with industry to make the certification process more effective and efficient. The Senate bill includes similar provisions on Teterboro Airport and flight-tracking privacies as the House bill.
A manager’s amendment included in the Senate bill directs the FAA to use existing resources to fund its support of major aviation events.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association praised both bills, with president and CEO Pete Bunce saying they “will further improve aviation safety and help facilitate innovation and advances in general aviation.” Bunce pointed to language that would foster improvements in the FAA’s regulatory and oversight activities, as well as industry coordination. “This will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the aircraft certification process and acceptance and validation of aviation products globally.”