Bill Prohibits User Fees And Fees For Nav Charts

The U.S. House of Representatives last week voted to provide $15.7 billion in fiscal year 2015 to the FAA. The FAA is currently at a funding level of $15.6 billion. In addition, the bill prohibits aviation user fees and fees for navigational charts.

The legislation instructs the FAA to use funding to support the Small Airplane Revitalization Act, which would streamline Part 23 certification of small airplanes.

Other items in the bill include:

• $252.2 million for ADS–B NAS Wide Implementation, up from $247.2 in the FAA’s budget request.
• $103.6 million for Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) for GPS.
• $6 million to support development of lead-free aviation gasoline, an increase from the $5.7 million in the president’s request.
• $140 million for the Contract Tower Program, of which $9.4 million is for the contract tower cost share program. 

The full U.S. Senate will soon take up a different version of the bill passed last week by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which proposed $15.86 billion in FAA funding for fiscal year 2015.

If the full Senate approves that version of the bill, it will then move to a conference committee for the House and Senate to work out the differences.

FMI: www.house.gov