[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 125 (Thursday, September 23, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EUROPEAN UNION SHOULD WITHDRAW UNFAIR, DISCRIMINATORY REGULATION 
             RESTRICTING HUSH-KITTED AND REENGINED AIRCRAFT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to join my colleagues, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman Shuster) the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Chairman Duncan) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Oberstar), the ranking member, in supporting a resolution expressing 
the sense of Congress that the administration should act swift and 
decisively if the European Union does not withdraw its unfair, 
discriminatory regulation restricting hush-kitted and reengined 
aircraft.
  In particular, the resolution strongly urges the administration to 
file an Article 84 complaint with the International Civil Aviation 
Authority, ICAO, so that it can be objectively determined whether the 
EU regulation violates international standards.

                              {time}  1845

  On April 29, 1999, the European Council of Ministers adopted a 
resolution that will in effect ban the operation of former State 2 
aircraft that has been modified either with hushkits or new engines to 
meet the Stage 3 international noise standards. The Europeans claim 
that the hushkit regulation is needed to provide noise relief to 
residents living around airports in crowded European cities. However, 
the European Union has not provided any technical evidence that would 
demonstrate and improve noise or emissions climate around airports as a 
result of this rule.
  This is not an environmental regulation, as the Europeans suggest. 
Rather, this re-regulation is an unfair unilateral action that 
discriminates against U.S. products and severely undermines 
international noise standards set by ICAO. By unilaterally establishing 
a new regional standard for noise, the EU is taking local control over 
an international issue. In addition, the EU has done this in such a way 
that the regulation most adversely impacts U.S. carriers, U.S. products 
and U.S. manufacturers.
  The House of Representatives has already expressed its strong 
opposition to this misguided regulation by passing H.R. 661, the bill 
introduced by my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), which would ban the operation of the Concorde 
in the U.S.A. Passage of H.R. 661, I believe, showed the Europeans that 
the United States is serious about protecting U.S. aviation interests 
against unfair unilateral trade actions. As a result, the effective 
date of the EU regulation was postponed until May 2000 in an attempt to 
accommodate the concerns of the United States.
  Yet although the implementation date was delayed for a year, the 
regulation was adopted and is now law. As a result, the regulation is 
already having a negative economic impact on U.S. aviation. The 
regulation has raised serious doubts about the future market for 
hushkitted and re-engined aircraft, which in turn has already lessened 
the value of these aircraft and has put a halt to new hushkit orders. 
This is why the EU regulation must be completely withdrawn.
  My understanding is that the European Parliament will not consider 
withdrawing the regulation until significant progress is made on Stage 
4, the next generation noise standard. The U.S. is already working with 
the EU through ICAO on defining and implementing a Stage 4 noise 
standard. Let me state for the Record that the United States is fully 
committed to the development of a Stage 4 noise standard, however it is 
difficult to move forward towards a new noise standard while the EU 
hushkit regulation is still on the books. With its hushkit regulation 
the EU ignores its priority agreements with ICAO and has developed its 
own regional restrictions. Given this, it will be nearly impossible to 
convince the 185 countries of ICAO to agree to a new noise requirement 
on aircraft. Why would any carrier in any country want to invest in 
Stage 4 aircraft if any country in the world can also impose its own 
restrictions on aircraft? It simply does not make sense.
  Nevertheless the U.S. is working patiently with the Europeans on 
developing a Stage 4 noise standard. However, the ongoing discussions 
and negotiations could continue for weeks, if not months. Yet each day 
that the EU hushkit regulation remain on the books costs the U.S. 
aviation industry more money.
  For this reason the U.S. must challenge the EU regulation in an 
international forum. The United States must send a clear signal that it 
will now allow Europe to set international standards on its own. In 
particular, the U.S. Government should use the Article 84 process 
provided by the Chicago convention to resolve disputes between two or 
more States. The U.S. should file an Article 84 complaint at ICAO 
asking the international organization to determine whether the EU 
hushkit regulation violates its standards. This would demonstrate how 
serious the U.S. considers the issue. It would also show the EU that 
the United States has the support of the rest of the world on this very 
important aviation issue.

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