[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1507 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1507

 To require the Secretary of Transportation to grant exemptions under 
 section 41714 of title 49, United States Code, to allow 30 additional 
 slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for air 
carriers to provide daily air service between Ronald Reagan Washington 
 National Airport and other airports that are more than 1,250 statute 
  miles from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 21, 1999

  Mr. Hansen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of Transportation to grant exemptions under 
 section 41714 of title 49, United States Code, to allow 30 additional 
 slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for air 
carriers to provide daily air service between Ronald Reagan Washington 
 National Airport and other airports that are more than 1,250 statute 
  miles from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ronald Reagan Washington National 
Airport Freedom of Travel Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. SLOTS FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION BEYOND PERIMETER RULE AT RONALD 
              REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT.

    Section 41714 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(j) Slots for Airports Beyond 1,250 Miles From Reagan National 
Airport.--
            ``(1) Exemptions.--Notwithstanding chapter 491, the 
        Secretary shall grant, by order, exemptions from the 
        requirements of subparts K and S of part 93 of title 14, Code 
        of Federal Regulations (pertaining to slots at high density 
        airports), to enable air carriers to provide daily nonstop air 
        transportation between Ronald Reagan Washington National 
        Airport and an airport that is more than 1,250 statute miles 
        from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport if the Secretary 
        finds the exemptions will--
                    ``(A) result in the provision of air transportation 
                service with domestic network benefits in areas that 
                are more than 1,250 statute miles from Ronald Reagan 
                Washington National Airport; and
                    ``(B) increase domestic travel options for 
                communities that are more than 1,250 statute miles from 
                Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
            ``(2) Limitations.--
                    ``(A) Maximum number of exemptions per hour.--No 
                more than two exemptions per hour between 7:00 ante 
                meridiem and 9:59 post meridiem may be granted under 
                this subsection for slots at Ronald Reagan Washington 
                National Airport.
                    ``(B) Stage 3 aircraft required.--An exemption may 
                be granted under this subsection for a slot at Ronald 
                Reagan Washington National Airport only if jet aircraft 
                that comply with the stage 3 noise levels of part 36 of 
                title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations will be 
                used for the flight that will be operating under such 
                slot.
                    ``(C) Number of exemptions.--The Secretary--
                            ``(i) shall grant 30 daily exemptions under 
                        this subsection;
                            ``(ii) may not grant more than 4 of such 
                        exemptions to any 1 air carrier; and
                            ``(iii) may only grant an even number of 
                        such exemptions under this subsection to an air 
                        carrier.
            ``(3) Application.--An air carrier interested in an 
        exemption under this subsection shall submit to the Secretary 
        an application for such exemption. No application may be 
        submitted to the Secretary before the last day of the 30-day 
        period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
        paragraph.
            ``(4) Deadline for decision.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, the Secretary shall make a decision with 
        regard to granting an exemption under this subsection on or 
        before the 120th day following the date of the application for 
        the exemption. If the Secretary does not make the decision on 
        or before such 120th day, the air carrier applying for the 
        service may provide such service until the Secretary makes the 
        decision or the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration determines that providing such service would 
        have an adverse effect on air safety.
            ``(5) Period of effectiveness.--An exemption granted under 
        this subsection with respect to an airport may remain in effect 
        only while the air carrier for whom the exemption is granted 
        continues to provide daily nonstop air transportation between 
        the airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
            ``(6) Ranking of applications.--In the event that 
        applications are filed for more than 30 slots under this 
        subsection, the Secretary shall award the exemptions to--
                    ``(A) air carriers that provide air transportation 
                service with the greatest domestic network benefits in 
                areas that are more than 1,250 statute miles from 
                Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; and
                    ``(B) hub airports which provide access to the 
                maximum number of domestic cities.
            ``(7) Definitions.--In this subsection the following 
        definitions apply:
                    ``(A) Hub airport.--The term `hub airport' has the 
                meaning such term has under section 41731.
                    ``(B) Medium hub airport.--The term `medium hub 
                airport' means an airport that has at least .25 
                percent, but less than 1.0 percent, of the total annual 
                boardings in the United States.
                    ``(C) Small hub airport.--The term `small hub 
                airport' has the meaning such term has under section 
                41731.''.

SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    Section 49109 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``An air'' and inserting ``Subject to section 41714(j), an 
air''.
                                 <all>