[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4449 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4449

  To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a remote air 
                  traffic control tower pilot program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 2016

Mr. Katko (for himself and Mr. Lipinski) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a remote air 
                  traffic control tower pilot program.

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

SECTION 1. REMOTE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 6 months after the completion of a 
safety risk management panel conducted by the Federal Aviation 
Administration for the Leesburg, Virginia project, the Secretary of 
Transportation shall establish a pilot program under which the 
Secretary shall install and operate not more than 6 remote air traffic 
control towers to assess the benefits of the technology of such towers.
    (b) Requirement for Operation.--Before air traffic is actively 
controlled by a remote air traffic control tower at a participating 
airport, the Secretary shall complete a safety risk management process 
for the individual airport.
    (c) Application.--An operator of an eligible airport may submit to 
the Secretary an application to participate in the pilot program under 
this section before such date and containing such information as the 
Secretary may require.
    (d) Selection Criteria.--
            (1) Selection of airports.--From among applications 
        submitted under subsection (c), the Secretary may select for 
        participation in the pilot program--
                    (A) 1 nonhub primary airport;
                    (B) 2 reliever airports without existing air 
                traffic control towers;
                    (C) 1 primary airport for the purpose of augmenting 
                the capabilities of an existing air traffic control 
                tower; and
                    (D) 2 airports classified as local or basic in the 
                national plan of integrated airport systems.
            (2) Applicant selection.--In carrying out the pilot program 
        under this section, the Secretary shall--
                    (A) in consultation with the exclusive 
                representative certified to represent air traffic 
                controllers under 7111 of title 5, United States Code, 
                establish a list of benefits of remote tower technology 
                to the National Airspace System and criteria that 
                facilities should meet in order to best achieve those 
                benefits; and
                    (B) select applicants for participation in the 
                pilot program based on such criteria.
            (3) Ability to alter airport selection.--If the Secretary 
        receives an insufficient number of applications, the Secretary 
        may alter the site distribution in paragraph (1).
            (4) Deadline.--The Secretary shall select airports for 
        participation in the pilot program not less than 90 days after 
        the date that the applications under subsection (c) are 
        required to be submitted.
            (5) Participation in contract tower program.--An airport 
        selected for participation under the pilot program shall be 
        eligible for participation in, and funding from, the control 
        tower contract program established under section 47124 of title 
        49, United States Code.
    (e) Asset Classification.--A remote air traffic control tower and 
ancillary equipment installed with Government funds pursuant to this 
section shall be considered an air navigation facility as defined in 
section 40102 of title 49, United States Code.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible airport.--The term ``eligible airport'' means 
        a public-use airport, as defined in section 47102 of title 49, 
        United States Code.
            (2) Remote air traffic control tower.--The term ``remote 
        air traffic control tower'' means a facility that--
                    (A) is designed to provide the functions of an air 
                traffic control tower for an airport without regard to 
                whether the tower is located at such airport; and
                    (B) receives from such airport, through a secure 
                network, high definition real-time images, sensor data, 
                and other data from relevant systems.
    (g) Period of the Pilot Program.--The pilot program under this 
section shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
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