[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 681 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 681
To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal land and to
the airspace over that land.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 3, 2001
Mr. Crapo (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Craig, Mr. Inhofe, Mr.
Murkowski, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Stevens, and Mr. Burns)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal land and to
the airspace over that land.
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 ``Backcountry Landing Strip Access
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential safety role
as emergency landing areas.
(2) Aircraft landing strips provide access to people who
would otherwise be physically unable to enjoy national parks,
national forests, and other Federal lands.
(3) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential purpose in
search and rescue, forest and ecological management, research,
and aerial mapping.
(4) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential role in
firefighting and disaster relief.
(5) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture should adopt a nationwide policy for governing
backcountry aviation issues related to the management of
Federal land under the jurisdiction of those Secretaries and
should require regional managers to adhere to that policy.
SEC. 3. PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF ACTIONS AFFECTING AIRCRAFT
LANDING STRIPS.
(a) In General.--Neither the Secretary of the Interior nor the
Secretary of Agriculture shall take any action which would permanently
close or render or declare as unserviceable any aircraft landing strip
located on Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of either
Secretary unless--
(1) the head of the aviation department of each State in
which the aircraft landing strip is located has approved the
action;
(2) notice of the proposed action and the fact that the
action would permanently close or render or declare as
unserviceable the aircraft landing strip has been published in
the Federal Register;
(3) a 90-day public comment period on the action has been
provided after the publication under paragraph (2); and
(4) any comments received during the comment period
provided under paragraph (3) have been taken into consideration
by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of
Agriculture, as the case may be, and the head of the aviation
department of each State in which the affected aircraft landing
strip is located.
(b) National Policy.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary
of Agriculture shall--
(1) adopt a nationwide policy that is in accordance with
this Act for governing backcountry aviation issues related to
the management of Federal land under the jurisdiction of those
Secretaries; and
(2) require regional managers to adhere to that policy.
(c) Requirements for Policies.--A policy affecting air access to an
aircraft landing strip located on Federal land under the jurisdiction
of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture,
including the policy required by subsection (b), shall not take effect
unless the policy--
(1) states that the Federal Aviation Administration has the
sole authority to control aviation and airspace over the United
States; and
(2) seeks and considers comments from State governments and
the public.
(d) Maintenance of Airstrips.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture shall consult with--
(A) the head of the aviation department of each
State in which an aircraft landing strip on Federal
land under the jurisdiction of that Secretary is
located; and
(B) other interested parties,
to ensure that such aircraft landing strips are maintained in a
manner that is consistent with the resource values of the
adjacent area.
(2) Cooperative agreements.--The Secretary of the Interior
and the Secretary of Agriculture may enter into cooperative
agreements with interested parties for the maintenance of
aircraft landing strips located on Federal land.
(e) Exchanges or Acquisitions.--Closure or purposeful neglect of
any aircraft landing strip, or any other action which would render any
aircraft landing strip unserviceable, shall not be a condition of any
Federal acquisition of or exchange involving private property upon
which the aircraft landing strip is located.
(f) New Aircraft Landing Strips Not Created.--Nothing in this Act
shall be construed to create or authorize additional aircraft landing
strips.
(g) Permanently Close.--For the purposes of this Act, the term
``permanently close'' means any closure the duration of which is more
than 180 days in any calendar year.
(h) Applicability.--
(1) Aircraft landing strips.--This Act shall apply only to
established aircraft landing strips on Federal lands
administered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary
of Agriculture that are commonly known and have been or are
consistently used for aircraft landing and departure
activities.
(2) Actions, policies, exchanges, and acquisitions.--
Subsections (a), (c), and (e) shall apply to any action,
policy, exchange, or acquisition, respectively, that is not
final on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(i) FAA Authority Not Affected.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to affect the authority of the Federal Aviation
Administration over aviation or airspace.
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