[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2776 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2776

To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal land and to 
                      the airspace over that land.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 17, 2003

Mr. Otter (for himself, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Hefley, Mr. Jones 
   of North Carolina, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Mr. Flake, and Mr. 
 Nethercutt) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
     Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committees on 
Agriculture, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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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