Bill Sent To President Obama For His Signature
Numerous ANN Real-Time Updates Throughout Afternoon of
02.06.12: House and Senate conferees have given final
approval to a long-term funding bill for the FAA, and sent it on to
President Obama for his signature.
The "FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012" authorizes $63.3
billion for FAA programs through 2015. The measure retains, at
existing levels, the proven, efficient and effective fuel tax as
the means for general aviation to pay for its use of the aviation
system, in lieu of new user fees. The reauthorization package also
reflects a commitment to make the Next Generation Air Traffic
System ("NextGen") a reality.
Aviation organizations were quick to praise the conferees for
their work. "This legislation will ensure our aviation
infrastructure has the investment needed to keep the U.S. air
transportation system the largest, safest and most efficient in the
world," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. "This four-year
reauthorization provides the FAA with the roadmap to implement a
Next Generation Air Traffic System, so that we will be able to meet
America's aviation needs of today and tomorrow. We thank leaders in
both the Senate and House for their continued commitment to getting
an FAA reauthorization completed."
General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) President and
CEO Pete Bunce (pictured) remarked, “This bill has been
over four years in the making and its enactment finally enables the
agency to make long-term spending decisions and move forward on
important initiatives. The policies contained in this
bill are critical to the health of general aviation
manufacturing. We support this bill because it will
contribute to modernizing the air traffic management system,
improving aviation safety, and promoting economic growth and job
creation.”
The bill lays out a clear direction for the next generation air
traffic system and ensures that there will be accountability for
progress through the establishment of critically needed performance
metrics. The measure also endorses important improvements in
the FAA certification process to enable new aviation products to
reach markets without unnecessary delay. Finally, the bill
strengthens FAA’s international leadership by establishing a
risk-based safety oversight system for foreign repair stations to
improve safety and enhance cooperation with other aviation
officials around the globe.
Bunce concluded, “As the bill makes its way to President
Obama’s desk, GAMA would like to thank congressional and
committee leaders and their staffs in both chambers for their
bipartisan efforts. We would also like to thank the leaders
and members of the House and Senate general aviation caucuses for
their steadfast support.”
Of particular interest to members of the Aircraft Electronics
Association, the bill recommends an advisory panel be created
consisting of government and industry representatives to study
concerns from industry that the FAA's Aircraft Certification and
Flight Standards District Offices routinely make inconsistent
rulings and interpretations on certification policies and
applications.
A portion of the reauthorization legislation includes language
on annual safety inspections of foreign repair stations, including
the establishment of a safety assessment system for Part 145 repair
stations that dictates inspections by FAA personnel based on risk.
The new system will accept inspection results conducted by foreign
aviation authorities under a bilateral maintenance agreement. The
legislation also requires the Department of Transportation to work
with international regulatory agencies to create standards for drug
and alcohol testing for foreign repair station workers, while
abiding with the laws of the countries in which FAA certificated
repair stations are located.
"We commend Congress for listening to the AEA and other industry
participants who supported giving the FAA the authority and
flexibility to assign its auditing resources based on a risk
assessment, rather than the originally proposed fixed scheduled
audits, in conducting foreign repair station inspections," said
Paula Derks, AEA president. "This mandate will support the FAA's
ability to focus its limited resources on high-risk facilities and
operations, while being able to reduce its audits on proven
faculties and operations.
"We also commend Congress on
recognizing the sovereignty of the countries supporting the U.S.
aircraft in their mandates for anti-drug and anti-alcohol programs.
In finding the balance between the need for safe and secure air
carrier maintenance and the sovereign rights of the foreign
mechanics, Congress has mandated a reasonable approach that
provides an equivalent and appropriate level of safety."
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
(AUVSI) President & CEO Michael Toscano said, “UAS are
truly a revolutionary-type technology, and I’m confident that
once people can fly UAS in the national airspace for civil and
commercial purposes, such as oil and pipeline monitoring, crop
dusting, and search and rescue, a whole new industry will emerge,
inventing products and accomplishing tasks we haven’t even
thought of yet.”
Prior to today's Senate vote, the Congress had passed 23
temporary extensions to keep the FAA operating for most of the last
52 months.